Dave Schaefer has continued reading The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. Dave explained the five as: Words of Affirmation; Quality Time; Receiving Gifts; Acts of Service; Physical Touch. He has found it to be a useful tool for improving communication and understanding with his fiancé. He recommends it for anyone who would like to improve a relationship. Dave also said Audible.com is a resource for books to be downloaded to a smart phone and/or computer. He is currently listening to Aspire; Discovering Your Purpose through the Power of Words by Kevin Hall a book he really likes and reviews regularly to discover his purpose.
Marilyn Kelson discussed and recommended Missed Fortune 101 by Douglas R. Andrew. She has relied on the book for strategies to earn tax free income essentially guaranteed. It has helped her and it has helped her help her clients. She sees it as a very helpful for building wealth.
First Things First by Steven Covey was recommended by Dan Weber. Although the book and content is several years old, Dan is reviewing it again as part of an exercise in his mastermind group. He found it very helpful to review the four quadrants of importance and urgency. It has heightened his awareness of his use of time on those things that are most important.
Join us Wednesday May 9, 2012 at noon in the HyVee cafeteria 90th & Center in Omaha Nebraska. Meetings are held there the second Wednesday of every month.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
March 14, 2012 Book Summary
Here are highlights of the March 14th discussion:
Dave Schaefer discussed Audible.com as a resource for books to be downloaded to a smart phone and/or computer. You can listen to books while driving or walking. A new device, Plantronics Voyager Blue Tooth can be used with a smart phone.
Deb Walters is reading How Full Is Your Bucket by Tom Rath & Donald O.Clifton, Ph.D. This book is about how we each have our own bucket that is filled depending on our daily interactions with other. We also each have our own invisible dipper which is used to fill other's buckets, depending on what we say and do. The book points out that we can fill one another's buckets or we can dip from them, with these being an important choice as it profoundly influences our relationships, productivity, health and happiness.
Dave Schaefer was reading The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. Dave explained how the information helps couples communicate and understand how each other wants to be loved. Dave felt this is a great book for anyone who wants to be with someone. At the end of the book there is a questionaire to help a person determine their primary love language that makes them feel that they are being loved.
Join us Wednesday April 11, 2012 at noon in the HyVee cafeteria 90th & Center in Omaha Nebraska. Meetings are the second Wednesday of every month.
Dave Schaefer discussed Audible.com as a resource for books to be downloaded to a smart phone and/or computer. You can listen to books while driving or walking. A new device, Plantronics Voyager Blue Tooth can be used with a smart phone.
Deb Walters is reading How Full Is Your Bucket by Tom Rath & Donald O.Clifton, Ph.D. This book is about how we each have our own bucket that is filled depending on our daily interactions with other. We also each have our own invisible dipper which is used to fill other's buckets, depending on what we say and do. The book points out that we can fill one another's buckets or we can dip from them, with these being an important choice as it profoundly influences our relationships, productivity, health and happiness.
Dave Schaefer was reading The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. Dave explained how the information helps couples communicate and understand how each other wants to be loved. Dave felt this is a great book for anyone who wants to be with someone. At the end of the book there is a questionaire to help a person determine their primary love language that makes them feel that they are being loved.
Join us Wednesday April 11, 2012 at noon in the HyVee cafeteria 90th & Center in Omaha Nebraska. Meetings are the second Wednesday of every month.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
February 8, 2012 Book Summary
On February 8, 2012 the following books were presented at our meeting at the HyVee cafeteria at 90th and Center:
Deb Walters is reading Success Secrets of Super Achievers by Jim Stovall. Deb won the book at a networking event and has found some very inspirational ideas from famous people including Monty Hall and numerous others.
Dan Weber is reading The Business of the 21st Century by Robert Kiyosaki. Dan also won his book at a networking event. (It really pays to network!) The Cash Flow Quadrant E S B I readily explains how we earn money. Employee; Self-employed; Business owner; or Investor. Dan has appreciated the way the book articulates concepts he has known but hasn’t been able to describe to others as clearly as the book does. It is an in
Dave Schaefer is reading Refuse to Chooseby Barbara Sher. Dave has discovered the strength and value of being a ‘scanner’ and being open to exploring and discovering new ideas. He read one excerpt about a young woman ‘scanner’ and all of the things she has done and experienced would take several lifetimes to accomplish but she has done it all in a matter of several years and is very satisfied with her life. He also read a Zen ko-an riddle from the book that is a great way to focus the mind. He has also been inspired to start a practice of journaling.
