Procrastination is….

one of the reasons I haven’t posted anything here in awhile.

 

Procrastination from Johnny Kelly on Vimeo.

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 .

【Dale Carnegie】 How to analyze and solve worry problems

I've just finished reading this book and I thought it was great. Here's a short video I found that summed up some good points about it. I'll be writing more about this in the future.

How to win friends and influence people : Part 11

A sure way of making enemies-and how to avoid it.

“You are wrong!” If you come right out say someone is wrong that is a sure fire way to make an enemy. That is the theme of the next chapter of Dale Carnegie’s famous book “How to win friends and influence people”.

It can be communicated either verbally or by visual cues. To blatantly come right out and say someone is wrong about something immediately puts them on the defensive. Even if you are 100% correct and have overwhelming evidence you have already insulted there intelligence. You may have won the battle but, you haven’t won over there hearts or minds. If anything they further entrench into there position.

To admit you may be wrong, you disarm the other person and they will be more likely admit that they may be wrong also. When you accuse someone of being wrong you may also bring on an argument (covered in previous post) which we want to avoid also. Even when we may admit to ourselves we are wrong, we don’t like it when someone rams the fact home.

Dale Carnegie Principle: Show respect for the other person’s opinions. Never say, “You’re wrong.”

Next Chapter: If you’re wrong, admit it.

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Book: The Road Less Traveled: Part 3.a

The Sins of the Father

For those just joining in this is the next chapter in The Road less Traveled by M. Scott Peck. This chapter is about our parents, us and our children all in one. Peck tells us about how our parents influenced us and how we in turn influence our children. Don’t get fooled by the title because mothers and fathers get equal treatment.

As Dr. Peck tells us that unself-disciplined children often come from parents that are not self-disciplined. He quickly notes that it not the traditional “discipline” such as spanking, slapped or even worse physical and verbal abuse. Our children look up to us when they are young. They are more observant than you might think. Things you say and do, can and will have a lifelong impact. 

When parents do things a certain way, it seems to the young child the way to do them, the way they should be done. – Peck

It’s not just about providing a good role model for your children it’s also about love. “Ultimately Love is everything.” Peck writes. When we love something we spend time with it, care for it and enjoy it. Why should our children be any different.

Good discipline requires time. – Peck

When we don’t give our children our time we learn little about them. When the need for discipline or action is required we have little knowledge to go by. So we will often over-react to the situation at hand or just let them have there own way just because it’s easier to do so. When parents have spent quality time with their children they become more astute to their children’s needs and will respond more thoughtfully.

On the other side “quality of discipline afforded by loving parents is superior to the discipline of unloving parents.”(Peck). As with most things in life a balance must be struck. Children will also perceive the time and amount of quality time given to them. This in turn gives them a feel for how much they are valued by their parents.

Action speaks louder than words as the saying goes. Children also pick up this also. Some unloving parents profess their love, but don’t devote a meaningful amount of time to them. It may work for awhile but, eventually when the words don’t match the action they can catch on.

On a personal note:

At the beginning of this post,and even this series, I was attempting to review the contents of this book. Working in my own thoughts were my own personal experiences in my life. This chapter touches me deeply being a parent myself of two young children. This has made search my own discipline or should I say lack of discipline. Do I always provide the best example to my own children? Admittedly I do not. Does this mean I don’t love them? No it doesn’t and I love them dearly. Could I do better? Yes I could and I will.

I’m going to continue this chapter on my next post as this one is getting too long as it is.

Technorati Tags: peck,scott peck,the road less traveled,book,the sins of the father

Introduction

Hello my name is Robert Plumer and I’m a part-time blogger. I also work full-time at a not-so-typical blue collar job. When I’m not working I’m usually on the computer surfing and spending time with my family. I’ve been happily married for over ten years to my lovely wife Jessica. We have two son’s, Joshua who is 7 years old and Samuel who is 8 months old.

I also like fixing computers and cars. I enjoy helping others with there computer problems and the occasional automotive repair. I also have blogs dealing with computers and automobiles too.

I’m also a part-time student and I have been attending classes through Community College of Rhode Island and will be switching to New England Tech in October.

Going back to school at 40 has been a very enlightening experience. I enjoy learning and reading very much. Along with required studies I’ve developed an interest in psychology and personal development. As you can imagine those subjects don’t fit well into my computer and automotive blog. They also tend to be a bit more personal so I created this blog to share my insights, thoughts and discoveries along the way in my own personal development and learning.

I’ll be sharing my insights in personal development and psychology as I learn from them. I’ll also share books I read and movie’s or show’s I’ve found to be inspirational or gave me some food for thought. Thanks for dropping by and I hope you’ll return again soon.