BOOK OF THE WEEK: "How To Live Like The Little Prince" by Stephane Garnier

The last time I read "The Little Prince" it was in high school - in french. So we were reading "Le Petit Prince" and yes it was  hard to follow and confusing especially since on the first page was a picture of hat or a snake after it ate an elephant. But I digress. (Occupational hazard.) 

Five key principles learned from this book that everyone needs to take note of: 

1. #BelieveIT

There is a reason why Harvard women's basketball has the tagline #B
elieveIt. Everything happens for a reason. Believing is extremely powerful. If you can believe it and visualize it, then you can achieve it. In just her third year at the helm of the Crimson and following a legend in Kathy Delaney-Smith, Head Coach Carrie Moore has many people talking about Harvard. 

Earlier this season, they beat a nationally-ranked team in Indiana - the mecca of college basketball. Senior guard Harmony Turner dropped a whopping 40 points and new single-game record in a win over on Power Five school in Boston College. The Crimson are 4-0 against Massachusetts opponents - UMass, Boston College, Northeastern and Boston University. 

Listen to Coach Moore. Believe it you guys, Believe It! 

2. Take Care of Yourself

There MIGHT be some people who may or may not have to read this chapter of the book once every morning. I'm not saying who those people are but they are out there and they know who they are. We all know someone, or maybe it's yourself, that fits into this category. 

It's important to make time for yourself and do things that make you happy. Remember what flight attendants say at the beginning of all flights in case of a lose of cabin pressure "put your own oxygen mask on first." If you're not taking care of yourself, then how can you take care of others? 

And also disconnect from your phone and other aspects of technology. You never know when the last time you speak with someone will truly be the last time. 

I'll leave the chapter below so those people can read here. 

3. Escape From Reality

We can get so caught up in everyday life, going to work, cleaning, doing laundry, dropping kids off at school, that we lose sight of that child-like wonder. We forget what it's like to be a child. Remember to step aside and to channel your inner Topanga Lawrence. "Use a mirror, babe." 

4. Connect To Others / Never Lose The Child-like Wonder

There is power in vulnerability. Ever realize that when a group of children get together how quickly they warm up to each other? This is something that is lost as we get older. As we grow into adults we want to stay in our own little bubble. If something seems uncomfortable we put up walls around ourselves to keep people out. We have to do better at taring down those walls and letting others in. Never lose that child-like wonder. 

5. Knowing When to Leave

At some point in our lives we chose a path and move forward with it because it our passion. As the years progress things change, we change and what drives us changes, but we still keep going down the same path. We never take the bold step to start a new chapter of our lives and do something different. It's important ot know when to leave. 

Bonus: P & H -- Positive and Humble 

This was the mantra of the late Boston College men's basketball media contact Dick Kelley. He always preached this to his student-athletes, interns and assistants. In the moment it may not feel like anything, but it will play out in the long term. Look at the YouTube sensations DudePerfect and FazeRug. Combined by they have over 80 million subscribers, but they remain incredibly humble. 

BLOG: The Shawn & Jack Brothers Multiverse Theory

The "Boy Meets World" re-watch podcast hosted by Danielle Fishel, Rider Strong and Will Friedle is one the top podcasts right now. But there still seems to be an issue with Shawn Hunter's family. He had a sister - Stacy - in the very first season; then in the third season Eddie came along as his half-brother. All this before Matthew Lawrence came on board as a full-time cast member in season five as Shawn's half-brother, Jack,- allegedly sharing, Chet, as the parent. 

Trying to figure out Shawn's family tree is mind boggling. (Yeah I know it's a '90s TV sitcom, they were horrible with continuity back then.) 

Maybe, just maybe ... here it is ... Shawn and Jack are not really half-brothers, but FULL brothers. Crazy theory, huh? But just hang with me here. 

After Chet succumb to a massive heart attack in season six, the following season, Virna, the woman that Shawn always knew as his mother, informed him that she was not his biological mother. In a later scene, Shawn went to the cemetery, Chet's ghost appears and tells Shawn that his biological mother was a stripper. But what if this was a lie? 

