Joyful Jubilant Learning

JJL in February, 2008: What do we learn by reading books?

In our Joyful Jubilant Learning Community, February is a month for reading, and indulging our deep, almost fanatical passion for books.

A love of reading is something we seem to have in common here, writers and readers alike, and February is a month we get overly zealous at it, as if floodgates of heaven-sent permission were opened.

We are book people through and through, and proud of it.

In February, we become newly determined to attack those stacks of not-yet-read purchases on our nightstands, coffee tables and desk corners that have started to tower and wobble because we just can't say no when we walk in a bookstore.

We can't look away, and not click on the links within those tempting email blitzes which arrive in our inboxes from online sellers... they aren't spam, we gave them our addresses willingly, spelling them out legibly!

Why February?

Because every March, the JJL month is completely dedicated to the forum of book reviews we call A Love Affair with Books. At least one book review is published each day, presenting the most compelling reason of all to escape in our library-like self-induced nirvana: Recommendations from a community of like-minded, book-loving lifelong learners.

Usually, we just jump right in on March 1st. This year however, we're going to warm up in February, and ask our contributing authors to write for us on this question:

What did you learn from reading a book about it?

Yes, past tense, what did they learn, and why did they choose a book to teach it to them?

At first it seems we all can just answer, "A lot!" and make a seemingly endless list. However if you think back over your purchases, certain ones happened at certain times: You were pulled into those clearly marked aisles of the library or bookstore for some pretty specific reasons.

We are all a collection of learning stories, and this month, I'm betting we can learn from our writers' past experiences, and get doubly inspired for the new ones we will surely be presented with in March.

At the end of their story, our authors will be asking you if you learned the same thing from another book, or in a completely different, not-reading way. We are hoping to get some discussion going in which we can compare notes!

By the way, if you would like to contribute your own story and answer the question, email it to our Community mailbox: We would love to publish it for you. And start reading and writing your own book reviews... you can participate in A Love Affair with Books in March too! Watch for that shout-out near month's end.

Make sure you are subscribed: 29 days in February this year!

~ Rosa Say for Joyful Jubilant Learning

Flickr photos by Earl - What I Saw 2.0, by margolove, and by ciro@tokyo. Click on each for the photographer's page.

Packing For Two

I arrived at airport security with my carry-on bag in tow. I was excited to fly on this new airline, Express Jet. I had heard good things: they give you actual food, they provide complimentary XM radio, and it's a straight through flight!

I placed my bag on the conveyor belt and walked through the scanner (minus shoes, belt, and personal effects). When I got to the other side, a security agent was standing there with my bag in hand, asking if it would be okay to go through my stuff (is "no" an acceptable answer?!?).

When we got over to the table, he started rifling through my bag and then pulled out my toiletries case (is there a better word for this?). He started pulling out toothpaste, shaving cream, hair gel, shampoo, etc. All the liquids. He turned to me and said, "You can't bring this with you because it's not in a ziplock bag."

"But I don't have a ziplock bag?!?" I exclaimed.

"We have them available at the front of the security gate. We can escort you back there and get you one and then you can travel through security again." That did not sound like a good idea to me (although I did consider setting up a ziplock bag stand right behind airport security...at $1 a bag, I could make a small fortune).

Another security agent came up from behind and said, "Or you can mail these items to yourself." My initial thought...and that is helpful information in what way?

Fortunately, I was traveling with my friend, Carey. He had already made it through security and was laughing at me (he said he was just smiling...but there were definite guffaws). I called him over and told him what was going on. He asked me if I wanted a stamp to mail my stuff. Not funny.

Then he reached inside his carry on and pulled out a ziplock bag. "Would this be helpful?"

Now I was smiling. Carey had saved the day. We placed my items in the baggie and I was set free to scope out the nearest mocha latte in the airport.

From this episode, I've discovered that I don't always carry everything I need in my own bag. But there are often times where I do have something that someone else needs.

What I was lacking, Carey had extra.

