The Invisible Mentor

Mentor Yourself – Interview With Invisible Mentor Deborah Nixon, President

2012-05-24T01:15:52Z

10 Self-Mentoring Ideas from Deborah Nixon

Build a network of contacts who you can call on, and take the time to nurture those relationships.
Your relationship with people is absolutely everything.
Follow your passion. If you’re sensible about it, usually takes you to a really good place.
If you come from a place of integrity, honour and humility people respond to that.
Most of us can survive almost anything.
You have to read your market very well, and be willing to change and adjust your offering because you cannot convince the market. The market is what the market is, and you have to be open to letting go.
When we go into things, and we assume that what we’re trying to get out of something is what the other person wants to get out of it as well, we often do not check with the other person, we don’t question assumptions, and sometimes it’s wishful thinking because we want something so badly that we won’t look critically and won’t ask the tough questions.
If you have resiliency it gets you really far in life.
Integrity is all about what you do when nobody is looking.
Pay attention to where things are going and read widely.

Invisible Mentor: Deborah Nixon, President/Founder

Company Name: Trust Learning Solutions, MyMoneyMindset

Website: http://www.trustlearningsolutions.com

Avil Beckford: Tell me a little bit about yourself.

Deborah Nixon: My area of specialization is working with leadership teams in organizations trying to build better relationships, conflict resolution, and actually to help them work more effectively together. I have another business which is quite interesting as well called My Money Mindset. I work with women helping them to look at psychological issues toward money.

Avil Beckford: What’s a typical day like for you?

Deborah Nixon: I don’t have a typical day. My life is driven by my clients. At some point in the day I will always be doing some writing. I will talk a lot to people – people are interested in talking about trust a lot and building relationships. And of course there is the other part of my life which of course is dealing with my 15 year old son and my lab. And so I try to structure my life around being a mother and doing my work.

Avil Beckford: How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?

Deborah Nixon: I stay motivated because I feel the work I do is really important to people. I know it makes a difference. Everyday I speak to people about my work and research. People keep on telling me how important it is for organizations to work hard in building trust and integrity into their operations, and into the way they deal with people. That really motivates me a lot.

Avil Beckford: If you had to start over from scratch, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?

Deborah Nixon: From a career perspective, if I started over from scratch, I would take a lot more risks and I would have followed my passion. I think what happened to us is that we get the messages about building careers, and climbing the corporate ladder. What I found in my career was people would often hit a wall at some point and they get to that inevitable midlife crisis, which sometimes comes earlier than midlife where they really question the meaning of what they are doing. I certainly did that along the way but looking back, I think the greatest satisfaction I got in my career was in my mid-thirties when I walked away from everything that I’d done before and started to do what was meaningful to me. I wish that I’d done that earlier and not be so worried about the implications. To follow your passion if you’re sensible about it, usually takes you to a really good place.

Avil Beckford: What’s the most important business or other discovery you’ve made in the past year?

Deborah Nixon: I think my response aligns with my response to the previous question. It is about being true to who you are. You can’t fake it, and I believe that if you allow people to be the essence of who you really are, if you worried less about doing the “right” thing, and more about doing the right thing in the deepest sense of the world. If you come from a place of integrity, honour and humility people respond to that. You still may not get the sale or the deal but what you will have formed is a relationship built on respect and an enhanced reputation where people will remember you and somehow that pay-it-forward concept does come back to you.

Avil Beckford: What are the three threats to your business, your success, and how are you handling them?

Deborah Nixon: I don’t know if they are threats, they are more like challenges. It’s how we interpret the situation, so I don’t see a lot of threats in my life because threat implies fear. The challenge in my work – the trust piece is important and people acknowledge how important it is – is that senior leadership often doesn’t want to do anything about it. The challenge is how to approach helping people to learn about building their reputation and integrity and trust with others and the organization without being afraid that it will expose them. I think most people work in trust, deep down they don’t believe they are trustworthy and are terrified that people will discover that. And that’s actually never the case, so the biggest challenge is to work around that. The way I deal with it is to not come into this topic in a direct way that unmasks anything. You have to create safe spaces for people to discover what they are about, so that’s my biggest challenge and it’s a big one.

Avil Beckford: What’s unique about the service that you provide?

Deborah Nixon: A lot of people say that they work in the trust space and employee engagement, but I think what’s unique is that I have a PhD in Trust from the University of Toronto, so I have spent 15 years researching and practicing in the area. My depth of knowledge is above a lot of other people in the area. One of the unique things I do is that I work both at the behaviour and attitude level so people will say to me, “Tell me about trust,” and I’ll come in and work with your teams about how to speak better to one another, how to respond to the elephant in the room issue, but I helped people to practice their skill, so they get an awareness by the time they leave the workshop, they know what their next step is and how to do it.

Avil Beckford: Describe a major business or other challenge you had and how you resolved it. What kind of lessons did you learn in the process?

Deborah Nixon: My husband died 12 years ago when my son was two, and that was probably my biggest challenge because he was young – he was 37. My dad had died the year before, my mom was not alive. My husband had a business, I was at home with our son, and I was in the middle of my PhD. The biggest challenge that many of us face, just like in a divorce, your outlook is a bit soured and it’s a scary place to be because you have to rebuild life from the ground up. It’s not a question of resolution, but one of growth. I was terrified at the prospect of my husband dying and I was petrified and thought the world would end. How would I get up the next day? How would I manage? The really big lesson in that is the power of spirit and the incredible ability of people to not only survive from a tragedy but also to thrive, and I learned that it is truly possible. I know that most of us can survive almost anything.

Avil Beckford: Tell me about your big break and who gave you.

Deborah Nixon: I don’t think I got a big break, nobody gave one to me. I’d learn from the hard knocks school. I got to where I am through persistence, resilience and really hard work. Every time I began a business it really was from the ground up, from my conceptual plan and vision. It was about working incredibly hard, getting out and networking, and building the case for what I had. I didn’t have a mentor, and I didn’t have anybody hand me a break. It would have been nice to have.

Avil Beckford: Describe one of your biggest failures. What lessons did you learn, and how did it contribute to a greater success?

