By: Sara Taylor Lattimore on April 16, 2023
Abandoned at a hospital as a newborn baby, by a 25 year old mother who had a 5 year old son already and could not bear to keep another child, then placed into foster care until a plan could be made… This is how the story of my life began. Nameless, I spent time with…
By: Sara Taylor Lattimore on April 16, 2023
The year 2020 changed so much about our current world and the way we see the world and even exist in the world. The toilet paper shortage of the lockdown is one that many of us will remember for a lifetime and in years from not will still be the memes the bring both laughter…
By: Chad McSwain on April 16, 2023
What can truly make us happy or what is the connection between personality and happiness? These were some of the thoughts as I read, Personality: What Make You the Way You Are by Daniel Nettle. Interestedly, Nettle had the same idea, as he also wrote a book on happiness[1], concluding that happiness is the evolutionary…
By: Todd E Henley on April 16, 2023
I used to believe that I only used about 10% of my brain. I believed this because about 4 decades ago I read this and was told this was a fact for about 95% of the people in the world. I remember hearing the same statistic in college and even at leadership conferences. It seemed…
By: Mathieu Yuill on April 16, 2023
I tell people often “I can only do one thing at a time,” especially when I’m in the middle of something and they ask me an important question. Early in my marriage my wife and I would be discussing something, I’d begin thinking about it and I’d be snapped back to reality by another question…
By: Tonette Kellett on April 16, 2023
Daniel Nettle’s book Personality: What Makes You The Way You Are describes personality as something internal, stable, inherent to the person. [1] It is something which stands in a casual relationship to their specific choices, motivations, reactions and obstacles when faced with the stream of events. [2] Nettle explains that there is a five-factor model…
By: Michael O'Neill on April 14, 2023
The Body Keeps the Score The Body Keeps the Score, written by Bessel van der Kolk, MD, is a groundbreaking work on trauma and its lasting effects on individuals throughout their lives. It sheds light on how traumatic experiences can cause physical, emotional, and neurological disturbances that are often deep-seated and complex to untangle. This…
By: Eric Basye on April 14, 2023
William Bridges, author of Managing Transitions, was an expert on change who helped thousands of leaders and organizations understand and thrive in seasons of transition. Susan Bridges co-authored the book, a consultant with the William Bridges Associates, who later became his wife. Managing Transitions provides practical guidance and strategies that benefit organizations and individuals experiencing…
By: Eric Basye on April 14, 2023
Steven Koonin is a theoretical physicist with a PhD from MIT and has served in a range of roles, such as the Director for the Center for Urban Science and Progress at New York University, the Chief Scientist for BP oil industry, as well as for the Department of Energy under the Secretary of Science…
By: Dinka Utomo on April 14, 2023
“Mindfulness isn’t difficult: the hard part is remembering to do it.” -David Rock- Many people say that 24 hours a day is not enough. Time seems to pass quickly without waiting or giving a chance. Our tasks and responsibilities await even while we are asleep. From personal activities in the morning to preparing for…
By: Troy Rappold on April 13, 2023
William Bridges’ Transitions has continued to be an important and relevant book since its original printing over forty years ago. The book is relatable by every individual because everyone goes through multiple transitions during their lifetime. There is wisdom to be found on every page of Bridges’ bestseller. The book is neatly divided into two…
By: Roy Gruber on April 13, 2023
As we approach the end of our GFU journey, it seemed fitting that our last assigned book related to the topic of transition. Many of the books about change I have read focus on the external aspects, namely, the circumstances of transitioning. William Bridges’ self-management book Transitions, in this second edition, includes his wife, Susan,…
By: Caleb Lu on April 12, 2023
In Daniel Nettle’s Personality: What Makes You the Way You Are, he posits that there are five main measurable factors that determine who we are [1]: extraversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness. Nettle ensures that personality, as measured by these five factors, are relatively stable through time.[2] In the second chapter, Nettle continues by delving…
By: Jean de Dieu Ndahiriwe on April 11, 2023
Introduction: The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma[1] by Bessel van der Kolk is another book full of great insights. My takeaways from the book include the major role of the human brain in the way we function. I somehow used to see the heart as the engine…
By: Greg McMullen on April 10, 2023
A little over a decade ago, I was in a construction accident that changed my life forever. As I fell a total of 60 feet and spent 7 years after recovering from the fall, I still struggle with emotions in intense situations. I am partially disabled and my spine moves in three sections. Even though,…
By: Michael O'Neill on April 10, 2023
I was unexpectedly motivated this week by Daniel Nettle’s book, Personality. Psychology in general has never excited me and I negatively anticipated an Enneagram-style survey of some kind that was going to inaccurately “define me,” or accurately define me but I may disagree. I have completed various assessments in the past but find they tend…
By: Jana Dluehosh on April 10, 2023
This week is an amazing in having all the most frustrating parts of myself exposed on the page. Except, it wasn’t exposed on a page for me…it was burrowed into my ear. Let me explain. I have been managing the books for this class as I go, and my “procrastination” had always worked out. Either…
By: David Beavis on April 10, 2023
With the help of Dr. Bessel Van Derk Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score,[1] the subject of trauma has gone from a topic mostly around military veterans to the vernacular of everyday life. For that, we are all indebted to Van Der Kolk. We have come to terms with our own trauma and received a…
By: Daron George on April 9, 2023
INTRODUCTION “Personality: What Makes You the Way You Are” by Daniel Nettle is an engaging and informative exploration of the complex field of personality psychology. In this book, Nettle provides a comprehensive overview of the major theories and research findings related to personality, with a particular emphasis on the Big Five personality traits. The Big…
By: Audrey Robinson on April 9, 2023
As I read the book and pursued other research on the personality topic, the most influential quote that summarizes the essence of our physical and mental state and how we are wired is Psalm 139:13-16 NLT. 13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.…
