Gaming My 2010 Reading

“The more you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
- Dr. Seuss, “I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!”

Of all of the tools that have creating the success and significance in my life, I would narrow down the major ones to journaling, prayer and meditation (or reflection), and reading.

For now, I will focus on reading.

At the bottom of this e-mail, I lay out how I planned my reading for the year. If you do not already have a system, feel free to use mine. It is followed by a link to my reading list for this year so you can follow along with me!

Before that, I felt inspired to share with you a little as to why I take my reading so seriously.

The Woes of Life Coaching

Having worked with the goals, ambitions, and desires of over a hundred individuals and several dozen businesses, I have come to find that my most common consultation is to read more.

There are many tools out there to succeed with. There are many actions to take. I find, however, that amid the vast array of options (and growing by the minute thanks to the internet) that reading will launch people more than anything else.

The woe of life coaching is the very predictable groan that occurs when you hand clients their first book. And their second, third and fourth! This is a huge bump to overcome. If you are a life-coach, you know what I am takling about!

(If you are being coached, do us a favor and at least save the groan for when we are not around! )

What’s in a Read?

In the developed world, we have grown up reading books. They have become a monotonous part of the urban landscape; we do not notice them much any more.

Many of the books we grew up with were the embodiment of boredom forced upon us. However, some of the books were wholly inspiring! You may well remember the many books by Seuss and loved them as much as I did.

And, just as Seuss has stated above, the more I have read, the things I know. And, the many things I now know has led me to very many places, both here and abroad. However, nothing has impressed me more about the power of reading than a recent trip to Haiti, recounted by my teammate, Kenny Ellis.

The Power of the Written Word

Here is what he has to say about the December 2009 trip to Haiti they took. (I missed this particular trip. I don’t plan on missing the next one!)

It was a dilapidated block building with tin roofing and a dirt floor, but that day it became a seminary classroom. The CPI Team had traveled to Chauffard, Haiti to continue our work in this remote, farming village.

Kendal Anderson, pastor of The Crossing Church (a CPI Church Partner), had also brought a team and had prepared a series of seminars for the church leaders in Chauffard.

The meeting was about to begin as I found my place at the back of the room on a rickety, plank bench next to an elderly Haitian man. He flashed a warm, genuine smile at me, motioned hello with a tip of his hat and quietly said, “Bon jou.” I extended my hand to him and he placed his weathered, calloused hand in mine.

The gentleman Kenny is referring to. A powerful community elder, yet illiterate.-GN

He, like so many of the men in this village, had spent a life working the land, loving his family and serving in the community. He pulled out a Bible, notepad and pencil from a tattered plastic bag and turned his attention towards the front of the room.

Kendal had begun his introductory remarks and was passing out an outline that had been translated into Kreyol. My back-row friend and I both took our outlines and prepared to fill in the blanks and follow along with the teaching. Kendal asked everyone to turn to a specific book in their Bibles and the other 15 Haitians in the room began flipping pages and locating the reference that had been assigned. Leading us through the outline, Kendal gave us the key words needed to fill in the blanks.

A few minutes passed and I glanced over at my friend and I realized that he was lost. He still had a warm smile on his face, but it was mixed with a look of confusion, embarrassment and appeal. He motioned to me for help in filling out his outline while his Bible lay open to a book that was not referenced in the teaching. He could not read or write.

He was not unintelligent or unmotivated. I am certain he had accomplished much in his life. The sheer fact that he had lived well beyond the median age in Haiti (57 years) speaks of his determination and endurance. The problem was that he was never given the opportunity to learn how to read or write. Education in Haiti is for the privileged and this man was not among them.

Kendal continued his teaching, but I could not bring myself to focus.

I sat there imagining the opportunities and relationships that I would be excluded from if I could not read or write.

The world is filled with complex truths, beautiful realities, diverse streams of perspectives and opinions, inexhaustible topics and issues, logic, art, poetry, solutions, ideas and MOST of them are contained in the form of written communication.

This man had experienced a lifetime cut off from all of these because he could not read. He reminded me why the CPI team is doggedly committed to providing opportunities for Haitians to learn basic skills that will enable them to access the world of possibilities around them.

Reading is one of those basic skills that I will never take for granted again.

The Standing Ground

As you can see, there are many millions of people who wish they could read, who would value even being able to read this very post as a treasure to be horded! I have seen this to be true in India and the backwoods of Viet Nam, as well as in a chicken coop-church in rural Kenya.

When Kenny and I and the CPI team show up in Haiti to help, we usually spend most of our time teaching the very basics of language and reading! It is from the memories of this old man, the visions of those who wish they could read that I make my stand each year in my attempt to consume significant amounts of quality reading.

My 80/20 Plan for Reading

This year I used the Pareto Principle, the 80/20 rule, as it is known.

If you do not know it, the 80/20 rule roughly translates into:

20% of anything creates 80% of the results

• 20% of the workers produce 80% of the results
• 20% of the people own 80% of the wealth
• 20% of the cars created are bought by 80% of the population

The list could go on ad infinitum. Taking the principle and using it in our favor, at least in the area of planning, looks like this.

20% of the work we do produces 80% of the results.

Therefore, (logic says) whatever you are doing 20% of the time now do 80% of the time!
Voila! (More on how I use the 80/20 rule in other areas later.)

I knew that I wanted to read 52 books this year.

80% of the topics I read should be in alignment with my Big Picture areas. 20% of the books can be other areas of interest. (I like to read on several random topics because I believe that it fills out a holistic understanding of the world.)

So, here is the rough breakdown:

Many books!

Top 80% (42 books)

Bottom 20% (apprx. 10 books)

I may find a book that helps in multiple areas. I would be ok with that counting for each category of learning.

For example, IDEO’s Human Centered Design Field Guide for the strategic development and problem solving on the field. This would count for me for both Strategy & Development categories. (And, as a bonus, both are in the Top 80%. Solid!) These will be indicated by an “*”.

I will be adding these to my visual bookshelf shortly. More needs to be filled out, I know! Finding the best materials takes time and community, so give me grace!

Your Book Recommendations!

If you have any great book ideas that you think I should read, comment below and let me know! This is my plan. As of this writing, my reading of ‘The 8th Habit’ is already behind. But, as my friend, Seth says, “That just means you are getting something out of it.”

BAM! Happy New Year. Launch big, and light up a few people around you.

–Grant R. Nieddu

Kenny Ellis provided the story of the Haitian Man, also posted on www.CPIHaiti.org, the humanitarian organization we run.

Tagged as: 2010, Big Picture, book, CPI, cpihaiti.org, dr seuss, human centered design, ideo, jenny ellis, journaling, kenny ellis, life coaching, list, meditation, more than a savior, pareto principle, prayer, reading, robert crosby, seuss, strategic development, visual bookshelf, visual miscellaneum, written communication