I think the same can be said of our learning and growing together. As we're journeying together, we will encounter areas where we just don't have what we need in our bag. But someone else does. And if they're willing to share, we can move further down the road.

So when I pack my bag for this year, I want to consider the following:
1) Be willing to give what I have away.
2) Journey with others so that I can benefit with what they have to offer.
3) Move from ownership of ideas to stewardship of ideas.
4) Help others overcome obstacles and ask for help when I encounter them.
5) Carry more ziplock bags with me.
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Tim Milburn is now a big fan of Express Jet. He writes at a couple of different places on the blogosphere. Developing student leaders over at studentlinc and helping college students succeed at College Students Rule!. He is currently developing a 30 module student leadership curriculum for those who work with student leaders at schools, churches, and civic organizations.

Please Welcome Kevin Eikenberry to Joyful Jubilant Learning!

Kevin's name may sound familiar to you:

Most recently, remarkable business leader Kevin Eikenberry was Benjamin Bach's guest here at Joyful Jubilant Learning, featured in our JJL interview series we call Jubilant Learners Speak Up!

You may remember this snippet:

Benjamin: What would the world look like if we were all Remarkable Leaders?

Kevin: The world would be a better place.  People would be using the skills they have been given, they would be continually learning and the results we would actualize would be, well, remarkable.  Remarkable leaders make a difference in the world, when everyone is doing that… the world will be an even more amazing place than it is today.

Today, I am thrilled to announce that Kevin has decided to join us here at Joyful Jubilant Learning as a monthly contributor, honoring us as one of the choices he has made, with how he personally will make that difference in the world he so passionately speaks about.

Kevin is an author, speaker, trainer, and consultant dedicated to revealing our learning potential. He is a savvy businessman in his own right, and founder of the Kevin Eikenberry Group, a learning consulting company, where he walks his talk of remarkable leadership as Chief Potential Officer - how's that for a title to both live up to and challenge lifelong learners with!

Kevin has joined us as we travel along Jubilation Way during 2008, exploring monthly themes as we do so. His first article for us is called "Packing Right" for January: Click in, read about what Kevin will be packing in his bag for the year to come as he joins us, and share your aloha in a comment there for him.

By the way: Our timing is perfect with learning more about Kevin, and how a true "learning consultancy" works. Earlier this week Kevin announced a "Remarkable Opportunity" for everyone who has his new book, Remarkable Leadership, or is thinking about picking it up. He is offering some fantastic resources you will want to take a look at.

And of course, keep reading Kevin's articles right here on Joyful Jubilant Learning!

Packing Right

Though I travel often, I’m not always the most economical packer. I do fine with the clothes, but I always seem to have a couple of extra books (that don’t get opened on the trip), and extra training materials that I take “just-in-case.”

So as I pondered what to pack for the next year, I thought carefully – I decided not to worry about being too economical – while I could have fit more in this bag, everything here I plan to use every day. Here’s what’s in my bag.

Gratitude. I practice being grateful and appreciative every day. I find when I am grateful and appreciative, not only do good things come my way and I enjoy each day more, but that same grateful spirit makes me more open to learning.

Reflection. To be a more effective learner we must be more reflective. Let me be more direct – I know I learn better and more effectively when I practice reflection more often. I’m packing this for myself, all of those I coach, consult and train, and for everyone who reads what I write this year.

Personal Leadership. Yes, I wrote a book on leadership and so it seems logical this would be something important to me. Forget that fact for a second. The bottom line is that we all lead and that as we become better leaders we become better human beings. How do we become better? Practice and experience; in other words, learning. Packing my personal leadership skills is practical for me in almost every role I play in life. Why wouldn’t I want to pack this?

A Remarkable Expectancy. I expect great things; from my relationships, from my business, from my clients, of my family, of myself. When we have higher expectations we tend to live up to them – and as we stretch to reach these expectations, we need to be in a learning mindset.

My new Kindle. I love this tool and it is definitely part of my learning journey this year. Plus it may help me with “real” packing – keeping the unopened books at home, and multiple books in a small package.

