Joyful Jubilant Learning

Full Index: A Love Affair with Books 2008

Want a sneak peek at what is in store for us?

Here is what our calendar looks like as of today, so print out a few of those templates Tim created for us and get ready!

And remember: You can still participate too (how to sign up here). We will be accepting reviewers all month long, OR you can post a review elsewhere and send it to one of our Trackback Sundays (see how it worked last year): You will have two to choose from --- March 9th and 23rd.

3/1: David Zinger has reviewed Finding Our Way: Leadership for an Uncertain Time By Margaret J Wheatley

3/2: Dean Boyer has reviewed A Celebration of Children By Edith Schaeffer

3/3: Tim Milburn has reviewed The Opposable Mind: How Successful Leaders Win Through Integrative Thinking By Roger L. Martin

3/4: Reg Adkins has reviewed Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results By Stephen C. Lundin, Harry Paul, John Christensen

3/5: Ben Whitehouse has reviewed Speak Truth to Power: Human Rights Defenders Who Are Changing Our World By Kerry Kennedy

3/6: Trevor Gay has reviewed Screw It, Let's Do It By Sir Richard Branson

3/7: Karen Wallace has reviewed A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder--How Crammed Closets, Cluttered Offices, and On-the-Fly Planning Make the World a Better Place By Eric Abrahamson, David H. Freedman

3/8: Joanna Young has reviewed The Sufi Book of Life: 99 Pathways of the Heart for the Modern Dervish By Neil Douglas-Klotz

3/9: Wayne Hurlbert has reviewed Right Makes Might: Reviving Ethics to Improve Your Business By Dorothea E. Gaulden

AND March 9th will be our first of two Trackback Sundays: Get some JJL Link Love, and send us a trackback for any book you have reviewed between March 1 and March 9th!

Update: Trackback Sunday is posted here FastTrack Your Books, and includes these reviews;

» Sunday Mālama Book Review: Know Can Do! ~ Part One from Managing with Aloha Coaching.
JJL Book page: Know Can Do!: Put Your Know-How Into Action By Ken Blanchard, Paul J Meyer, Dick Ruhe

» From Book Yourself Solid: How to Talk About What You Do from Talking Story with Say Leadership Coaching.
JJL Book page: Book Yourself Solid: The Fastest, Easiest, and Most Reliable System for Getting More Clients Than You Can Handle Even if You Hate Marketing and Selling By Michael Port

» sherku: the age of speed from quiet poet.
JJL Book page: The Age of Speed: Learning to Thrive in a More-Faster-Now World By Vince Poscente

» sherku: Run Less, Run Faster from quiet poet.
JJL Book page: Runner's World Run Less, Run Faster: Become a Faster, Stronger Runner with the Revolutionary FIRST Training Program By Bill Pierce, Scott Murr, Ray Moss

» Rich Idiots from Genuine Curiosity.
JJL Book page: How Come That Idiot's Rich and I'm Not? By Robert Shemin

» Book Review: The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive from Talking Story with Say Leadership Coaching.
JJL Book page: The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive: A Leadership Fable By Patrick M. Lencioni

3/10: Terry Starbucker has reviewed The 4-Hour work Week: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich By Timothy Ferris

3/11: Andrew Rondeau has reviewed The Dream Manager By Matthew Kelly

3/12: Sara Orem has reviewed  Thanks!: How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier By Robert Emmons

3/13: Dwayne Melancon has reviewed Thick Face, Black Heart: The Warrior Philosophy for Conquering the Challenges of Business and Life By Chin-Ning Chu

3/14: Sara Orem has reviewed  Happier: Learn the Secrets of Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment By Tal Ben-Shahar, PhD

3/15: Beth Robinson has reviewed Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations...One School at a Time By Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin

3/16: Kevin Eikenberry has reviewed The Art of Learning: A Journey in the Pursuit of Excellence By Josh Waitzkin

3/17: Phil Gerbyshak has reviewed The Celebrity Experience: Insider Secrets to Delivering Red Carpet Customer Service By Donna Cutting

3/17: Andrew Rondeau has reviewed On Leadership: Practical Wisdom From The People Who Know By Allan Leighton

3/18: Steve Sherlock has reviewed Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 By Stephen Puleo

3/19: Derek Newman has reviewed The Jewish Phenomenon: Seven Keys to the Enduring Wealth of a People By Steven Silbiger

3/20: Adam Kayce has reviewed Law of Attraction: The Science of Attracting More of What You Want and Less of What You Don't By Michael J. Losier

3/21: Chris Owen has reviewed The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate By Gary Chapman

3/22: Angela Maiers has reviewed Innovate Like Edison: The Success System of America's Greatest Inventor By Michael Gelb, Sarah Miller Caldicott

3/23: Rosa Say has reviewed Trade-Up!: 5 Steps for Redesigning Your Leadership and Life from the Inside Out By Rayona Sharpnack

AND March 23rd will be our second of two Trackback Sundays: Get some JJL Link Love, and send us a trackback for any book you have reviewed elsewhere between March 10th and March 23rd!

