New Year's Resolutions & Book Announcement

As the year draws to a close many people will begin committing to "new year's resolutions." Resolving to save money, or lose weight, or eat healthier, or pay off debts, or be more friendly, or whatever: they begin the new year with hope and anticipation. But oddly enough (hilariously, in my view), by the second month of the new year, most, indeed the great majority of them, will have failed to follow through on their resolution(s). Statistics vary, but the data generally shows that by February almost 90% of "new year's resolution makers" will have either forgot about their resolution altogether, or given up (for whatever reason) on actually doing it. Why is this? The short answer is because they lack discipline.

Of course I'm not talking about you, dear reader. There isn't a doubt in my mind that you are a member of the elite 10% who actually has the sense to do what  you commit yourself to do. After all, you read this blog. And you don't just read it, you act on it. You don't just understand this stuff intellectually, you take the time and put forth the effort to understand it functionally as well. So naturally it isn't a surprise that you're not a member of that "90% riff raff" that spends their days mindlessly wandering the planet. Indeed, no surprise at all.

I'm sure that you've bumped in to some of those 90%er's, haven't you? Perhaps you wonder if there is anything you can do to help them "break the spell"? To help them exercise a bit of their humanity? To help them out of the darkness and guide them into the light? Or (heaven forbid!) you might happen to be one of those 90%er's! One of the few who may be lurking here trying to find a glimmer of hope! In either case, prepare yourself for my new book: Discipline: What it is; How to develop it; Why you should.

To begin with, Discipline will be released next month--just in time for you "new year's resolution" folks! The book is quite short, and is specifically designed to cover the "what, why and how" of developing self-discipline. Unlike The Catalyst of Confidence, which covered a wide range of topics, Discipline focuses on one, and attempts to cover it in scrupulous detail. The book will retail on Amazon.com for under $7.00 in paperback, and $1.99 on Kindle. What could be a better new years gift to yourself?

Stay tuned for more updates!

Some End-of-Year Updates

It's been a busy year with lots of projects going on. First and foremost I've been working on a new book, which is now in the final stages of completion (announcement forthcoming!). Also, a second edition of The Catalyst of Confidence will be released next year. No new content, just some simple editorial and structural changes, with a new cover to boot! Lastly, in anticipation of the coming semester, Life n' Leadership is currently on sale ($19.92) on Amazon.com until January 10^th, 2013.

Some Thoughts on Communication

Communication between people is accomplished through the medium of language. We communicate with words. But communication is only possible because words have meanings attached to them. When I say something is “hot” or “cold,” you are quickly able to grasp the basic proposition of what it is that I mean when I use such words. Yet not all words are so easily discernible, so clean cut, so black and white. Indeed, many times people will use a word to mean one thing, when, in their mind, they really mean something entirely different. And thus arises an explanation (no doubt among many) of why real communication can be so challenging.

You can have a conversation, a discussion, even an argument with someone, yet if you don't understand exactly what it is that they mean when they say what they say, you aren't really communicating with them. You're simply talking past one another, and though it may appear that communication is occurring, in reality it isn't. For this reason (among others) I have noticed that it is of paramount importance to understand what people mean when they use the words they do. I often find myself asking others “what exactly do you mean when you say 'x'?” or “when you say 'y,' do you mean this or that?” and so on. Recently I heard someone say that they were “being logical.” But when I inquired as to what they meant by the word “logical,” I found that they were actually thinking that they had a good reason to do whatever it was they were going to do. By “logical,” they seemed to think that they had thought the matter through and were not being rash. Had I not asked, however, I would never have guessed that that was what they meant.

The bottom line is this: don't assume that you know what the other person means when they write or say something. You may have very well read or heard a given word, and they may have very well used that word, but make sure that you are both on the same page when it comes to its meaning. Seek first to understand.