As I look back over this packing list, (reflecting even as I type) I know that these things will make for a remarkable learning year for me. I hope you consider one or more of these items for your packing list as well.

Kevin Eikenberry is an author, speaker, trainer, consultant and the Chief Potential Officer of the Kevin Eikenberry Group - a learning consulting company.  He is also the author of Remarkable Leadership - Unleashing Your Leadership Potential One SKill at a Time. You can read his blogs here and here.

Unpacking Gifts

January has been a very rich month for me. Right now it is -45 Celsius or -49 Fahrenheit but things are heating up for February.

This community is a very valuable source of learning and a welcome stop as I navigate through blogs. I feel so much at home here. I also feel that I can be very personal and sometimes the most personal is the most universal.

Joanna thank you so much for the information and example on Voicethread. What a neat tool. If you want to create a picture for learning I would certainly go in and weave together a thread of my voice to your creation.

Although it is very cold outside, things have very much heated up as I delve further and further into employee engagement. This is the topic that is closest to my heart and I would love people to see my name as synonymous with employee engagement. To me, the unengaged life (at work or home) is barely a life. To this end, I have created a new social/information network on employee engagement. If this is a topic that interests you I would love your participation. Here is a button and a link to that site:

Visit The Employee Engagement Network

Rosa and Phil have joined the site and I am especially indebted to Rosa for what I have learned as she demonstrates by example how to be the glue to hold JJL together. I am inspired by Rosa's energy and passion and I hope I can do a similar job for people who are passionate about employee engagement from an authentic and real perspective.

On a personal note I will be starting a new blog on Saturday: www.diehappytoday.com. I have always loved Ground Hog day and this will be a neat way to get out of the shadow of death, denial, doubt, and dubious deeds (okay, I admit it...I get easily hooked on alliterations).

I will only be writing there once or twice a week. There is a sneak preview if you want to take a look. If you want to see/read a different profile of me from that site: click here.

The site and name for it all came about on a flight to Halifax Nova Scotia when I wondered if the plane was to crash would I die happy?

To me this is not a morbid question and it is not some sort of "rah rah seize every moment with gusto and be pumped to the max" kind of self-injunction.

Rather, I am attempting to respond to this in an authentic way that connects with my full real voice and connects with the readers. I would love to have lots of readers but most importantly, I need to read it a few times every week to keep asking myself: If I was to die today, would I die happy?

By the way, the answer is YES, unequivocally YES.

I notice as I ask this question many times a day that I am more connected to my 3 teenagers, more understanding of others, more accepting of myself, and as an aside, I find myself laughing so much more even as I watch reruns of The Simpsons or Seinfeld (mostly I watch reruns to be sitting in the same room as my three chilren).

Staying cool in Winnipeg at -45

David

From the MWA Coach: 25 Reasons to Adopt Rapid Fire Learning

Rapid Fire Learning is always a fascinating exercise for me. I love that we have this feature for Joyful Jubilant Learning, and even if the day should come it is discontinued here, RFL-ing will remain packed in my bag.

When I first sit to write my RFLs, I truly go for the intention of the exercise: Rapid fire recall, stream of consciousness, trusting that what needs to come out and get chronicled IS in fact my learning. If I have to go back and re-read blog postings, make sense of my morning pages, and skim my weekly reviews I couldn't have learned what I thought - goodness, not if I can't even remember it!

However I freely admit to you that my rapid fire recall at that first sitting can get edited quite a bit before I do share it with the rest of you. The writer in me grabs hold of what the self-talker let spill out, and necessarily so; often my stream of consciousness sounds like pure gibberish, for after all, I know what I mean.

I also have a way of writing too much (she writes as she starts a fourth paragraph...) so while I may not have learned it yet, RFL does help me to keep learning to edit.

So why am I sharing all of this? If you are not yet participating in our Rapid Fire Learning, I urge you to do so. It is such a valuable learning exercise.

This month, I am bending the rules of the exercise a bit with my participation. As we head further down Jubilation Way, I am hoping these reasons will convince you to pack Rapid Fire Learning in your bag too. You'll be surprised how it doesn't take much space at all, yet makes such a huge difference for you.

