BOOK OF THE WEEK: "The Garden" by Jon Gordon

We really need this book right now. 2020 has taken an emotional and physical toll on us and if it were a rollercoaster, the ride would begin go with multiple drops, but then just as it is appearing to come to end, it has a mind of its own and picks up pace and continue with even bigger loops. "The Garden" helps us all deal with that second coaster surge. 

If there is one thing that 2020 is attempting to throw at us it's the five D's - doubt, distort, discourage, distract and divide. Flashing back to Coach Orion's confidence speech from the mid-90s movie D3: The Mighty Ducks, "it is easy to be confident when you have control of the puck, it very very difficult to keep that confidence when you have to take whatever strange bounces life throws your way." 

Today, we don't have control of the puck, we are on defense, but that does not mean we have to sit back and take whatever 2020 wants to bring next. Murder hornets? Triple E? Second wave of coronavirus? Or maybe now the zombie apocalypse? Whatever it is we can't be afraid to lose, because we really don't have anything to lose. We're playing with house money as long as we utilized the kryptonite to combat the enemy's five D's - trust, speaking the truth, encouragement, focus and unity. 

Everything comes full circle late in the book when the the twins' bring their older brother, who recently was released from rehab after a relapse of his drug addiction. See the big issue here is for both the twins - Jay and Kay - to overcome their struggles and insecurities, they had had to help someone else or they would relapse. 

As Simon Sinek mentioned in one of his great speeches, it is why in the 12-step program of alcoholic anonymous everyone says if you don't reach the last step - the 12th step - a person will always relapse. What is the 12th step? The 12th step is helping someone overcome their battle. That will almost guarantee a person that they will not relapse. We are a social society, it is about helping others, not just ourselves. We feel good when we help one another. 

Additional key points: 

• BEING AUTHENTIC: "It turns out when you know who you truly are, others are more drawn to you and want to know you." 
• "DON'T LISTEN TO PEOPLE:"There are going to come times where you will revisit a past unpleasant experience and those doubts and negative thoughts will come back, but identity shouldn't be defined by others words and actions. 
• IGNORE THE NOISE: Distractions are the enemy of greatness and a distraction is anything that keeps you from what matters most.