A Textbook for Life

 

Chapter 3

A Textbook for Life

Why such a long book?

        Why not just write another easy-to-read self-help book of a couple hundred pages or less?

To answer this question, I share a story. 

Some years ago, I was in St. Croix (U.S. Virgin Islands) teaching an outdoor professional seminar a mere stone's throw from the beach. I'll never forget the experience, partly because it was such a breathtakingly beautiful tropical setting, and partly because I have rarely (if ever) experienced such a sultry atmosphere, which pulsated ponderously through the 90-plus degree heat of that boiling mid-August afternoon. 

During a break in my training, I meandered my way to the bar for some refreshment. As I sat sipping a soda, a young, male bartender—we'll call him "Ted" (a very talkative fella)—began asking me questions about myself. In an attempt to politely, but briefly, answer his queries, I ended up sharing more personal information with Ted than I typically offer up to strangers I've just met.

When Ted learned I was an author in the self-help genre, a look of obvious skepticism crossed his face, after which he replied: "Don't you think self-help books are fluffy and unsubstantial?" I was initially surprised by the curt candidness of his question, but understanding his perspective, I readily responded, "Well, I can definitely see where you are coming from in thinking that, and YES, some of them certainly are." 

Ted then proceeded to express his interest in philosophical writings that are considered more historically and intellectually demanding than your typical contemporary self-help read. As I listened to this young lad promoting philosophical works from behind the counter of a Caribbean tiki bar, a powerful sense of reassurance flooded my mind and soul about a nagging feeling I had often had that my work was "too long."

At that moment, I realized with great clarity that my book was never meant to be a novella, much less a pamphlet or paper. The complexity, substance, and importance of the subject matter simply places limits on its capacity for brevity. Length alone does not, of course, guarantee quality and substance. Nevertheless, I have striven diligently and earnestly throughout SEVEN (7) complete and comprehensive iterative revisions of this work to continually trim the fat without lacerating its muscle.

As my conversation with Ted continued, I explained that my goal as a self-help author was to produce a work that not only provided compelling narrative literature, but that also rises to rigorous intellectual standards and robust philosophical ideals. If he someday reads this book, I hope he will be pleased with my attempt to realize the lofty standards and ideals I have striven to uphold in its organization and composition. 

My conversation with Ted the bartender
gave me hope for the future of this work.

My téte-à-tête with Ted the bartender that day spawned a vision of sorts, whereby my mind's eye beheld multitudes of people from all over the world from all different backgrounds and walks of life who, like Ted, are yearning not only for real long-term personal and professional change, growth, freedom, fulfillment and inner peace, but who—in an era of fast food, fleeting pleasures, petty social media exchanges, and other cheap, sugary meaninglessness that is so ubiquitous throughout our superficial and existentially malnourished culture—are hungry for something that will challenge them intellectually as well. 

It was a GLORIOUS VISION to behold.

And since I was only drinking soda (I don't drink alcohol) I am certain it was no drunken mirage exacerbated by the elevated and oppressive temperature which hung so leadenly on the beach that sizzling summer day. 

Ted "the bartender" won't always be serving up drinks for a living. In fact, at the time of our meeting, he already had plans to move on to North Carolina with his girlfriend, who planned to pursue a master's degree. Ted no doubt had ambitions of his own, the details of which he might have shared had my break not come to and end, thus terminating our visit.

Before bidding him adieu, Ted asked me to write down the title of my book so he could look it up on Amazon. As we parted, he seemed genuinely hopeful that perhaps I might be able to resurrect his faith in what he perceived to be the lost art of the self-help genre. Perhaps Ted and I will meet again someday. If we do, I will ask him whether or not my work rose to the level of his obviously high standards. I hope he answers affirmatively. I will also thank him for expanding my perspective and bolstering my courage to forge ahead in pursuit of an unusual and audacious vision that demanded I break all the rules of contemporary book writing and publishing. 

I know that there are many more "Teds" out there.

        That is why I have had enough faith to spend 20 years on one, single, massive writing project. 