Deborah Nixon: I think my biggest failure came when I got my PhD and I developed two assessment tools in partnership with another company. I would say that conceptually the two tools were great, but they were a dud in the market. I think what I learned from it is that when you start a business, you have a project that is your baby. What I learned is that you have to let go of your personal connections to your concepts, ideas and to your business because it will take you to the edge of the cliff and over. Because I believed so much in my vision and my product, I think I was blind to what the market was telling me that there was no space in the market for the product as it was conceived. I thought if I worked harder I would convince people. What I’ve learned is that you have to read your market very well, and be willing to change and adjust your offering because you cannot convince the market. The market is what the market is and you have to be open to letting go.

Avil Beckford: What’s one of the toughest decisions you’ve had to make and how did it impact your life?

Deborah Nixon: One of the toughest decisions I had to make was separate from my last business partner. It was tough because I had so much invested in the product and into that relationship so it was both personal and professional. It was very hard and stressful during that period, and it became very personal so it impacted me in that I thought we shared the vision. It was a great disappointment to me. It also impacted me positively in that it made me realize that we all have expectations when we go into things and we assume that what we’re trying to get out of something is what the other person wants to get out of it as well, and that we often do not check with the other person, we don’t question assumptions, and sometimes it’s wishful thinking because we want something so badly that we won’t look critically and won’t ask the tough questions. The experience made me a lot more realistic going into new ventures. Right upfront I will ask the difficult questions even if I don’t think I will like the answer I will still ask because we need to know.

Avil Beckford: What are three events that helped to shape your life?

Deborah Nixon:

My husband’s death.
My son’s birth.
Getting my PhD.

Those were all life-changing events – two really positive and one very tragic but they shaped who I am today. They were very seminal events for me.

Avil Beckford: What’s an accomplishment that you are proudest of?

Deborah Nixon: It’s my son who is 15, I knew the risks of raising him on my own when he was two years old. A boy being raised in a single parent household with a mother at the helm is at risk in our society and he has turned out to be an unbelievable, incredible young man. I’m very proud of him.

Avil Beckford: How did mentors influence your life?

Deborah Nixon: I really believe in mentoring, but I’m not sure I had mentors. And that’s why I try to mentor a lot of young women. I have people I admire and I have people who I ask their opinions. I did have people to turn to who guided me.

Avil Beckford: An invisible mentor is a unique leader you can learn things from by observing them from afar, in the capacity of an Invisible Mentor, what is one piece of advice that you would give to readers?

Deborah Nixon: The most critical thing that I’ve learned is that your relationship with people is absolutely everything. When I was in executive search, I used to say to people, “I do not screen for your technical abilities, I really have very little interest in asking you about your greatest accomplishments.” I’m assuming that if you’re a director at a prestigious company, that you have competence. I’ve learned that it’s more important to focus on the people side of things.

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Profile of Wisdom: Thomas Jefferson, Philosopher, Statesman and Third President

2012-05-22T20:47:09Z

A lawyer by profession, Thomas Jefferson drafted the American Declaration of Independence. His biggest fait accompli was skilfully negotiating with France to purchase the state of Louisiana in 1803, which nearly doubled the size of the United States. Jefferson was also an inventor, and he is credited with helping to define the duties and regulations of the United States Patent Office.

Portrait of Thomas Jefferson by Rembrandt Peale in 1800. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Name: Thomas Jefferson

Birth Date: April 1743 – July 1826

Job Functions: President, Lawyer, Inventor

Fields: Politics and Law

Known For: Drafting the Declaration of Independence and Third President of the United States.

Thomas Jefferson, first secretary of state, the second vice-president, and the third president of the United States was born in Shadwell, Virginia in 1743. His early schooling included: Latin, Greek, French, and mathematics, from the Reverend William Douglas, and later from the Reverend James Maury. In March 1760, when Jefferson was 17 years old, he entered the school of philosophy at the College of William and Mary where he continued his studies in mathematics and other sciences.

In 1762, Jefferson left the College of William and Mary to study law at Wythe’s law office at Williamsburg for the next five years. Jefferson was admitted to the bar in 1767 and established a successful law practice.

Jefferson’s public career started in 1769, serving as a representative in the Virginia House of Burgesses, America’s first elected body of government, while he was still practicing law. The American Revolution which took place from 1775 to 1783 forced him to abandon his practice in 1774. An eloquent spokesman, in 1774, Jefferson argued that Americans had the natural rights to govern themselves in the famed document, A Summary View of the Rights of British America. His political thought underpinned the movement toward American freedoms.

After the American Revolution started in June 1775, Jefferson took his seat in the second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, which brought together the country’s leading political figures of the day. As a legal writer, and legislative draftsman, Congress named him to a committee with John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman to draft a declaration of independence. His colleagues on the committee tasked Jefferson with preparing the paper. Though John Adams, Benjamin Franklin made slight changes, Congress deleted an entire section that denounced the slave trade and blamed the King of England for continuing it. Many members of congress owned and traded slaves. The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776, and it is essentially Jefferson’s.

The Declaration of Independence outlined the arguments justifying the position of the American Revolutionaries and also affirmed the rights of the colonists to dissolve the “political bands” with the British government. A key sentence from the document, which is often quoted:

“We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

In June 1779, Jefferson became the Governor of Virginia as the Revolutionary War entered a new phase when the British decided to attack the South. Early 1781, the British invaded Virginia, and Jefferson was criticized and blamed for the state’s lack of resistance, so he quit public service. Not having access to his farm and books, and the death of his wife in September 1782 had plunged him into deep despair. November of that year, Congress appointed him to a peace commission in Paris, but he ended up in Congress instead.

From November 1783 to May 1784, Jefferson drafted the first regulation of government for the western territory to create free and equal states out of the wilderness. He was also instrumental in creating foreign policy. Trade was important to America, and in 1784, Jefferson was appointed to a three-man commission along with John Adams and Benjamin Franklin to negotiate trade treaties with European countries. When Franklin retired, Jefferson replaced him as a representative to France, where he spent the next five years in Europe.

While Jefferson was minister to France, he consulted with European scientists on new inventions, and he also “observed the state of the sciences and new advances in technology, noting agricultural and mechanical innovations and labor-saving devices, all of which he reported to correspondents in America and a number of which he adapted for his own use at Monticello…. He reported to James Madison the new “phosphoretic matches,” the invention of the Argand lamp, and various applications of steam power that had come to his attention. He envisaged steam not as the means to achieve an industrial revolution but rather as a supplementary source of power…. The type of plough used by French peasants led Jefferson to design an improved moldboard, which he subsequently had constructed and tested successfully at Monticello.”

