The Invisible Mentor

Posts Tagged ‘Book Review/Summary’

I read and reviewed The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran in 2006 because two of the interviewees in my book Tales of People Who Get It indicated that this was the one book that had a profound impact on their lives. I read the book trying to understand their point of views.

Cover of The Prophet

First published in 1923, The Prophet is a compilation of 26 poetic essays that deal with love, marriage, giving, work, joy and sorrow, buying and selling, laws, freedom, reason and passion, self-knowledge, talking, pleasure, death and so much more. It’s beautifully written in very simple, poetic language.

The book starts off with Almustafa, the “chosen and beloved” one who has been living in a foreign country, Orphalese, where the people have embraced him for the past 12 years. His ship has returned and he must return to the land of his birth. He is saddened, but he knows that he must leave. Gibran’s genius comes out in the simplicity of his writing.

Almustafa asks, “How shall I go in peace and without sorrow? Nay, not without a wound in the spirit shall I leave this city. Long were the days of pain I have spent within its walls, and long were the nights of aloneness; and who can depart from his pain and his aloneness without regret? Too many fragments of the spirit have I scattered in these streets, and too many are the children of my longing that walk naked among these hills, and I cannot withdraw from them without a burden and an ache.”

Almitra the “seeress,” the first one to embrace him when he first arrived in Orphalese, understands that he must depart. She senses his deep longing to return to his roots, but before he leaves she wants him to impart some of his wisdom. Almitra asks, “Speak to us of Love.” He responds:

“When love beckons to you, follow him,

Though his ways are hard and steep.

And when his wings enfold you yield to him,

Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.

And when he speaks to you believe in him,

Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden… And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course…”

Various people in the community ask him to talk about various things, which result in the 26 poetic essays, which are Almustafa’s responses. The book imparts words of wisdom, some of which are outlined below.

Words of Wisdom

• On joy and sorrow: Your joy is your sorrow unleashed
• On work: You work that you may keep pace with the earth and the soul of the earth… And in keeping yourself with labour you are in truth loving life
• On giving: You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. For what are your possessions but things you guard for fear you may need them tomorrow?
• On buying and selling: It is in exchanging the gifts of the earth that you shall find abundance and be satisfied. Yet unless the exchange be in love and kindly justice, it will but lead some to greed and others to hunger
• On self-knowledge: Your hearts know in silence the secrets of the days and the nights. But your ears thirst for the sound of your heart’s knowledge

YouTube video of The Prophet

If you cannot view the YouTube video of The Prophet click here.

Though The Prophet was first published over eight decades ago, anyone can find something that’s of relevance to them today. I enjoyed this book and I was able to see how this book could have a major influence on someone’s life. I would like to add that some of the most successful leaders have relied on poetry to inspire them, and they have learned incredible lessons in the process. I recommend The Prophet.

What are your thoughts on reading poetry? What inspires you? What do you have to add to the conversation? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right side) by email or RSS Feed.

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• HW Bio: Kahlil Gibran the Prophet (harlemworldblog.wordpress.com)
• Kahlil Gibran, on children (ns2gs.wordpress.com)

Ambeck Edge, October 2006

It’s been one year since I’ve been blogging so I thought I’d grade myself on my blogging report card. I started to blog March 2009, and though it’s been a year, I didn’t let anyone know that I was blogging for about eight months because I wanted to build up content for the website as well as develop discipline and a comfort level around blogging. Like anything in life, the more I blogged, the better I became at it. I still have a long way to go, and there are a lot of things that I still need to learn. How do you prepare for your biggest projects?

I have honored the commitment that I made in terms of the frequency of the blog, but I am not doing as many book reviews as I committed to do. I wanted to do one each week. And, I am not reading as many of the older books that I committed to read. This is something that’s important to me and ultimately to you. Wouldn’t it be great if I  reviewed a long lost book that provided information that you could immediately use at work, and even give you that competitive edge? I firmly believe that we can use some of yesterday’s ideas to solve some of today’s problems.

I would like to interview more accomplished people from other countries to have a diversity of perspectives for a richer experience. Are there folks that you can suggest, and be a bridge in the introduction? I would also like to pull out more of the information on mentoring and career.

There is a lot of rich content on The Invisible Mentor, but I have to segment, and analyze the information to enhance the user experience. I learned about a software program Concordance, that may be able to do that for me, and there is a 30-day trial so I can test it. Wouldn’t it be great if there was enough information that we could build the perfect mentor, what would a perfect mentor look like?

How important is it to honor commitments that you make to yourself? Do you take the time to grade yourself?

