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Movie / Book Library

Mark Boersma’s
Recommended Books To Read …
Videos To Watch, Websites To Gain Value From

I really wasn’t much of a reader until probably in my mid 30’s. When I think back of all the books I’ve read over the last 20+ years I realize how much those books have shaped the way I think and helped me to be the international speaker, author, husband of 30+ years, and father of seven children and many grandchildren.

I trust you enjoy and benefit from this list, share it with others and come up with your own list. I’ve also included movies I have watched and the impact each one of them have had on the way I think as well.

“I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity.”

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

* * * Are you one of the chosen few? Ford vs. Ferrie ~ click here ~ * * *
* * * What is required for success? 10x ~ click here ~ * * *
* * * When we feel like quitting … 3 feet from gold ~ click here ~ * * *

Recommended Books & Movies

The Bible

Being raised a son of a pastor and missionary I’ve been exposed to the Bible my whole life. Pastor James MacDonald shares “Familiarity breeds contempt” and I think as I get older I realize how the impact of the Bible has caused me to have a worldview which will help me to achieve my life vision of “To touch everyone in the world, one person at a time, impacting every area of one’s life in a significant, fun and exciting way.”

When I can’t figure something out I find solutions in three places, The Bible, nature, young children and teenagers. When I built a 24 Year Value Transfer System for my seven children when we were homeschooling all of them I invested over three years in pulling every value out of the Bible and putting that into a system to seek to instill in my children.

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The Wizard

When The Wizard shared with me that I was his best friend, I was blown away! Based on university research The Wizard is not only the smartest but also the most humble of all creatures in the world. I have to admit, when I first heard about this, I was cynical. I thought, this can’t be true and how could a university do research on smartest and humility . . . but then . . . I met The Wizard . . . and wow . . . I have new faith in university studies. I wish I had met The Wizard as a child rather than as a 54 year old man. 

I am so grateful though, that I did meet him in my lifetime as he helped me to understand things about myself, others, life and the universe that my three college degrees, all the books, all the movies, all the really smart people I know never revealed to me. I hope you too get to mee The Wizard and he will change your life as he has mine . . . if you allow him to.

Some pretty crazy stuff going on here.

The Wizard will reveal your personality/frequency in 17 seconds

Yes . . . for sure . . . sign up for The Wizard’s Community. It will be the best investment you have ever made in your life. Sign up for whatever level you are able to afford. DO NOT sign up for anything more than you can afford . . . and don’t sign up for less. If you are seeking to earn more money, work less, have less stress and more life balance the higher the level you sign up for the greater you’ll achieve what your heart’s desire is.

We often think we want something . . . only to find out . . . what we thought we wanted, we really don’t want that, but something else. The Wizard has and is helping me to find out what I really want in life and he will do the same for you as well.

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Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (Movie)

I’ve known since I was a very young child that I was going to own my own business. When I watched the original movie as a child I was mesmerized by all the things in the movie and deep insights into people, motivation and people’s hearts.

I’ve been a business owner now for over 30 years and the movie has new and profound meaning to me. I desire to take my decades of learning and transfer it to others to leave a legacy. If you write out a list of all that you learned from the movie, email me your list and I’ll email you mine. :-) This should be required watching for anyone going into business.

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Think and Grow Rich

My very good friend Tom Kunz said that I had to read this book. I had obviously heard of this book but had never read it. I was in my 40’s. I believe the reason I had never read this book is that I thought it was about money and of the 30+ values I was tested on, a few years back, money was the very last. When I read this book I realized it wasn’t about money it was about being rich in every area of one’s life. 

 This book should be required reading for everyone in grade school.

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Rich Dad / Poor Dad

I loved this book because it challenged the education system. I have three Bachelor's Degrees in business and while I am grateful for each of them I am greatly disappointed in what they taught me about business. 

 This book helped me to realize that there was a huge gap in the educational system and entire mindset that was being taught. It planted the seed in me that there was a better way to educate young people.