Jefferson also acted as mentor to French politicians Marquis de Lafayette, and Victor de Riquetti, marquis de Mirabeau. And in 1789, he was an informal adviser to the drafting of the French Declaration of the Rights of Man.

When Jefferson returned to the United States in 1789, President George Washington appointed him secretary of state, a position in which most of the times in the next three years he unsuccessfully negotiated with European powers. During his time as secretary of state, Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, the secretary of the treasury became involved in a conflict. Hamilton was a Federalist, who favoured the interests of business, and the upper class, while Jefferson favoured agricultural interests. Hamilton emerged the winner in the conflict and Jefferson and his party formed a group known as the Republicans, which evolved into today’s Democratic Party. The dispute between Hamilton and Jefferson was the Bank of the United States, which Hamilton approved of, but Jefferson felt was unconstitutional.

Jefferson gave up his secretary of state position at the end of 1793 and once again quit public life, but in 1796 the Republicans made him their presidential candidate against John Adams. Adams won by a small margin and became President of the United States and Jefferson Vice President. The Republicans doubled their efforts in the next presidential campaign in 1800, which was an extremely bitter one. Jefferson and Aaron Burr ended in a tie, and Alexander Hamilton who despised Burr more than he did Jefferson, lobbied the Federalists in the House to elect Jefferson. Jefferson became the third president of the United States on March 4, 1801 in the new national capital, Washington D.C. When Jefferson was sworn in, he appealed for harmony among all political parties.

Jefferson worked with congress to restore freedom of the press, scaled down the army and navy, ended all internal taxation, and began paying off the national debt. He reformed the economic plans of government by reducing their means of power, and sought to further peace, individual freedoms and to help to solidify the American way of life.

He had many shining moments in his life, but Jefferson’s greatest triumph came in foreign affairs when he successfully negotiated the purchase of Louisiana from France in 1803 for approximately $15 million, nearly doubling the size of the United States. Jefferson was easily re-elected in 1804, but soon encountered trouble both at home and abroad. There was disharmony within the Republican Party and Jefferson had to fight hard to maintain control of Congress.

Jefferson encountered problems of attacks on independent US ships by England and France, which were engaged in war. Tension between American and France reached boiling point, and Jefferson avoided war when Congress passed the Nonimportation Act of 1806, forbidding the importation of British goods, and the Embargo Act in December 1807. The embargo met with some success but was extremely expensive and detrimental to the US trade. Near to the end of Jefferson’s second term as president, Congress reversed the embargo. At the end of his term, Jefferson retired to his estate, Monticello.

Jefferson served as the president of the American Philosophical Society from 1797 to 1815. During his retirement, he corresponded with many, and repaired his relationship with John Adams. He also helped to found the University of Virginia in 1819. He died at Monticello, 50 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and a few hours before John Adams. Months before his death, Jefferson wrote his epitaph, which read:

“Author of the Declaration of Independence and of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia.”

Tidbits About Thomas Jefferson

From 1790-93, Thomas Jefferson served as examiner of patents. He is credited with helping to define the duties and regulations of the U.S. Patent Office. He refused to patent his inventions because he believed that the availability of patents and free sharing on knowledge would spur inventions, and also create prosperity for all.
Throughout his life, Jefferson conducted scientific studies and collected data:

Studied new methods for determining the heights of mountains, tested atmospheric moisture with a hygrometer, and used double-refraction optical instruments to measure small angles, eclipses, lunar movement, and Earth’s longitude.
Recorded the appearance of many plants, animals, and birds on his Monticello estate and wherever his travels took him.
Kept weather data all his life and shared it with other meteorological observers around the country.

Invented a swivel chair, a writing desk that could be placed on one’s lap, a walking cane that converted to a chair, and a copying machine that duplicated letters as they were being written.
Supported other inventions, including the hot-air balloon, dry docks for ships, the submarine, fireproofing for houses, telescopes, the camera obscura, carriage odometers, and personal pedometers.
While Jefferson was president he conducted botanical expeditions around the Washington, DC, area and distributed European seeds to the local vegetable markets.
Though he declared that he was a friend of Native Americans, Jefferson ran them off their land as fast as any president before or since. He wrote about the evils of African American slavery, but did nothing effectual to limit its growth after 1800, let alone to begin its abolition.
In 1998 a DNA analysis of evidence from descendants of Eston Hemings and descendants of Jefferson’s uncle Field Jefferson, found a match indicating that a male member of Jefferson’s family was the father of Eston Hemings.
“By 1814 when the British burned the nation’s Capitol and the Library of Congress, Jefferson had acquired the largest personal collection of books in the United States. Jefferson offered to sell his library to Congress as a replacement for the collection destroyed by the British during the War of 1812. Congress purchased Jefferson’s library for $23,950 in 1815. A second fire on Christmas Eve of 1851, destroyed nearly two thirds of the 6,487 volumes Congress had purchased from Jefferson.”

Thomas Jefferson’s Steps to Success

Had a solid education.
Great orator and prolific writer who drafted many important documents including the Declaration of Independence.
Held many positions which prepared him for the US presidency.
Investigated every branch of science, from botany to biology, meteorology, archaeology, astronomy, chemistry, geology, mathematics, paleontology, and ethnology. This helped him to appreciate technological innovations and inventions.
Dedicated himself to improving education in Virginia, advocating a statewide system based on a proposal that he had initiated many years earlier.
Worked to create the University of Virginia, which was finally chartered in 1819, and opened in 1825. Jefferson helped to define the university.
Designed the curriculum at the new University of Virginia (1819) to revolve around a core of natural philosophy (science), including physics, engineering, and mineralogy, when most American colleges still focused exclusively on the liberal arts and divinity.

Why Thomas Jefferson’s Contribution Matters

He was the third president of the US.
Drafted the Declaration of Independence.
Initiated measures for establishing a decimal system for a standard coinage, and a system of weights and measures.
Instrumental in developing a system for granting patents.

Lessons from Thomas Jefferson

Developed a solid foundation which he built on.
Used the skills he was good at to become successful.
Free thinker, which allowed him to deviate when he was designing the curriculum for the University of Virginia.