A magnum opus for the ages—and for people of all ages!

The world has enough easy books to read; it needs more challenging books to study. It has enough sound bites to survey; it needs more substance to subsume. The world has enough talking points; it needs more transformations of character. It has enough text messaging; it needs more textual rigor. The world has enough skimming and scanning; it needs more rigorous reading and serious study. It has enough summaries; it needs more original sources. The world has enough featured headlines and fabricated news; it needs more facts and footnotes. It has enough fashion, facsimiles, and façades; it needs more ontological authenticity. The world has enough truculent tweets and tall tales; it needs more tenderness and truth telling.

The world has enough fake; it needs more real.  [5]

If this book fails to add something of value to the cause for which it stands, it will not be for any lack of effort or sincere soul-searching on the part of the author, nor will it be because it was too long. There are plenty of easy self-help books, blogs, bits, and bytes out there. In producing this work, I have no interest in nor desire to toss another pamphlet on top of an ever-growing pile of piecemeal pontifications on the subject of self-help. If I'm going to offer something to the world, it is going to be BIG, substantive, and unprecedented in its scope.

That's the VISION I have, and I would be cheating myself and my readers if I produced anything less than what you now hold in your hands.  

Our world has no shortage of books

In recent decades, our world has been deluged by millions of books, articles, blogposts, seminars, webinars, presentations, and online discussions on topics related to leadership, management, personal development, and other self-help related topics. And that is to say nothing of the tens of millions of books published in every other conceivable genre and subtopic—and that is just since the dawn of the Information Age in the mid-1990s. Since the advent of Johannes Gutenberg's modern printing press in the year 1440, approximately 130 million books have been published, with hundreds of thousands of more books predating Gutenberg's world-changing invention.

With the advent of the Internet and self-publishing platforms, the market for books has become so oversaturated in recent years that it is not an exaggeration to say that throughout world history, there has never been a worse time to publish a book than right now—that is, if you are hoping a large audience actually reads your book. And according to Steven Piersanti, founder of Berrett-Koehler Publishers, things are only going to get worse for authors in coming years.  [1]

In light of this sobering reality, perhaps you are wondering why I would have the temerity [2] to not only write another book, but to spend half my life (20 years) researching and writing a very long, detailed, nuanced, and substantive book? After all, according to Piersanti and many other experts in the field, writing a long book is a strategic no-no in today's over-soused publishing market—that is, if you intend for your book to sell a lot of copies. Furthermore, what could another book about leadership and personal development possibly have to say that would merit your attention in this fast-paced, highly competitive virtual world? 

These are reasonable questions, and I have answers to them. 

The SAL Textbook is a TEXTBOOK for LIFE

To begin with, this isn't just another book I hope will be marginally useful to some niche audience. This TOME is a comprehensive TEXTBOOK for LIFE itself, carefully crafted with an unprecedented inclusivity in mind. In other words, it has been purposely and purposefully designed for every single member of the human race in hopes of uniting the entire human family in one, common, core cause: the cause of Existential Growth. 

Exi-what???  

I know, I know... the word, "Existential," may come across like a big, boring, scholarly term prone to turn off many readers from advancing any further in the text. But it doesn't have to because it actually has a pretty basic definition that is not hard to understand. And since you will see this word a lot in the SAL Textbook, it makes sense to introduce and define it right up front. 

EXISTENTIAL simply means of, or relating to, your existence—meaning your life and being. 

EXISTENTIAL

Of, or relating to, your existence (life)

The reason you will see this particular word a lot in this textbook is because Self-Action Leadership is concerned with far more than just one or two areas of life; it is concerned with LIFE itself in as holistic and comprehensive a manner as humanly conceivable. In other words, SAL is not designed to merely help you improve, be happier, or achieve more success. SAL is designed to transform your very existence into something far greater than it was before tackling this text.

