Finished A Book

I finished a book last month, which was good, cause that hasn't been happening a lot lately. What is more likely is me getting all excited about so many different things and so I start to read one book but then hop to another before I finish the first, until I've got like 10 books that I've started. And yes, having lots of interruptions from the kids contributes to that scattered-ness as well, but I don't like that excuse. So I'm telling myself "I can read books, and I can FINISH a book" and "I CAN SEE A TASK THROUGH TO COMPLETION!" No more excuses. Well, James Clear of the book "Atomic Habits" (that's one of the ones I've started (in 2020) and still need to finish...) has a really great weekly news letter, and last weeks was so good. I especially LOVED and felt called to improve by idea #3: 

“The person who focuses on one task and sees it through to completion—even if they work in a somewhat slow or outdated manner—beats the endless optimizer who jumps from tool to tool and always hopes a new piece of technology will help them finish what they start.”

I felt like that is how I approach a lot of tasks, and a lot of books. So I decided to finish a book that I had started and was loving and wanted to finish. I also had a goal to finish it before the Life Coach Activity at our church that I was facilitating. So good news: I stayed focused and finished this excellent book today - Jody Moore's book "Better Than Happy". 

I loved this book! There are too many things I underlined, but I'll share some of the things that I put big stars next to or exclamation points: 

Pg 17 - we create so much suffering for ourselves. This complex thinking we do as humans is both a gift and a trial - our brains fly through 6200 thoughts a day!

p. 29 - she did a great job backing up what she was sharing with quotes by our current prophets and leaders - like President Nelson "The Joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives." I believed that when I first heard him say it in his 2016 talk "Joy and Spiritual Survival", but I didn't really know HOW to do it. 

I loved the idea of Layering Emotions on pg. 53 - I've thought of that before as "compounding the problem" - Like after Ishmael died in the wilderness (1 Nephi 16:35) the daughters of Ishmael took their current  and already difficult trial of their father's death, to look to the past and doubt their past actions of faith, and look to the future with no nope "And NOW we are going to die in the wilderness!" When we have challenges, we can either compound the problem or we can stop it, and turn it around with some spiritual momentum!

pg. 71 "I promise you that if you notice when you're feeling like a victim, feeling overly frustrated, feeling resentful, or feeling stuck, you can stop blaming other and take responsibility for the thoughts you're thinking. Because those thoughts are ALWAYS the reason for your suffering."

pg. 113 speaking of when she was coaching someone "My job was to open Melissa's mind up to the idea that she is allowed to think and believe any thoughts she wants to."

pg. 116 - the difference between "dirty pain" and "clean pain"

pg. 135 - Falling down is part of the plan! "just as a baby learning to walk gains the strength to do so by falling down and getting up repeatedly - Falling down and getting back up strengthens us emotionally, mentally, and spiritually (I read that part on 5/15, and Katharine had just learned to walk 7 days earlier)

p. 153 "If people in our lives aren't living up to our expectations, then we have choices to make. "You say we can love people even when they misbehave, but what does that even look like?" "It looks exactly like Jesus Christ." 

I loved chapter 11 - Opposition in All Things - and the idea of life being a 50/50 experience. From pg. 200 at the end of chapter 11: "I want to live a big life, and I am never going to be able to hide all of my shortcomings. The price of sharing my work with others is occasional humiliation and shame, so the more I can practice those emotions, the less afraid I will be of them. They don't feel great, but I can do them, and if this means I can help more people, then I'm all in."

Last one - pg 216 "Treat yourself kindly. The reason we engage in behaviors that are ultimately harmful is always because we are going through some sort of struggle. we are struggling with fear, self-doubt, overwhelm, or confusion. The answer is NOT to layer on more hate, judgment, and criticism. the answer is to chip away at fear with love."

So, that book is really great. She is coming from an LDS perspective and I loved all the scriptures and conference talks she referenced. Such good stuff. And going back to James Clear's email newsletter, I also loved idea #1:

“The myth is that there isn't enough time. There is plenty of time. There isn't enough focus with the time you have. You win by directing your attention toward better things.”

RIGHT?!?!? Like I was struck by that epiphany in 2010 and again in 2012, But I want to be a finisher. I had a goal to be finish my online life coaching course before the RS activity I'm doing on June 21, and I did that. My other goal was to finish reading this book by Jody, which is about life coaching and how it can help members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, that we can know how to apply the doctrine and teachings of Jesus Christ to our lives. I wrote all of the ideas from James Clear's email in the back cover of my Jody Moore book. I love it when I read something and it really hits home. Good stuff. Now - I'm off to start to finish another book! I got a little book happy yesterday when I went to the library (better to be book happy at the library than on Amazon!) I got a good stack as I was browsing the life coaching-ish section - 

But the one I'm most excited about is "The Hacking of the American Mind" - I read the dust cover and intro to this one and wow, it's gonna be good. I started it and then I stopped and went and ordered it, cause I'm going to want to write in this one a lot and underline it. I know I'm going to want it in my reference library. It's gonna be good.