Further Reading/Viewing

President Thomas Jefferson Biography

Cannot view this video, click here. Uploaded by TheUsPresidents on Aug 15, 2011

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Works Cited/Referenced

Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography

UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography

Science and Its Times, Volume 4

West’s Encyclopedia of American Law

Encyclopedia of Science, Technology and Ethics

Encyclopedia of the New American Nation

International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences

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10 Great Ideas from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

2012-05-22T11:45:15Z

10 Great Ideas from Little Women

Money and possessions do not equate to happiness.
Count your blessings and be grateful for what you have in life.
Conceit spoils the finest genius.
Don’t let the sun go down upon your anger; forgive each other, help each other, and begin again tomorrow.
When you’re feeling down, do something good for another.
Pursue your own path in life, not merely what society and others expect from you.
Teamwork allows you to get more done in less time.
Have a purpose in life because it will keep you moving forward. So dream big dreams and have a sense of where you are going in life.
Family is important – a family that plays together stays together.
Death is a fact of life.

Why Little Women by Louisa May Alcott Still Matters Today

Little Women is a story about a traditional family – father, mother and four daughters. All families, traditional and non-traditional, form a community, which teaches its members how to function in the broader community. Life is very busy today, and family members often do not have enough time to sit down together. Little Womenreminds us how important it is for family members to communicate with each other. The March family had dinner together, at which time they would talk about how their day went.

Cover of Little Women

Why Louisa May Alcott is qualified to write Little Women

Little Women is semi-autobiographical, and the character, Jo March is based on Louisa May Alcott’s life. Louisa May Alcott was the second daughter of the educator and transcendentalist Amos Bronson Alcott and Abba May Alcott. Jo March’s life was more idyllic than Alcott’s. Alcott was dominated by her father and she had to bear the financial burden of her sisters and mother.

Louisa May Alcott is best known for Little Women (1868) and the seven novels that followed in the “Little Women” series. Like in the novel, Alcott is the second of four girls, and all children were homeschooled by their father. He encouraged them to keep a journal, together they wrote a family newspaper and plays in which they performed. The four girls also learned how to sew and take care of the home. Alcott drew on her experiences, as well as those of her sisters Anna and Elizabeth, to write Little Women, which she wrote in two months. The book was so very well received that fans asked the publisher for more stories about the March sisters – Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. Alcott never married, took care of her aged parents, as well as adopted her sister Anna’s son and was also legal guardian of her sister May’s daughter.

Alcott was exposed to great writers such as Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Margaret Fuller – all were her mentors. As a child, she went on nature walks with Thoreau. And she borrowed books from Emerson, and wrote short stories for his children.

To get the most from this Little Woman SummaReview, after you have read it, answer the following questions:

Is this a book you’d like to read for yourself? Why? Why not?
What has made an impression on you while reading?
Which character is most like you?
Were there any kernels of wisdom in this reading?
What are five takeaways from the SummaReview?
What is one action that you can take as a result of reading this SummaReview?

The Novel, Little Women

While reading Little Women there were many times I felt like the book glorified poverty too much. However, the flawed characters balanced the story, and made them endearing because readers will find traits in one of the sisters that they can see in themselves. There is a lot of reference to The Pilgrim’s Progress, which I have never read, but research uncovered this, “In writing Little Women, Alcott alluded overtly in numerous instances to John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress (published in two parts in 1678 and 1684), a Christian allegory that was among her father Bronson Alcott’s favorite stories and one of the most well-known texts of the nineteenth century.”

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott is divided into two parts. In Part I the “little women” are growing up and in Part II they are adults. The story is set during the American Civil War and when it starts, Mr March is away at the war and funds are limited. It’s just before Christmas and the girls are lamenting about not having a lot of money to spend on Christmas presents. From the outset the reader gets insights into the personalities of Margaret (Meg) aged 16, Josephine (Jo) aged 15, Elizabeth (Beth) aged 13, and Amy aged 12.

On Christmas Day each of the four girls receives a book, different colours as a gift from Marmee (Mrs March). It’s not quite clear if the books are journals or copies of The Pilgrim’s Progress. The girls are taught to be selfless by their parents, and on Christmas Day their mother asks them to sacrifice their breakfast so that it be given to a family in need. Later, they perform The Witch’s Curse, an Operatic Tragedy. The girls get a welcome surprise when their wealthy neighbour, Mr Laurence gives them ice cream, cake and fruit, and French bonbons.

A neighbour, Mrs. Gardiner, invites Meg and Jo to her house for a New Year’s Eve party. The girls do not have new clothes so they have to make do with what they have. While curling Meg’s hair, Jo accidentally burns the ends. At the party, they meet Laurie, Mr Laurence’s grandson. Jo and Laurie hang out at the party and it’s the beginning of a long friendship. Laurie is an orphan who now lives with his grandfather.

We learn that Mr March lost his property while trying to help an unfortunate friend resulting in his two eldest daughters having to work. Meg works as a governess teaching small children and Jo acts as a companion to her elderly Aunt March. Meg takes Amy under her wings while Jo does the same for Beth, and both pairs of sisters develop a strong bond. The March family is a closely knit one and they take time each evening to check in with each other to see how their day went.

Because of this kind of relationship, Jo feels sorry for Laurie who is always by himself and leads a very sheltered life. She marches over to his home and at the time, he was ill, so she reads to him and visits for hours. Laurie is welcome into the March family and they do a lot of things together. It’s not always smooth sailing and the girls are not angels. Amy burns a book that Jo is working on because her sister refuses to let her attend The Seven Castles of the Diamond Lake. A rift develops between the sisters and Jo refuses to forgive Amy. It takes a near tragic event for Jo to forgive her sister. Marmee talks to them about their hot tempers and Jo promises to work on taming hers.

The “little women” in Alcott’s book choose their destinies. When they are young Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy describe what they dream for themselves as adults when they describe their castles in the air. Meg chooses marriage, children and a lovely home; Beth describes a life at home with her parents, taking care of the family; Amy chooses to be “go to Rome, do fine pictures be the best artist in the whole world” (151 -152); and Jo exclaims, “I’d have a stable full of Arabian steeds, rooms piled with books, and I’d write out of a magic inkstand, so that my works should be as famous as Laurie’s music” (152). Laurie describes a life of travel, “After I’d seen as much of the world as I want to, I’d like to settle in Germany and have just as much music as I choose. I’m to be a famous musician myself, and all creation is to rush to hear me; and I’m never to be bothered about money or business, but just enjoy myself and live for what I like.”