A similar, related word you will also see from time-to-time in the SAL Textbook is "ontological." This is another word apt to scare off some readers because like existential, it also sounds like an erudite graduate term that only advanced scholars would use in an enigmatic philosophical treatise. However, like our previous term, "existential," ontological also has a pretty basic definition that is not hard to understand. It simply refers to the nature of being in a metaphysical or spiritual sense, as opposed to a physical, chemical, biological, or anatomical sense. 

ONTOLOGY (noun)

The metaphysical nature of being.

ONTOLOGICAL (adjective)

Related to the metaphysical nature of being.  

Understanding these terms will help you take your understanding of the SAL Textbook to higher levels.

Why? 

Because the goal of the SAL Textbook is not merely to help you learn new information, gain a new skill, or aid self-improvement. The goal is to transform your very being (i.e. heart, mind, and soul) in a way that elevates your existence to higher planes of human capacity, understanding, and experience. Thus, the ultimate objective of Self-Action Leadership (SAL) is not to get something, but rather to become something, and you become something by earning Existential Growth, which refers to the growth, progress, and maturation of your holistic potential.

EXISTENTIAL GROWTH

The growth, progress, and maturation of your holistic potential as a human being.

 

A second reason it is worth your time to read and carefully study this comprehensive work is because it introduces two, unique, helpful, and holistic qualitative metrics (measuring tools) for gauging your own benchmarks for personal freedom, growth, and potential. These metrics offer more than a mere blueprint for self-improvement and personal development. They also paint a clear picture of personal and professional PROMISED LANDS attainable as you progress towards the apex of your potential as a human being. These metrics are part of the SAL Theory and Model, both of which will be introduced and thoroughly detailed in volumes one and two, respectively, of this textbook.  

Dr. JJ at age 7, when he 
began his SAL journey.

The third answer lies in the extensive study, research, and uniquely personal story undergirding everything in this textbook. Since 1987—when I was just a little boy, aged seven—I have been enthralled by learning about, pursuing, and achieving existential growth, freedom, success, happiness, and inner peace. Along the way, I have been humbled to the dust time-after-time-after-time by the hard knocks of life's often harrowing challenges, obstacles, and realities. It has been an intensely painful and profoundly humbling journey in nearly every aspect of my life. Yet through it all, I have come out on the other side a truly transformed human being, with a penetrating vision of what authentic freedom, growth, progress, and prosperity entail. More importantly, I have come to comprehend how these incredibly desirable states of being are achieved over time.   

The SAL Textbook fully fleshes out and carefully articulates this VISION.

The heartrending processes that lead to Existential Growth and the glorious rewards that accompany it remind me of the words of a nineteenth century avuncular ancestor of mine who knew a thing or two about obstacles and adversity. Said he: "I am like a huge rough stone rolling down from a high mountain, and the only polishing I get, is when some corner gets rubbed off by coming in contact with something else, striking with accelerated force against [my enemies within and without] ... knocking off a corner here and a corner there; thus, [do] I ... become a smooth and polished shaft...." [3].

I can poignantly relate to my ancestor's description of how his difficult life tested, refined, and polished him over time. While my own twenty- and twenty-first century experiences have been vastly different compared to his, the struggle and pain of the journey—as well as the resultant refining and polishing processes—have been strikingly similar. This fact serves to corroborate the universality of the principles and practices involved in authentic Existential Growth trajectories regardless of when, where, or to whom they occur.  

Speaking of my own experiences and that of others, the presentation and analysis of such experiences form a significant core of this textbook. This is not an unusual practice. Indeed, most self-help authors season their books and articles with relevant personal anecdotes. 

This book, however, is the anecdote. 

There really is no way to separate the story of my life, and of others' lives, from the material in this comprehensive work. Thus, autobiographical and biographical material is closely and carefully interwoven and otherwise strewn throughout the entire manuscript. It is my hope that these educational anecdotes might provide you with long-sought-after antidotes to your own deepest personal and professional difficulties and dilemmas. In the process, I hope readers everywhere will be empowered with new ways of conceptualizing, practicing, and measuring their own freedom, growth, happiness, success, and inner peace. 

