What are you?

Couch Potato or Guru, Which One Are You?

I was preparing for a class the other day and I came across some old notes that I wrote down from a class that I took. They were interesting to read because they brought me back to some of the things that have motivated me to further my education. We were talking about what level of learning we were at and what our motivations are at these different levels, take a look and see where you fit and perhaps where you ought to be. Level 1- Couch Potato- you hate learning. Level 2- Money Tree- learn for money, trade manuals, pursuit of property. Level 3- Self- Interest- What interests me or makes me happy. Level 4- Believer - Feel a duty and responsibility to learn, you're disciplined. Level 5- Breadth- Love to learn, changing becoming, you pursue your passion. Level 6- Depth- Dedicated, unending quest for knowledge. Level 7- Ultimate Synergy- You learn to be a statesman, a creator, learn and work for a higher cause. We all fit somewhere in these levels and it doesn't matter where we might be at this moment, what matters is, are we looking to move to a higher one? Wherever we might be there is so much more out there that we could learn, we just need to keep working at it. The journey of education is just that, a journey. There is no end to what we can learn and the joy we find in educating ourselves is the reward for our effort.

I read this on a blog and had to share.  It is interesting to think about.

50 books everyone should read

The other night while sitting here at the hotel I decided to try to identify 50 books that have been influential to me. I think everyone should read these books. Not every book I have enjoyed has to be everyone else's favorite. But these books are classic. A classic is defined as: 1. "of the first or highest quality, class, or rank: a classic piece of work; 2. serving as a standard, model, or guide: the classic method of teaching arithmetic." These books are not in the order of greatest influence of my life. I find it impossible to rank one book over another. But I feel everyone, man or woman, would be better off if they read and understood these books.


1.  The Book of Mormon
2.  The Holy Bible
3.  The Doctrine and Covenants
4.  The Pearl of Great Price
5.  Leadership and Self-Deception by Arbinger Institute
6.  Band of Brothers by Stephan Ambrose
7.  Hanging by the Thread by Donald Anderson
8.  God's Humble Instrument by Ron L. Anderson
9.  Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley
10.  Enders' Shadow by Orson Scott Card
11.  How to Win Friends and Influence People in the New Digital Age by Carnegie Institute
12.  Prelude to Glory series by Ron Carter
13.  Wild Swans by Jung Chang
14.  Magnificent Obsession by Lloyd Douglas
15.  The Robe by Lloyd Douglas
16.  First Family by Joseph Ellis
17.  Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
18.  Deconstructing Penguins by Lawrence Gladstone
19.  Team of Rivals by Doris Goodwin
20.  October Sky by Homer Hickham
21.  The Jackrabbit Factor by Leslie Householder

22.  The Great Conversation by Robert Hutchins

23.  Redwall by Brian Jacques
24.  The Education of a Wandering Man by Louis L'Amour
25.  Last of the Breed by Louis L'Amour
26.  Endurance by Alfred Lansing
27.  The Great Divorce by CS Lewis
28.  The Alliance by Gerald Lund
29.  The Freedom Factor by Gerald Lund
30.  The Freatest Miracle in the World by Og Mandino
31.  Are You Liberal, Conservative, or Confused? by Richard Maybury
32.  The Thousand Years War by Richard Maybury
33.  Driven by Larry Miller
34.  Little Britches by Ralph Moody
35.  Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink
36.  Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig
37.  Anthem by Ayn Rand
38.  Harry Potter series by JK Rowling
39.  Any book by Jeff Shaara
40.  The Making of America by W. Cleon Skousen
41.  The Naked Communist by W. Cleon Skousen
42.  The Great and Terrible series by Christ Stewart
43.  Mindset by Carol Sweck
44.  Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage
45.  The Great Apostasy by James E. Talmage
46.  The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkinson
47.  All the President's Men by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein
48.  The Final Days by Bob Woodward
49.  The Promised Land series by David G. Woolley
50.  The Rise of the American Nation

loyalty and love

So this morning I have been watching one of my favorite disney movies:  Brother Bear.  This is the story set in one of the ice ages.  The plot is about how a man, Kenai, turned into a bear learns to love.  Among the ice age people they have a tradition where they all receive their totem, and a word that describes what they will become.  Kenai's totem is a bear, which means love.  He is puzzled about the meaning of his totem.

