When Turtles Fly: The Secrets of Successful People Who Know How to Stick Their Necks Out

Nikki Stone has crafted an original, inspirational, and practical guide to help you better yourself. The Turtle analogy is brilliant. Simple, memorable and easy to explain. I found the book fun to read. The stories were engaging and provided concrete examples of how to employ the Turtle philosophy. Nikki's honesty in telling her tale is refreshing. She is one who appreciates all that she has worked so hard to accomplish yet she still desires to improve the lives of those around her by sharing her means to obtaining her success. As a Career Advisor, I recommend this book to clients when someone is looking to make a change and needs to find the guts to stick their neck out to take appropriate risk to achieve their goals. I have given this book as a gift to many in my family, friends and book club. It is a book that I will read again.

I could not put this book down. As an online educator, consultant, and fitness coach, I have to lift up, motivate and lead countless people. This book provides me with endless ideas for helping others overcome mental, physical and emotional hurdles. It fills me up with inspiration, energy and ideas. It's a reference tool I'm already using daily. Anyone could benefit from this book; it transcends all boundaries. It will permanently change your life and how you see things. Nikki Stone's book is a huge contribution to the world. This book will be a best-seller.

I love learning from the wisdom of others - sages that have turned their dreams into successful opportunities especially when others could not see the vision. Nikki Stone captures the unique stories of several successful entrepreneurs including Tommy Hilfiger, Shaun White, Stephen Covey and gold medalist Lindsey Vonn. Stone, an Olympic gold medalist herself in aerial skiing, understands what peak performance is all about and channels that in her research of other successful people. Stone's mother taught her at a young age - you have to be soft inside, but have a tough outer shell and never be afraid to stick your neck out. That is the essence of the flying turtle - and the heart of her book - being excellent and driving for your best performance can propel you to extraordinary possibilities. The book offers coaching exercises as key takeaways from each profile. For instance, following the story for Lindsey Vonn and the tough training and injuries sustained building up to excellence - she had to do things she didn't like to do. The message - rather than putting off the things you don't like doing, dive right into them, overcome them, and find your passion to build your soft inside. Some of the other coaching takeaways include: Create a list of positive words that can turn you around when you hit a rough patch Take note of your key accomplishments and why they were successful Connect to childhood dreams Change your routine Tackle the baby steps, not the giant tasks right away (pace yourself) Focus on questions not answers Know your root focus and why you have it Organize, prioritize, and stay on track to avoid downward spirals All of the stories and tips drive the core principles of the book around Passion, Focus, Commitment, Overcoming Adversities, Confidence, Risk, and Teamwork. The support of others through the personal journey of finding the soft inside and being inspired by others creates an attitude and way of being that Stone coins the "Turtle Effect." Being in the right zone of controlling yourself in your environment maintains peak performance. The effect was great enough that is was instrumental in helping Stone's parents survive cancer. This book will inspire you. It will make you think about who you are and where you're at in a way that will ignite your drive to chase your dreams and fulfill your goals. All the profiles showcased outline the core principles of success and that anybody can make it no matter the background, conditions, or timing. Even better reason to love this book - 25% of the net proceeds are donated to the American Cancer Society.

Nikki Stone in her first book has done a masterful job of pulling together an interesting and divese set of people's personal experiences in a format that is enjoyable to read and inspirational to the reader. I found the stories to be engaging, informative and motivational, because the areas they address---passion, commitment, focus, overcoming adversities, confidence, risk and teamwork. Nikki's approach to being successful, and becoming a Olympic and World Champion is a measure of success. The "Turtle Effect" is very straightforward. To be successful you need to: Be soft on the inside. Have a hard shell. And be willing to stick your neck out. In the book you get exposed to how people are successful and Nikki shares insightful thoughts and comments based upon her vast experience as an athlete and motivational speaker, that helps you develop a game plan and determine ways you can be successful. A delightful read, quick stories, from interesting people that cause you to think and reflect.

This book has come at the perfect time. In her first book, author and Olympian Nikki Stone offers new hope and inspiration in an age rife with cynicism and despair. She does that not with hokey political promises, but with real-life examples. Forty real-life examples, plus her own inspiring one. This book fills a huge need, as we are at a crisis level of "I can't" and excuse-making. If you look at the cultural trends of the past couple of decades, there's a whole lot of whining going on. From "I'm a victim" to "It's somebody else's fault" to "That other person is just lucky," it's all about surrendering to failure. These 40 people prove that surrender isn't an option, if you don't want it to be. Some of them succeeded through hard work and determination. Others had to overcome adversity so daunting their success was almost impossible. Yet, these people have achieved great things. Nikki Stone herself overcame incredible adversity to win an Olympic Gold. As an athlete myself, I found her story reaching me at a gut level. I know the meaning of "push on through the pain," but Ms. Stone gives it a whole new meaning. This book consists of nine chapters, the first of which is the introduction. Each of the next seven address, in this order: passion, focus, commitment, overcoming adversities, confidence, risk, and teamwork/support. In each of those seven chapters, Ms. Stone provides five to seven cases. Each case is someone's story. The case has these components: photo, biography, Nikki's intro to the story, and the person's story. It then closes with lessons drawn by Ms. Stone from the story, under the subhead "To be successful, you need to...". My favorite case was, for some reason, that of Nadia Comanici. I still remember watching her compete in the 1976 Olympics when she was 14. While many of the cases were people affiliated in some way with the Olympics, the book featured plenty of non-Olympians. How did Ms. Stone manage to get 40 people to interview for her? Considering that many had no previous contact with her or the Olympics, that's amazing in itself. Chapter 9, the conclusion, is very short. It doesn't try to sum up the whole book. It simply ends the book with some personal thoughts of the author and why twenty-five percent of the net proceeds from When Turtles Fly go to the American Cancer Society. Inspiration, motivation, and courage. If you're short on any of these three, read this book. If you have all three, give this book to someone who could use some encouragement. And then lend your personal support.