As I move forward, what are some things that you’d like to see in this space?

A friend suggested that I hold a contest where my readers would choose their invisible mentor, and in this instance, they would have to choose people who are living because the prize would be mentoring sessions with the “invisible mentor” that they chose. I would need your assistance to make something like this work. If for instance someone chose, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, George Soros, Seth Godin or say a Rupert Murdoch, how would we get access to them? Is this something that you’d be interested in? Because if you were, I’d find a way to make it work.

Looking back at what I have achieved with the invisible mentor, I would grade myself a B+ on my blogging report card. I will work harder at the book reviews and strive to find books that have changed the world, and rare books that will inspire us to take action. For the past year, how would you grade yourself for your most important goals? Why did you give yourself that grade? What can you do better in the upcoming months? A B+ is on my Report Card, what’s on yours?

Let’s continue the conversation, please comment by clicking on the comment link below and let me know if (1) you’d be interested in having your invisible mentor mentor you? and (2) what you’d like to see on this blog? (3) how I can enhance the user experience for you (4) and finally, is a B+ a fair grade, why, why not?

Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

For your research and writing needs, consider my firm Ambeck Enterprise for white papers, articles, fact sheets, anniversary booklets, you name it. Since I am the best kept secret you may not know this, but I have over 15 years research and writing experience. I KNOW content. And if you cannot figure out which books to read for professional development, I am your WOMAN. I can assist you with that too. Visit my sales page for resources such as The Invisible Mentor Toolkit to assist you in acquiring wisdom from a distance. For free white papers click here.

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Book Review

The Vowels of Personal Power: 5 + 1 Ways to Liberate Your Creativity

by Bob McCulloch & Julia Gluck

I have been reflecting a lot on my life, and with reflections you revisit things you did and how you did them. So, I have looked at my newsletter to see if some of the work that I did is still relevant today. You will notice that I have been splattering this blog with book reviews and interviews that I conducted a few years go. The review of  The Vowels of Personal Power is still relevant today.

Even though The Vowels of Personal Power contains a lot of information that I have been exposed to before, I liked it because it was presented in a “fresh” manner. It’s taking old ideas and giving them a new spin. The book is filled with many examples to help you grasp the concepts. One criticism that I have, and it’s just my personal preference and may not be the same for you, is that there were too many examples, and the majority of them were about the authors’ personal experiences. Is it possible to have too many examples? I would have preferred it if there were less examples and more of them about other people.

According to the authors, the premise of the book is that “we are all born bundles of creative energy… We’re born with the capacity for awareness, engagement, openness and understanding.” The “I” from the vowels is for Integrity and what McCulloch and Gluck refer to as the “Thoughtful I,” which integrates all the other practices in the vowels.

Below are listed the five vowels of personal power and the 12 practice areas – presented in the book -to unleash your creativity.

1. I: Integrity and the Thoughtful I
2. A: Awareness
   i. Stay Mindfully Aware
   ii. Capture and Cherish Your Lightness
   iii. Be Thoughtfully Authentic
3. E: Engagement
   i. Get and Stay Engaged
   ii. Stay Resolved Without Attachment
   iii. Accept and Support Your Mutuality
4. O: Openness
   i. Accept Every Idea’s Inevitable Relevance
   ii. Allow and Fully Appreciate Fresh Associations
   iii. Perceive the Positives
5. U: Understanding
   i. Acknowledge and Suspend Judgment
   ii. Confirm Your Understanding
   iii. Embrace the Power of the Both/And

Glancing at the list you may think that “oh I already know this,” but knowing something and practicing it are two very different things. This book is a good reminder to be positive, appreciative, focused, fully engaged in whatever it is you’re doing, not be attached to how you get to your destination (outcome), and to give things a chance before you decide to “nix” them. The book helps you to integrate the 12 practices into your life.

Five + 1 Great Ideas

You have lots of things standing in the way of the flow of your personal creative energy, all anchored in your thoughts and beliefs about the way the world works. So to get out of the rut of automatic thoughts, you need to mobilize your conscious thinking

Equilibrium seems safe to us. It is still, unchanging, knowable, and predictable. However, it stops us from growing. It stops us from being open to new possibilities

What happens to you, what you achieve in your life, is dictated less by your abilities than by the choices you make, including choices to do nothing

By not becoming attached to one particular way of doing things, you liberate people’s creative energy. You liberate them to use whatever talents they have in order to achieve the desired outcome – even a difficult one

Carry a notebook and pen at all times… Whenever an interesting thought comes to you – even one with no apparent application in the present – write it down. When you find your energy blocked regarding an idea or a situation, consulting your ideas book may just give you the inspiration to move forward

Solutions will not always present themselves to you right away. Sometimes they need to be coaxed out, and sometimes you need to sneak up on them from behind

I recommend this book, and it’s one that you should read more than once, just to remind yourself about what you already know.

