PIC No. 24:
• Title: YOUquation: Living Your Dream—Your Happiness + Your Success
• Authors: Thomas M. Dean and Linda B. Awar
• Publisher:Independently published (Nov. 23, 2021, 165 pages)
• Management Bucket #1 of 20: The Results Bucket
Welcome to Issue No. 24 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the value-added sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—shorter reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system.
Grandpa Conversations on Character Traits
Picture this! A fictional grandfather engages with his twin grandchildren, Nate and Nancy, in a robust conversation that germinates their Top-30 list of character traits. In the process, they learn about the YOUquation toolbox and “the universe’s simplest and most magical secret formula”—and why traits like love, self-respect, control, humor, curiosity, and gratitude are essential for a happy and successful life. (What a great exercise with your children or grandchildren!)
YOUquation: Living Your Dream—Your Happiness + Your Success, by Thomas M. Dean and Linda B. Awar, is a very unique and helpful book.
You’ll chuckle at the grandpa jokes (certainly a higher form of dad jokes!), the puns, and the perceptiveness of the 10-year-old twins. So encouraging! Grandpa’s “virtuous cycle” (per the chart on page 115) walks his grandkids (and all of us) through a thoughtful pathway to happiness. Nancy and Nate, however, push back often—and greater clarity and self-awareness emerges.
I especially appreciated:
• Coaching 10-year-olds on the importance of SMART Goals! (What’s not to like about that!)
• Nate’s innocent, but perceptive question, “Are vacations bad?”
• The section on “YOUgottawanna.” Grandpa notes, “In my day, this was known as ‘fire in the belly.’”
• The list of 21 “Happiness Hacks”—and the affirmation from Nate when his grandpa used the “hack” word! Hack #3: “Smile with your eyes and your mouth, and your entire body will follow.”
• Teaching the twins about the 12 steps from AA (and Grandpa’s abbreviated list of seven steps).
• A fascinating conversation about “Your Habit Basics” and why habits are so critical—and why they are different than SMART Goals.
The learning is two-way and the twins add a creative wrinkle to “The Serenity Prayer,” retitling it, “The Serenity, Courage & Wisdom Prayer.” That conversation prompted me to search for this toe-tapping number, “The Serenity Prayer Song.” (Click here.)
Bonus Video! By the way, you’ll also appreciate this hilarious/poignant sketch by The Skit Guys, “The Serenity Prayer” (13½ minutes). Click here.
There’s more—and this is brilliant! In the introduction, the authors write, “Throughout, the most essential concepts are in bold print. If you wish to speed pre-read or solidify your learnings, merely read the bold.” (Why don’t all books boldface the big ideas?)
Imagine! Could you summarize your life philosophy and beliefs through simple conversations with 10-year-olds? (Whew! That’s much more challenging than it looks.) The Reader’s Digest is written for ninth-grade level readers. You’ll need to do better than that. Oh, my. High fives to the authors!
P.S. After reading this wonderful book (and thinking of my five grandchildren), I was reminded of the French philosopher and political activist, Simone Weil, who was born in Paris in 1909 to a Jewish family. According to one source, “When she was ten years old, she informed her middle-class parents that she had become a Bolshevik and would be reading the communist party newspapers from now on.”
Is 10 too young for children to engage in deep conversations with their grandparents and parents? Apparently not.
PAILS IN COMPARISON: Reading this book reminded me of several other must-read books in the Results Bucket, plus other buckets/core competencies.
[ ] Your Best Year Ever: A 5-Step Plan for Achieving Your Most Important Goals, by Michael Hyatt (Read my review.)
[ ] Crafting a Rule of Life: An Invitation to the Well-Ordered Way, by Stephen A. Macchia (Read my review.)
[ ] Oak Street Treehouse: The Day They Messaged God, by Dick Daniels and illustrated by Mollie Bozarth (Read my review.)
To order from Amazon, click on the title for YOUquation: Living Your Dream—Your Happiness + Your Success, by Thomas M. Dean and Linda B. Awar. For more book reviews, visit John Pearson’s Buckets Blog and subscribe to Your Weekly Staff Meeting. (And thanks to my friend, John Moorlach, for inspiring Tom Dean to send me a review copy.)
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