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A Thomas Jefferson Education

Wow . . . and I mean wow! This book is the solution to solving the educational system in America and around the world. The challenge is that Big Business supports Big Government which supports Big Education and anything big requires a great deal of money. This book supports taking the classics, which are most now in free public domain and teaching kids based on the classics. It’s really such a simple process. Learn from those who are the best and have the most passion for a topic. There’s no money in that and it’s too simple of a solution so you wouldn’t need as big of a government, teachers would need to learn to teach in a very different way and there would be less money for businesses selling to the government and education.

1. The ability to define problems without a guide.
2. The ability to ask hard questions which challenge prevailing assumptions.
3. The ability to quickly assimilate needed data from the masses of irrelevant information.
4. The ability to work in teams without guidance.
5. The ability to work absolutely alone.
6. The ability to persuade others that your course is the right one.
7. The ability to conceptualize and organize information into new patterns.
8. The ability to discuss ideas with an eye toward application.
9&10. The ability to think inductively, deductively and dialectically.

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A Beautiful Mind (Movie)

This one is a strange one to put on my list but it has taught me so much. Throughout the entire movie I was thinking, “That’s me!” “I understand him!” “There is finally someone who relates to me.” I bring this up often where I say “This might be A Beautiful Mind moment.” I think what this helped me to realize is that there is for sure a very fine line between genius and insanity. :-) I’m actually serious here. I believe that for me to achieve my Life Vision that I may need to beyond the tipping point and more on the insanity side than the “normal” side. It helped me, in a strange way to not fear insanity, to realize that those who are diagnosed “insane” may have far more to offer us than we realize.

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Men In Black (Movie)

I realized how cool it was to be an “Outlier” before I read Malcome Gladwell’s book “Outliers.” When Will Smith goes into simulation to be tested to be accepted into MIB and shoots the little girl I realized something. “Mark, learn to see things that others do not see and when you do you can compete, as he did” against people who are more educated, smarter, stronger and “better” than you and still win. I love that! It gives hope to everyone of the 7+ billion people in the world that they are special and can do anything that they set their hearts to do.

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Community / Business Partnerships

In co-authoring this book with Tom Kunz, the past President of CENTURY 21, the largest real estate franchise in the world I learned so many things. I learned that children of intentional entrepreneurial parents learn things that no amount of current formal education can learn. As a young boy Tom learned from his dad things that people with and MBA don’t learn. I learned from Tom that God would never place an amazing positive passion in our hearts if there wasn’t someway to achieve that. I learned that while many people do not like the way I think and challenge the status quo and willing to challenge the world in how we think that there will also be one man out there who loves the way I think, even if it is at times, “A Beautiful Mind Moment.” :-)

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While these books are not in order the knowledge and insights that I received from reading / studying each book does help to enhance the experience of every other book I’ve read, studied and applied. I don’t really enjoy reading so if I’m going to do something I don’t enjoy I figure I better gain a lot of value from the activity. :-) 

The E-myth

My international speaking coach, Linda Brakeall, shared with me “Mark, this is how you think and who you are, you have got to read this book. When I read this book, I remember thinking “Of course this is true. Do people really not realize this?” I learned that I saw things that the masses did not see and if I could learn to communicate it in a way like the other great writers did that I could change the world. I also learned the power of many people sharing truth in many different ways and how they can all work together for the mutual benefit of everyone in the world.

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Flawless Execution

I loved this book and spent months going through it page by page, sometimes spending weeks on just a couple of pages as I do with many books. I seek to get into the author’s heart, mind and soul and experience what he/she has experienced and learn at the deepest levels. Being an author myself I realize that there is so much more to the words that I’m trying to communicate and I want to gain everything possible the author has to give me. Systems, backup systems, the debrief, the value of humility at all levels and the willingness to confront those in authority and having a system / process to do that.
Lives are on the line and it’s clear in the military. In business, education and government lives are on the line as well we just don’t realize it as it’s not a comfortable truth and not so obvious to us. I realized I was born and created by God to be a warrior and that my gifts, my passions, my very heart were designed for a purpose. Ok . . . maybe all this didn’t come from this one book . . . but a combination of books and experiences. :-) I love sports and love the military as it’s very clear who wins and loses and really impossible to game the system.