What if, Jack's mother was ALSO Shawn's mother. Chet and could've been with Jack's mother, had Jack, then a year later had Shawn. Things were going 'ok' but a few months after Shawn was born things began to unravel and go downhill. Jack's mother ends up leaving Chet and taking take Jack, who had just turned two, with her. She leaves Shawn behind with Chet because in her eyes "Shawn was too hard to deal with." 

Jack and their mother go on to live a happy life in another Philadelphia suburb and marries Jack's stepfather. The three of them go on to live a happy life, which includes having another child - a daughter (who also is Shawn's half-sister). All while Shawn is being cast aside and left behind by Chet back in Philly. 

Virna ultimately raised Shawn when his birth mother (Jack's mother) didn't want to, but it wasn't because she was a stripper. We are going off the words of Chet's ghost and while he was alive Chet wasn't always the most reliable person. Chet might have said she was was a stripper as a cover because he didn't want Shawn believing that his birth mother thought he was "too difficult to raise." 

That would not have been good for a kid like Shawn who lived a tough life and was always dumped off on someone else - whether it was the Matthews', Turner's or the trailer park. 

Even though Shawn mentions in the first episode of season five that Jack was his "half-brother" it was only because that is what Chet told him and wanted him to believe. But Chet didn't tell him the truth in order to spare Shawn more heartbreak. 

BOOK OF THE WEEK: "Hidden Potential" by Adam Grant

Adam Grant has a new book out and it is perfect. 

I'm going to flip all the way to the end and start at the epilogue. Why? I'm built different. But no in all seriousness, this needs to be said first. 

For those that don't know the organizational psychologist, Adam Grant. He's a Harvard alum. But what you also probably don't know is, Grant failed his writing exam. Interesting. A New York Times #1 bestselling author failed his writing exam when he went to Harvard? Yes, it is true he did. But it was what he did afterward that made him into that bestselling author.

Sure it was probably quite humbling and a shot to the ego failing his writing placement exam. It's something that makes one feel as if they are an imposter and they didn't deserve to be at Harvard. But he met with his alumni interviewer again, the interviewer said the thing that he wrote to the admissions committee about Grant was not about being a magician. It was the initiative Grant showed in learning how to do magic and the courage he showed in the interviewer's law office to perform a magic trick. That's what made Grant stand out. 

That was one solid interview by the Harvard alum. But not surprising. It's not uncommon for Harvard alums to act in this way. Harvard alums are not uptight or stodgy as others may think they are. Just the opposite. Most would rather have you tell them a story about how you accomplished something. Grant's situation paralleled to a situation I faced this past summer. 

I had just shot my career low round of a 74, finished with +9 quota points AND recorded my first eagle (2-under par on hole) (outside of my hole-in-one from four years ago) on the Fourth of July. You could say I played well that day. Well the following Tuesday in the Tuesday night golf league, I got paired up with a pair of Harvard alums (Class of 81 and Class of 88). 

Riding around with the member of the Class of 88 for nine holes, it was only natural that the 74 and my first eagle came up (news spreads quickly around the course). But he didn't just ask. The words he used were clear, he said "tell me about the eagle." 

It's an interesting question. To the average person the response is "yeah well I got an eagle." But really the true answer was making it a story. A story that had a climax and some suspense to it. Because it's an eagle - 2-under par on a hole (so a 2 on a par four, 3 on a par five, 1 on a par three) - there has to be some dramatics. And there was some excitement. 

It was the shortest par five. It hit my usual drive - in the fairway. With a solid drive in the middle of the fair I was about 170 out from two cross sand traps so I hit a five-iron inside the 100-yard marker on the right, setting me up for a nice wedge to a front right pin. Anytime I'm within 100 yards or less, I always attack the pin and I did just that, that day. Ball is perfectly in line with the pin, takes one bounce and slight role into the hole.  

