BornEntrepreneur

You may think this book seems out of place with the others (mostly business-related) in my collection, but that just means you need to look a little bit deeper. What is business if it’s not about the people that are involved? And not just the customers. Co-workers, partners, suppliers—everyone you work with to accomplish your goals. Yes, we’re a technology driven society, but a business is still made a success by the people it involves. So, when you get a bored of reading all those marketing and management books that seem to provide so much guidance, stop for a moment and realize that you can learn just as much (if not more) about making your business succeed by reading a touching novel about real people.

###

Tuesdays with Morrie

by Mitch Alborn

Sometimes I’ll read an entire book and get one main point that really hits home. That thought/idea will stay with me forever on. With Tuesdays with Morrie there were two points that made the entire read worth it. The first:

When Morrie was with you, he was really with you. He looked you straight in the eye, and he listened as if you were the only person in the world. How much better would people get along if their first encounter each day were like this instead of a grumble from a waitress or a bus driver or a boss? “I believe in being present,” Morrie said. “That means you should be with the person you’re with. When I’m talking to you now, I try to keep focused only on what is going on between us. I am not thinking about something we said last week. I am not thinking of what’s coming up this Friday. I am not thinking about doing another Koppel show, or about what medications I’m taking.”

So many people are so self-absorbed, their eyes glaze over if you speak for more than thirty seconds. They already have something else in mind—a friend to call, a fax to send, a lover they’re daydreaming about. They only snap back to full attention when you finish talking, at which point they sah “uh huh” or “yeah, really” and fake their way back to the moment.

Since reading this, I have tried to really embrace this technique. It helps me live life in the moment. And remember what life is all about. People.

The second:

“I heard a little story the other day,” Morrie says. He closes his eyes for a moment and I wait.
“Okay,. The story is about a little wave, bobbing along in the ocean, having a grand old time. He’s enjoying the wind and the fresh air—until he notices the other waves in front of him, crashing against the shore.
“’My God, this is terrible’ the wave says. ‘Look what’s going to happen to me!’” Then along comes another wave. It sees the first wave, looking grim, and it says to him, ‘Why do you look so sad?’” The first wave says, “You don’t understand! We’re all going to crash! All of us waves are going to be nothing! Isn’t it terrible?’ “The second wave says, ‘No, you don’t understand. You’re not a wave, you’re part of the ocean’”

I smile. Morrie closes his eyes again.

“Part of the ocean,” he says, “part of the ocean.

I watch him breathe, in and out, in and out. …

Reading this always reminds me that we are all a part of something bigger. Many times we are too boxed in our own perspectives to realize the bigger picture. Always try and force yourself to think outside of your own world. Because after all, you’re a part of a much bigger world than you can ever imagine.