A Resolution to Take From the Shelf

In last week's blog post The Top 3 Reasons to Share Your Goals I revealed one of my big New Year's resolutions is to read 24 books this year. My goal isn't motivated by my love for reading (because it really isn't on the top 20 list of things I like to do), but years ago while in college I realized that the quantity and quality of what I read usually determines the quality and scope of my influence. If I am going to shape and add significant value to people (my biggest motivation) reading is a non-negotiable). So here is my list:

Top 3 Must Reads

1. Steve Jobs- Walter Isaacson

Yea, I know I am late to the party, but I want to read Walton Isaacson's

Steve Jobs not because of how perfect Jobs is portrayed but precisely because of the opposite. According to NY Times Isaacson spared no punches

in his authentic portrayal of Jobs as rabidly controlling and manipulativeamong his other obnoxious tendencies. If Isaacson's portrayal of Jobs is as honest as the many reviews opine, then this might just be the true story of an imperfect yet inventive mogul that I need to top up my inspiration tank this year.

2. Jesus and Empire The Kingdom of God

and the New World Disorder- Richard A. Horsley

When I saw the title of this book I got excited but figured if I got it it would just would be left with the other books on the historical Jesus that I haven't read. However, when I skimmed through the content I knew I needed to get it in my library. With chapters entitled 'American Identity and a Depoliticized Jesus'and 'Towards a Relational Approach to Jesus', I figured that this book might pack the right blend of historically fresh perspectives and intrigue that I need as I try to synthesize some thoughts on Jesus, the Kingdom of God and (post) modern context.

3. Five Levels of Leadership:

Proven Steps - John C. Maxwell

Most of us who have grown up on John Maxwell's 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership have been clamoring for a book that goes into more practical details about the 5 levels of influence for a while now. Well clamor no more! Once Maxwell tweeted it as his upcoming book last year I knew that it was a must have. 2012 is really a transition year for me. I have started working with new networks forging new relationships, this book should be one great source that provides the key tools to increase my leverage and lid as I position myself to have greater influence among those I lead.

Other Reads for 2012

4. Church 3.0 upgrades for the future of the church - Neil Cole

5. In the River They Swim: Essays from Around the World on Enterprise Solutions to Poverty - Edited by Michael Fairbanks, etal.

6. Conversate Is Not a Word: Getting Away from Ghetto - Jam Donaldson

7. Misquoting Truth: A Guide to the Fallacies of Bart Ehrman's Misquoting Jesus - Timothy Paul Jones

8. The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution - Richard Dawkins

9. The Signature of the Cell - Stephen Meyer

10. Jesus and the Victory of God - N.T. Wright

11. The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity - Philip Jenkins

12. Jewish Christianity Reconsidered: Rethinking Ancient Groups and Texts -Matt Jackson-McCabe

13. The Partings of the Ways: Between Christianity and Judaism and their

Significance for the Character of Christianity - James G. D. Dunn

14. Disturbing Divine Behavior: Troubling Old Testament Images of God - Eric A. Seibert

15. Is God a Moral Monster?: Making Sense of the Old Testament God - Paul Copan

16. Surprised By Hope – N.T. Wright

17. Render to Caesar: Jesus, the Early Church, and the Roman Superpower -Christopher Bryan

18. A Case for the Divinity of Jesus: Examining the Earliest Evidence - Dean L. Overman

19. Ancient Judaism and Christianity: Diversity, Continuity and Transformation- George W. E. Nickelsberg

20. A Radical Jew: Paul and the Politics of Identity - Daniel Boyarin

21. Ghandi: An Autobiography the story of my experiments with Truth - Gandhi, Mahadev Desai

22. Did The First Christians Worship Jesus? - James G. D.Dunn

23. Emperor worship and roman religion – Ittai Gradel

24. Faith and History in the Old Testament - Werner H. Schmidt

25. ...

This week I will give you a simple but proven guide that will help you determine the books you need as you compile your list. You have probably noticed that there is one book missing from my list, recommend a book that you think should fill that space and you might may just use it. Peace :)

Andre P. Llewellyn © 2012

The Top 3 Reasons to Share Your Goals

'Happy New Year!' 'Happy 2012!' The thing about New Years greetings is that they are usually followed by some sort of resolution question. Even if we don't admit it, some of us can't help but give into the weird sense of obligation that moves us to concoct a list of goals. Like a new tattoo, some persons can't wait to pull out their list of top 10 goals, while for others it's quite different. Their goals are the best kept secret and they would do everything to keep it that way. Here are the top three reasons sharing your goals is a fundamental step towards achieving them.

