Consider a book-Books worth reading

  Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, an American Slave was an interesting read, my relationship with it is complex. My introduction to Douglass comes from his landmark speech, "what to the slave is the 4th of July?" in which Douglass makes several compelling, sobering, and inspiring arguments. As much as I would like it to be, this book is not as good. To me, the book is at its strongest when describing the transition from being a slave to being a free man. Douglass was born, neigh, bread into slavery and his path out of it is worth telling and retelling. This is a transition that is still very much part of modern America and of every individual's life. The fight to be free is at the heart of the American dream. The essence of the journey can be described by this spliced snippet of conversation overheard from master Hughes to Mrs. Hughes “If he learns to read the Bible it will forever unfit him to be a slave. He should know nothing but the will of his master, an

  This book falls squarely next to Carol Dweck's Mindset , which is funny since Duckworth specifically references Dweck towards the end of the book. In a nutshell, Duckworth shows how hard work and determination are paramount for success. None of this should be new, conscientiousness, a trait from the Big5 is extraordinarily well researched, but in many academic circles, the idea is apparently somewhat novel and marginally taboo. Still, the research she's done, clearly demonstrating the value of hard work, framing it as will power rather than merely an inherited personality trait, adds a useful lens to the discussion. Specifically, I could see this research rebutting claims overemphasizing other success resources such as IQ or socioeconomic background. For me, there were a handful of points worth remembering. First, lots of people and programs don't really consider grit to be as important as it clearly is. She uses data and anecdotes to illustrate this including phrases suc

  Prior to a trip to Oahu, I was looking for a book that would make a visit to pearl harbor more meaningful. I picked this book out after reading a WSJ review . The book served its purpose. Looking into the twisted metal gun turret of the Arizona and across the water at Ford Island, I could nearly hear the angry humming of low flying Zeroes and rapid chopping of strafing rounds chewing rescue craft to pieces. I could see hundreds of white sailor hats floating on the burning water and I could feel the pain of 79 brothers agonizing about the fate of their siblings across the ship. Details like Admiral Kidd's Annapolis class ring welded to a bulkhead, or a jar of pickles saved for 20 years for a sailor who would never come home, really bring the story to life. Besides being vivid as hell, the book is extremely well researched.  Borneman approaches pearl harbor with an interesting lens, the lives of siblings serving on the same ship. He delves into their duties on the ship, their perso

Conversely. “I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don’t set goals in our life and learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential. When one learns to master the principles of setting a goal, he will then be able to make a great difference in the results he attains in this life.”   — M. Russell Ballard Introduction There's no shortage of well-intentioned folks setting new years resolutions. Similarly, there are plenty of naysayers laughing on the sidelines. The truth is, the naysayers have a point, resolutions don't do much for most people; still what President Ballard says is undeniably true. The question then is how do we " learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals ".  One of my endeavors over the last 7 years has been to learn how to set goals. While I have yet much to learn, I offer this method as a small