Meg is invited by the Moffats, a wealthy family, to spend a fortnight with them. For a short time, Meg forgets about who she is and what her values are when she allows the Moffat to dress her up for a ball and be on display. But this is very human because most of us want to have beautiful things, and we want to be admired.

At one point, the March girls decide they want to be lazy so they take a week off and the house is in disarray. They quickly learn that for things to go smoothly they have to be consistent. The girls are very inventive and know how to keep themselves occupied. They have the Pickwick Club, a literary club, and the Busy Bee Society, which they allow Laurie to join.

When the family receives news that their father is seriously ill, Jo cuts off her hair for $25 to help offset the cost for her mother to travel to nurse her husband back to health. While the mother is away the girls are not as selfless as they are taught to be, except for Beth who is the only one who visits the Hummels a family in need. She discovers that the baby is quite ill, and babysits to give an older sister respite from the task. The baby dies and the doctor diagnoses that it’s from scarlet fever. Beth contracts the disease, which almost kills her. Though she recovers, the illness weakens her system and a few years later she would succumb to it.

When the girls grow up, Meg marries Laurie’s tutor, Mr Brooke, and has twins. She quickly learns that married life is not as idyllic and peaceful as she imagined – it’s filled with many ups and downs and couples have to work hard at the relationship. Jo is published and uses her $100 to send her mom and Beth to the seaside. They hope that Beth will regain her strength.

Laurie is in love with Jo who rejects him. Laurie is shattered and travels to Europe with his grandfather. He becomes lazy and forgets his dreams, living a life of an idle rich man. Amy gets the opportunity to travel across Europe and she learns that she doesn’t have what it takes to be a successful artist. Laurie visits Amy in Europe and she observes his laziness and calls him on it. She is very critical of him, and friends are supposed to say something when you are not behaving appropriately. You see a friendship blossoming into love and Laurie transfers the kind of love he has for Jo to Amy and vice versa.

It’s heartrending for the reader when they learn that Beth is dying, though she is at peace with it. Her father prepares her for death and Beth asks Jo to always take care of the family. Jo is devastated by Beth’s death and her parents try to comfort her. Her mother suggests that she starts writing again. Jo eventually finds love and still takes care of the family. Aunt March dies and leaves Plumfield, her home, to Jo who transforms it into a home where she and her husband, the Professor Bhaer teach boys – both rich and poor – so they grow up in a loving and caring environment. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott is a coming of age story, and although it was written close to 150 years ago, many of its lessons are timeless. Little Women changed me, and made me question some of the choices I have made in life.

I recommend Little Women by Louisa May Alcott because it’s a book that will touch your heart. In addition, it was a groundbreaking book at the time because the girls grew up and pursued their own paths in life, not merely what society expected of them. 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.

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Further Reading

Henry David Thoreau

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Essayist, Poet and Lecturer

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Review – The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Amos Bronson Alcott

Little Women

Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott – Radio Show

Little Women (1933) – Trailer, Click here to view video. Uploaded by TheMovieSceneUK on Nov 22, 2010

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15 Great Resources for Self-Mentoring

2012-05-21T13:19:41Z

Having mentors is an excellent way to accelerate your career, but in their absence, invisible mentors are great substitutes. However, you have to know exactly what you are trying to get from mentors, you have to know what you are trying to achieve in life, and then you have to practice reflective self-mentoring to get to where you need to be. Here is a short video I found on YouTube that talks about reflective self-mentoring.

Saundra McGuire on Self-Mentoring

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I have mentioned several of the following resources before, but this time, think about how they can help you to achieve what you would like to in life. Approach them as self-mentoring resources.

Open Culture: If you have to take a course to get up to speed on a topic, start here to see if you can find what you need. Over 400 courses from top universities are offered for free. If you find a course that’s right for you, pace yourself while learning, whether it is once a week you allocate time to learn, three times a week, or whatever. Learn at a realistic pace that allows you to complete the entire course.

The Great Courses: You can find a variety of courses on DVD to buy that are led by professors who are knowledgeable about the subject matter. The courses often go on sale, so if you find a course that is just what you are looking for, if it’s not on sale wait, and keep on checking the website because it will likely go on sale.

How Stuff Work: Here is another great place to start when you have to master any topic of interest.

Project Gutenberg: If you are looking for an education in the literary classics, download a copy of the book here, which you can use with Open Culture or The Great Courses.

Research Tools: YouTube, Scribd, SlideShare, TED, and Questia are research tools that you might not have considered.

Mentor Yourself With Blogs

There are many great blogs out there where the bloggers take great pains when writing their blog posts. If you want to learn about How to Write Headlines That Work or SEO Copywriting, Copyblogger is the resource for you. If you’re looking for tips about blogging then Problogger is your destination. If you are looking to find the top blogs, Alltop and Technorati are great places to start. To learn about content marketing Web Ink Now is a good source.

With the internet, the world is truly your oyster so use it effectively to self-mentor. In addition, remember to use The Invisible Mentor as another great resource. If you are intentional about reaping the benefits of mentors, even in the absence of having traditional mentors, you can succeed by practicing reflective self-mentoring. Below are six videos that will help to direct your self-mentoring journey.

How to be the Star of Your Life Videos

Best Self, Pt. 1: Take the Lead

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Best Self, Pt. 2: Own it!

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Best Self, Pt. 3: Leave the Comfort Zone

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Best Self, Pt. 4: Persistence

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Best Self, Pt. 5: Passion

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Best Self, Pt. 6: Find Yourself

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Self-Mentoring – an Idea for the Twenty-First Century (theinvisiblementor.com)
How to Self-Mentor (theinvisiblementor.com)

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The Invisible Mentor Week in Review

2012-05-19T01:53:46Z

This is what we talked about on The Invisible Mentor Blog this week: JM Barrie’s Peter Pan, and Frederick (Fritz) Perls, Founder of Gestalt Therapy.