Be a hero of your own story...
Be a Life Leader

The journey towards Existential Growth and personal freedom requires self-direction, self-discipline, and personal management, regulation, and leadership at every turn. It demands that you become the leader of your own LIFE. The process of carefully and intentionally designing and constructing your own life as part of a never-ending journey towards higher levels of freedom and Existential Growth is what LIFE LEADERSHIP is all about. 

What exactly is Life Leadership?

Good question. The simple answer is: the self-leadership of your own life. A more technical definition would be: The process of thoughtfully and intentionally designing and constructing your life as part of a never-ending journey towards higher levels of Existential Growth and freedom. 

LIFE  LEADERSHIP

The process of thoughtfully and intentionally designing and constructing your life as part of a never-ending journey towards higher levels of Existential Growth and freedom.  

What is Self-Action Leadership

We have already used the term—SELF-ACTION LEADERSHIP, or just SAL for short—many times thus far in this book. As such, you probably already have a pretty good idea of what it is—at least implicitly speaking. Now it is time to explicitly define it so that there is no confusion moving forward. 

Self-Action Leadership, or just SAL for short, is the engine and fuel that drives Life Leadership. It refers to taking complete responsibility for everything in your life. This includes your thoughts, speech, actions, attitudes, beliefs, and all consequences engendered thereby.  

SELF-ACTION LEADERSHIP

(SAL)

Taking complete personal responsibility for everything in your life. This includes your thoughts, speech, actions, attitudes, beliefs, and all consequences engendered thereby.

SAL is about consciously and intentionally directing those things over which you have direct control and influence, namely: your own thoughts, speech, actions, attitudes, and beliefs. This includes taking responsibility for your past, your present, and your future, regardless of any variables (positive or negative, helpful or hurtful) that may exist beyond your control. It means abandoning past attitudes of victimization and embracing present and future mindsets of personal power and possibility. It also involves leading yourself to make wise and moral choices for the long-term benefit of YOU and everyone else that may be impacted or influenced by your thoughts, speech, and actions over time.

By purposely and purposefully channeling your thoughts, speech, and actions into principle-centered avenues and courses, you can become a powerful agent of personal change, growth, and freedom. You can also become a powerful and positive influence in the lives of all those with whom you live, work, or otherwise associate.

That is the power of SAL. 

Later on, in BOOK the THIRD, Chapter Three, I will expand upon this concept by adding several layers of contour and nuance to this basic definition. For now, this introduction to the core concept will suffice. 

SAL operates under the premise that micro, personal changes always precede macro organizational, communal, or national changes. In other words, nations, states, communities, churches, schools, and families are only as great as the individuals who comprise them. That includes YOU, me, and everybody else. Whenever a system's micro agents or components are strengthened, its macro elements are fortified and refined.

Mohandas Gandhi
1867-1948

In other words: if you want to change the world, then you must begin by changing YOURSELF. In the inspired words of Mohandas Gandhi, YOU must be the change you wish to see in the world.

"YOU must be the change you wish to see in the world."

—Gandhi

The miracle of SAL is that personal change is possible. And that is great news because the only things in the universe that you can actually control are your own thoughts, words, actions, attitudes, and beliefs. Everything else is ultimately outside of your control. In the inspired words of Aldous Huxley: There's only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self. I wanted to change the world, but I have found that the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself.    

"There's only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self. I wanted to change the world, but I have found that the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself"

—Aldous Huxley

How This Textbook is Organized

This is no ordinary self-help work.

SAL is about much more than mere motivation;
It is about pure, sound, and enduring EDUCATION.

The SAL Textbook is not designed to merely motivate you or improve your self-esteem. I did not write this book to simply "Pump You Up!" This tome is part "book" and part "textbook." While it often reads informally, like a book, it concurrently presents sound, academic information in an accurate, precise, well-organized, and comprehensive manner, like a textbook. 

If you are serious about bolstering your personal and professional freedom and growth, you must do more than just read this book. You must carefully study it, thoughtfully engage the journal writing exercises, and complete all of the SAL Master Challenge homework assignments (more on this in Chapter 5).  

