Veteran’s Day 2009

Today is a day we honor those that have served and sacrificed in our armed forces. I’m sure we’ve all passed the memorials in our parks and town centers throughout our land. Many list the names of men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Even today many of our loved ones serve in far away places in harms way to serve the rest of us and protect us. That is their oath that they took. I’m sure they would much rather be at home with their family and friends. These soldiers are also our, sons, daughter, husbands, wives, mothers, fathers and friends. I think they all deserve our profound thanks for there efforts.

Thank you all veteran’s who have served past and present. A special thanks and prayers to those that gave the ultimate sacrifice and were not able to return home.  I leave with some words from a man much more eloquent than myself who perhaps summed it up best:

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate...we can not consecrate...we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government: of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

-Abraham Lincoln, November 19, 1863, Gettysburg , Pennsylvania

Lessons from Iacocca

I’m a firm believer if you want to learn about being productive and successful you can learn a lot from those that are. Recently I’ve been reading Lee Iacocca’s autobiography. I’m amazed by how much can be learned from him. I haven’t got to fifty pages yet and almost every other page seems to be a how to guide for business and management. Many of the tips and advice comes from people he encounters through his life. He was also shaped by the times he grew up in which was during the depression and going to college during World War II. This seems like a self help book disguised as an autobiography. Here are some examples:

• His father preaches not to worry about what has happened in the past.
• He tells how to he got through college and work by concentrating his efforts Monday through Friday and  leaving his weekends for other pursuits like family and leisure.
• Good attendance. One time he got an “A” in a class that few showed up for on a Saturday morning.
• He also credits his studies in psychology(a favorite subject of mine) while at college as one of the keys to his success.
• A tip he got from Robert McNamara(soon to be Ford President, and then future Secretary of Defense)was if you have an idea was to first put it into writing. He would say that if you haven’t written it out you haven’t really thought it through.

These are just a few of the little tidbits you may pick up from the book. The book also has it’s human (and humor) side also. If your looking for a self help book but, your tired of the ordinary books this could be a nice sidetrack from them. At the same time you’ll be learned from someone who has lived through success and failures.

Don’t sweat the small stuff….

Yesterday after soccer and Friendly’s for lunch we ended up at a Goodwill store because my oldest son wanted some new books to read. So we stopped in to check it out. I’m not ashamed to say we shop there at times. You can find some cool stuff for cheap. I immediately hit the electronics section at first. If your in desperate need of a printer there only $5 you just have to add ink. Not to mention I almost got a tape deck for my garage stereo for another $5, maybe next week.

The most popular section was the book section. For $.99 or $1.99 you can pick up some decent books. Of course my son picked out a handful and of  course I browsed too. I did find some cool books. My wife had to drag me out of there before I spent the whole day there. Here are the ones I picked up:

• Don’t Sweat the small stuff… and it’s all small stuff – By Richard Carlson, Ph.D.
• Iacocca, An Autobiography by Lee Iacocca/William Novak
• Understanding Psychology by Robert S. Feldman

I believe I read “Don’t sweat the small stuff” many years ago when it first came out. Lee Iaccoca is an interesting figure from our times. The psychology book is actually a textbook. I find psychology an interesting subject so I thought it would be great reading and for reference. I’ll write more about these later. I’ve got to go for now .