Kenai and his brother are out hunting, when they run into a mother bear.  The oldest brother dies while fighting the bear, while the bear survives.  Kenai, naturally blames the bear for his older brothers death.  So he takes off in pursuit of it, intending to kill it.  His other older brother, Denahi, comes after Kenai.  Well, Kenai kills the mother bear, and the spirits transform him into a bear.  Denahi, not knowing that Kenai is a bear, tries to kill his brother.

Well, Kenai escapes and winds up traveling with a small cub, Koda.  Kenai had killed Koda's mother.  They travel to where Kenai can turn back into a man.  Through the course of their journey Kenai learns to love Koda.  Denahi follows Kenai and Koda, trying to kill them as revenge for his brothers.  In the end Kenai gets turned back into a human long enough for his brother to know it's him, then he turns back into a bear to be with Koda.  

I love watching disney movies because of the lessons that are easily discerned and their application to life.  One of the lessons from this movie is learning to love.  Loving someone is hard at times.  We are supposed to love unconditionally.  That is near impossible I've come to understand.  But we still need to try.

How do we begin to love someone?  Loving someone should start out in the home.  Mothers and fathers have the duty and responsibility to love any and all children they bring into this world.  They need to care for it, and show it affection.  Love should be strongest among families.

How do families get started?  They get started when a man and woman begin to love each other.  They are attracted to each other by their looks, then they fall in love.  Love is where you care more about the other person and their thoughts and feelings than your own.  You try your best to put them first.

Human beings crave affection.  We are naturally drawn to others, especially those who show us affection, love or attention.  We are not meant to be alone and not be loved.  That is why love in the home is so important.  There needs to be some place in the world where a child can feel comfortable and loved.

In this day and age I feel that there is not enough love.  The newspapers and the news are filled with broken families, people who do terrible things to others.  I do not believe that those individuals care about their victims.  They don't see them as someone who is vulnerable, who has the same craving to be accepted as they do.  

I believe that the human need to be accepted by someone has lead to the formation of many gangs.  The gang provides people with others who accept them, who show affection.  They are a group, which gives identity.  We feel safer as part of a group.  Gang members show loyalty to each other.  

So some may not come from homes where love is strong.  You can still find love elsewhere.  I sometimes struggle with showing my appreciation to others not in my family.  Appreciation may not be love, but it can show that we do accept and like who others are.  This is a lesser form of love.  

So what can we do on a day to day basis that can show others appreciation and love?  We can just show basic kindness.  We can give others the benefit of the doubt.  We can say please and thank you.  Give someone a hug.  Those always help em.  We can praise others for their work.  We can put something away that we didn't get out.  We can go the extra mile.  If it is not required we can do it anyway.

This is my plea to others.  Just be kind to others.  You don't have be assigned something to do it.  If you notice someone struggling, help them.  When you go to a grocery store Talk to the check.  Ask them how their day has been.  It will help them a lot.  When trying to do my suggestions today, please remember: It is better to give than to receive.  If you show others love, you will receive more love in return.

readings

Tonight, (though technically it is morning now) I am reading a book entitled The Samaritan's dilemma, should government help your neighbor?  It's title seemed intriguing to me as I browsed through the library shelves, so I thought I'd see what the author has to say.

I'm on page 2, and so far I'm not very impressed.  She says that we need to reconnect what our government does with a humanitarian endeavor.  One of her concerns about America is that most people think of government as distant, something that is there but that is does not impact their lives directly.

I agree with her on this point.  A coworker of mine declared on Saturday that she wasn't going to vote.  "I hate politics!"  I don't understand the people like her.  Everyone needs to be concerned about government.  This does not mean that we all need to run for public office, but that we stay informed, decide what and who to vote for.  Politics is like deciding your own morals.  Those I vote for should share my same morals.

The author, Deborah Stone, says that politics should be about helping others.  I don't agree with that.  Government there is to protect "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness", not helping others.  Welfare and other "social" programs are socialistic.  Socialism is just a knockoff of communism.