3/24: Yvonne DiVita has reviewed Divine Canine: The Monks' Way to a Happy, Obedient Dog By The Monks of New Skete

3/25: Matt Hixson has reviewed In Praise of Slowness: Challenging the Cult of Speed (Plus) By Carl Honore

3/26: Christopher Bailey has reviewed The Butterfly Hunter: Adventures of People Who Found Their True Calling Way Off the Beaten Path By Chris Ballard

3/27: Dave Rothacker has reviewed Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer By Roy Peter Clark

3/28: Pam Thomas has reviewed Thank You Power: Making the Science of Gratitude Work for You By Deborah Norville

3/29: Robyn McMaster has reviewed The Game of My Life: A True Story Of Challenge, Triumph, and Growing Up Autistic By Jason J-Mac McElwain, Daniel Paisner

3/30: Ben Whitehouse has reviewed Girlfriend in a Coma By Douglas Coupland

3/31: Gene Kim has reviewed The Head Trip: Adventures on the Wheel of Consciousness By Jeff Warren

Hmmm... Do men read more than women, or do they simply participate more? Ladies, I could not help but notice as I wrote up this table of contents for the month to come, that we have 21 men reviewing books, and only 9 women... and, do male authors sell more than the women do? 22 of these books were written by men and 9 by women.

Whatever those answers, March promises to be a terrific month of learning! Of all these books listed, I have personally read only 3 of them --- what about you?

Book Review Worksheet - Track Your Favorite Reviews

We are just days away from celebrating a month long excursion through a wide variety of books. The list is varied and extensive. It will be an amazing journey with suggestions and recommendations that you probably never considered.

How will you keep track of it all?

With the encouragement of Rosa, I've designed a one-page worksheet for you to keep track of the relevant and eye-catching information that you'll encounter over the next month. This worksheet is a free downloadable pdf.

When you download this form, you'll have the ability to write down information that sparks your interest from the book reviews. For many of us, our reading list is comprised of books that were recommended to us from friends and others whom we respect. This worksheet will assist you in keeping track of those nuggets of wisdom you find in the reviews. Plus, it will serve as a reminder to add that book to your Amazon Wish List!

Download the Book Review Worksheet

________________________________________________________
Tim Milburn loves a good one-page worksheet. He's designed a few productivity worksheets that have assisted thousands of people with meeting and event planning, leadership training guidelines, and personal productivity. You can access these forms at www.studentlinc.net.

What do you look for in a Book Review?---Redux

re·dux (rē-dŭks') ~ adj.
Brought back; returned. Used postpositively

What do you look for in a Book Review? was a posting I had done for us here at JJL about a year ago as we prepared for A Love Affair with Books then. My intention was to help our contributing authors write the best review possible for you, our JJL readers.

You were wonderful about responding, and your comments there stimulated great conversation among us both on the blog and behind the scenes. The authors truly appreciated it, and so I'd like to ask you if now, a year later, we could add to the discussion.

I am going to close the comments on this posting and point you there in the archives, so we can continue there with the benefit of what was already shared: There was some priceless stuff there, starting right off the bat with Rich G. Please add your thoughts. Comment there, and...

Tell us: What do you look for in a Book Review?

 

By the way, it is not too late to sign up and be one of our ALAWB 2008 reviewers!

Get the details here; Review a book, Win a book! and share your aloha within your love of reading.

~ Rosa Say for Joyful Jubilant Learning

I Don't Have Time To Read

I love to read. As a kid I would spend hours reading the latest Hardy Boys mystery novel or pick up a new Tom Swift book and explore one of his unbelievable inventions. The hours would pass quickly, and I usually found that I couldn't put the book down until the last page was turned.

As I grew older, the titles changed, but my love of reading just grew stronger. I loved to read science books and was always fascinated with new inventions and space travel. Once I started to drive, I would pick up books and magazines about cars and hot rods. Reading was fun!