Adventures in Learning

Have you ever read an intriguing article and wondered how the writer came up with the idea? Have you ever read a book that connects two very different subject matters in a unique way? Have you ever transported one idea from one industry to another to resolve a pesky challenge? Have you ever read something that was so incredulous or even whimsical that it gave you the courage to try to do something that once seemed impossible? Reading broadly introduces diverse types of information into your life. It helps you to become bolder in your work and life.

Why You Must Read Broadly – Tip 4

Sepia photograph of James Matthew Barrie (1860-1937), author of "Peter Pan" (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Booked for Mentoring

Book Review – Peter Pan by JM Barrie

Recently, I read Little Women by Louisa May Alcott for the very first time, and I felt like I was on an emotional rollercoaster. I related so well to the character Jo March that it was uncanny. And I started to question some of the life choices I have made. A friend suggested that I read Wide Sargasso Sea, which is actually the prequel to Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. At the end of the book, my heart was heavy, and I felt this big hole inside of me. I remember thinking, “Such wasted lives.” Because of my response to Wide Sargasso Sea I have included it on my list of 10 books.

10 Books I Have Enjoyed in 2012

Wisdom of Life Profile

Born in Berlin in the late nineteenth century into a middle class family, Frederick Salomon Perls was interested in theatre. Affectionately known to friends and colleagues as Fritz, Perls decided to study medicine when he enrolled into college in 1913. The First World War interrupted his study and he enlisted to serve until the war ended in 1918. Perls continued his studies immediately after the war, received his MD in 1921, and decided to focus on psychiatry.

Frederick (Fritz) Perls, Founder of Gestalt Therapy

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10 Books I Have Enjoyed in 2012

2012-05-18T13:14:15Z

10 Books I Have Enjoyed in 2012 – My Book Reviews Included

I’m having better luck this time reading the literary classics, and I’m really enjoying the ones I have read. The funny thing is they are transforming me in a way that I never expected. When I wrote my book Tales of People Who Get It, I indicated that Key to Yourself by Venice Bloodworth, New Psycho-Cybernetics by Dr. Maxwell Maltz and The Magic of Thinking Big by Dr. David J. Schwartz profoundly impacted me. Five years later, my response would be very different. This shows me that I growing and evolving as a person, and I’m delighted that I’m not standing still.

Magic of Thinking Big Cover (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Recently, I read Little Women by Louisa May Alcott for the very first time, and I felt like I was on an emotional rollercoaster. I related so well to the character Jo March that it was uncanny. And I started to question some of the life choices I have made. A friend suggested that I read Wide Sargasso Sea, which is actually the prequel to Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. At the end of the book, my heart was heavy, and I felt this big hole inside of me. I remember thinking, “Such wasted lives.” Because of my response to Wide Sargasso Sea I have included it on my list of 10 books.

While reading Watership Down by Richard Adams, I felt it was a demonstration of true leadership and team building. When we respond that way to books, the authors have done their job. Here are a few of the books I have enjoyed in 2012, some of which have transformed my life.

Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
Watership Down: A Novel, Richard Adams
The Scarlet Pimpernel, Baroness Emmuska Orczy (Review)
The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas (Review)
The Whip, Karen Kondazian (Review)
The Railway Children, E. Nesbit (Review)
Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Richard Bach (Review)
Pygmalion (Enriched Classics Series), George Bernard Shaw (Review)
The War of the Worlds (Dover Thrift Editions), H G Wells (Review)
Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys

I have not written the reviews for Little Women, Wide Sargasso Sea, or Watership Down: A Novel as yet. Which books have you read in 2012 that have impacted you?

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If You Could Meet Anyone, Dead or Alive, Who Would You Choose?

2012-05-17T11:47:27Z

Mentor yourself today by learning about the five people that you’d most like to meet. What can you learn from them?

One of the questions that I ask in the invisible mentor interview is “If trusted friends could introduce you to five people (living or dead) that you’ve always wanted to meet, who would you choose? And what would you say to them?”

A lot of the times after interviewees have named the five people who they would want to meet, they comment that they wouldn’t ask any questions, instead, they would simply listen. The ability to listen is one of the skills that great leaders possess. Here are 20 people that interviewees have indicated that they’d like to meet. The people listed below attained incredible success, and have made a difference in the world. They are memorable, but what is it about them that pull others to them? What traits do they all have in common?

Cover of Margaret Thatcher

Dalai Lama
Nelson Mandela
Martin Luther King
Mahatma Gandhi
Mother Teresa
Winston Churchill
Albert Einstein
George Washington Carver
Anne Frank
Oprah Winfrey
Indra Nooyi
Stephen Colbert
Barack Obama
George Clooney
Margaret Thatcher
Martha Stewart
Donald Trump
Anthony Robbins
Queen Elizabeth I
Don Tapscott

Are there five people on this list that you’d like to meet? What would you say to them? If your list is very different, which five people would you choose? Why would you want to meet them? What do you hope to learn from them? Is there another way that you can get what you need? How would you go about it?

These are a lot of questions, but I am trying to get your creative juices 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.

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Frederick (Fritz) Perls, Founder of Gestalt Therapy

2012-05-16T11:04:09Z

Frederick Salomon Perls (Fritz Perls), his wife Laura, Paul Goodman, and others founded the Gestalt School of Psychotherapy.

Name: Frederick Salomon Perls

Birth Date: July 1893 – March 1970

Job Functions: Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist

Fields: Psychiatry

Known For: Gestalt Therapy

Biography

Fritz Perls Русский: Фредерик Перлз עברית: פריץ פרלס (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Perls was a great admirer and follower of Sigmund Freud and his psychoanalytic technique, and was also influenced by Wilhelm Reich’s Orgonomic psychotherapy. However, at the same time, Perls became more intrigued by Gestalt psychology. In the 1920s and 1930s, Perls began to move away from the classic Freudian model to create a more holistic approach to therapy. During that time, Perls had also continued his education in psychotherapy in Berlin, Vienna and Frankfurt, and it was during his time studying in Frankfurt that he met his future wife Laura. The two were married in 1930 and had two children.

In 1933, husband and wife fled Germany during the Nazi regime to the Netherlands and then Johannesburg, South Africa. Over the years, Fritz and Laura Perls developed their ideas which morphed into Gestalt psychotherapy. Gestalt psychotherapy was a combination of the works of Freud and Wilhelm Reich, psychodrama, existentialism and Gestalt psychology. In 1942 while living in South Africa, Perls book Ego, Hunger and Aggression: A Revision of Freud’s Theory and Method was published. The book was not received with critical acclaim, and was republished in England in 1946 and received less interest than what the Perls had expected.