This textbook is divided into two (2) large sections referred to as Volume 1 and Volume 2. These two volumes are then further subdivided into eight (8) smaller sections, which are called "BOOKS." These section-books are named: BOOK the FIRST, BOOK the SECOND, et cetera, on up to BOOK the LAST, in Dickensian fashion.  [4]

Each of these eight "book" sections contain a fresh batch of chapters beginning with a new "Chapter One" for each book. The eight "books" contained within this comprehensive work include: 

VOLUME 1:  The Self-Action Leadership Theory

BOOK the FIRST:  Life Leadership Begins with Education

BOOK the SECOND:  In Pursuit of Change, Growth, and Freedom. An Introduction to Self-Action Leadership

BOOK the THIRD:  The Self-Action Leadership Philosophy

BOOK the FOURTH:  The Self-Action Leadership Theory  

VOLUME 2:  The Self-Action Leadership Model

BOOK the FIFTH:  The Self-Action Leadership Model

BOOK the SIXTH:  SAL Success Stories

BOOK the SEVENTH:  A Pedagogy of Personal Leadership and Character Development

BOOK the LAST:  You are Sovereign

....................................................................................................................................................

BOOK the FIRST introduces the concept of LIFE LEADERSHIP, explains the vital role that SAL plays therein, and discusses the fundamental importance of education in the leadership of your life. It also postures pedagogy and practice as twin keys to animating SAL in your life. Additionally, it lays a foundation upon which SAL can begin supplementing a student's core curriculum or an employee's standard training. 

BOOK the SECOND focuses on SAL's three primary objectives, namely: change, growth, and freedom.

BOOK the THIRD introduces the SAL Philosophy, which serves as a general, conceptual foundation for the SAL Theory and Model to come. 

BOOK the FOURTH outlines, explicates, and articulates the SAL Theory. 

BOOK the FIFTH outlines, explicates, and articulates the SAL Model. 

BOOK the SIXTH shifts gears from the intellectual to the anecdotal by providing a series of real-life accounts of positive life and career transformations achieved through SAL principles and practices. Several of these extended anecdotes belong to me (Dr. JJ). Several others belong to other self-action leaders I have had the privilege of meeting over the years as an educator. 

BOOK the SEVENTH reviews a series of action research projects I conducted in real-life classrooms and schools in Georgia and Texas, USA. These research projects—and the data culled therefrom—illuminate the power, influence, and potential that a SAL-oriented education can wield in the lives of student-practitioners of all kinds and ages all over the world.

BOOK the LAST serves as a capstone to the previous seven books. It serves as an inspirational conclusion to the total work. 

....................................................................................................................................................

This work on SAL is part academic TEXTBOOK

This work is part "book" and part "textbook." It is very much a traditional textbook in the sense that it presents a significant amount of new scholarly information in a systematic and academic manner. It also includes a robust list of original "KEY TERMS" and their accompanying definitions that students can learn and study and educators can teach and test. Moreover, it continually applies logic in an attempt to bolster the academic credibility of its premises and conclusions as well as exercising the critical thinking skills of student-practitioners. In this sense, the work is kind of like an extended peer-reviewed journal article. 

On the other hand, this work is concurrently a creative work of nonfiction that incorporates a significant amount of narrative detail. Thus, the text often read like an autobiography or biography because it is both of these things as well.  

Furthermore, the text is continually garnished and seasoned with motivational epigrams, inspirational poetry (penned by myself and others), and memorable mantras. To top it all off, I employ my own, unique voice to narrate the complete work from start-to-finish, thus making it read like a public journal entry. In so doing, I have attempted to enrich the material with an eclectic potpourri of relevant tangents, pedagogical asides, parenthetical informational inserts, and a plethora of interesting and/or citational footnotes.