Scope Matters

Your reference point is the mental and attitudinal framework that determines how you approach and interpret life. It is the circumference that determines the diameter of your choices. For many of us, the plain truth is that our reference points hardly facilitate the clarity, exposure and experience that are required to achieve our most serious goals. The benefit of sharing your goals is that it encourages the right people to lend you well needed methodologies, perspectives, and resources that will quickly re-scale your point(s) of reference in much broader ways than any self-development routine can. Broader reference point, bigger capacity to achieve even the loftiest goals.

Your Will Need a Jump Start

Strategic planning is important in attaining one's goals, but no one achieves any worthwhile goal without being emotionally invested in it. I don't know about you but I sometimes finish a year without fulfilling resolutions primarily because the passion that fueled my goals lose the battery charge that it started the year with. Sadly, in the world of goals there are no miracle blue pills and watching my goals die unremedied is not an option. If your goals are truly important share them with others and watch them attract a community of people who can later generate the extra juice you need to give you a push and ensure that your passion for achievement lasts longer than Kim Kardashian's marriage. Yea there are haters out there who will be chanting 's/he bit off more than s/he can handle', but if you are surrounded with predominantly negative people who seek to retard your progress or glory in your failure you need to get yourself some new friends.

You're Your Worst Enemy

When it comes to accomplishing your goals you are your worst enemy! You have probably heard this so many times your mind gave a mental nod of acceptance when you read the comment 3 seconds ago. Never the less, this fact needs more than cosmetic application if you are going to achieve what you set out to. Like King David and Bilbo Baggins, all of us need accountability to keep us on the path of achieving our goals especially when Kanye West sized obstacles derail us. The best way to hurdle your personal goal thwarting demons is by involving people with similar goals to hold you accountable when you are off-track or distracted.

Goals are extremely powerful and necessary if you want to maximize your potential and make lasting impact in this world. Give wings to your goals by sharing them. You can share a goal on your facebook wall or on twitter this week. One of my goals is to read 24 books this year, check out my next blog post later this week to see my reading plan. What goals do you plan to accomplish this year?

Andre P. Llewellyn © 2012

'Dudus' Coke's Get Out of Jail Pass...

It's always interesting to see what criminals have to say when their backs are against the wall...or in Christopher 'Dudus' Coke's case - the prison cell. His letter to Justice Robert Patterson requesting what the Jamaica Observer calls an 'impassioned plea for leniency' has caused vibrations among the prison bars and the media. The seven page script (which should have been proof read, by the way) recounts Coke's philanthropic service to his community and highlights how his legal proceedings have affected his family. I am not sure what Justice Patterson's take on it is, but as for me I won't be distracted from what got him here.

Mr. Coke isn't just guilty of trafficking drugs and weapons, he is guilty of corrupting the moral psyche of at least two generations in Western Kingston. The hunt for Him that started a heinous gun battle leaving 76 persons dead is testimony to the fact that 'Dudus' ransomed the prospect of facilitating authentic community empowerment for the pleasure of fortifying his own empire.

Consequently, he has done what only few Jamaican dons can boast, through his strong political and gangster ties, he has amalgamated Jamaican's drug trafficking culture and has made organized crime in this country, and elsewhere, even more impenetrable.

Shouldn't Justice Patterson use his Christian and judicial conscience and grant Coke leniency? Hell no! Not on the basis of any constitutional precedence..not on the innocent blood that was shed in the streets of West Kingston over a year ago...not on the cheap Jheri Curl wig he was wearing when he was accosted...and certainly not on his pathetic 13 or 14 (I saw 13 twice) point letter of how he has served his community. He should feel the full extent of the penal system not because he is a bad person but because he is a law breaker...and was a wanted one at that. Dude 'don't do the crime if you can't do the time'.

Mr. Coke here is some advice, with the infrequent telephone access you have in prison you should write letters...not to Judges but to your family or to the Monopoly guy. Hopefully you will have better luck and receive a 'Get out of Jail Free' pass.

Andre P. Llewellyn©2011

I am ʼĀḏām

Shalem!

So this is my first blog for the New Year. How sad is that? Anyway, I thought I would share something too existential to be called a poem. It soberly represents living with and in the reality of Adam. Well both Adams. Adam, Eve's hubby and Jesus Christ, the last Adam who made me love church more than Snickers. I love me some Snickers man.

A new Creation...
but still...I am shadowed by the Leaves of Adam.

The Cross my victory...
but still I am shadowed by the leaves of Adam.

Sanctified, sanitized, with swagger beyond the skies...
yet still I,

I...I am shadowed by the leaves of Adam.


Andre P. Llewellyn©2011

Remedy for Couch Potatoes - 'Keep your Goals to Yourself'?