Application

1. How can you apply the concepts from The Vowels of Personal Power to your life?
2. What techniques do you use to ensure that you stay in the moment?
3. How do you capture ideas when they come to you?

Excerpt Ambeck Edge November 2006

The natural order of life is for people to grow, evolve, and have the ability to adapt to change. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

is really about the transformative power of finding “passion” which gives meaning to life. The author’s writing is very vivid, and the words jump off the pages and transport readers into the story where they become a participant versus a passive observer.

First published in 1911, The Secret Garden is a story about 10-year old Mary Lennox, a self-absorbed, sour and sickly girl who becomes an orphan when a cholera epidemic kills her parents and the staff at their home in India. Mary is sent to Misselthwaite Manor in the United Kingdom to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven who is still grieving 10 years after his wife’s death. Shortly after Mary’s arrival, Archibald leaves on a journey to heal his aching and grieving heart.

At the Manor, chambermaid Martha is the only one who has time for Mary, and she regales the child with tales about living on the moor. Martha also talks about her brother Dickon Sowerby, a spirited lad with a kind disposition, who has a “green thumb” and the unique ability to charm animals. After hearing about Dickon, Mary is fascinated and wants to meet him.

One day while exploring the grounds at the Manor, Mary finds the key to the Secret Garden which she has heard about. Everyone is banned from entering the garden, but Mary who has always been accustomed to getting her own way, enters the garden. Her transformation begins immediately. Later, she meets Dickon and shares her secret with him. Together they sneak into the Garden each day and work hard at restoration by pruning and planting new flowers. Doing something that she cares about, Mary gets stronger and her sickness starts to disappear. Because her life now has meaning, she becomes a nicer person and her sourly nature starts to fade.

One night while in her bedroom, she hears weeping and decides to investigate. She discovers her 10 year cousin Colin Craven who is confined to his bedroom because he refuses to go outside. Colin is convinced that he has a disability and is going to die very soon. “Mary stood near the door with her candle in her hand, holding her breath. Then she crept across the room, and as she drew nearer the light attracted the boy’s attention and he turned his head on his pillow and stared at her, his grey eyes opening so wide that they seemed immense. ‘Who are you?” he said at last in a half-frightened whisper. ‘Are you a ghost?’ ‘No, I am not,” Mary answered, her own whisper sounding half-frightened. ‘Are you One?’… ‘No,’ he replied after waiting a moment or so. ‘I am Colin.’ ‘Who is Colin?’ she faltered. ‘I am Colin Craven. Who are you?’ ‘I am Mary Lennox. Mr. Craven is my uncle.’ ‘He is my father,’ said the boy. ‘Your father!’ gasped Mary. ‘No one ever told me he had a boy! Why didn’t they?’”

Like any other relationship, this one has its ups and downs, but the two cousins develop a bond. When Mary feels that she can trust Colin she tells him about the Garden. Together Mary, Colin and Dickon go to the Garden each day to work.

As the story unfolds, the transformative power of the Garden spreads to Mary and Colin, and, as the Garden comes to life, so do Mary and Colin. Both regain their strength and health and Colin no longer needs his wheelchair. Not only is their health restored through the transformation, but they learn the importance of appreciation and showing consideration for others. What seemed impossible now becomes possible.

Five Great Ideas

1. “You learn things by saying them over and over and thinking about them until they stay in your mind forever…”
2. “The beginning is just to say nice things are going to happen until you make them happen.”
3. Make life meaningful by doing work that you are passionate about. Live each day as if it were your last
4. Everyone wants to be liked, appreciated and wanted. People also want to feel like they are a part of something bigger than themselves
5. To receive compassion you have to be compassionate and to earn respect you have to respect others

Though The Secret Garden is a children’s book, everyone will benefit from reading it. Living a meaningful life brings joy, and people learn to live rather than merely exist. In 2009, what are five things you could do to add meaning to your life and work? And, how can you grow and evolve into the multiple roles you play both at home and at work? I recommend The Secret Garden. When you read the Secret Garden, read it with the view of applying the concepts to your life.

How can you use this information? What do you have to add to the conversation? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

Excerpt from January/February 2009 Ambeck Edge http://www.ambeck.com/newsletters/nl_200902.html

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