Free Downloads The Promise Of A Pencil: How An Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change
The riveting New York Times bestseller about a young man who built more than 250 schools around the world—and the steps anyone can take to lead a successful and significant life.Adam Braun began working summers at hedge funds when he was just sixteen years old, sprinting down the path to a successful Wall Street career. But while traveling he met a young boy begging on the streets of India, who after being asked what he wanted most in the world, simply answered, “A pencil.” This small request led to a staggering series of events that took Braun backpacking through dozens of countries before eventually leaving a prestigious job to found Pencils of Promise, the organization he started with just $25 that has since built more than 250 schools around the world. The Promise of a Pencil chronicles Braun’s journey to find his calling, as each chapter explains one clear step that every person can take to turn their biggest ambitions into reality. If you feel restless and ready for transition, if you are seeking direction and purpose, this critically acclaimed bestseller is for you. Driven by inspiring stories and shareable insights, this is the book that will give you the tools to make your own life a story worth telling. *All proceeds from this book will support Pencils of Promise.
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Scribner; Reprint edition (February 3, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1476730636
ISBN-13: 978-1476730639
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1,044 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #11,346 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #6 in Books > Business & Money > Small Business & Entrepreneurship > Nonprofit Organizations & Charities #10 in Books > Education & Teaching > Schools & Teaching > Education Theory > History #10 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Philanthropy & Charity
This book is both a terrific story and a guide to making a difference in the world. Inspiring, thought-provoking, and deeply meaningful - Promise of a Pencil profoundly resonated with me and it will resonate with you.Any one of the chapters - organized as stories telling 30 "mantras" - would be worth the price of the entire book- but together, well- this is a masterpiece, and a future textbook in how we can all make a difference in our short times on this planet. Two enormous likeable thumbs up!
This book is not only an incredibly quick read that keeps you glued to the pages until there are no more left to read, but it also keeps you wishing the story would never end!The book is perfect for all ages in the sense that if you are a young person, it will inspire you to dream big dreams and pursue them with a relentless and undivided attention. If you are older, this book restores your hope in the current generation that is doing so much good in the world.After reading this book, not only do I feel like I CAN do anything, I also feel like I WANT to go do EVERYTHING! Great Read!
This is going to be hard for many people to understand but once upon a time everything wasn't about ME! I think Braun has done a lo of good through this organization. However, I gave up halfway through because I just got tired that everything was about him. I wish more focus could have been on the kids, the parents and the other volunteers.
I just finished reading this book after starting it from page one this morning. I could not put this book down. I was expecting a book about how a charity got started and perhaps some biography thrown in- but what i got out of it was so much more. What i did not expect was this epic adventure that has lifted my spirits and further influenced my faith in humanity and what one person can do with 25 dollars and start a revolution. With Adam's words in describing his adventures, stories about his family and the start and current state of his organization "Pencils for Promise" i felt like i was experiencing these things right along with the words on the page. This is an epic book on how to follow your dreams, get things done, experience life and not accept things that you are not happy with. This book should be required reading for all schools & businesses alike. There is something for everyone in this book and i cannot help but feeling inspired reading his refreshing words . i Highly recommend everyone pick this up. Thanks for a great read.
This book is a must read for all ages. Adam's (and Pencils of Promise's) story is captivating and is so riveting such that is makes you glued to the pages. The mantras are also great. In addition, there are also a lot of quotable quotes here that you can apply to your daily life. A truly empowering book!
Braun's life story is certainly lovely, and it's hopeful for Wall Street dwellers who feel constrained and want to seek more meaning in life. However...the story can only appeal to an audience much more narrow than the book boasts. Braun grew up comfortably with loving parents who, despite their insistence that he had to work hard and finance himself, would surely capture him with a safety net if anything drastic happened after he quit his job to chase his dreams. Braun seems to have neglected to mention that much of his story involves luck -- his nonprofit would surely not be as expansive or popular it is today without Bieber's support and his idolizing fans panting behind his heels. I'm glad Braun is doing such good for the world. I believe firmly in Pencils of Promise and I think the organizations maintains beautiful ideals rooted in sustainable development and local growth from within. But I would not tell any average Joe Shmoe to quit a job to hunt down dreams. We have families to support, or ill parents to take care of, or friends in need, and not everyone can abandon the common route to travel and explore for oneself.
The subtitle of this book isn't exactly correct.Adam isn't "ordinary" by any definition of the word.Adam could have ended up ordinary. He was on a fast-track to make millions in corporate America, but with no real impact on the world. He could have been ordinary. Rich and ordinary.But Adam chose a different path.He chose to matter. He chose impact. He chose, quite intentionally, to make a dent in the universe by founding an organization that has built over 200 schools and is bringing education to so many who desperately need it.In addition to being an innovator and leader, Adam is a great storyteller. The 30 mantras in this book are lessons told through interesting stories. They are instructive, insightful and human. Adam shows the good and the bad. The successes and the bumps and bruises as Pencils of Promise grew.This book is an invaluable resource. There's no single playbook on "how to change the world" but this book should be required reading for anyone who wants to make their own dent in the universe.Adam may have started as ordinary but along the way he became "extraordinary".Have you?Will you?
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