The Power of Now by Eckart Tolle, Review

The Power of Now by Eckart Tolle
You've heard about this book for long enough, just get it now. I got the CDs so I could listen to them in the car (much more uplifting that the news) and I am very glad I did. Eckart has a soft German accent and I have heard that he can hold a room awestruck with his mere presence. All I can say is that listening to him read his book was a gift I am very glad I gave myself. There is so much to say about it that I will, instead, tell you about a huge philosophical question it answered for me.

I have struggled with the question: "Does the end justify the means?" For example, the old cliche: would murdering Hitler when he was a baby be justified? Well, let's look at it. Eckart points out that there is never really anything but now. The past is gone and the future will never actually get here, because the moment it does it will be now, and then it will be the past. The only place that we ever get to exist is in the now. However, our brains are able to remember the past and imagine the future and that is how our brains derive their importance. But, those are not the places we can actually live. We derive our best happiness when we focus on being in the moment, being present where we are, when we are. The now is the most precious gift we have, yet so often we squander the now by reliving the past, or worrying about the future.

So, if the past and future will never actually exist, the end cannot possibly justify the means. Look at the Communist Revolution in Russia. Millions and millions of people were killed in order to bring forth the beautiful vision that communism is on paper. The big problem is that the lovely future could never materialize in a now that was willing to kill the very people it was intending to liberate. When we sacrifice our now we sacrifice the only worthwhile thing we actually have.

There are a bunch of gems for you to find in this book. Get it now.

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, Review

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
I was definitely avoiding what is arguably an unfortunately titled book. I hated the thought of "winning friends and influencing people," I mean, you know, said like that! Jeez!
However, now that I have "read" the book - I listened to this one on CD, too and I have to say I love listening to CD books now. Yet ANOTHER thing that I thought I hated. Surprise John! I have decided to give it a subtitle: or, How to Live Powerfully and Well Among People. I think that sounds more like the book to which I listened. Another bonus of the CD is that the guy who reads it is the perfect, amazing, wonderful "authority figure" voice. You'll recognize his voice as being very similar to the guy who did the bawdy Internet sound file about the entemology of the F word which everyone sent each other a few years ago. His voice is perfect, once you stop laughing.

If you want to give yourself a totally amazing leg up on your life then get this book immediately and read it like you mean it. Dale Carnegie shares such wonderfully illustrative stories from his amazing trove of experiences that you can't help but be moved and inspired to deal better with the people. If I could enforce it I would decree that everyone who works with me or for me would read this book. I will also assure you that anyone who wants to succeed in their endeavors will find it to be time well spent.

The nice, unexpected bonus is that the language of the book, and the stories that are told, are so recognizably from a very different era in the past that I found it quite comforting to listen to the book. The Principles the book extolls are, however, timeless and every bit as important, or more so, today!

Bottom line: If you never have to deal with people then don't worry about reading this book. If, however, you ever interact with others then this book is a must read. Further, if you read this book you will gain an advantage over your peers in business who haven't read it, that is almost unfair.

Weird Entertainment: DSoTR, or, DSOTM & The Wizard of OZ, Review

Weird Entertainment Suggestion - Dark Side of the Rainbow, or DSoTR - Yes, it's worth doing! A number of years ago I foisted this on our Digital Dinner group. We all had some cocktails, cued up Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon (DSoTM) CD and started it in synch with The Wizard of Oz. What you do is "watch" the movie but "listen" to Dark Side of the Moon, so Pink Floyd becomes the soundtrack.

Below is one of many websites dedicated to this phenomenon. Click on set-up and don't read too much beyond how to do it so you don't ruin it. The quick instructions go like this: queu up Dark Side of the Moon in your CD player by hitting play and then pause immediately. Then, start the Wizard of OZ in your DVD player. Right before the actual movie starts that cool old lion roars three times. Right after the third roar you hit play on the CD player and switch the sound so you're now listening to Dark Side of the Moon. (We chose the third roar, although some people argue fine points about when to actually hit start.) Sit back, and enjoy the way your brain creates meaning and connection. It really is great. I also believe that this phenomenon is similar to harmonics, or the self similarity of the Universe.
To recap: Yes, I have done it. Yes, you should try it. Yes, if you want to make it a party, that would be a good idea! ;)

http://www.synchronicityarkive.com/dsotr.php
If that doesn't work, try going to http://google.com
and searching for: DSOTM Wizard of OZ

Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kyosaki, Review

Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kyosaki

You're going to have to deal with money for the rest of your life, even if you're really rich. After all, you want to keep it if you got it and get it if you don't! So, don't wait, just read this book now. After looking at it for too long, I finally, finally pulled Rich Dad, Poor Dad off the shelf. That's what I mean about inspiration plugging up one's nostrils sometimes. It was sitting on the shelf I look at every morning, at exactly eye level, and I just "didn't have time" to read it. I am getting very clear on the fact that the stuff I don't want to deal with is precisely the stuff I ought to deal with. And, the things that challenge me, scare me, or threaten me the most are the hardest things to even see. It's like they're wearing next gen. camouflage. If money is a challenge to you this book is a must read. I stayed up way past my bedtime, caught up in reading it. It's inpirational. It is a fast, fun, really interesting read. He rambles and repeats himself a lot, but it works because it makes you feel like he's talking to you, right out of the pages. I actually felt like he cares. I believe he's sincerely trying to help people out of what he calls the "Rat Race."

The things he repeats are important concepts, too. There are a lot of things he talks about in this book that you "already know." However, by putting this particular group of things you "already know" in this particular arrangement and by including a few things you might not have known Robert Kyosaki really hands you some powerful ammunition for the game of life. The younger you are the happier you'll be to know this stuff now, if you apply it. "I don't work for money!" Rich Dad says quite often, "Money works for me!" He also takes issue with a lot of the "conventional wisdom" about assets and liabilities saying that, as traditionally figured, people's "net worth" is often "worth less" than they think. Is your home really an asset?

As a final note, when I talked with my friend Paul, who read Rich Dad, Poor Dad about six months before I did. He said, "It really works! When I read it my financial life was a mess. But, these days I'm putting money away, I know where I stand, money is showing up unexpectedly." It reprogrammed his subconscious. "It's not like it makes you a millionaire overnight, but it gets you ready, which makes all the difference." I can say now, years after having read this book that it has had a major, beneficial impact on my finances, as well.

Rich Dad Poor Dad is one of my recommended Life Matters books. It's someday morning. Here's a round tuit. The sooner you read it the happier you'll be.

Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond, Review

Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond

Years later this book is still blowing my mind. I felt like a genius just reading it! I slowed down near the end because I didn't want it to end. There really isn't a way to explain this book and do it justice. It is phenomenally interesting and utterly astounding. It attempts to answer the question: why did human history turn out the way it did? Why didn't the Aztecs come conquer Europe, or the Incas invade China? The answer will definitely surprise you. The breadth of the view, the depth of Jared Diamond's knowledge and the lucid and engaging examples and stories he uses make you feel smart just reading the book. It is not a difficult read. However, it stretches your usual outlook so much that it makes you feel smarter for absorbing the knowledge. It shifts your paradigm and the way you see the world will be irrevocably altered. This is a totally enjoyable read and very worthy subject matter, too.

Soon after reading GGS I had a chance to see Jared Diamond speak. I was definitely not disappointed! I even stood in line to get a signed book, not a typical John thing to do. Jared is the real deal: a classic "absent minded professor" type. Completely brilliant in his area and completely oblivious to unimportant stuff like clothing style and a mussed up hairdo. It was truly exhilirating to just listen to him speak. I also got a chance to ask him a question during which I told him I felt like a genius while merely reading his book and talking about it at cocktail parties. That elicited a big round of "me too!" laughter from the audience.

One of the main points he talked about, which I found truly amazing once he'd pointed it out, is that environmental degradation and political chaos go hand in hand in the world. If you were to ask a completely non politically-savvy ecologist where the world hot spots of environmental degradation are he'd say Afghanistan, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, the former Yugoslavia, Zaire, Iraq and so on. Then, if you were to ask a completely ecologically unaware politician (uh...) where the world's political hotspots are he'd say Afghanistan, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, the former Yugoslavia, Zaire, Iraq, and so on.

Coincidence? I think not.

Here is a quote and a link to an article from 1995, which anticipates the book upon which he was then working, about Easter Island and other failed societies, called Collapse.

"In just a few centuries, the people of Easter Island wiped out their forest, drove their plants and animals to extinction, and saw their complex society spiral into chaos and cannibalism. Are we about to follow their lead?"

http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/24/042.html Again, tend your garden.

Guns Germs and Steel is one of my recommended Life Matters books. It's someday morning. Here's a round tuit. The sooner you read it the happier you'll be and the richer your perspective on things will be.

Hello World, the Silicon Surfer is back!

Hello World!