Last night I finished this book "The Power of Small", it is one of the books I picked out for my 'transition' kick that I am on right now. It is basically a book about how in our busy lives we tend to disregard the small aspects of life, and when it comes down to it those small things really count. It is a collection of small stories that the authors (Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval) narrate, and here and there give in their two cents. At the end of every chapter there are little tips to help you achieve the small things that were focused on in the chapter.
Honestly, until I read this I didn't take into account how important small things meant to people. How listening and understanding the entire conversation before you take off is important, how nice it is to receive a card out of the blue, or when you stop and help someone.
There was one chapter that was all about how people helping others, or being motivated to change a situation made that persons idea flourish into a bigger company. There was one story about a man that was trying to teach his son vocabulary words for his upcoming SAT test (which I absolutely struggled through) he noticed that the flash cards that were generally used were not impacting the boy he was teaching and something needed to be done about that. The father that was using the flash cards was a computer programer and so he went to work on a program, he called it FreeRice. (http://freerice.com/index.php) The idea behind the program was that for every vocabulary word that was correct 10-20 rice grains would be donated to the UN World Food Programme. So, not only are the students that are playing this game studying for the SAT, but they are also collecting rice grains for people in need of food. I went on the website out of curiosity and played around for a little bit. Gosh, I wish that something like this would have been up when I was studying for the SAT, I think that this is a fabulous study tool, but also a great way to test your vocabulary.
Practical small hints for a good day/life are at the end of each chapter, things such as "Make a list of five positive things that happened in the course of a stressful day. Appreciate them" and "Start every meeting with a compliment...These little, positive acts take virtually no effort, but they compound over time to create an overall impression of you as a 'go to' person". "Take a minute to write a person a note, you will be remember better that way". "See how much loose change you can collect in three months, then see if you can double it in six".
This little piece of advice was obviously very important to me: "Never show up for an interview with a Starbucks cup unless you have one for the person you are meeting with".
There were a bunch of little sources that I wrote down wanting to check out the programs, and see if there is any way that I can lend a helping hand. The authors of this book have another book out called The Power of Nice, I ordered it about a week ago and I am going to add that to my collection of personal reading to do. I am trying my hardest to balance personal reading with school work, normally I am so tried of reading by the middle of the week that I don't have the interest in picking up a book, but I feel so much better when I read. I wake up happier, I go to sleep easier, my brain is always turning with ideas. Reading is very important.
I have a few books that I am getting ready to send to my mom: Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom, Greater than Yourself by Steve Faber and The Power of Small by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval. She just sent me The Pilot's Wife, which I will most likely start into after I finish up with In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan.
Lots of reading going on here!
