Whatever It Takes

I HAVE A BAD REPUTATION. Call me what you want: Bad Boy Next Door. Trouble. That Kid Who Can’t Do Anything Right. When Willow moves into my neighborhood, nothing should have happened. She’s geeky. Shy. A true wallflower. Willow is a good girl. Too good for me. And how the hell was I supposed to know that she’s related to Loren Hale--yeah, that douchebag celebrity that lives on my street. The same guy I've been pranking by spray painting vulgar words on his mailbox and worse. Much worse. Don't ask me why I do the things I do. Don't ask me why it had to be her. I'm cursed. Simple as that. But here's the thing about people who are cursed--they break everything they touch. And yet. . .I still want to touch her. ​

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From Blackstone chairman, CEO, and co-founder Stephen A. Schwarzman, a long-awaited book that uses impactful episodes from Schwarzman's life to show readers how to build, transform, and lead thriving organizations. Whether you are a student, entrepreneur, philanthropist, executive, or simply someone looking for ways to maximize your potential, the same lessons apply. People know who Stephen Schwarzman is—at least they think they do. He’s the man who took $400,000 and co-founded Blackstone, the investment firm that manages over $500 billion (as of January 2019). He’s the CEO whose views are sought by heads of state. He’s the billionaire philanthropist who founded Schwarzman Scholars, this century’s version of the Rhodes Scholarship, in China. But behind these achievements is a man who has spent his life learning and reflecting on what it takes to achieve excellence, make an impact, and live a life of consequence. Folding handkerchiefs in his father’s linen shop, Schwarzman dreamed of a larger life, filled with purpose and adventure. His grades and athleticism got him into Yale. After starting his career in finance with a short stint at a financial firm called DLJ, Schwarzman began working at Lehman Brothers where he ascended to run the mergers and acquisitions practice. He eventually partnered with his mentor and friend Pete Peterson to found Blackstone, vowing to create a new and different kind of financial institution. Building Blackstone into the leading global financial institution it is today didn’t come easy. Schwarzman focused intensely on culture, hiring great talent, and establishing processes that allow the firm to systematically analyze and evaluate risk. Schwarzman’s simple mantra “don’t lose money” has helped Blackstone become a leading private equity and real estate investor, and manager of alternative assets for institutional investors globally. Both he and the firm are known for the rigor of their investment process, their innovative approach to deal making, the diversification of their business lines, and a conviction to be the best at everything they do. Schwarzman is also an active philanthropist, having given away more than a billion dollars. In philanthropy, as in business, he is drawn to situations where his capital and energy can be applied to drive transformative solutions and change paradigms, notably in education. He uses the skills learned over a lifetime in finance to design, establish, and support impactful and innovative organizations and initiatives. His gifts have ranged from creating a new College of Computing at MIT for the study of artificial intelligence, to establishing a first-of-its-kind student and performing arts center at Yale, to enabling the renovation of the iconic New York Public Library, to founding the Schwarzman Scholars fellowship program at Tsinghua University in Beijing—the single largest philanthropic effort in China’s history from international donors. Schwarzman’s story is an empowering, entertaining, and informative guide for anyone striving for greater personal impact. From deal making to investing, leadership to entrepreneurship, philanthropy to diplomacy, Schwarzman has lessons for how to think about ambition and scale, risk and opportunities, and how to achieve success through the relentless pursuit of excellence. Schwarzman not only offers readers a thoughtful reflection on all his own experiences, but in doing so provides a practical blueprint for success.

A portrait of African-American activist Geoffrey Canada describes his radical approach to eliminating inner-city poverty, one that proposes to transform the lives of poor children by changing their schools, their families, and their neighborhoods at the same time.

They say before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves. For James Mercer, the financial ruin of his family by the institutions they trusted can never be undone. It shattered everyone, leaving him with a burning need to right the wrongs they suffered. He will stop at nothing to recoup what they are owed. It's not theft, it's payback. Until his solo crusade falls foul of the very people he seeks to rob - the one per centers, the people who own the bulk of the world's wealth. Soon he is putting together a crew to carry out one last robbery, to undertake one last job. Success will restore his family's fortunes, but failure will destroy them forever. Packed with relentless action and the sort of riveting authenticity only Andy McNab can provide, Whatever it Takestells the story of one man's extraordinary pursuit of justice against devastating odds, a story as hard and real and controversial as any of today's headlines, which will show the world as it really is... The latest Nick Stone thriller, DOWN TO THE WIRE, is available in hardback now.