In the end, this work is both a highly educational textbook and (I hope) an unusually emotive and gripping personal narrative. This makes it both scholarly and popular in nature. It specifically and simultaneously caters to both academic and mainstream audiences—to scholars and laymen alike. Pure academics may enjoy the scholarly components while squirming at my hybrid approach. Laymen and women may embrace the narrative sections and eschew the academic erudition. At best, I can only hope that everyone who opens up this work will eventually find something just for him or her at just the moment in time and life that they need it most. I trust the invisible Hand of Serendipity will continually work Its magic in fruition of this hope for all honest seekers of light and truth.  

Suffice it to say, this book is much more than a textbook on personal leadership or another self-help guide. It is an academic and literary self-portrait of its author, his personality, and the many and varied journeys he has intrepidly traversed throughout his adventurous life and career. Whatever its flaws, I hope you will overlook them sufficiently to allow this work to make a difference in your own, unique, personal and professional life. If it accomplishes that one goal for YOU, it will have realized its objective—weaknesses and inadequacies notwithstanding.  

So...

Would you like to do something hard that will take some time, but that will be incredibly worth your investment in the long-run?  

        If so, 

                Then read on...

—Dr. JJ

Wednesday, November 8, 2023

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA

Author's Note: This is the 358th Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013 and the 172nd consecutive weekly blog published since August 31, 2020.   

Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 357 FF Blog Articles 

Click HERE for a complete listing of Freedom Focused SAL QUOTES  

Click HERE for a complete listing of Freedom Focused SAL POEMS   

Click HERE to access the FULL TEXT of Dr. JJ's Psalms of Life: A Poetry Collection

Click HERE for a complete listing of Self-Action Leadership Articles

Click HERE for a complete listing of Fitness, Heath, & Wellness Articles

Click HERE for a complete listing of Biographical & Historical Articles

Click HERE for a complete listing of Current Events, Cultural, Philosophical, & Miscellaneous Articles

Click HERE for a complete listing of Dr. JJ's Autobiographical Articles

.........................

Tune in NEXT Wednesday for another article on a Self-Action Leadership related topic.  

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Chapter 3 Notes

1). Piersanti, S. (2017). The 10 Awful Truths About Book Publishing. Out:think. URL: https://outthinkgroup.com/the-10-awful-truths-about-book-publishing/ 

2). Dale Carnegie asked the same question nearly 90 years ago in 1936.

Carnegie, D. (1981). How to Win Friends & Influence People. Revised Edition. New York, NY: Pocket Books. Page xiii.  

3). Smith, Jr. J. 1843. Personal Journal. 21 May 1843. Joseph Smith Papers Online. URL: https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-d-1-1-august-1842-1-july-1843/199. Note: Joseph Smith, Jr. (1805-1844) is Dr. JJ's third-great grandfather.  

4).  The famous nineteenth century British novelist, Charles Dickens, employed this style in his most famous novel: A Tale of Two Cities. Since its initial, serial publication in 1859, this book has never been out of print and since become one of the best-selling novels of all-time, with over 200 million copies. Among famous works of fiction, only Don Quixote, by Spain's Miguel de Cervantes, has sold more copies. And while the latter has more than doubled the former in overall copies printed, Cervantes (1547-1616) also had a 244 year head start on Dickens (1809-1870).    

5).  The literary style and rhythm employed in this paragraph—and others like it throughout this textbook—is borrowed from a similar style used in paragraph 16 of an October 2000 speech entitled, The Joy of Womanhood, delivered by Margaret D. Nadauld. My thanks to Mrs. Nadauld for inspiring me with her stirring delivery and well-crafted prose which I have seen fit to imitate herein.  

6).  Roosevelt, T. (1910). Citizenship in a Republic. Speech delivered at the Sorbonne in Paris, France, on April 23, 1910.  

7).  Ibid.  

8).  Frankl, V. (2006). Man's Search for Meaning. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. Pages xiv, xv.  

9).  Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional Intelligence: Why it Can Matter More than IQ. New York, NY: Bantam. Page xii. 

10).  Ibid. 

11).  Ibid. Page xiii.

12).  Ibid. Page xiv. 

13).  Peck, M.S. (1993). Further Along the Road Less Traveled: The Unending Journey Toward Spiritual Growth, The Edited Lectures. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster. Page 143.