From 1942 to 1946, Fritz Perls served in the South African Army as a psychiatrist, and was ranked as an army captain. In 1946, the Perls’ lived in Canada briefly, and then went to New York City in 1948. They continued their work with Gestalt therapy. Fritz Perls co-authored a book Gestalt Therapy with Raiph Hefferline and Paul Goodman, which was published in 1951. Initially, the book was not taken very seriously, but in the years to come, Gestalt Therapy attracted a larger following.

In 1952, the Perls founded the Gestalt Therapy Institute in New York City, which was run by Laura. “Their novel technique in therapy was to face the patient, in contrast to the typical Freudian technique of sitting behind a reclining person. The face-to-face positioning permitted the therapist to direct the patient’s attention to movements, gestures, and postures so the patient could strive to gain a fuller awareness of his or her immediate behaviors and environment.”

The Perls believed that their techniques allowed patients to gain insights into how their thoughts and behaviours are used to deflect attention from important psychological issues and learn to recognize the presence of issues from the past that affect their current behaviour. Their aim was for the patients to experience feelings, not to gain insights in to the reasons for them as was the case with psychoanalysts. As they involved Gestalt therapy, Laura favoured more direct, physical contact and movement, while Fritz favoured a symbolic rather than a physical contact.

In 1964, Perls became resident psychiatrist at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California. At the Esalen Institute, Perls organized and conducted dream workshops, seminars and training courses with Jim Simkin. According to Perls, “the different parts of a dream are fragments of the human personality. To become a unified person without conflicts, one must put the different fragments of the dream together. The Gestalt approach to learning about oneself through dreams lies in a concerted attempt to integrate one’s dreams, rather than seeking to analyze them.”

Fritz Perls worked in California until he moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1969 where he started a training community for Gestalt therapists. In March 1970 after conducting a workshop in Massachusetts, Perls underwent surgery in Chicago when he suffered from heart failure and died at age 76.

Laura Perls survived her husband by 20 years. She was the mainstay of the Gestalt therapy movement and headed Gestalt Therapy Institute in New York City for almost 40 years. Laura Perls died of complications from a thyroid condition in July 1990 in Pforzheim, West Germany. She was an unacknowledged contributor to the early books by her husband that formulated the approach.

Writings by Fritz Perls

Ego, Hunger and Aggression: A Revision of Freud’s Theory and Method, Knox (Durban, South Africa), 1945, revised edition published as Ego, Hunger, and Aggression: The Beginning of Gestalt Theory, Vintage, 1969.
(With Ralph F. Hefferline and Paul Goodman) Gestalt Therapy: Excitement and Growth in the Human Personality, Julian Press, 1951, reprinted, Crown, 1977.
John O. Stevens, editor, Gestalt Therapy Verbatim, Real People Press, 1969.
In and Out the Garbage Pail, Real People Press, 1969.
The Gestalt Approach & Eye Witness to Therapy, Science & Behavior Books, 1973.
John O. Stevens, editor, Gestalt Is: A Collection of Articles About Gestalt Therapy and Living, Real People Press, 1975.
(With Patricia Baumgardner) Gifts From Lake Cowichan [and] Legacy From Fritz (the former by Baumgardner, the latter by Fritz Perls), Science & Behavior Books, 1975.

Recordings include: Gestalt Therapy and How It Works, Big Sur, 1966, and Dream Theory and Demonstration, Big Sur, 1968.

Why Frederick Salomon Perls’ Contribution Matters

Today, Gestalt is recognized as one of several standard approaches to modern therapy.

Gestalt therapy demonstration by Fritz Perls 1/2

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Gestalt therapy demonstration by Fritz Perls 2/2

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Works Cited/Referenced

International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences

Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology

The Gale Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained

The New York Times, July 18, 1990, “Laura Perls, 84, Dies in Germany; Founder of

Gestalt Psychotherapy”

Fritz Perls website http://www.fritzperls.com/biography/

Contemporary Authors Online

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Book Review – Peter Pan by JM Barrie

2012-05-15T05:32:42Z

Why Peter Pan by JM Barrie Matters Today

Peter Pan and similar stories matter today, more than ever, because we do not take enough time to dream, and step into the world of make believe because we are too busy. Peter Pan allows us to think that we can make the impossible possible. Michael, John and Wendy Darling tried to fly and they kept at it until they became good at it. We can conceive and believe something, but until we take action, nothing will become of our idea. The book also highlights the fundamental differences between adults and children.

Cover via Amazon

The children’s drama Peter Pan by James Matthew Barrie (1860-1937) was first presented on the London stage in 1904, and then in the form of a novel in 1911. Sir James Matthew Barrie got his inspiration to write Peter Pan from five little boys – Nico, Jack, Peter, George, and Michael – of the Llewelyn Davies family. According to the Encyclopedia of World Biography, “Barrie never wanted to face the pain and unhappiness of the adult world. Thus much of his writing is emotionally sentimental as well as thematically autobiographical.” (Vol. 2. 2nd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2004. p21-22).

Peter Pan by Sir James Matthew Barrie is a whimsical, magical story where children can fly, dogs can be nannies, and parents have the ability to scan their children’s mind while they are sleeping to learn what they are up to. “It is the nightly custom of every good mother after her children are asleep to rummage in their minds and put things straight for the next morning, repacking into their proper places the many articles that have wandered during the day. If you could keep awake (but of course you can’t) you would see your own mother doing this, and you would find it very interesting to watch her. It is quite like tidying up drawers.”

Peter Pan is a story of making the impossible possible by believing and taking action. The story of Peter Pan is so ridiculous that you cannot help but enjoy it.

Mrs Darling loves to tell her three children, Wendy, John and Michael bedtime stories before they go to sleep. Without her knowledge, Peter Pan listens to the stories and returns to Neverland where he tells the stories to the lost boys – boys taken away from their parents. One night while Peter Pan is leaving the children’s nursery, Nana, the dog who is the children’s nanny, catches Peter Pan’s shadow in its mouth. Mrs Darling examines the shadow and decides to roll it up and place in a drawer. At nights the children often dream of the magical island, Neverland, so they know about it.

