I have been reflecting on the things that I have been grateful for, and my Book Club made the list. I have been a member of it for a couple of years and I now appreciate it even more. It has produced connections on several levels:
- connected with ideas
- connected with the authors of the books in person and by social media
- connected with like-minded people from the Club
Why would I not read the book at home, but with a group of people? My initial skepticism disappeared quickly after a few Book Club meetings.
Connected with Ideas
The books we choose to read cover a broad range of topics: personal and professional development, leadership skills, technology innovation and impact on real estate, older people-employment, organizational learning, wisdom, confidence, happiness at work, grit, cultivating beginner's mind and more.
The Effort-Success-Progress (E-S-P) principle I adopted in my daily routine came from Dr. Nate Zinsser's "Confident Mind". Growing a confidence mental account is similar to growing a money bank account. A Bank account grows if you make deposits in it. Same with the Confidence account - add daily and see what happens over time. I started doing a daily reflection on the following 3 questions:
(1) What did I do that left me with a feeling of pride that I have made a good effort
(2) What did I do that left me with a feeling of accomplishment, and
(3) What did I do that left me with a feeling of progress.
Dan Sullivan, the author of "10x is Easier than 2x", suggest a similar approach to achieve a gain mindset. At the end of each day, write down three "wins" you had that day. These wins could be things you learned (even from things that didn't go well) - the author says. Once written, you can measure your gains for different time-frames.
When in need of clarity, write a haiku - came from Fred Dust's "Making Conversation". Haiku is a short poem, it contains no more than 17 syllables - syllables, not words. In his management consulting practice, the author asked CEOs to describe their business in a haiku.
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"Simplicity in words, Context in concepts will Lead to Clarity." Fred Dust, CEO |
I wrote some of the thoughts I did not want to forget in my book diaries, photos of which are above.
Connected with the authors of the books in person
Meeting with authors makes the content even more vivid and memorable. I was surprised how accessible they were.
The meeting with Ben Lytle, the author of "The Potentialist, Your Future in the New Reality of the Next Thirty Years", was quite inspiring and thought-provoking. This CEO of a Fortune 500 company, a futurist, a healthcare expert took the time to meet in person with our small group of 10-15, and impressed us with his age, wisdom and energy.
We also had an in-person meeting with Dr. Jen Welter, the author of "Play Big - Lessons in Being Limitless from the First Woman to coach in the NFL".
And with Jesse Cole "Fans First" via a Zoom call.
I connected with many of the writers via LinkedIn. Because of Chip Conley's "Wisdom at Work" and "Learning To Love MidLife", I regularly read his Modern Elder Academy newsletter.
Connected with like-minded people from the Book Club
Because our club's participants are women working in the real estate industry, I got to know more specialists from various fields of commercial real estate. It's more fun to read and discuss the book with other people, who read it at the same. It's a richer experience, too. When we were reading "Unreasonable Hospitality", by William Guidara, one of the club members enthusiastically shared with us her story about visiting the main place of action in the book, the legendary Eleven Madison Place (EMP) - the restaurant which has been intentional and creative in their pursuit of relationships.
If you are wondering what book to pick up for the time after the holidays, give me a call. I have a wonderful list.
This blog is my participation for this November's Active Rain challenge: Thankful Thoughts, organized by Debe Maxwell, CRS .
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