Deb Walters is reading Success Secrets of Super Achievers by Jim Stovall. Deb won the book at a networking event and has found some very inspirational ideas from famous people including Monty Hall and numerous others.
Dan Weber is reading The Business of the 21st Century by Robert Kiyosaki. Dan also won his book at a networking event. (It really pays to network!) The Cash Flow Quadrant E S B I readily explains how we earn money. Employee; Self-employed; Business owner; or Investor. Dan has appreciated the way the book articulates concepts he has known but hasn’t been able to describe to others as clearly as the book does. It is an in
Dave Schaefer is reading Refuse to Chooseby Barbara Sher. Dave has discovered the strength and value of being a ‘scanner’ and being open to exploring and discovering new ideas. He read one excerpt about a young woman ‘scanner’ and all of the things she has done and experienced would take several lifetimes to accomplish but she has done it all in a matter of several years and is very satisfied with her life. He also read a Zen ko-an riddle from the book that is a great way to focus the mind. He has also been inspired to start a practice of journaling.
Master Course in Personal Development
Following is from an e-mail from David Schaefer, founder of Omaha Readers Are Leaders Book Club.
The Master Course in Personal Development May Already Be Sitting On Your Shelf
Reading the great books takes a lot of effort. Studying masterpieces such as the Odyssey or the works of Shakespeare requires more concentration than picking up a Tom Clancy novel. But, the payoffs can be tremendous.
If you’re not sold on starting a reading plan, consider the benefits that reading great literature can bring to your life. Here are 10 ways reading these books can have a real impact on who you are and how you think:
1. Understand what shapes your thoughts and beliefs.
Whether you’re conscious of it or not, chances are your belief system is based on social norms that have evolved through centuries of history. What you think are independent ideas may very well be philosophies created by the great thinkers of previous generations. Robert M. Hutchins, Editor in Chief of the Great Books of the Western World, explained it this way:
“These books are the means of understanding our society and ourselves. They contain the great ideas that dominate us without our knowing it. There is no comparable repository in our tradition.”
Consider your thoughts on subjects such as romantic love, truth, democracy, and freedom. Are your ideas your own? Or are your thoughts dominated by an outside cultural influence? By reading the great books, you can see how ideas developed over time and be aware of how they affect you now. You may choose to accept or reject the current way of thinking. But, either way you will become cognizant that it is a choice and gain the agency to make a decision for yourself.
2. Let a little genius rub off on you.
When I was growing up, my parents always reminded me to choose my friends carefully. “You are who you associate with,” some say. Perhaps the same is true of books. The great books were written by some of the best minds in history. By reading them, your own mind can expand and your thoughts reach a higher plane. Sir Richard Livingston said:
“We are tied down, all our days and for the greater part of our days, to the commonplace. This is where contact with great thinkers, great literature helps. In their company we are still in the ordinary world, but it is the ordinary world transfigured and seen through the eyes of wisdom and genius.”
Reading the great books may not turn us into Platos and Einsteins. But, their words can bring out our strengths.
3. Read like an Ivy League grad.
When I was teaching high school, I noticed that students on my campus were focusing on popular modern-day books while students in the preppy private schools received a more liberal education with emphasis on the great thinkers of history. The same seems true with colleges. State programs give a cursory overview of the greats while Ivy League graduates complete school with a firmer grasp of important ideas and what they mean in the world today. Proponents of the classics in schools say, “What’s best for the best, is best for everyone.” No matter what your background, reading the classics can give you a fuller understanding of the world. It’s possible to bring your mind to the same level as Ivy League grads by pursuing a self-study of these important works.
4. Escape from the narrow box of specialization.
Focusing your expertise on just one subject may be a smart way to earn a living. But, by shutting yourself off from a more extensive world of knowledge, you limit your ability to excel. In order to truly thrive in any field, people need a broad understanding of the world and how it works. Hutchins said:
“The liberally educated man has a mind that can operate will in all fields. He may be a specialist in one field. But he can understand anything important that is said in any field and can see and use the light that it sheds upon his own.”
Whether you’re in computer science, marketing, healthcare, or any other field, gaining a broad knowledge of the many subjects covered in the great books will help you in your specialization.
5. Learn from past mistakes.
It is often said that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. By ignoring the discoveries recorded in the great books, we are bound to make the same mistakes – both on a societal level and in our own lives. Educational philosopher Mortimer Adler explained:
“People who question or even scorn the study of the past and its works usually assume that the past is entirely different from the present, and that hence we can learn nothing worthwhile from the past. But it is not true that the past is entirely different from the present. We can learn much of value from its similarity and its difference…
We and the ancients share a common human nature and hence certain common human experiences and problems.”