Are you pumped up about a goal that you just have to share? Guess what --- keep it to yourself! Well, that's what Derek Sivers says you should do. I came across Sivers talk today as I sifted through the TED Talks video archive looking for a short and innovative talk that would give me a nice mental quickie. Well, I was rudely disappointed. Sivers' point is that the positive social acknowledgement that we receive when we share our goals will make us work less at actually achieving them. In other words the 'feel good' feeling that you get when you share your goal with others may be the secret ingedient that is turning you into a couch potato. What if in sharing your goals your audience makes you feel like a looser, would the 'feel bad' feeling make you more likely to achieve your goals? To caution people about negativity and those haterzzz is one thing, but to encourage them to keep the goals to themselves...hmmm. Who is he fooling?

Even if you were as resourceful as the dude on Man vs. Wild, by YOURSELF, it is nearly impossible to achieve serious life or career goals without people voluntarily lending you their experiences, methodologies, networks, and attitudinal and mental 'resources'. Additionally, clinicians and psychiatrists will emphasize that goal sharing/social acknowledgment is germane to the recovery goals of addicts, and survivors and victims of tragedies.

I am no social scientist, but to me it seems like choosing not to share your goals with others is like passing GO on the monopoly board and choosing not to take $200 from the bank. It's like waiting for a Payless BOGO shoe sale to finish and then choose to buy 2 pairs of shoes...I think you get the point.


Andre P. Llewellyn©2010

Mind Your Time

Everyone loves to live in the moment. The sad thing is that 'the moment', as the name suggests, happens less frequently than a morally uplifting episode of The Family Guy. So in our very regular moments we are often found in a mental battle with the office clock trying to move it's hands closer to 5pm. But does this really have to be your story? Of course not! In fact, if you are strolling half asleep through your days waiting on special occasions to be inspired or exuberant about life you are not adding much value to your life! Whether or not you are consciously aware of it, who you become is the sum- total of a life lived ONE day at a time and not through the frame of grand occasions.

More don'ts...Don't get so bugged down with the numbing 'rat race' of life that you lose sight of the fullness you can experience daily. Don't join the long line of individuals who have pocketed the invaluable currency of their dreams and fresh ideas. Don't wait on your pay cheque, vacation time, or facebook account for the permission to be optimistic about your goals. You really can begin to meet each day with optimism and a sense of fulfillment and it requires far less than a 6x8 office cubicle space or Windows 7 [thank God].

What is required? It requires you to decide to make a change today. 'Do' a type of life change that motivates YOU to look for and create opportunities that litter even the lull of a routine day. Now let's not be fooled, it's hard work that often requires persistence, repetition, introspection and spiritual empowerment. The good thing is you already have the most important raw materials to start the job - the capacity to channel and utilize your mind, volition, and emotions in productive life transforming ways. In the words of the proverbial altar call - will you make a decisive choice to start today?

Andre P. Llewellyn©2010

Fire Those Striking Teachers?

This was a quick response to an article 'Fire the 'Striking' Teachers' in the Jamaica Gleaner written by Dr. Daniel's Fider, Associate Professor of Leadership at the Northern Caribbean University. It's short, check it out here http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100504/letters/letters1.html

Of the few times that I read the letter of the day, this one time I was most appalled. Mr. fider's article is the quintessence of intellectual stupidity, it is laughable, and a prime example of the "let us bend over and take it back ways" mentality. How incredulous it is to call into question the LEADERSHIP of the JTA without making greater reference to the inconsistency that so vulgarly 'decorates' the leadership of the govt and their continued irresponsibility to honour the contractual agreements made with the already underpaid and overworked educators.

Additionally, how snobbish and fallacious it is to make a generalization about the lack of qualification and passion of 'many of those we employ to teach'. How does Dr. Fider know this? Even if he is right, isn't it the govt's responsibility to ensure that our educational infrastructure receives the significant budgetary attention that mitigates stress among principals and teachers and promotes passion. Isn't it the govt's job to ensure that educational systems provide teachers with the best training to enhance their aptitude and attitude?

It is the govt, as the major custodians of the Jamaican people, who is holding our children and our teachers at ransom when they; a. poorly manage and ignore innovative financial and institutional systems that may provide significant budgetary increase towards education, b. Fail to actively promote the introduction of new cutting edge skill areas/specializations that will appeal to a broader range of potential teachers and shape new and existing industries, and c. Fail to show educators a feasible plan, policy or reform that will ensure their livelihood, and by extension the livelihood of those they educate.

Finally, many times the cost of national and/or institutional change is 'insensitivity' and 'unreasonableness' to unjust and failing leaders, policies and systems, unfortunately the collateral damage in those moments are inevitable. Is the strike worth it? For the right or our hard working citizens to receive their due remuneration - it is worth it. In an effort to ensure our children's right to receive the dollar value on their education in the future - it is worth it. And, to challenge our govt. to make education a top priority - it is worth it!

Andre P. Llewellyn©2010