25 Reasons to Adopt Rapid Fire Learning

1. You learn to trust in the wisdom of your recall. There is some magic that happens there, and you tap into it. It gets easier and easier with each new month. You wonder at the all of who you are - gosh, who knew?

2. You learn how much of a learner you truly are. It dawns on you that the seemingly-constant goal you have had to be a "lifelong learner" is something you have already achieved.

New threads of learning

I guess most of you know by now that I love words and writing.  But that's not the whole of my 'thing', my purpose, which is about coaching and inspiring others to realize the power of their words.

And that means I'm constantly looking for - and experimenting with - ways that I can connect with people that aren't just based on the 'conventional' written word.  My five bits of learning this month are a mixture of things I've learned, things I'm still working out, and things I definitely want to keep in my bag for the year ahead.

Podcasting - I've been doing a regular podcast for the last few months.  It's 5 writing tips in less than 5 minutes, once a week.  I've learned that my mind likes the creative challenge of finding a topic or a frame for the week (last week's was inspired by the haggis!) but I still need to learn how to make more of the time and effort that I put into these, and how to promote them through the podcasting world (is there an equivalent of the blogosphere - the podosphere?).  Any tips and suggestions on how to do this gratefully received...

Pictures - thanks to Steve Sherlock for telling us about a fantastic site for finding flickr images with a Creative Commons licence.  Have a look at the site, type in a word - something you're writing about maybe - and see what comes up.  How could you use that image to give your words greater impact?

Twitter - it's still words, but not writing in the formal or conventional sense... 140 characters at a time, sometimes disconnected and disjointed, sometimes rapid fire, sometimes happy, sometimes sad, sometimes providing just the link, the thought, the idea that you need to spark some learning.  There are some other JJLers there I know and I'm interested in the possibilities... how do you think we could use it to help build this community or stimulate our own learning?

Talking - nothing like the spoken word of course, and I've been enjoying talking to a few more blogging friends by phone and Skype this month.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed I'll be able to meet some JJLers in person in Chicago in May, and I know that will take my learning to the next level again.

VoiceThread - I discovered VoiceThread via a 'tweet' from a Scottish blogger I've just 'met' and co-incidentally, on the same day, a post by Michele Martin at the Bamboo Project blog (she was also looking at the limitations of traditional reading and writing). 

I'm enclosing a first introductory voice thread from me, plus a link to a video from VoiceThread that tells you how it works.  I'm really looking forward to learning and discovering more.  Are any of you using it already? 

What I like about it that is that it blends visual and auditory - much more likely to hold my attention than a podcast or voice recording on its own, and it's interactive, with the opportunity to add different messages and voices, so the picture becomes the base for a multi-layered story...

I haven't quite worked out how the commenting thing works yet - but if you're a member (or are willing to sign up... ) the idea is you can leave a voice recorded or typed message.  Can you see ways that we could use this to develop JJL collaborative projects...?

Thanks Ariane for the prompt to share my learning, and to all of you, as always, for inspiring and encouraging me to be a joyful jubilant learner.

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This article is part Rapid Fire Learning and part contribution to our January theme at Joyful Jubilant Learning:  Packing our bags for 2008

The author Joanna Young is a writing coach who lives and works in Edinburgh.

You can read more of her work at the Confident Writing blog. This month she's focusing there on writing with impact.

Rapid Fire Learning with Seth Godin

Last week, I had the chance to speak with Seth Godin about his new book Meatball Sundae.  If you didn't read the interview when we posted it, check it out now!

In addition to the cogent advice, Seth shared 5 things he has learnt so far in 2008:

1. Things are good, don't wait.

2. Helping others first isn't a platitude, it's a valid strategy.

3. The web doesn't care about you, not one bit.

4. It still comes down to who you really are, and what you do when you think no one is watching.

5. Everything is easy when the wind is at your back.

What have YOU learnt so far this year ?  Let us know in the comments!

Benjamin Bach is a speaker, writer and wealth building Real Estate agent in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario Canada - home of the Blackberry.

