3 X 5's: Index Card Wisdom from Best of Books

BEAUTIFUL MIND Edward De Bono (2004). How to Have a Beautiful Mind. DeBono has a PhD from Oxford and wrote over 67 books at the time of this writing. cultivating a beautiful mind is about exploring and enjoying the art of conversation instead of argumentation and debate... some of the tips for practice in conversations include: asking "what if" questions to stimulate interest noticing adjectives...connections to another's feelings for topics that interest you, ask: "tell me more about..." use the 6 thinking hats to EXPLORE any topic...the hats are symbolically represented as colors: white=gather information red=focus on emotions black=look critically yellow=see the positive green=explore creative options blue=plan/organize to explore, say: "put your...hat on" for a controversial topic, put ALL the ideas down in parallel, look for: common ground and  points of difference as hypotheses to be tested new information means a new decision have fun by learing...

CONTEMPLATIVE MOVES Richard Rudd (2020). The Art of Contemplation . Rudd has a Master's in literature and metaphysics from the University of Edinburgh. 3 techniques and 3 confirmations, along with practical applications, are presented. 1.MENTAL technique: Pausing , to notice lifes pauses and enjoy them, to also intentionally create pauses, e.g. pause for 3 minutes every 3 hours... confirmation: Insight --open to greater space, relaxation, inner stillness 2.EMOTIONS technique: Pivoting , within the pause, intuit what's happening, e.g. green-yellow-red... confirmation: Breakthrough , to allow, accept, embrace whatever is going on 3.PHYSICAL technique: Merging , after the pivot, merge with whatever the experience is with love, friendship, and gentleness confirmation: Epiphany , transformation   my take: i see the value in pausing and noticing what's going on (1&2), but i'm confused with the "physical" merging being an epiphany, for me, it makes more sense to ...

JAB & HOOK Gary Vaynerchuk (2013). Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook . Vaynerchuk has a BA in Management Science and is best known for his entrepreneurial work. The boxing metaphor of jab and right hook is applied to marketers where jabs represent creating connections with audience interests (GIVING for free), and the hook represents asking the audience to do something (e.g., purchase a product/service, subscribe, like...(GETTING). The general format is for marketing is: jab, jab, jab...followed by the hook (jabs are the free gives to create connection and the right hook is the knock out punch). For every type of social media, there is a native context that the marketer needs to read based on who is using the platform, their purpose, and the platform's unique format...all of these need to be taken into account when engaging with the audience in jabs and hooks. Best advice across platforms is to use a striking, high-quality photo to grab attention (most people are scanning, looking for ...

SECRET AFFAIR Mary Balogh (2010). A Secret Affair. 5th and final book in the Huxtable series set in the Regency era of England. Hannah Reid marries an old rich Duke, becoming the Duchess of Dunbarton and learns platonic love...when the Duke dies 10 years later, she has an affair with Constantine Huxtable, illegitamate son of the Earl of Merton...over time they discover that they each have charitable hearts, households set up to help the poor that is kept secret, slowly they learn to care for each other and eventually marry and have a son. Favorite lines: I will always love you...nothing you do will make me stop (16) Everyone is a rose...of infinitely layered petals...precious at the heart of their being (142) We found something to laugh at every day...laughter is better than medicine (185) ...her life had followed a definite pattern...she could have never have predicted or planned...those years had not been an interval in her life...They had been integral to it...[italics mine] (226)...

INCLUSIVE THERAPY Bill O'Hanlon (2003). A Guide to Inclusive Therapy:                                               26 Methods of Respectful                                               Resistance-Disolving Therapy O'Hanlon has a Master's of Science in Counseling and Psychology from Arizona State University--a clinical hypnotherapist and author of over 30 books at the time of this writing...founded "possibility therapy" and "inclusive therapy." one key issue in therapy is balancing validating a person's experience while also inviting them to change (as most people will resist suggestions to change). some of the PRINCIPLES of inclusive therapy: give permission for ALL experiences (not necessarily behavior, but f...

FORGIVE Everett Wrothington (2003). Forgiving and Reconciling:                                                          Bridges to Wholeness and Hope Worthington has a PhD in Psychology, began studying forgiveness in the 1980's, and at the time of this book in 2003, published over 150 articles/papers on forgiveness (mostly from a social science and Christian orientation). forgiveness is an individual decision to not behave negatively toward a person that has hurt one, and making concrete attempt(s) to restore the relationship, whereas reconciliation is a relational process (requiring the cooperation of the offending party) that reestablishes trust in the relationship after trust was violated. the core process of forgivenss (this can be done individually without the offender involved) is summarized by the acronym REAC...