Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink

Forget everything you thought you knew about how to motivate people—at work, at school, at home. It's wrong. As Daniel H. Pink (author of To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Motivating Others) explains in his paradigm-shattering book Drive, the secret to high performance and satisfaction in today's world is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.

Drawing on four decades of scientific research on human motivation, Pink exposes the mismatch between what science knows and what business does—and how that affects every aspect of our lives. He demonstrates that while the old-fashioned carrot-and-stick approach worked successfully in the 20th century, it's precisely the wrong way to motivate people for today's challenges. In Drive, he reveals the three elements of true motivation:

*Autonomy—the desire to direct our own lives
*Mastery—the urge to get better and better at something that matters
*Purpose—the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves

Along the way, he takes us to companies that are enlisting new approaches to motivation and introduces us to the scientists and entrepreneurs who are pointing a bold way forward.



This has been lying around in my house for months.  My husband brought it in and left it out to read but hadn't gotten around to reading it yet.  With my 2019 promise to myself to read more non-fiction books, I decided to pick it up and give it a go.

I was also, motivated by my struggle to motivate my child in various activities.  She lacks drive, ambition and a competitive spirit.  While she is good at most things, she doesn't seem to want to strive to win or be the best at anything.  I have been trying to motivate her with the traditional carrot and stick approach that this book has now debunked.

It is an interesting read that did teach me something new, while I don't totally agree with all his thoughts I believe that I can use his general ideas to help me to motivate my child.  I would have given it 2 stars if I had read this 10 years ago, as I was very much motivated by the carrot and stick approach and nothing else would have helped me but I think it has a lot more place in this day and age and with the new generation of people (millenials etc) coming into the workplace.

 I only gave it 3 out of 5 stars because he labored his point a bit.  He could have got the same point across in a short essay r magazine article, so a lot of the book was repeating and laboring the same point over and over, but not in different ways.   It is a worth a read, even if you just read the summary at the end.

I have started to try and use some new ways of motivation with my child and I think it is starting to work although it is too early to tell.  Hey, I might update this review later if I have a major breakthrough.

Then she was gone by Lisa Jewell

THEN
She was fifteen, her mother's golden girl. She had her whole life ahead of her. And then, in the blink of an eye, Ellie was gone. 

NOW 
It’s been ten years since Ellie disappeared, but Laurel has never given up hope of finding her daughter.

And then one day a charming and charismatic stranger called Floyd walks into a café and sweeps Laurel off her feet. 

Before too long she’s staying the night at this house and being introduced to his nine year old daughter. 

Poppy is precocious and pretty - and meeting her completely takes Laurel's breath away. 

Because Poppy is the spitting image of Ellie when she was that age. And now all those unanswered questions that have haunted Laurel come flooding back. 

What happened to Ellie? Where did she go? 

Who still has secrets to hide?

I really do like this authors style of writing. She really develops the characters quickly and gets on with the story. She is also great at jumping back and forwards in time without you losing track of what is going on. Yes, her books are somewhat formulaic, but if you want a simple but compelling psychologic thriller then she is a good pick.

In this particular story, it was easy to guess the main twist, although you couldn't guess the full details of it. The author threw down her usual little crumbs of information leading you in the main direction of the plot line but then inserted an extra twist that you couldn't see coming and which made the story more interesting.

Having a daughter going missing just chilled my heart as it is my worst nightmare. Not sure the significance of the hamsters or how they added to the story, apart from drawing attention to the basement room and hinting of something bizarre happening there.

I did just give it 3 stars because I wouldn't say you have to rush out immediately and read it. It would be a great read for vacation or while traveling where you don't want something too fluffy but don't want to have to follow an overly complex plot.

Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable...about Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business by Patrick Lencioni

Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable...about Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business

by 

Patrick Lencioni

Casey McDaniel, the founder and CEO of Yip Software, is in the midst of a problem he created, but one he doesn't know how to solve. And he doesn't know where or who to turn to for advice. His staff can't help him; they're as dumbfounded as he is by their tortuous meetings.

Then an unlikely advisor, Will Peterson, enters Casey's world. When he proposes an unconventional, even radical, approach to solving the meeting problem, Casey is just desperate enough to listen.

What an engaging way to get a rather dull topic across. This book started with a Fable which read like a short Fiction book. It was engaging and the characters were well developed for such little writing. It was a unique way to get a short and simple idea across to the reader. I hardly noticed I was reading a business book or that I was actually learning something. The summary at the end was short and sweetly to the point. Was it mind blowing to me, well no, as I kinda knew most of the information anyway from my past career experience but I think it would be a great help to many and such a quick, simple read.

Adventures in Alternative Therapies - Cryotherapy

Hi there, this is our first blog post sharing our experiences with testing out some alternative therapies.  Our first experiment was in the health benefits of Cryotherapy.

