Stuck On Books

I’m beating myself up for not blogging in March and April.  I blame it on statistics—seriously. I was taking a statistics class, online, as a graduate student. What was I thinking? Oh yes—I’ve always wanted my Master’s degree.

Two summers ago while preparing for grad school I ordered reading glasses from Costco. While chatting up the attractive male employee in the vision department, I mentioned that I was about to start graduate school. He shared that he recently completed his MBA. Upon leaving he wished me good luck — the tone in his voice was a bit ominous; it relayed the message —“I’m sure glad it’s you and not me who’s about to embark on that degree”.

I empathized with fellow classmates who had to juggle full-time work, children and a spouse, while taking this Statistics class. I remember working full time as a single parent while earning my undergraduate degree; it was a harrowing experience which I don’t ever wish to repeat. Now when I start feeling stressed with my coursework, I remind myself that this was my choice.

I admit I enjoyed learning about statistics and how data is measured. Our textbook Statistical Persuasion, was well written and I loved the following quote from it, “It’s easy to lie with statistics, but not easier without them.” Statistics can help us understand, for example, why students in one school district score higher on exams than students of another district. It can also help us understand why women vote one way and men another. Interesting stuff…

During the last eight weeks I managed to listen to two books and read a third one, thereby sticking to my New Year’s resolution of reading at least one book per month. A friend gifted me “Understanding Women” by Alison Armstrong and it is delightful! Every woman must read this book and every man should read it if he wants to understand women. This information is so powerful and right on target that Tony Robbins uses much of it in his relationship seminars.

I also listened to “The Way of the Superior Man” and I highly recommend it to men, certainly, but also to women, if they truly want to understand men. Interestingly, Tony Robbins also uses quite a bit of material from this book too. The author David Deida, lived as a monk for many years prior to becoming an author. His approach and wisdom is incredibly, on point.

Finally I read “The Miracle Morning” by Hal Elrod. If you need a kick in the butt, this book will do it. Hal is a remarkable young man with a great story (some compare him to Tony Robbins). In brief, Hal was hit by a drunk driver at age seventeen and told he would never walk or be the same again. His book started a movement around the globe and there is a whole Miracle Morning community out there. If you don’t have enough time in your life, then you must read Hal’s book. You will discover how much you can get done before 8am every morning and you will stop beating yourself up for things you didn’t get done.

Hoping this sticks!