Everyone has to forge his own path in this life. But, why not see how others conquered the same challenges? There’s no point to wander lost in a wilderness when dozens of guidebooks are freely available.
6. Improve your ability to comprehend.
Although the great books weren’t written for specialists and experts, they can be a tough read. If you’re tempted to trade in Sophocles for Sue Grafton, realize that stepping outside of your reading comfort-zone can do wonders for your comprehension. Hutchins explained:
“If many great books seem unreadable and unintelligible…it may be because we have not for a long time learned to read by reading them. Great books teach people not only how to read them, but how to read other books as well.”
Once you get through a few of the more challenging books, you’ll find it easier to comprehend all kinds of works. As a more confident reader, you won’t need to shy away from academic articles or historical texts. The entire body of English writing will be in your domain.
7. Be truly human.
At its heart, reading the great books is about exploring our humanity. Rousseau said:
“It matters little to me whether my pupil is intended for the army, the church, or the law. Before his parents chose a calling for him, nature called him to be a man…When he leaves me, he will be neither a magistrate, a soldier, not a priest; he will be a man.”
As a pupil of the great books, you enter into a discussion of what it means to be a person. Ultimately, ulterior motives such as appearing smart fall to the wayside. You can forget all the blogs, self-help books, and magazine articles that tell you how to improve your life. The great books are the master course in self-development.
8. Find your own answers to life’s big questions.
By following themes in the great books, you’ll realize that certain topics are discussed over and over again throughout history: “What is our destiny? What is a good life? How can we achieve a good society? What can we learn to guide us through the mazes of the future from history, philosophy and religion, literature, and the fine arts?”
Reading the great books won’t give you an ultimate answer to the big questions. But, they will offer diverse views and possibilities. By understanding the conclusions that great thinkers have come to about these questions, you’ll come closer to settling on answers that works for you.
9. Develop a spirit of inquiry. Too many people are complacent about their lives, not concerning themselves with the ideas that have made the world what it is today. Reading the great books can help you foster your natural curiosity and desire to learn even more about the world. Hutchins put it this way:
“To put an end to the spirit of inquiry that has characterized the West it is not necessary to burn the books. All we have to do is leave them unread for a few generations.”
That’s a pretty startling quote. But, it’s true. All the discoveries, thoughts, and ideas of the people who came before us are meaningless unless we care enough to explore them.
10. Join in the great conversation. Ultimately, the great books make up a conversation that spans mortal time and space. The Romans respond to the Greeks, the authors of the middle ages express their reaction to the Romans, and so on. Modern-day authors are responding to ideas first expressed hundreds of years ago. Once you have a grasp of what has been said in this unending conversation, you’ll be prepared to join in. Write a book, have a discussion with a friend, or post on a message board. Add your 2 cents and become a part of the greatest fireside chat the world has ever seen.
The Master Course in Personal Development May Already Be Sitting On Your Shelf
Reading the great books takes a lot of effort. Studying masterpieces such as the Odyssey or the works of Shakespeare requires more concentration than picking up a Tom Clancy novel. But, the payoffs can be tremendous.
If you’re not sold on starting a reading plan, consider the benefits that reading great literature can bring to your life. Here are 10 ways reading these books can have a real impact on who you are and how you think:
1. Understand what shapes your thoughts and beliefs.
Whether you’re conscious of it or not, chances are your belief system is based on social norms that have evolved through centuries of history. What you think are independent ideas may very well be philosophies created by the great thinkers of previous generations. Robert M. Hutchins, Editor in Chief of the Great Books of the Western World, explained it this way:
“These books are the means of understanding our society and ourselves. They contain the great ideas that dominate us without our knowing it. There is no comparable repository in our tradition.”
Consider your thoughts on subjects such as romantic love, truth, democracy, and freedom. Are your ideas your own? Or are your thoughts dominated by an outside cultural influence? By reading the great books, you can see how ideas developed over time and be aware of how they affect you now. You may choose to accept or reject the current way of thinking. But, either way you will become cognizant that it is a choice and gain the agency to make a decision for yourself.
2. Let a little genius rub off on you.
When I was growing up, my parents always reminded me to choose my friends carefully. “You are who you associate with,” some say. Perhaps the same is true of books. The great books were written by some of the best minds in history. By reading them, your own mind can expand and your thoughts reach a higher plane. Sir Richard Livingston said:
“We are tied down, all our days and for the greater part of our days, to the commonplace. This is where contact with great thinkers, great literature helps. In their company we are still in the ordinary world, but it is the ordinary world transfigured and seen through the eyes of wisdom and genius.”