What is Cryotherapy:

Originating in Japan in 1978, cryotherapy was first used by Dr. Toshima Yamauchi to treat joint pain from rheumatoid arthritis.

Using a brief exposure of the body (3 minutes) to ultra-low temperatures (approx. minus 190 F, although at one point it registered at minus 220 F), cryotherapy quickly became known as a powerful treatment for inflammatory disorders and injuries.  Whole body cryotherapy has gained popularity worldwide as top athletes and celebrities account for what they believe are its many benefits and uses.

Some centers make claims about weight loss and curing illnesses but the more ethical ones claim 3 main benefits.

Recovery

Just like the ice bath that professional athletes use after an extreme workout, cryotherapy reduces inflammation, for quicker muscle recovery and decreased muscle soreness.

Rejuvenation

It increases the body's metabolic rate and collagen production, stimulating higher energy levels and a sense of well being.  Over time and with regular use, an improvement in mood, sleep patterns and skin tone have been noted.

Relief

It is supposed to offer relief from chronic pain.  Specifically from inflammation-related diseases and skin disorders, or for quicker healing post injury or surgery.

So those are the claims for it, let's get onto our experience.

What it was actually like

It was quite ironic that the day we had booked our cryo appointment was the coldest day of the year so far.  It was also a snow day where schools had been cancelled and the kids were at home.  We didn't want to cancel as we had been looking forward to it, so we loaded up our 8 and 9 year old girls and off we went.  If anything, it was going to be an experience for them as well seeing the cryo chamber at work.   By the looks on their faces, I think they thought their mums had lost their mind.

We were welcomed into Capital Cryo in Bethesda, MD by the lovely assistant.

You then get stripped down to your underwear and are given a fluffy bathrobe, white socks and grandma slippers to wear.  You are also instructed to remove any jewelry and to make sure that there is no exposed metal on your skin, which could cause a "burn".  As it was our first time as well we were given ski-gloves and told to keep our hands and arms out of the cryo chamber.  This is because it is a much more intense experience if you put your arms in.

Marlene chose to go first (and I am glad she did).  She climbed into the chamber, she just made the minimum height restriction to go in, they raise and lower a platform inside dependent on your height.

 And so it began!  

The assistant talked throughout to keep her distracted while Marlene asked about the feelings she was experiencing.  It came down to a prickling or tingling in the legs mainly which intensified as the 3 minutes went on.

I went in second and was glad that Marlene had verbalized the feelings as I knew what to expect and felt fairly relaxed for my first time.  It was strange, you didn't feel cold, per se, but it was like the nerve endings in our skin had a heightened sense of feeling and the hair follicles felt "activated".  The three minutes went by quite quickly and it did help that there was a timer counting down so you could see how much time you had left.

I came out feeling a bit dubious as to how that simple experience could reap all the health benefits it claims.

Fast forward to that night.  My metabolism was super charged.  My body was radiating heat like a furnace all night long, which is great for weight loss but didn't do wonders for my sleep patterns.

I definitely experienced some relief from the back pain I have all the time and, get this, after 3 days I had lost 5lbs in weight!

Marlene also noted a 24-hour relief from any aches and pains as well as feeling more energized and having a good night's sleep. Perhaps this came from the adrenaline rush afterwards, as explained by the attendant, that accounts for the increase in energy afterwards and the supposed good night's sleep.

Obviously, the more times you do it the better results are expected. So, 2 weeks after our first treatment we had a follow up appointment booked (there was a special offer of 2 appointments for the price of one at $60).  Again, it was the next coldest day of the year that day as well, and the schools had a 2 hour delay due to snow conditions but we changed the time of our appointment and went once we had packed the girls off to school.

This time we both decided to try hands and arms in  I wanted to do this for 2 reasons, one to get the full experience and 2 to allow my sore left shoulder to gain the benefits of the treatment.  I went first and I felt very comfortable and more relaxed this time.  So relaxed that we managed to shoot a little promotional video.

https://www.facebook.com/hazel.keating.1/videos/10156920230038745/

Marlene on the other hand, looked more uncomfortable and seemed to be shivering a lot more than before.  She later attributed this to having had a poor night's sleep the night before.  Apparently, lack of sleep can affect one's ability to tolerate cold temperatures.

Overall, while I am still skeptical about the health claims, I found it a good experience and it would be worth getting a session of treatments if you really had a chronically painful condition.

There are some really good articles out there about this therapy.  Do some browsing and then see if it is for you.  Don't be scared of it, it really was not that uncomfortable.  You can do anything for 3 minutes, right!

On a more fun note they offer Champagne and Chill evenings, where for $75 per person you get a Whole Body sessions, mini-facial, bottomless Champagne (sold) and healthy Hors D'ouvres.  So get a group of your girlfriends together and go have some fun, a bit of a change from bookclub!

Any questions, post in the comments.