But that's it right there. That's what Adam Grant's Harvard alumni interview saw in Grant that day of his interview

BLOG: Be Versatile

Back during his playing days, the Red Sox continuously re-assigned Lou Merloni their Triple A affiliate so frequently that the route between Boston and, then, Pawtucket had been colloquially re-named as the "Merloni Shuttle." Merloni wasn't all to happy about being shuttled back and forth, who would, but the reason was simple: he had options that allowed the team to adjust the roster without fear of losing players to the rest of the baseball market. 

It's not fun to be this person. There so much uncertainty. One never knows how long they will stay in the big leagues before they getting shipped out. It's stressful. 

While there's a name for the the player who is on the cusp of Triple A and the Majors (Merloni Shuttle), what about those pitchers who on edge of being starter and reliever? Those pitchers who are good enough to be starter, but when other starters either return from injury or just better pitchers are acquired, that pitcher gets sent to the bullpen. 

Well that scenario was right there was Tim Wakefield. 

He was a starter, reliever and even a closer. Still pretty mind-boggling that a guy who threw a pitch that no one has any control over was chosen to pitch the last inning of the game, but hey that was Jimy Williams for you. 

It's no surprise since the man was drafted by the Pirates as an infielder. But when it was told to him that he may never make it to the majors as position player, he shifted his eyes towards pitching. Wakefield was an innovator. And it was what kept him in baseball for 19 years. 

Laggers build walls when they feel winds of change. Innovators build windmills.

— Imry Halevi (@imryh) August 26, 2023

Wakefield was always the man on the move. Shuttling back-and-forth between in the rotation and the bullpen, is not ideal. No one dreams of being a relief pitcher. They always dream of being a starter - taking the mound every five days. So when you're in the bullpen you can feel lost.

But just like he did in the minors when told he wasn't going to make it as a position player. He pivoted. Wakefield used his versatility to his advantage. And it is something that needs to be studied by anyone who plays a sport from the youth levels all the way to the professional levels. 

In this day when it is pays to be highly specialized we come to forget that it is the versatility that is the true marker of success. 

Book of the Week: "The Light We Carry" by Michelle Obama

 Former First Lady Michelle Obama has certainly been an icon and an inspiration to many people out there - particularly women. She proved that as a woman you could have it all. You could have a killer career, be a powerful career woman and a mother all at the same time. But it came with a cost and there were many bumps in the road as she described in her first book "Becoming." 

Her second book, penned out of the pandemic, Michelle described life as she attempted to navigate one of the worst international global health crisis in the last 100 years. There was so much uncertainty and with that lack of knowing what the future held for her and rest of the Obamas came a new diagnosis of low-grade depression (along with a new passion for knitting). 

In times of uncertainty and you don't know what is right in front of you, it is paramount to slow things down and take things one step a time. It is not much different than the sport of golf. 

Golf is a counterintuitive sport. If you want to hit the ball in the air, then you have to hit down on the ball. And it goes for all aspects of the game. 

If you find yourself on the golf course and you're hacking away, hitting low rollers and making little progress, the solution to that is slow things down. It's certainly frustrating when you're playing poorly, you want to get to your next shot quickly and hit fast hoping that the next shot will be one that turns everything around. 

Well that's the wrong approach. Increasing your speed is only going to make your game spiral further south. Now it's hard to slow down. You don't want to slow down the pace or hold up the group behind you, but that is precisely what you need to do. And if you do that you will find you will be playing faster (and better). 

"Slow down to move fast."

An that is exactly what one needs to do in times of uncertainty. It's what the Commonwealth of Massachusetts did when re-opening the state. It's what brought athletics back to many colleges that put sports on the back-burner for a year. Slowing yourself down, but not stopping and taking one small step at a time. May I remind you of the phrase "little drops make big drops?" 

BOOK OF THE WEEK: "Full Circle: From Hollywood to Real Life and Back Again" by Andrea Barber

Kimmy Gibbler. 

If you grew up in the 90s you know who Kimmy Gibbler is. She's the wacky, annoying neighbor of the Tanners who always seemed to irk one member of the Tanner family with her antics. But she was also D.J's (the oldest of the Tanner girls) best friend, so it's not like she wasn't welcome in the Tanner household despite Danny Tanner's pleas to D.J. in one episode "make new friends." 