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Narnia - The Voyage of The Dawn Treader (Movie)

I learned the the “small” can be great and that having a heart of gold is so very valuable. I learned to embrace physical death as a new adventure and it’s not something to be feared but something to be embraced and willing to accept, even at the peak of success.

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Good To Great

What do you get when you have a professor and a group of students studying the great companies? You get some amazing insights. Disciplined PEOPLE - THINKERS - TAKING ACTION, the flywheel, and a whole bunch of other really exciting things have come from this book.

Another book that shows there is a science to success and that those who win in the game of life are those who know and follow the Natural Laws, DNA for LIFE.

“When I look over the good-to-great transformation, the one word that keeps coming to mind is consistency. Another word offered to me by physics professor R.J. Peterson is coherence. “What is one plus one?” he asked, then paused for effect. “Four! In physics, we have been talking about the idea of coherence, the magnifying effect of one factor upon another. In reading about the flywheel, I could help but think of the principle of coherence.” However you phrase it, the basic idea is the same: Each piece of the system reinforces the other parts of the system to form an integrated whole that is much more powerful than the sum of the parts. It is only through consistency, over time, through multiple generations, that you get maximum results.”

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Hide A Dagger Behind A Smile & The Art Of War

The Chinese culture is between 7,000 and 8,000 years old. Hmmmm, I wonder if there’s anything we can learn from that? :-) The Eastern way of thinking is very different than the Western way of thinking. Eastern - things will come back around again. Western - window of opportunity that may close and not open again. Loved the military aspect of it and how there are many ways to win a war and that fighting a battle is kind of the least desirable action.

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X-Men

Each movie in the series is most amazing in that it helps people to realize that in what way we and others perceive are weaknesses to be, they can be our strengths . . . IF . . . we learn to discipline those strengths. Which character do you connect with? This reveals a great deal about us and how to achieve greater success in all areas of our lives. So much could be written / shared on this. If you’re interested in exploring this more, let’s talk and maybe co-author some white papers on this to impact the world in the most amazing way.

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System Busters

Loved this book in that everything is put into a system. Have systems for checking your systems and use checklists for most everything. Seems extreme but to be in business today, in this economy with global competition, the standardization and advancement of equipment to even out the quality factor for many companies, the company that survives and prospers is the one with the best systems and the most disciplined team which follows the systems. Discipline PEOPLE - THINKERS - TAKING ACTION.

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Made To Stick

This is one of the very few books I read more than once. Most books I go through very slowly and dig deep the first time I go through the book. Lot’s of notes and focused on taking action and applying what is being shared. This book is a must read for everyone as it helps us to learn how to communicate in a way that makes what we share to stick. In a very busy world of media getting our message to stick is critical to success.

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The 21 Irrefutable Laws Of Leadership

This book is one of the most humbling books I’ve ever read. It really showed me how poor of a leader I was and I loved that! Some of the stories of how to really understand people, their gifts, and how to “leverage” those gifts and influence for the good of the team was most interesting.

Story after story after story reinforced the importance of stories in writing and leading. Great book for anyone seeking to become a leader.

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The 8th Habit

Covey has so much insight and one of the few writers which graphs out things so people can visualize his concepts and principles. The 8th Habit is about helping to Find Our Story or something like Our Life Vision and then helping others to find theirs. Great book but most people won’t have the discipline to read it, much less follow through with it. Much higher level of book that probably should be read in high school but probably won’t be really, deeply understood until someone is in their 50’s, 60’s or beyond. I would recommend that one read the Dream Giver and then this one.

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The Dream Giver

I loved this book because it was a simple and easy read AND it was so much about my life. People seem to generally take the easy path in life and give up their true dreams, their Life Vision, what they were put on this planet to do. They choose a good or mediocre life rather than a great life. Great book to share with people and see if there is some type of a connection, a spark in people that will help people to see the greatness within them and are willing to take the hard journey to achieve that. Not really a book on the “How To’s . . .” but great book to inspire people and get them to think a little differently about life’s journey.