Reading the great books may not turn us into Platos and Einsteins. But, their words can bring out our strengths.
3. Read like an Ivy League grad.
When I was teaching high school, I noticed that students on my campus were focusing on popular modern-day books while students in the preppy private schools received a more liberal education with emphasis on the great thinkers of history. The same seems true with colleges. State programs give a cursory overview of the greats while Ivy League graduates complete school with a firmer grasp of important ideas and what they mean in the world today. Proponents of the classics in schools say, “What’s best for the best, is best for everyone.” No matter what your background, reading the classics can give you a fuller understanding of the world. It’s possible to bring your mind to the same level as Ivy League grads by pursuing a self-study of these important works.
4. Escape from the narrow box of specialization.
Focusing your expertise on just one subject may be a smart way to earn a living. But, by shutting yourself off from a more extensive world of knowledge, you limit your ability to excel. In order to truly thrive in any field, people need a broad understanding of the world and how it works. Hutchins said:
“The liberally educated man has a mind that can operate will in all fields. He may be a specialist in one field. But he can understand anything important that is said in any field and can see and use the light that it sheds upon his own.”
Whether you’re in computer science, marketing, healthcare, or any other field, gaining a broad knowledge of the many subjects covered in the great books will help you in your specialization.
5. Learn from past mistakes.
It is often said that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. By ignoring the discoveries recorded in the great books, we are bound to make the same mistakes – both on a societal level and in our own lives. Educational philosopher Mortimer Adler explained:
“People who question or even scorn the study of the past and its works usually assume that the past is entirely different from the present, and that hence we can learn nothing worthwhile from the past. But it is not true that the past is entirely different from the present. We can learn much of value from its similarity and its difference…
We and the ancients share a common human nature and hence certain common human experiences and problems.”
Everyone has to forge his own path in this life. But, why not see how others conquered the same challenges? There’s no point to wander lost in a wilderness when dozens of guidebooks are freely available.
6. Improve your ability to comprehend.
Although the great books weren’t written for specialists and experts, they can be a tough read. If you’re tempted to trade in Sophocles for Sue Grafton, realize that stepping outside of your reading comfort-zone can do wonders for your comprehension. Hutchins explained:
“If many great books seem unreadable and unintelligible…it may be because we have not for a long time learned to read by reading them. Great books teach people not only how to read them, but how to read other books as well.”
Once you get through a few of the more challenging books, you’ll find it easier to comprehend all kinds of works. As a more confident reader, you won’t need to shy away from academic articles or historical texts. The entire body of English writing will be in your domain.
7. Be truly human.
At its heart, reading the great books is about exploring our humanity. Rousseau said:
“It matters little to me whether my pupil is intended for the army, the church, or the law. Before his parents chose a calling for him, nature called him to be a man…When he leaves me, he will be neither a magistrate, a soldier, not a priest; he will be a man.”
As a pupil of the great books, you enter into a discussion of what it means to be a person. Ultimately, ulterior motives such as appearing smart fall to the wayside. You can forget all the blogs, self-help books, and magazine articles that tell you how to improve your life. The great books are the master course in self-development.
8. Find your own answers to life’s big questions.
By following themes in the great books, you’ll realize that certain topics are discussed over and over again throughout history: “What is our destiny? What is a good life? How can we achieve a good society? What can we learn to guide us through the mazes of the future from history, philosophy and religion, literature, and the fine arts?”
Reading the great books won’t give you an ultimate answer to the big questions. But, they will offer diverse views and possibilities. By understanding the conclusions that great thinkers have come to about these questions, you’ll come closer to settling on answers that works for you.
9. Develop a spirit of inquiry. Too many people are complacent about their lives, not concerning themselves with the ideas that have made the world what it is today. Reading the great books can help you foster your natural curiosity and desire to learn even more about the world. Hutchins put it this way:
“To put an end to the spirit of inquiry that has characterized the West it is not necessary to burn the books. All we have to do is leave them unread for a few generations.”
That’s a pretty startling quote. But, it’s true. All the discoveries, thoughts, and ideas of the people who came before us are meaningless unless we care enough to explore them.
10. Join in the great conversation. Ultimately, the great books make up a conversation that spans mortal time and space. The Romans respond to the Greeks, the authors of the middle ages express their reaction to the Romans, and so on. Modern-day authors are responding to ideas first expressed hundreds of years ago. Once you have a grasp of what has been said in this unending conversation, you’ll be prepared to join in. Write a book, have a discussion with a friend, or post on a message board. Add your 2 cents and become a part of the greatest fireside chat the world has ever seen.
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