Part of my personal goals for this year is to read more inspirational and leadership books. Like my earlier post about goals we need to broaden our horizons and purposefully force ourselves to adapt and think if we are to be successful. Thanks to one of my F3 brothers, I had on opportunity to read a small but impactfull book that I would have never even gave a second look.
Change starts with your attitude
This book was “The Coffee Bean, A Simple lesson to Create Positive Change” by Jon Gordon and Damon West.
It was a very well written and simplistic story and lesson about how changing your attitude about life experiences and challenges can either break you down, harden you to not care anymore, or let the situation change you and adapt for success.
The carrot, the egg, and the Coffee Bean
At its basic lesson the main character is told to put these three items into boiling water and see what happens to them.
The carrot wilts and softens from the exposure to the stress, the egg hardens to a hard boiled egg, but the coffee bean slowly changes to coffee.
The authors do a great job of telling the story of its protagonist through different stages of life using this lesson to change his outlook and reactions to life stress.
How can I be a coffee bean
It is a great story which will make you start to look at your own life. Where have you been a carrot, when have you been an egg, when have you been a coffee bean.
It truely made me start to think of my own life. I started to think about moments in time when I was a carrot. How many times have I let life stresses wear me down and feel like I was not worthwhile or good enough. What would have happened if I had changed my viewpoint and adapted my response to that challenge.
Looking back I see many instances of being an egg. I have many times gotten my heart hardened by a stressor or challenge. I would shut it off like it did not exist and not allow myself to learn from the experience. How much extra stress in my life would have been eliminated if I had just changed my outlook and adapt to handle the situation instead of just shut down.
How many times have I been a coffee bean? Unfortunately for myself, and I am sure many others, there are less times in my life of being the coffee bean. If I had just taken a step back and realized how much of a positive change had happened when I did allow myself to adapt, grow and change. What a difference your outlook, success and accomplishments can be if you allow yourself to change and adapt to find the best solution to whatever problem you face.
Strive to be coffee
I hope that this little book helps me in the future to learn to take this lesson to heart and make it a part of my life. I hope this tiny little lesson helps me to be a better person, a better father, a better spouse, a better leader in life and work.
I am very grateful to have been given the opportunity to read this book. It will truly help me to think more and to strive to be the coffee bean. My morning cup of coffee will never be the same.