You can find his blog at http://www.Kitchener-Waterloo-Real-Estate-Investments.com

 

5 Lessons from Max

On December 26th, a beautiful one year old Chow/Husky dog found himself in the humane shelter. For five days, he waited for someone to pick him up. In a cage with two other dogs, he found himself imprisoned with a doubtful future. A couple of days later, my wife and I adopted Max and brought him home. What a wonderful companion for us! He is fully trained, smart and has learned to walk properly on a leash, sit, stay and lie down.

Not only has he learned new things, I have been taught by him. Here are my 5 lessons Max is teaching me:

1. Routine is good. My wife and I tend to be routine people, especially during the workweek. Max thrives with routine and disciplined structure. He also enjoys letting it loose on our quarter acre!

2. Enjoy simple things. One of his favorite toys is a sock ball that my wife made for him. He enjoys throwing it around and sleeping with it. He loves the nightly routine of being brushed!

3. Obedience leads to blessings. Doing the right things lead to rewards; we all know this but sometimes we forget that all we need to do, at every moment, is the next right thing.

4. Exploration and getting to know others are fun. Exploring his new yard and neighborhood has given him such joy. He loves "approved" people, the next door dog and every bush in our yard. He even enjoyed meeting the vet and his staff who all thought he was "magnificent".

5. Be who you are. Max is Max and enjoys it. He is no other dog and appears to be proud of it. He is a Designer Original!

I'm sure there will be more stories from Max in coming days...like this morning's squirrel challenge...

5 Joyful January Learnings!

It is time for Rapid Fire Learning!

If you are new to Joyful Jubilant Learning, this is our monthly drill for all lifelong learners in the community: We post this shout-out asking about the first 5 learnings that come to mind for you, stream-of-consciousness, quick as you can list them --- What have you learned in January?

We do this every month on day 6 before month-end.  All of our JJL contributing authors take turn hosting our shout-out (see all past RFL (Rapid Fire Learning) posts here), and I'm up, so here's my review of the month's contributions to our theme of "Packing Your Bags for 2008" and my own 5 things I've learned with 5 days left!

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One thing for sure I've learned is that my co-contributors here are an amazing talented group of people!  The theme for the month was "Packing our Bags for 2008."   

Who knew there were so many creative and delightful ways to interpret that theme! I didn't have a chance to add to that theme because this is one of the busiest months of the year for professional organizers, but I was greatly inspired by the contributions of everyone here.  Here are some of the highlights:

• Rosa Say is "losing it in 2008" and taught us about  ma'alahi (just one Hawaiian word for a bunch of English ones.)  She's also packing up some great ideas to make waiting productive".
  
• Phil Gerbyshak is "packing in" his addiction to information and self-development (but thankfully he's not going to do that till AFTER he reads my new book  Neat & Simple Guide to Organizing Your Office)
  
• Steve Sherlock is packing his bags with cans.  No...that's not a typo!  Check out his 2008 challenge!
  
• Terry Starbucker packed his bags virtually for a move to a new "virtual" home.  Congratulations and thanks for sharing what you learned doing that!
  
• Karen Wallace is packing a smile and a clever little Black Velvet Purse!
  
  

  And now here are 5 things I've been learning a lot about this month....

1. Book self-publishing
   Since I finished my Neat & Simple Guide to Organizing Your Office  I learned how to get an ISBN number, sell digital books on-line with e-junkie, use on-demand print publishers:  lulu , booksurge, and instantpublisher Thanks to our very own Phil Gerbyshak for recommending these, and also vervante, recommended by Suzanne McLoone.  Now I just need time to layout a version of the book so that it will print right...and soon, you'll be able to order your own copy to pack in your bags for 2008! 
   