Unfortunately, as the years have passed, my time available for reading has diminished. The commute to work got longer and the activities of life have really increased. When someone hands me a book now, I try to figure out when I can squeeze it in to my schedule.

I've tried some different techniques to fit reading in, but many of them have not worked well. I've tried reading in the car when carpooling, but that just makes me carsick after a few minutes. I've tried reading while out walking, but that has led to busted shins and falling off curbs. I've even tried reading while on the treadmill, but after flying off the machine a few times I realized that I can't read and run at the same time.

In the last few years another problem has crept up. As soon as I received my dreaded AARP card in the mail (This happens at 49 and a half. They track you by satellite and make sure your AARP membership letter is in your mailbox on that dreaded day. You can't hide... they will find you), I noticed that my reading vision has started to change. My eye doctor corrected this with progressive lenses, but that plays havoc with reading in any position other than sitting in a chair.

I used to love reading while laying on the couch, one arm propping my head up. With progressive lenses my field of vision is now severely blurred in this position. These crazy glasses have also ruined a good book while reading in bed, sitting in a recliner, or trying to read while cooking. In short... reading for any length of time is now confined to sitting up straight, just like my Mom told me to do. Arrrgh!

I thought that my reading days were almost over until one day when a little device found its way into my life. Called an iPod, this little audio device has revolutionized the way I partake of books. Instead of reading them, I now listen to them... while driving, walking, and even running on the treadmill. No more busted shins or flying off exercise equipment.

This little device has allowed me to devour over 50 books in the last year. Popular titles like Blink, Made To Stick, and even a classic like How To Win Friends & Influence People have filled my ears with wisdom and insight.

The really great thing is that I've finished everyone of them. No more half finished books laying on the coffee table, on the floor, or in the back seat in the car.

In conclusion... if you find that your schedule is big, your commute is long, or your eyesight is going, be sure to pick up an iPod, sign up for an Audible.com account and start downloading audio books. If you have problems... just ask your kids... they can get you setup!

Enjoy!

P.S. You can read about some of my adventures with audio books on my specialty blog Audio Book Notes

---

John Richardson is the author of Success Begins Today, a personal development blog devoted to practical applications that can make life an exciting adventure. From a wallet sized personal organizer to a desktop flow chart you're sure to find something here that you can download and enjoy. John always enjoys learning new things and suggests you try a powerful 48 minute working technique that can help you focus and get more done. Here's to your success!

5 Things I've Learned About "Managing My Time" in February

1. This month I learned something that has reverberated through my core like an earthquake:

"The mindset that ENABLES you to succeed, is not the same mindset
that allows you to REMAIN SUCCESSFUL and have a balanced life."

2. This month I learned that my paradigm of time was based on an old model. In my previous time model, my business was project to project and didn't involve any time spent on marketing and administration because it was 100% referral and projects lasted from 6 month to 2 years and I simply billed monthly.  I didn't own a home, and I wasn't married. I could "afford the time" to say YES to most things that interested me.  I had a mindset of "there is plenty of time" This month, when I missed a client deadline by 3 weeks, and showed up for an appointment an hour early, I became extremely conscious that something very deep inside me had to change.

3. Even though I knew this, it really LANDED for me this month:  I realized that no planner or other time management tool will work for me unless my paradigm of time is based in reality - there are only 24 hours in a day, and I've got a LOT of that time already on AUTO BILL PAY.  12-14 of those hours are spent in sleep and life maintenance. Another 5-8 are ALREADY spend on time WITH or FOR current clients.  That leaves me 2-4 hours for everything else.

4. Managing time is not really about "managing". It's not about scheduling (a word I really dislike.) That is a way too vague and meaningless way to look at time for me.  For me, I'm seeing that viewing my time as something very valuable that I invest is more useful.  So, lets suppose my time is worth $2 per minute. If I spend 20 minutes answering an email, I just spent $40. Was that a good investment?   Would I pay $40 for a loaf of bread? Investing my time is about constantly making YES or NO decisions on how to "spend" the valuable time I have available.  Everything I say YES to is something else I have to say NO to. 

The more successful you become, the balance of YES to NO has to shift.  In the beginning. you say YES to every opportunity.  To remain successful, it's all about the art of staying focused and figuring out what to say NO to even if they are great opportunities.  It's also about figuring out how to make sure there is time for your values of learning, sharing and generosity - which I personally believe are good investments of time if they remain in appropriate balance with  all your other values.  (This is why I'm still saying YES to Joyful Jubilant Learning and the awesome people who make up this amazingly generous and talented group, even though I can't give as much time as I would like to the project.)

