All This Talk About Reading

All this talk about reading got me to thinking…

It’s been a good month. We’ve been running our book giveaway extravaganza all through January. The result of this, in case you missed the memo, is we will be giving away one book a month to one or more insanely curious readers through the remainder of 2017.

Whaaat? Shannon, have you lost your mind? One would think, but no. When the beginning of 2017 rolled around around a few weeks ago, I decided to focus the year on “Progress and Purpose” and this yearlong giveaway is my way of thanking those of you who have supported the Learning Rebels purpose the last four years.

The beginning of the year is usually the time for reflection and as I reflected back, I thought about conversations I’ve had with the important people in my life whom I consider to be be friends and mentors. The question at hand – why am I doing what I’m doing? Why am I in this line of work? Why aren’t I off nurturing two passions: baking and my dogs? Would it be easier to sell a product such as cupcakes or puppy treats?

Back to my roots

To answer this question, I must go back to my roots. Waaaaay back when I was working at a restaurant company in operations. There came a time when it was clear to me, that I was happier helping people than reading a spreadsheet with P&L (profit and loss) numbers. I wanted to help people be the best versions of themselves. I wanted to help those who were struggling with their day-to-day jobs. My mantra, even back then, was – “there has to be a better way”.

Training was my calling, the issue was how to get educated on the fly? I may have instinctively known there had to be a better way – but I didn’t know what this illusive “better way” was. These were the days before the interwebs, before twitter, YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook. I had to go to the library or Barnes and Noble to find information. Reading set my foundation and in turn grew my knowledge. I didn’t want to depend on the tribal knowledge of my organization. (Cue a young Shannon who failed a social science class because I argued with the teacher about the homework being pointless.)

Now that we are in the age of twitter, Facebook and YouTube, it’s easy to fall into the trap of sound bites and headlines. We gravitate to the easy to consume. Is it then the case, however, that easy to consume equals less thinking? We read, we smile, we nod, we move on, we forget.

Let’s get our reading groove on!

Here is an excellent paper on the connection to reading making note that heavy readers tend to display greater knowledge of how things work: What Reading Does for the Mind, Anne E. Cunningham and Keith E. Stanovich

Still not convinced that you have time for reading…here are a couple of articles on how reading can reduce stress read this one about how reading for just 6 minutes can reduce stress. Then this one from Self-Development Secrets, about how reading is like meditation. Let’s face it, we all need less stress in our lives!

[ctt title=”We all need less stress! Reading for 6 minutes reduces more stress than listening to music or going for a walk. ” tweet=”Reduce stress: read, silently, for six minutes to slow down the heart rate and ease tension in the muscles! https://ctt.ec/YEuTC+ via @stipton” coverup=”YEuTC”]

Enter Rebellious Readers.

Deep thinking and deliberate action are the tools that are going to continue to drive our industry forward. What better way than to debate the reading but in an online forum.

Consider this: You read the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. All 7 habits sound good in theory, and you can’t help but agree with the idea of “beginning with the end in mind”. This “habit” is solid on paper, but making it happen in real life may be another story. What if you had someone to bounce off your thoughts? Or someone who has, “Been, there – done that?” What if you were linked to a village of people wanting to help propel and debate ideas into real doable actions? What’s not to like? Reading groups take the best part of learning…the discussions and debates, take out the ick factor of tests and mixing it with coffee and/or frosty adult beverages, all on your own time in your most comfy pajamas. Seriously good stuff.

That’s what we have going on here with “Rebellious Readers”. The people have spoken and starting February 6 though March 14, 2017 we will be reading “Make it Stick” by Peter C. Brown. You can join the group here. The more the merrier.

Rules? There ain’t no rules. We will be posting a reading schedule, but don’t feel compelled to follow it. This is to keep the questions on track, if you read ahead, awesome you can come back to the chapters and add to the discussion. If you are behind, that’s ok too – no pressure, add to the conversation as you can. Announcements occur through the Rebellious Readers Newsletter (sign up here or if you get the newsletter add Rebellious Readers to your profile) with the deeper conversations happening through the Rebellious Readers private Facebook group.

If you have already read the book…GREAT! Join in and help with the conversations. It gives you an opportunity to reflect and it gives us the benefit of your learning. A win-win.

I look forward to “seeing” in the funny pages! Click below to sign up now!

Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner!

Congratulations to Alice N for winning last weeks book giveaway, “Originals” by Adam Grant! Thank you Alice and your book is on the way! 

Previous posts associated with the EPIC book Giveaway:

1. The Power of Habit: Charles Duhigg (winner: Rachel D.) Read post here.
2. You are a Badass!: Jen Sincero (winner: Kayla R.) Read post here.
3. The Brain Fog Fix: Dr. Mike Dow (winner Andrea M.) Read post here. 
4. Originals: Adam Grant (Winner Alice N.) Read post here.