2. I learned how to set up Google Groups!
   I'm working on a Google Support Group for people who like me are interested in my number 4 learning: eating healthier. But I found out people can only join my group if they have a Google email address.  UGH.  I have a gmail address, but during my test of the group, nearly everyone I invited to join me in the group got hung up and did not want to get a google email just to join it.  So, back to the drawing board for me.  On to learning more about Yahoo groups maybe.
   (p.s. here's the link to the Neat & Simple Healthy Eating Group. http://groups.google.com/group/neat-and-simple-healthy-eating) 
   
3. Chronic Disorganization
   I've been doing a lot of learning over the last year and particularly this month about how to best help people who are chronically organized.  Here is an article I wrote this month that distills much of what I've learned about chronic disorganization.
   
4. How to organize to eat healthy even if you have ADD
   How can you eat well, if you are a creative person, or have ADD, and often forget to eat during the day like me? What about if you eat junk food a lot just because it's handy and you don't have to think? Well, if you don't organize to eat healthy and have a super easy system for having a variety of healthy fast foods on hand, I'm afraid you will continue to make the junk food marketers rich at the expense of your own health. This is something I've been working on for the last couple years and this month it came to the forefront for me when I started reading the book:  Pieces of a Puzzle:  The link between ADD & Eating Disorders. So I've been learning so much and am currently gathering my thoughts and ideas on this topic.
   
   Oddly enough, I got a call from SELF magazine last week to be interviewed on the subject of organizing for healthy eating!  I guess that's the laws of attraction at work!  I'm so excited about pulling together my ideas for the simplest, easiest ways to eat healthy and lose weight with NO calorie counting, NO structured meal planning, NO Food diaries, etc.  I even finally pulled together an A-Store devoted to 7 core books on healthy eating and nutrition. After reading these books, you won't ever look at food the same way again. How is all this related to organizing?  Because if you aren't getting the proper nutrition, or if you are eating foods that cause "brain fog" I guarantee you are also having difficulties organizing.  And if you don't organize to make it happen, you won't be eating healthy either. 
   
5. The Benefits of a Raw Food, Vegetarian Diet
   The more I learn about the philosophy behind Raw Food diets, the more I'm leaning toward it as a way of life. I am currently experimenting with eating only raw food during the day and I can honestly say it's improved the consistency of my energy levels, moods, focus, productivity and more. I've really started to notice that where I used to get "brain fog" rather often - it's very much correlated with eating cooked food.  The less I eat of cooked food, the more I notice it's negative effect on me.  I'm also noticing that eating cooked foods leads to far more overeating.  Especially at night.  I've always had issues with night eating and using food to help me sleep.  Far fewer problems with night eating when I eat raw all day, which I'm doing 90% of the time. 
   
   What started me down the raw food path?  Well, after 35 years of yo-yo dieting, I vowed never to diet again.  Never again to state losing weight as a goal.  (Even though I would be beyond thrilled to shed 50 -75 pounds.)  I vowed that every goal I set would be a positive lifestyle change - not a quick fix diet.  So my goal is to achieve optimum health via optimal nutrition - one habit and one belief at a time. It started with only drinking water about 10 years ago - no soda or juice.  Then no gluten (I listed what I would eat instead.) After a year of that I was strong enough to tackle sugar 2 yrs ago.  When I quit sugar, I didn't have that as my stated goal.  My goal was to eat mostly unprocessed, nutritious whole foods.  Guess what?  none of them have sugar and few have gluten!  : )  So it is with raw food...I'm not quitting anything, just choosing to eat raw, unprocessed, whole food - most of the time.
   
   I truly believe than when I've figured out how to eat healthy  and I've made it super easy to do - my weight will naturally become what it should be, and my ADD will naturally be easier to manage too.
   
   Here's the site by Angela Stokes that got me started thinking and learning about the raw food movement.

So what have you learned this month?

p.s. If you've read this far, you deserve a gift!  Please accept my free gift to you!
"100 Surefire Ways to Organize Your Busy Life!" plus two bonuses!

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Ariane Benefit, M.S.Ed, Organizing Coach, specializes in helping people conquer clutter, simplify their lives, and create the homes & offices of their dreams! Ariane is the author of the "The Neat & Simple Guide to Organizing Your Office" the popular organizing blog, Neat & Simple Living.