I am reading a book by Peter Sheahan entitled, 'FLIP' How to Turn Everything You Know on Its Head--and Succeed Beyond Your Wildest Imaginings.'
Yes, I seek inspiration, wisdom and a kick in the ass when I need and where I find it!
It is a good book. I will note two things that made me pause...in a good way. Pete, (I feel I know him) talks about his wife and her 'need' for this very expensive bag. Pete, in good husband form offers to get her a good-looking knock off which she refuses. Now Pete champions knowing 'your story' the story that defines you...to yourself. His wife as he reflected on the expensive bag situation with her, "...wasn't just buying the bag because of what it said about her to the world, but because of what it said to her about her."
The point is that what we think is rarely what drives our behaviors. It is what we feel that matters."
What we buy, what we say, and what we create on many levels is the DNA of us. It is us.
Lastly, I like this statement from Theodore Roosevelt (of all people!):
It is not the critic who counts: not the man who
points out how the strong man stumbles or where
the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit
belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood,
who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short
again and again, because there is no effort without
error or shortcoming, but who knows the great
enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends
himself for a worthy cause; who, at best, knows,
in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and
who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while
daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with
those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory
nor defeat.
--Theodore Roosevelt,"Citizenship in a Republic,"
a speech given at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910
Serendipity! I always find the wisdom and truth I need to hear (or read) at the right time.
Adrienne Zurub
Speaker/Comedian/Actor/RN
Author, 'Notes From the Mothership The Naked Invisibles'
Adrienne Zurub's Amazon Blog - http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/
I wrote the above post around 1am. After getting some sleep I came up with these thoughts about Pete's book. Pete's young age (he states he's under 30) reminded me of the kick-azz approach of a youthful mindset in approaching business, achieving something and the power of simply ACTION..
Pete, espouses being willing to fail yet failure is not the 'failure' of old. The 'new failure' are the steps and action we take to our relative success and hopefully greatness in whatever venture. The concept of 'flipping' is allowing yourself to initiate action, any action, just do something and eventually something will work!
The main reason I chose to read this book is because of this statement, "Action equals clarity."
I was stuck. I did not know what to do next in making my book the bestseller it is destined to be--my goal is to sell millions of books! I wanted everything (marketing, writing, promotion, etc.) to be 'perfect' which is a dated way of thinking. I was paralyzed trying not to make mistakes (and appear foolish, or a 'failure' or a disappointment...to myself!). In trying to conserve my limited monetary resources my focus was problems and not necessarily the need to move forward with...something...actually any freakin' thing! I was reminded of something I have said and believe, yet forgot on this Odyssey: there are no rules!
No book offers everything we need at any given moment (well, maybe the exception is MY book). I have found that I am drawn to the lesson or the teaching I need to know and incorporate in my life at any given point. I re-learned this, in doing we become. In mistakes/failures=action, we grow.
Simple and innocent wisdom in dealing with the complexity of living and creating my world outside the 'Matrix.' WISDOM from the mouth of a babe...Pete, it's cool to reference that!
You have really nice blog :)
Posted by: Drunken Dragon | August 04, 2008 at 12:16 AM