Good is the enemy of great

I started listening to the book "Good to Great" on audio again, for the 3rd time. Its written by Jim Collins and I highly recommend it. Chapter one starts out explaining why good is the enemy of great.

We don't have great schools, principally because we have good schools. We don't have great government , principally because we have good government. Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life. The vast majority of companies never become great, precisely because the vast majority become quite good - and that is their main problem.

So as I was trying and find ways to move from being mediocre to something better I had a conversation with a brother who though my difficulty in finding things to be great at crazy. He said you need to find what you can be best at and do it. i.e. "no one can love Holly better than you can, you can be the best in the world at it". Point well taken.

So here I am, listening to this book again, trying to make it stick and I find myself in the same rut I find myself in when I learn something new or think its a good idea. I file it away so I can refer to it sometime in the future and portray myself as knowledgeable. As the guy with the sound bite. the good quote or neat idea. I don't actually do it. I find this same thing happening with the gospel as well. I can quote a great scripture, prophet, or scholar, but in practice I'm severely lacking.

I'm writing this to throw it out there, to see what others have done to incorporate it. not in the way we typically pray "help us to incorporate these things in our daily lives" but to actually do it. Here is another quote which I try and remember every day and I am actually somewhat consistent with doing

Do something every day that you don't want to do; this is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain - Mark Twain

So I take out the trash, I empty the dishwasher, I clean the bedroom, I exercise, call a long lost friend but its not consistent.

I'm not really looking for the end all answer because I think I already know it. President Kimball said "do it" to which he later expanded to "do it now".

I think that is the key.

Kevin Trudeau and Vaccinations

A few weeks back Holly ordered a book, unbeknown to me, written by Kevin Trudeau entitled "Natural cures They Don't Want You to Know". It all sounds well and fine, until you read the title, or the name of the author, or watch an infomercial this guy has produced. He is a new version of the old school con artists. Only now instead of putting up his tent on the side of the road and curing everything w/ one bottle of magic juice, he is able to record a 30 minute spot and anyone who is up past 12:00am is able to hear all about his magical cures and testimonials- of which 0% have been substantiated.

(side note: While in high school my brother and I could name and quote from many infomercials. They are so great, we would always get a kick out of them. We would make huge mugs of either grape drink or hot chocolate and stay up till 2-3 mocking and quoting the best testimonials and the surprise and wonderment the hosts would express. Those were good times. Not to long ago Holly couldn't sleep being heavy w/ child and I had nothing better to do so I introduced her to the wonderful world of infomercials...ah, I digress.)

So I think to myself, maybe Mr. Trudeau is on to something. Maybe I should give it a chance. I crack the book open and find no citations. Not a good start. Then I start reading about government lobbyists and how they are "hidden" and "secretive", when in fact we (anyone who has taken a course in American government) have known about these "hidden and secret" lobbyists since we were in middle school. In chapter 2 Trudeau goes on to say that "modern medicine has absolutely and 100% failed" he also says they haven't cured anything. Sorry to burst a little bubble w/ my vast knowledge of of medical history, but when was the last black plague outbreak? Or polio? On top of this, he is a convicted felon for credit card fraud and larceny. I wonder, could this book also be a fraud?

In Kevin Trudeau's defense I have only read a little more than a chapter of his book. I fully plan on reading the rest of it w/ a lot of towels so that when the blood shoots out of my eyes it doesn't get the pages too moist (say moist 3 times really slow) and duct tape so my head doesn't explode.

As for natural cures and eating health I think it is fantastic. Yay for natural cures, yay for homeopathic alternatives. Yay for real research.

Now to a bigger beast. Vaccinations. I can not for the life of me find a non biased article/study/review/comment that is not fueled by emotion and misinformation. My kid is now 7 weeks old and hasn't been vaccinated. And right now most likely won't be. So if anyone comes across an article that isn't s cued please let me know.