Her plea to the public is a return to the days where you helped your neighbor.  When if someone was homeless, he would at least have food.  In today's world if you don't have money you don't enjoy many of the blessings that come with living in the wealthiest nation on earth. Her point is help your neighbor.

But I don't agree that it is the government's place to make life fair.  Life is definitely not fair.  YOu might be successful business, but I may have done better in school.  I might be artistic, my neighbor might not know how to draw a circle.  God created us with strenghts and weaknesses so that we could grow stronger.  A child does not walk well until they struggle to take that first step.

I do agree that American's today have grown rather selfish.  We do need to look after our neighbors.  Sometimes it's hard, with all of the daily distractions.  I know a lot of times I think of myself before I do others.  There is nothing wrong with that unless you think of yourself so much that you never think of others.

So this book, The Samaritan's dilemma, should government help your neighbor? makes a good point in this day and age.  But it is not the government's job to help us change.

updated book list

Books for 2012:*in progress/not finished
*The Biggest Brother by Larry Alexander
Faith of Our Fathers: A House Divided by Nancy Allen
Faith of Our Fathers: To Make Men Free by Nancy Campbell Allen 
 Faith of Our Fathers: Through the Perilous Fight by Nancy Campbell Allen
Faith of Our Fathers: One Nation Under God by Nancy Campbell Allen
Pegasus Bridge by Stephan Ambrose
Hanging by the Thread by Donald Anderson
Abraham Lincoln: God’s Humble Instrument by Ron L. Anderson
Traveler’s Gift by Andy Andrews
Leadership and Self Deception by Arbinger Institute
*Archimedes
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
*Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
All the President’s Men by Bernstein
An Enemy Hath Done This by Ezra Taft Benson
Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
Deception Point by Dan Brown
Digital Fortress by Dan Brown
Dear and Glorious Physician by Taylor Caldwell
*How to win friends and influence people by the Carnegie Institute 
Our Sacred Honor by Paul Carter
The Times That Try Men's Souls by Paul Carter
The Robe by Lloyd Douglas
*As a Man Thinketh by John Dewey
Magnificent Obsession by Lloyd Douglas
The Three Muskateers by Alexandre Dumas
*Cesaer and Christ by Will Durant
*Mindset by Carol Dweck
First  Family by Joseph Ellis
*Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis
Hank the Cow dog: Case of the Fiddling Fox by John Erickson
Hank the Cow dog: Case of the Bone Monster
*The Ascent of Money by Niall Ferguson
*Civilization by Niall Ferguson
Papa Married a Mormon by John D. Fitzgerlard
J. Edgar Hoover: The Man and the Secrets by Curt Gentry
10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America by Steven M. Gillon
*The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt
Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris
October Sky by Homer Hickham
The Coalwood Way by Homer Hickham
Sky of Stone by Homer Hickham
Back to the Moon by Homer Hickham
The Jack Rabbit Factor by Leslie Householder
The Great Conversation by Robert Hutchins
Redwall by Brian Jacques
Profiles in Courage for our time by Caroline Kennedy
The Ugly American by William J. Lederer
Bendigo Shafter by Louis L’Amour
The Education of a Wandering Man by Louis L’Amour
*The Walking Drum by Louis L’Amour
Endurance: Shackelton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis 
Mathematicians Lament by Paul Lockhart
And There Was Light by Jacques Lusseyran
The Greatest Miracle in the World by Og Mandino
The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino
Are you Liberal, Conservative, or Confused? An Uncle Eric Book by Richard Maybury
Thousand Years War by Richard Maybury
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell
1776 by David McCullough 
*History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil McGregor
The Big Scrum: How Teddy Roosevelt saved Football by John J. Miller
Driven by Larry H. Miller
The Curse of the Viking Grave by Farley Mowat
*With Malice towards None by Stephen Oates
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates us by Daniel PinkThe Scarlet Pimpernel by Emmuska Orczy
Plato’s Apology
Plato’s Crito
12 Pillars of Success by Jim Rohn and Chris Widener
*On the Wealth of Nations by P.J. O’Rourke
A Treasury of Philosophy by Dragobert Runes
*The Price of Civilization by Jeffrey Sachs
German Boy by Wolfgang Samuel
Rise to Rebellion by Jeff Shaara
The Rising Tide by Jeff Shaara
The Steel Wave by Jeff Shaara
No Less Than Victory by Jeff Shaara*
The Final Storm by Jeff Shaara
*Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
*The Making of America by W. Cleon Skousan
*The Naked Communist by W. Cleon Skousan
*Decade of Hope by Dennis Smith
7 Tipping Points That Saved The World by Chris Stewart
The Fourth Turning by William Strauss
Difficult Conversations by Stone, Patton and Heen
The Great Apostasy by James E. Talmage
Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmadge
The Last Patriot by Brad Thor
*The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
It's Just My Nature! by Carol Tuttle
Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc by Mark Twain
The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkenson
All the President’s Men by Bob Woodward
*The Brethren by Bob Woodward
The Secret Man by Bob Woodward
Shadow: 5 Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate by Bob Woodward 
Pillar of Fire by David G. Woolley
Power of Deliverance by David G. Woolley
Place of Refuge by David G. Woolley
Day of Remembrance by David G. Woolley
Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss

Motivation

Recently I have been reading a really good book called Drive: the surprising truth about what motivates, by Daniel Pink.  I would highly recommend it to everyone.  The books whole premise is based on how the business world views motivation and management and how that view is at odds with reality and science.

There are two main drives that motivate people:  biological and external.  External motivation is known as extrinsic and motivation 2.0 throughout the book.  Biological motivation we eat to satisfy hunger and drink to quench thirst.  Extrinsic motivation means that our motivation comes from outside ourselves  we are paid to work, given rewards for good behavior.

It starts out describing how businesses try to motivate people.  Most businesses use pay to get employees to get work done.  They give bonuses to exceptional employees.  There is a manager to make sure things work the way they're supposed too.

Motivation 2.0 works well for monotonous tasks, such as filling out paperwork or working at McDonald's.  There is very little thought that goes into it.  Everyone needs money, right?  Work isn't fun, but it pays the bills, people say.  I have been told this ever since I got my first job at 16.  But I have never been satisfied with this approach to business.

Daniel Pink argues in Drive that using extrinsic forces to motivate people actually end up making them do less, not more.  Take an example he uses in his book.  when a child is 5 or 6 years old they start school.  Often times young kids love to draw and learn.  I have seen this in my life.  Young kids are naturally curious. Well, once they get into kindergarten they are taught how to draw.  If a child loved to draw, but didn't necessarily draw by the "rules", such as how a tree actually looks in reality, the art teacher will probably say, "that's great but not what a tree actually looks like."  They will then show the child how to draw it.

A remark like this can kill a child's natural curiosity.  If the child learns that he or she can't draw very well, and is told this in an unkind way, they will often stop trying.  As a child I decided I am not a good artist, because I was unable to draw well at a young age.  No child is very good by the time they are 6 or 7.  They have to work at it.

As the child grows and learns, he or she will go to first elementary school, then middle school.  How do these schools motivate this child to learn?  By the grading system.  They soon learn that an A means you are smart, and an F means you aren't.  This is a way adults use Motivation 2.0 as a way to motivate their child to learn.

This is not a good way to motivate someone.  By high school, some students just conclude their stupid and why try?  they don't learn the way public school is taught.  So their form of motivation doesn't work in the long run.

Work may seem to be run the same as schools.  That is because most businesses are.  They pay you to be there.  They use money as motivation.  I am not saying working for money is bad.  Far from it.  The book makes this clear, and I want to as well.  Using money as motivation is bad.

Why is it bad?  Well, once you know what you have to do in order to do your job well, you stop trying to be creative while working.  If it's not broke, why fix it?  Using extrinsic motivation to promote good behavior leads to undesirable behavior.  Daniel Pink writes extensively in the book as to why using motivation 2.0 leads to an increase in undesirable behavior.  I will give aa example here.

He uses a study recently conducted among a group of 153 women from Sweden who were interested in giving blood.  The 153 women were divided into 3 groups.  The first group of women were told that giving blood was voluntary.  These participants could give blood, but they would not receive money.  The second group was offered $10 for giving blood.  The third group received a variation of that second offer:  a $10 payment with an immediate option to donate the amount to a children's cancer charity.