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The Art Of Seduction Of The Masses

I had the privilege of not only reading this book but being involved in the project of taking this book to the world. What I learned from this book is that, it would seem, that most everything BIG is seducing the masses. It’s interesting . . . where it seems . . . that BIG government / business / media / education / labor / medicine and yes even BIG churches - religion seem to draw people in . . . help them to think that if people become part of BIG give of their time and money and life . . . BIG will make life easy for them and they will see success. Strange but true it would seem.

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Keep Chopping Wood

This book reinforced the power of leaving a legacy and the value of generational connections within the community. When families come together and help one another within the community / life and in building networks and businesses together amazing things happen. What’s really important in life to us? What do we value? How can we be the most amazing stewards of the lives of those we have been blessed to be around? Look far deeper into this book than the words on the page and you’ll discover something that very few books possess.

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Founder

Great movie . . . if we are great students to inspire all of us. Ray Kroc was in his early 50’s . . . and look what he did. He was a simple / normal struggling salesperson . . . and he created a worldwide empire. Do you and I have the vision? Are we looking for the next opportunity? Do we value systems? Do we press forward when we have setbacks? Are we willing to keeping tweaking the formula until we get it just right . . . all while driving things forward? Are we willing to make mistakes? Do we see the BIG Picture and have the wisdom to know the small details which are totally important? Are we great students . . . and seeking to learn from everyone we come in contact with?

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You Are The Placebo

“Usually when people step into the river of change, that void between the old self and the new self is so uncomfortable that they immediately slip back into their old selves again. They unconsciously think, This doesn’t feel right, I’m uncomfortable, or I don’t feel so good. The moment they accept that thought, or autosuggestion (and become suggestible to their own thoughts), they will unconsciously make the same old choices again that will lead to the progression of the same habitual behaviors to create the same experience that automatically endorse the same emotions and feelings. And then they say to themselves, This feels right. But what they really mean is that this feels familiar.”

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Predictable Revenue

“Great book with so many things packed into each page, it’s honestly a bit overwhelming and/or hard to piece together. There are little nuggets every page. In my notes in the back of the book, I’m breaking everything down into BOS / The 5/30 Grid to work to make it easier to implement.”
From a marketing perspective in how to turn a book into massive revenue and LEVERAGE the success of a large company, in building in success for them is genius for both parties. Probably over two decades ago Paul Wyner had the insight to share this with me. Very Powerful!

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Ford v Ferrari

I have a rule that I never watch a movie twice. Never! I went to the movie theaters three times and would have gone more if someone would have gone with me. I almost flew over to Africa with my good friend Peter Miles, past board member of BMW.

Way, way, way too much to list here.

  • It takes thinking differently to win.
  • ​It takes different gifts and trust.
  • Impossible things . . . become possible . . . when one is willing to do the things that no one else will do.
  • ​People will ask for your autograph but hate what their lives are and will hate you because you aren’t like them.
  • ​My daddy once said . . . “A truly lucky man is someone who does what they love to do because that person will never work a day in their life.”
  • ​Some people love what they do . . . but a few people . . . often to their own harm, have a calling so strong that they MUST do what they are called to do and will die if they aren’t doing it.
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Mistakes Were Made (but not by me)

I have never read a book like this before. Made so many notes, so many! Seemed like I highlighted every page. In essence, the book was about how we as human beings self-justify, well … most everything.
I would like to go through this book with a group of others and dig deep into the book with others to see what they see. On page 300 it seems to come up with a big part of the solution and that is to be self-aware. They share how baseball is potentially the only sport which tracks errors. Hmmm, people mock me for the year I tracked my mistakes and “only” had 7 of them.
It’s pretty crazy to me how we all have biases and dissonance. The last chapter, in many ways, was the most interesting. It’s like the very authors who researched and wrote such an amazing book seemed to maybe forget what they wrote and/or didn’t apply it to themselves?
October 2023 ~ May 2024

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

~ Table Of Contents - click here for direct link ~

Books & Movies

Books & Movies

Websites