Spending time is very similar to deciding how to spend money.  If you don't have your eye on your "available balance" in each of your "accounts" it is VERY easy to overspend and become "overdrawn" on your Time accounts or have to steal from another account.  My decision making criteria on what to do with the VERY FINITE amount of time I have must be based on what I currently need and value, as well as on how much time is available in each account. 

5. I learned that I can't make my time decisions based primarily on what other people need and want from me.  FEARING I will disappoint people and lose out on opportunities actually MANIFESTS more disappointment and fewer opportunities. To make effective time decisions, I need a model that works like a sort of Quickbooks.  I need a Chart of TIME ACCOUNTS.  Each Account must have a Monthly SPENDING LIMIT.  I need to know what my "TIME BALANCE" is at all times in order to make more effective decisions. 

If anyone knows of a model or tool that helps you know your balance at all times, I'd LOVE to hear about.  (I've already tried Covey, David Allen, Julie Morgenstern, and others - but I need more robust Time Account Balancing tools that can handle over 20 time accounts.)  Otherwise, I'm on a mission to INVENT IT!!!  : ) 

p.s.  Get my free ebook "100 Surefire Ways to Organize Your Busy Life!"

 Ariane Benefit, M.S.Ed, is a Life Coach and Organizing Expert, specializing in how to manage ADD, overcome chronic disorganization, and design a lifestyle and home environment that supports you in getting the results you really want.

Ariane is the author of the "The Neat & Simple Guide to Organizing Your Office" the popular organizing blog, Neat & Simple Living.

Rapid, Rapid Fire

No the headline isn't a typo, I made a conscious effort to make my learning uber-rapid this month - and what better than an experiment with a compressed form to make it so?  (Thanks to Michele Martin at the Bamboo Project Blog for the inspiration and fellow JJLers for the encouragement.)

Rapid fire 1

Writing leaps and bounds,
tempting me to try new forms,
teased by syllables.

Rapid fire 2

Less is more they say
forces you to clear your mind,
learning in haiku

Rapid fire 3

One line quotes from Al,
simple words of genius,
speak direct to me.

Rapid fire 4

Books are two way streets.
It's okay to mark them up,
Learning more that way.

Rapid 5

Die happy today.
Running through my mind all month.
Words can wake you up.

Do different formats help you to learn?  Comments, odes, sonnets or haikus welcome in response!

---

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 been focusing taking leaps and bounds with our writing - so it was inevitable there'd be some kind of spillover here!

Your February Learning Triggers

As part of this month’s Rapid Fire Learning with Karen, I thought it would be fun to check our FeedBurner item stats over the first 24 days of February, and see which 5 emerged as the most popular postings in their combination of views and click-throughs. We are a site about the joy of learning, and so what if we assumed that these were the top learning triggers for all of you during February?

Retro counter. [photo credit]

These were the posts that rose to the top of our traffic counts during the month:

1. Learning Perspective: Use It Or Lose It by Tim Draayer, author of  Network Marketing Journey
      
2. How to Read an Unfinished Book by Tim Milburn, author of  Studentlinc
      
3. Lessons of Shadows and Light by Steve Sherlock, author of Steve's 2 Cents
    
4. 5 Joyful January Learnings by Ariane Benefit, author of Neat & Simple Living
      
5. More Power to the Point by Dwayne Melancon, author of Genuine Curiosity
   

Are you part of those stats? What was your RFL from each or any of those postings?

Pretty cool to see Ariane’s RFL still in there from January…it seems our monthly RFL habit itself is a good way to share and trigger even more for each other. [Have you read the 25 Reasons to Adopt Rapid Fire Learning?]

Authors, perhaps you'd like to chip into the comments and give us just a sentence or two on the core message you had hoped to convey for those of us who'd like to take another look at what you had written?

Any other thoughts or reactions?
~ Rosa Say for Joyful Jubilant Learning

Postscript: This was our theme for February, though our contributors are welcomed to write on whatever other learning triggers their writing muses for us:

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

You can write for us too! Guest Author guidelines can be found in our JJL FAQ.

