Wandering in the wilderness ...

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I've been experiencing a very laid back Saturday, first running a couple of errands, and then reading this book which should increase the happy factor sooner or later:

http://www.suzywelch101010.com/

What I liked MOST about Suzy Welch's 10 10 10 approach to decision making, was her emphasis for people to first hone in on their individual values.  I had to think for a minute what I value in my life, but it didn't take me long to come up with what are likely standard answers:  a personal relationship with God, strong ties to family and friends, complete freedom to be me, living beneath my means, continuous learning and personal growth.  One of my friends told me not to forget to value FUN.  I agreed that FUN is indeed very valuable in our lives.  I also value my surrounding environment.  It is important to me to live somewhere that I find visually appealing, and an area's natural habitat is a big part of that.  I'm sure I have other values, but they aren't as quick to come to mind.  I'm going to work on making a list of those, so that I will have an accurate road map for making future decisions.  

My current dilemma --  I feel as if I'm wandering in the wilderness, waiting on someone to find me and tell me which way to go.  I feel stagnant on many levels, including work, and I need to figure out which direction I want to take, but I have no clear vision, and I don't think 10 10 10 is going to work, if my options aren't clear.  Oh, 10 10 10 doesn't stand for fertilizer, it stands for 10 minutes, 10 months, 10 years. 

You know what is really interesting about this book title and the fact that it reminded me of a bag of fertilizer.  It's a woo woo ... de ja vu from Tuesday, when a client was in the office and said that her friend's last birthday was on 10/10/10, and her daughter said 10-10-10 reminded her of fertilizer.  I had the same "fertilizer" thought about Suzy Welch's book title (and her 10 10 10 decision making tactic) when I picked up her book at the library on Friday, and then remembered the other 10-10-10 conversation from earlier in the week.  I'm always looking for signs from the Universe (otherwise referred to as universal rhymes on an WNYC Radiolab podcast that I listened to on my latest roadtrip.)  I don't know about you, but I like the idea of the Universe tapping on my window, and I'm a very practical minded person.  Go figure. 

Turn signal >

In the same vein of decision making, I have started another book by Jonah Lehrer titled "How We Decide."

http://www.jonahlehrer.com/books

Jonah Lehrer's book takes a more scientific look into how we make decisions.  So far, I've learned that humans need emotions in order to make rational decisions.  Never again be jealous of Spock.
 
You don't have to be a scientist to appreciate Lehrer's book.  It is a very friendly read.  


I didn't choose these book based on their connectivity or even their topics.  That was a happy library accident.  I was simply looking past fiction which sometimes feels redundant to me.  To beat the predictability of fiction, I like to explore my non fiction options. 

P.S.  Reader update -- I'm now on page 140 out of the 259 pages in Jonah Lehrer's book, and I can guarantee that if you are even slightly intrigued by human behavior, that this book will give you a lot of bang for your buck or in my case -- trip to the library.)


P.S.S.:

This is for those of you who happen to think reading about human behavior is for sissies and subsequently nothing but a bunch of self help crap.  I would suggest that you put your assumptions aside and read Jonah Lehrer's book.  It is science based with lots of manly examples.  Human behavior affects every nuance of our lives.  Sports, gambling, flying, etc .... not just shoe shopping ... and Jonah Lehrer's book is not only educational, it is interesting.

As for categorizing human behavior as self help, well, that says to me, that you probably didn't enjoy biology, psychology, sociology, anthropology, literature or ethics during school (or college), and that you probably don't like movies or fiction as much as you thought, because human behavior is all around you.  Without it, we wouldn't be doing very much, if anything at all.

As for self help material, if it happens to be categorized as self help, and you don't feel you need to help yourself navigate the complexities of this world, then you can advance immediately past GO and collect $200.00.  I personally enjoy an extensive genre of reading material, and am naturally curious about nearly every mystery surrounding us ... from the human brain to dark matter in the Universe.


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