52% of the women in the first group donated blood, less than 25% of women in the second group donated blood, and 52% of women in the third group donated blood.  So more of  those who did not personally receive money for donating blood ended up donating blood than those who were offered payment.

Motivation 2.0 would seem to suggest that the group that was offered $10 were more likely to donate.  But that wasn't the case in this study.  Giving blood is a good thing, right?  Well, monetary compensation used as a motivator lead to a decrease in blood donation.

I haven't finished the book yet, so I will write more about this subject once I'm through with the book.

Life

So I recently was bored at the front desk, between the hours of 2-5 AM.  (This happens almost daily).  I went on amazon.com to look at some of their more popular history books.  One of them caught my eye.  It is called Blind Ambition by John Dean.

For those of you who don't know as much history as I do, here is a little back ground.
http://watergate.info/

One of the major players in the whole watergate scandal was John Dean.  He was one of the 5 arrested at the Democratic Headquarters.  He was a confidant of Richard Nixon during this time.  Well, he was eventually convicted for his crimes.  He spend 4 months in jail.

One reason why he is so famous was because he agreed to testify against President Nixon.  He told of meetings that proved the PResident knew, and directed the cover-up of Watergate.

Well, knowing who John Dean was, I went to the Logan Library to see if they had any books by him.  I really wanted Blind Ambition, but they didn't have it.  They did have a book called Lost Honor, by Dean.  So I checked this one out, and began to read.  The book starts out about how, when Dean was released from prison he became an instant celebrity.  Media outlets everywhere wanted the inside scope of Watergate.

Dean apparently had to battle very hard not to let all of this attention go to his head.  He wanted to put Watergate behind him.  He knew he had screwed up, and didn't want to do so again.

Here are some exerpts from the book.  Some of them are very insightful to everyone.

"I think communication is the most important thing in a marriage.  It's more important than sex or friendship or even love, because none of those things can survive without it."

"Do you think that Watergate would ever have occured if Nixon... had gone home to (his) wife and shared what was really going on?  Do you think Pat Nixon would have approved of break-ins and dirty tricks?  For that matter, do you think that men who really know what is means to love, to trust another person and care about another person, could have done the thoughtless and 'public be damned' things that went on in that White House?  No way."

This illustrates the importance of communication.  I do not believe, had Nixon talked over what he was doing with his wife, he would have gone and approved many of the unethical and illegal things he did.  Once someone knows something, they might speak out.  Sometimes finding people to discuss our problems, our ideas, and feelings can be difficult.  Bearing out our souls to someone else can be a scary experience.  I've done it on a few occasions, and it is scary.  Many are uncomfortable doing so.  But it is key to a healthy and happy relationship.

"Watergate has taught me one lesson very clearly.  Those friends who stayed closest to us, worried with us and about us and our future, were not, in a few exceptions, my friends.  The people I had thought friends, people whom I had gotten to know, either because of what they could do for me or what I could do for them, vanished when the trouble started.  Those that we met through (my wife), people we loved and respected and trusted, people who asked nothing but friendship - they were solid.  For true friendship is but another form of love, I now know."

Finding true friends is most difficult.  I don't open up easily, only to those I feel can be trusted.  I try to hang on to my friends for as long as possible.  Once you are my friend, I try to remain yours.  Because if you are my friend, you have influenced me. That makes you a part of who I truly am.  To have a true friend means you must be a true friend.  Being a true friends means that you allow the other person to be themselves.  They can do what they want, and it's ok.  You or they don't have to put on false airs of who they truly are.

Once out of prison Dean went on a speaking tour.  Fearing how the public would receive him, he thought of stepping down from the tour.  In Charlottesville, VA,  he started by saying he wouldn't speak if the audience didn't want him to.  I didn't want to be thought of as immoral anymore.  He wanted to move on, make his image something different.

I believe that once Dean got out of prison he started to repent.  He can't really repay for his crimes, but he could share his experience with others.  He tried to change his public image, how others thought of him.  I have heard that recovering addicts have a hard time with people looking at them and judging them.  Once they try to change, people often times won't allow them to change.  That was one of Deans fears.

Anyways, these are some of my thoughts on life that I am having reading Lost Honor by John Dean.  I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good book to read.