Costs, U-turns, Clarity

Looking back over the short month of February I have come to better understand:

• Faithful service is costly. It seems like this month the importance of both words "faithful" and "service" have challenged me. Leadership requires faithfulness and service; collectively, it requires faithful service which can be challenging in so many ways. The foundation of quality leadership is humility.
• Whatever unrested my soul was allowed to do it by the decisions I made. My decisions lead to the unrest; this truth is difficult to accept for it is my nature to say, "You caused this..." But, no, it is my reaction and attitude that lead to the decisions that can lead to the anxiety. Once again, it's me...not them.
• Always do the next right thing...sometimes, that means turning around. Have you noticed that U-turns are not allowed on the very roads that need them? I have found myself needing to turn around a little this month. I am so glad the U-turns were legal!
• Everything matters...everything. The smallest act, word, gesture...it all matters!
• Clarity...clarity...clarity. In Buckingham's book One Thing You Need To Know, he mentions that anxiety in an organization can be caused by a lack of clarity by its leader. With this truth, I have been increasingly aware that I, a diplomat by nature, tend to drift toward complication, away from clarity. I have also taken steps to become a person of greater clarity, which has been refreshing in many ways.

Five for February in Rapid Learning

This February I learned:

1. A deepened respect for the power of networking and people coming together to focus on a topic as relatively esoteric as employee engagement. There is so much to be learned from every person in a network.
2. Temperature is very relative. After about 30 days of temperatures in the -30s and -40s, -6 Celsius feels almost hot. Perhaps not Hawaii but warm for Winnipeg.
3. Not to take health so much for granted and that pain can be a calling to stop and care for yourself. I guess I better stop getting my back up.
4. We create stories all the time about other people's actions and if we are learners, we realize they are stories, and we stop jumping to assumptions, open our minds, and learn to move from once upon a time to twice upon a time.
5. How helpful it can be to ourselves in writing a blog. Writing www.diehappytoday.com has really kept a focus of authentic happiness with me every day.

David Zinger

Employee Engagement Expert

The Joy of Discovery - Rapid Fire Learning for February

Rapid Fire Learning: "Rapid fire recall, stream of consciousness, trusting that what needs to come out and get chronicled IS in fact my learning."

I have deliberately NOT planned what I am to write about my learning this month, taking Rosa's words (above) and trusting that what needs to come out, will.

February has been a big month, activity-wise. Lots going on. For February feels like the first month of the year to me. January gets filled with summer holidays... those long lazy days of doing not much. Come February, the children go back to school, work resumes and life speeds right back up to a breathtaking velocity.

My top 5 learnings this month, off the top of my head...

1.    Baking is therapeutic. I re-found my love of getting into the kitchen and baking up a storm (lost years ago in the rush of raising a family and working). Add the benefit of spending time with my daughter as she learns to cook alongside me and the learning is doubled! (The family are all for it - they love the fruits of love that come out of the kitchen:)

 2.   The stuff we own isn't necessarily stuff we need or use. We packed our entire house (except the kitchen) into boxes in early December as a prelude to new flooring. Since then we've finished painting about 1/2 the house. The boxes are still in the shed, unopened. We have needed something in them exactly twice (sticky-tape on Christmas Eve, and my son's birth certificate as he enrolled in university). I'm still discovering the lessons in this...

3.   I need to remember to trust the universe. I was a little anxious about what book I would review for A Love Affair with Books next month here at JJL, as all my books are packed in those boxes in our shed. Until I started reading a book I had picked up on a whim earlier this month. As I started reading I realised I had no need to fret, the right book HAD presented itself, after all...

4.   I am looking with fresh eyes on the mess and chaos that surrounds me. Why? The book I have been reading, and chosen to review is A Perfect Mess: The hidden benefits of disorder.

5.   I learned that it is OK to mark up a book. In fact, it is necessary to deepen the learning, and to make that learning accessible when you want to go back to it (without reading the whole book again). I am testing this learning using the tips from Tim Milburn in his post How to Read an Unfinished Book; and Rosa and Dave in the comments on that post - how rich was this conversation??

Now that I've shown you mine, why not share yours?

We'd love you to explore your own learning for February in a rapid-fire way - jot your 5 in a comment, or send us a trackback to your own post. We're really curious about what you're learning...

Then join me in the final 5 days of February as I aim to turn some of the actions from my learning into lifelong habits and powerful mindsets.

All of the top-achievers I know are life-long learners... Looking for new skills, insights, and ideas. If they're not learning, they're not growing... not moving toward excellence.

~Denis Waitley

---

Learn with us! Visit here for 25 Compelling Reasons to Adopt Rapid Fire Learning. Then join in as we revel in the power of learning and sharing as a group... we're really looking forward to your visit.

Karen Wallace lives to learn and learns to live. You can find more of her writings at The Calm Space - an online magazine that's like a virtual day-spa for the senses.