After one incident, Mr Darling banishes Nana to stay outside in the kennel because he wants to let everyone know that he is master of his own home, but that decision comes to haunt him for a while. One night, Peter Pan returns for his shadow while the three children are sleeping in the nursery, and unfortunately Nana is locked outside the home. Peter Pan is with the fairy Tinkerbell. They find Peter’s shadow, but he cannot stick it back on and starts to cry.

The crying awakes Wendy, and of course she wants to know why he is crying. She sews back on Peter’s shadow. There is a lot of exchange going on between Wendy and Peter, and Tinkerbell is quite jealous. Peter uses chicanery to get Wendy to leave with him. Which child wouldn’t want to see mermaids, learn to fly and all the things that fairy tales are made of. Meanwhile Nana is very suspicious and starts to bark. She ultimately breaks free and goes to the house where Mr and Mrs Darling are at a party. They sense danger and go with Nana, but alas they are too late and the kids are gone.

Mr and Mrs Darling are devastated and cannot be consoled. The children are flying to Neverland which is far away. It’s very tiring and they are sleepy, but how can you sleep while flying. When they fall asleep, they start to fall, and Peter often waits until the absolute last moment to save them. To him it’s quite funny to watch. They are hungry and he teaches them to steal food out of the beaks of birds. Quite often it is a futile attempt.

Because of her jealousy, Tinkerbell wants to get rid of Wendy. When the three Darling children arrive at Neverland, Wendy’s role is changed to that of mother. Very soon Michael and John start to forget about their parents, but Wendy constantly reminds them by telling stories and sets examinations papers on it. Wendy is confident that their parents will welcome them back with open arms and she takes comfort in knowing that.

As the story unfolds, we learn about Execution Dock, Captain Henry Hook and his crew. There is a rivalry between Peter Pan and Captain Hook who lost his hand because of Peter Pan. Peter cut off Captain Hook’s right arm and fed it to a crocodile who now thirsts for the villain’s blood. Captain Cook is a bully, and like most bullies, he is a coward.

Peter Pan is childlike and wants to remain that way forever – he doesn’t ever want to grow up. Peter is also a “show-off” who makes the children and the lost boys dependent of him. It’s quite funny when they have pretend meals. They are hungry, however at meal times, they do not always have actual food, so they pretend that they are eating a meal.

Captain hook captures everyone except Peter Pan and intends to kill them. You see team work in action when they help Peter to finally vanquish his archenemy Captain Hook. The Darling children say they want to go home, and the lost boys return with them. Peter Pan doesn’t want to live with the Darlings or any other family because that means that he has to grow up, which he doesn’t want to do.

Back home, Mr and Mrs Darling are saddened by the disappearance of their children. Mr Darling pays penance by living in Nana’s kennel because he didn’t listen to the dog’s pleas. When the children return, the parents make room for the extra boys because they are so glad to see their children. The following year Peter Pan returns and wants to take Wendy once again, but Mrs Darling is having none of it. They come to an agreement that for one week each spring, Wendy can return to Neverland and do some spring cleaning for Peter.

Time is very different for Peter and he returns infrequently, until he shows up when Wendy is grown and married. By that time Peter Pan is no longer important to her. Wendy tells the Neverland story to her daughter Jane. One spring when Peter Pan returns, because his concept of time is so different, he doesn’t realize that Wendy is a grown woman and he asks for Michael and John. Wendy tells Peter Pan that the child sleeping is a new one and she tells him that she is a grown woman. Peter Pan is distraught because he didn’t want Wendy to grow up.

Peter Pan teaches Jane to fly, and the same deal is made that each spring, Jane will go to Neverland for a week to spring clean. This was the first time I read Peter Pan and what I liked most about the story is the magic of believing that you can do the impossible. Peter Pan convinced Michael, John and Wendy that they could fly. They believed they could fly and tried to fly until they mastered it. A big part was taking action. I recommend Peter Pan by J M Barrie because every now and again we need to step into the land of make believe.

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Why You Must Read Broadly – Tip 4

2012-05-14T11:33:09Z

Reading broadly introduces diversity into your life.

Reading broadly introduces diverse types of information into your life. It helps you to become bolder in your work and life.

A few months ago, I read the article, Cosmetics: High-tech Meets Emotion, and although it makes perfect sense that technology would play a role today in making cosmetics, it’s not something that I had ever given much thought to. The article is insightful and made me immediately think about making it a habit to read a variety of book genres. It reminded me to read articles on subjects that I usually do not pay attention to.

When I learned about Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Representative Men: Seven Lectures, I immediately thought that Emerson must have read broadly to be able to choose six men who he thought were great – he gave two lectures on Plato. His representative men include Plato, Swedenborg, Montaigne, Shakespeare, Napoleon and Goethe. Why did Emerson choose those six men? What was it about the six men that left such an impression on him that he considered them to be great? The six men were very different, how did Emerson first learn about them?

Several months later, I came across Superwomen by Albert Payson Terhune, which includes short profiles of 12 women: Lola Montez, Ninon De L’Enclos, Peg Woffington, Helen of Troy, Madame Jumel, Adrienne Lecouvreur, Cleopatra, George Sand (Amandine Lucile Aurore Dupin Dudevant), Madame du Barry, Lady Blessington, Madame Recamier, and Lady Hamilton. Why these 12 women? Once again, like Emerson, Terhune must have read broadly to be able to choose these 12 women.

Author Albert Payson Tehune (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

And the people that Emerson and Terhune chose are very different, which suggests diversity in what they read. I plan to read both Representative Men: Seven Lectures and Superwomen. I also plan to continue to expand my reading menu, with the hope that some day, I too will be able to create a body of work that is diverse and innovative, which is a symbol of the depth and breadth of the books and materials that I read.

How about you? Are you willing to expand the type of books and materials you read? If you are in business, what would happen if each week you read a science article from Magatopia.com or Magportal.com?

Do you agree or disagree that reading introduces more diversity into your life? Why? Why not? 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.

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Why You Must Read Broadly – Tip 2(theinvisiblementor.com)
Why You Must Read Broadly – Tip 3(theinvisiblementor.com)

Why You Must Read Broadly – Tip 1 (theinvisiblementor.com)

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