It's unsure on how exactly Kimmy and D.J. became best friends. Their personalities aren't all that much alike. D.J. is the studious, straight A, do-gooder, who always want to please her father; whereas Kimmy was not that academically structured with a vibrant personality and was not afraid to show it. But maybe, just maybe, that is what drew the two together? 

However, this was a TV show and Andrea Barber, the actress who played Kimmy. was nothing like her character at all. Where Kimmy was her extroverted self, Andrea was far more reserved. In fact, Andrea actually auditioned for the role of D.J., but impressed the writers and producers enough that they cast her for the role of Kimmy. 

For those who aren't familiar with Full House or its sequel Fuller House (which I have a hard time believing people aren't familiar with it), you may remember there was love-hate relationship between Kimmy and D.J's next younger sister, Stephanie. Stephanie loved to hate on Kimmy. The quips between the two of the were gold. But the quips, despite being in good fun, could be brutal. 

There was one episode of "Full House" Kimmy was writing the horoscopes section for the school newspaper and Stephanie chimes in and asks "horoscope is that a telescope that can only see your face?" Ouch, that is a pretty tough wise crack for a family show. 

But the one thing everything boils down to is being being strange is a superpower. It's easy to go with the grain and go with the rest of society, but it is very difficult to be the one who stands out. The character of Kimmy Gibbler made it easy for people to be different. 

BOOK OF THE WEEK: "You Can't Be Serious" by Kal Penn

How does an Indian-American actor turn into a community organizer, who gets noticed by the 44th President of the United States and offered a position in the President's administration? If you ever seen the stoner comedy Harold & Kumar or a fan of the T.V. series House, M.D., you'd recognize the name Kal Penn. 

Penn takes us through his life growing up as an Indian/Asian-American and the stigmas he faced while trying to make it in the world of Hollywood with his background. After years of countless rejections, he finally landed the prominent role of Dr. Lawrence Kutner, an Indian-American diagnostic fellow on Dr. House's team on the hit medical drama, House M.D. 

If you're not familiar with the show House, what led to Penn's character Kutner's involvement with the show happened at the start of the season four. The previous season ended with the show's lead, Dr. House, looking (or forced to look) for a new team. The ever misanthropic, curmudgeon of a doctor decides to make it a Survivor-style game, bringing in 100 candidates to compete for the three positions. Originally, Kutner's character was axed, but returned when he flipped his first number six upside down to become nine, which essentially won him a spot on House's team. 

Behind the scenes the crew was actually very close. Coming up and playing mini-games in between shoots while on set. It was Olivia Wilde, who played Thirteen on House, who urged Penn to attend an Obama campaign rally that included many Hollywood celebrities with her, knowing his interest in politics and current affairs. He, reluctantly, attended, but found that he actually enjoyed it and it turned out to be the best of both worlds. 

Penn was able to participate and volunteer to support the Obama Campaign, and continue to fulfill his responsibilities on House because the screen writers were on strike and not writing any new scripts. It was even brought up by President Obama himself during a campaign event in Iowa. Obama inquired that it must be slow with the writers' strike, but Penn added they were still filming episodes before the strike. Soon after, Obama said, if they finish and they are still on strike, he would love to have Penn as an organizer more. 

It was interesting to see how Penn approached the the House executives when he told the producers he was offered the position with the Obama Administration. They had no knowledge of the position. Even though Penn told his agent, who informed him that he would not be able to get out of the contract, it was not because the show executives were blocking his exit so he went straight to the show's creator, David Shore. 

Contrary to what what his agent said, Shore was excited for Penn and thought of ways to write Kutner out of the show. But everything was not in the clear just yet, the waters were about to get muddier. The exact way Kutner's character was to be written off the show was going to be sudden and straight to the point, but with one caveat, Penn could not accept the White House job until the show aired. That was four months away. Would the job still be there? 

It was definitely one of those moments, that we've all had: do you accept the sure-thing (your current role on a hit TV show or whatever it may be) or go all-in for something that you really want?