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How to Change Your Life in 7 Steps by John Bird

In this highly-accessible self-help book Big Issue founder John Bird explains his seven simple rules that could help you change your life. Whether you want to get a new job, quit smoking, stop drinking or go back to college, How to Change Your Life in 7 Steps explains how you can take what you've been given and turn it into something you'll be proud of, rather than spend your life wishing for everything you haven't got.

For 99% of us life doesn't come knocking on the door; you have to go out and get it. But the trouble with aiming for the stars is that you're likely to end up in the gutter. John Bird has learnt through his work with the homeless that if you start by putting just 3% of your energy towards your final goal rather than a gutter-hitting 99% you will eventually make the changes you are looking for.

John's six other rules are as straightforward as this first one, 'Start With 3%'. He writes with passion about the dangers of thinking like a victim and of not telling the truth; he shares with us the importance of thinking for yourself and never putting others down, and he encourages us not to define our successes by the failures of others and to recognise our own achievements.

Written in his unique no-nonsense style this is a book about 'cutting through the bullshit and making the most of what you have.'

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Big Issue has spent over 30 years at the helm of self-help revolution. It all began with the launch of The Big Issue magazine in 1991, which was created to offer homeless and disadvantaged people the opportunity to earn a legitimate income by selling a magazine on the streets. Since then over 200 million copies magazine have been sold by over 100,000 people. Vendors buy the magazine upfront for £1.75 and sell it on to the public for £4.00, and in doing so each runs their own micro-enterprise. In 2005 Big Issue Invest was launched, with the aim of extending The Big Issue's mission by financing the growth of social enterprises and charities across the UK. To date the organisation has directly invested in over 350 such organisations, and manages or advises on more than £170 million of social funds.
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