From a serial entrepreneur who has closed over $100M in sales and founded two eight-figure companies, including one of LinkedIn's Top 50 Startups, comes a no-BS guide to getting everything you want in your business, relationships, and life. His journey is all the proof you need. Brandon Bornancin graduated college flat broke. He started a business that was an epic failure. Then he turned it all around - before he was 30 - closing over $100 million in sales for Google and IBM and founding two multimillion-dollar companies, the second named "LinkedIn's Top 50 Startups." How did he do it? By doing Whatever It Takes. In this no-nonsense guide to success, you'll learn the empowering beliefs and transformative habits needed to achieve all that you want in business and in life. You'll discover the secrets of wildly successful people - how they think, what they say, and what they do to make their dreams come true so that you can too! Whatever It Takes offers a transparent and tough-love approach to help you conquer what's holding you back from the life you've always wanted and the business you've always dreamed about. Bornancin lays it all out to teach you exactly how to: · break bad habits and form empowering ones· master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results· fail forward to get better· unlock the single biggest secret to pursuing your passion· grasp the upside of Constructive Paranoia· leverage the power of The One-Percent Rule· bullet-proof your salesBe forewarned, this book will not show you the easy way out - in fact, consider it the complete opposite. This book is your battlefield. It's all about dying hard to old ways and going all-in on the future person you want to become. "Wake up and do the work," Bornancin demands. You too can defy the odds to get everything that you want in business and in life if you are willing to do Whatever It Takes.

With forty years of show business under his belt, no one knows better than Stephen Stohn what it takes to make it in Canadian entertainment. In a star-studded, rock ’n’ roll tour of his career, Stohn shares his stories, including such unforgettable icons as Canadian Idol, the Degrassi franchise, and the Juno Awards.

"I'm both blessed and cursed to be a guitar player. I didn't choose it, it chose me. The challenge was to find a way to weave my convictions into my music in a meaningful way." - Tom Morello As the cofounder and guitarist of Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, and Prophets of Rage, and as a solo artist and collaborator with artists as diverse as Bruce Springsteen and Wu-Tang Clan, few musicians have been as groundbreaking as Tom Morello. Now, for the first time, Morello's remarkable life as a guitarist, songwriter, singer, and political activist is captured in Whatever It Takes. Telling the story, from his first guitar to the present day, Morello's commentary is accompanied by a wealth of photographs, handwritten notes, and set lists, many of which are previously unpublished and come from the author's personal archives. Stunning images of Morello's heavily customized guitars complete this jam-packed photographic memoir, and the result, like his incendiary guitar playing, is fascinating, honest, and completely unique. Introduced by the Oscar-winning filmmaker Michael Moore, Jann Wenner, the cofounder of Rolling Stone, Morello's Prophets of Rage collaborator Chuck D, and Nora Guthrie, daughter of the legendary Woody Guthrie, Whatever It Takes is the defining document of one of the greatest rock guitar players of our times. "He's not only a brilliant musician, but he has a deep heart and a social conscience, just like Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Bono, or Jackson Browne. Tom is right up there with that gang. I think this excellent book helps prove why." - Jann Wenner "Tom Morello is a Visionary Activist, meaning what he sees in his mind goes full throttle into him making IT happen." - Chuck D "Fascists, white supremacists, centrists beware: Tom Morello is armed and dangerous, and his weapon is his music." - Michael Moore

Foreword by Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson From a top mental conditioning coach—"the world’s best brain trainer” (Sports Illustrated)—who has transformed the lives and careers of elite athletes, business leaders, and military personnel, battle-tested strategies that will give you tools to manage and overcome negativity and achieve any goal. He knows how to win. More, he knows the many ways-subtle, brutal, often self-inflicted-we lose. As the most trusted mental coach in the world of sports, Trevor Moawad has worked with many of the most dominant athletes and the savviest coaches. From Nick Saban and Kirby Smart to Russell Wilson, they all look to Moawad for help finding or keeping or regaining their competitive edge. (As do countless business leaders and members of special forces.) Now, at last, Moawad shares his unique philosophy with the general public. He lays out lessons he's derived from his greatest career successes as well as personal setbacks, the game-changing wisdom he's earned as the go-to whisperer for elite performers on fields of play and among men and women headed to the battlefield. Moawad's motivational approach is elegant but refreshingly simple: He replaces hardwired negativity, the kind of defeatist mindset that's nearly everybody's default, with what he calls "neutral thinking." His own special innovation, it's a nonjudgmental, nonreactive way of coolly assessing problems and analyzing crises, a mode of attack that offers luminous clarity and supreme calm in the critical moments before taking decisive action. Not only can neutral thinking raise your performance level-it can transform your overall life. And it all starts, Moawad says, with letting go. Past failures, past losses-let them go. "The past isn't predictive. If you can absorb and embrace that belief, everything changes. You'll instantly feel more calm. And the athlete-or employee or parent or spouse-who's more calm is also more aware, and more times than not ... will win."