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 In 1914 a group of twenty eight men, led by famed explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, set sail aboard a ship known as "The Endurance." Little did they know that their journey to the South Pole would be one in which they would navigate through extremely treacherous obstacles. "Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage" is a true tale of the incredible maritime adventure that Shackleton and the crew of The Endurance experienced as they set sail for the South Pole, but were later shipwrecked in the Antartica, forced to traverse the harsh environment of the Antartica on foot and eventually dangerously set sail, on open lifeboats, through the tumultuous waters of the Drake Channel, to make it back home.
To better understand how this journey began it is important to look at the context in which it was initiated. This period of time was one of great exploration and Shackleton being an adventurous explorer was a veteran of two expeditions, both of which were failed attempts to be the first person to reach the South Pole. However in 1911 Roald Amundsen beat Shackleton to the chase and became the first person to sail to the this destination. Determined to make his own mark and set a new exploration record, Shackleton set his sites on becoming the first person to cross the length of Antartica. To do this his ship would have to sail to one end of Antartica and then he and his crew would get off and travel for approximately 1,800 miles across the continent to reach the coast on the opposite side. However the expedition did not go as planned and the ship became trapped in densely packed ice. After having exhausted a huge amount of resources, time and man power in trying to get the ship untangle from the ice. Shackleton finally decided to extinguish the ships engines and to let the it drift in the waters in hopes that it would drift closer to the continent. This was not the case however and despite initially drifting towards the continent the ship eventually started drifting further away and after over ten months of not making any significant progress through the ice, The Endurance succumbed to the wear and tear placed on it by the ice pack and began to sink. Shackleton and his crew were forced to abandon ship and continue the journey on foot. This left the crew stranded in one of the most treacherous and remote environments on earth. They were forced to face some of the harshest environmental conditions for over two years, and by only their wits and determination to survive were they able to overcome the impossible. This book not only gave me a first-hand perspective of the incredible dangers and hardships of polar exploration, it also gave me a glimpse of the great resilience and leadership skills that Shackleton and his crew demonstrated. Leadership skills such as having vision and passionately working hard to accomplish this vision, despite facing monumental obstacles. Having grit and the mental fortitude to keep pushing forward despite seeing little to no progress, but at the same time being smart enough to know when a cause was lost and having the flexibility to pick up the pieces and pivot to another course of action when faced with an insurmountable roadblock. Shackleton and his crew's experience is a true testament to the power of hope and the strength, courage and perseverance of the human spirit. Despite numerous setbacks and years spent in harsh conditions, isolated from the rest of the world they pressed on and eventually not only accomplished the mission they had set out to accomplish but also all of them made it back home from the mission. The power of having hope, determination and positive thinking in the face of despair are some of the many lessons found in the pages of this very gripping book.  How important is feedback for personal and organizational growth and is there a wrong and right way to give and receive it? Feedback plays a key role in improving performance, without it there is no way of accurately knowing how good your performance is. In essence it provides a breakdown of what you are doing right as well as what you need to work on in order to excel at the tasks required of you. Nonetheless despite its importance feedback isn't always given or received properly. Through the pages of “Thanks for the Feedback” Sheila Heen and Douglas Stone do a great job of navigating the complexities of giving and receiving feedback and on completion of the book readers will no doubt be left with a better understanding of, and appreciation for, this topic.
A key theme and message in the book is the importance of adopting a “Growth Mindset.” An individual or organization with a such a mindset is one who views themselves as progressively improving with each future evolution of themselves, being a more improved version of themselves. Constructive feedback is therefore welcomed and even sought after by such a person, after all, in their goal to attain excellence, knowledge of where they currently stand, performance-wise, helps them know what improvements they need to focus on. In regards to appropriately receiving feedback here are the key takeaways I got from the book:
As concerns giving appropriate feedback, the key takeaways I got from that book are:
On conclusion of the book I was left with these key takeaways and realized the important role that feedback can play in improving personal and team performance. Incorporating the right approach on giving and receiving feedback into your lifestyle or your organization’s culture is no doubt a step in the right direction. Thank you Sheila Heen and Douglas Stone for providing guidance, through the pages of this book, on how to tap into this very powerful and ever available resource called feedback.  How often have we set lofty goals, resolutions, etc. and failed to achieve them? And what can we do to improve our chances of succeeding in achieving said goals and resolutions?
“Tiny Habits” by BJ Fogg provides a blueprint on how to form new positive habits, get rid of old negative ones and through this ultimately attain the results that we seek. In this book BJ Fogg, founder and director of the Behavior Design Lab at Stanford University, shares his extensive research on habits and human behavior. The Fogg Behavior Model outlined in the book is based on principles such as simplification, motivation and the role that emotion plays in creating sticky habits. These principles are the foundation for the following three steps needed to start and keep good habits:
As the BJ Fogg puts it in this book, to be successful at creating a sticky habit “make it easy, make it fit your life, and make it rewarding.” This book is made up of a lot of brilliant bits of advice, which if adopted may prove to be just what we need to build new habits and through them accomplish goals that previously seemed lofty and difficult to achieve.  Thought provoking is a term often used to describe books, experiences, speeches, etc. that have a significant impact on peoples views of life, and it is a term which I find particularly ideal in describing Viktor E. Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning.” The book is based on the real life experience of Viktor E. Frankl, an Austrian, Jewish psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor who was held prisoner in Nazi controlled concentration camps for three years.
The suffering and horrors prisoners had to face daily in these camps were absolutely riveting and during the course of reading this book my emotions were often flooded with feelings of deep anger and sadness at the injustice, oppression and torture that they as fellow human beings had to endure. Yet the book in its entirety is not just a collection of tales of the horrors of the concentration camps, rather through these tales Frankl brings to light the psychology of survival and how important having a healthy personal perspective on life is in helping us get through extreme hardship. Finding meaning and purpose is essential to how we view and live our lives. Without both our chances at successfully navigating difficult setbacks are slim. Throughout the book the author constantly reminds the reader to consider what defines their life. Who are we without our achievements, our reputation, our dignity? And what will become of us if some or all of these were taken from us? Would we keep going? Or would we cease to have any significant existence? As brought to light in the book, prisoners who did not see past the daily torture and reminders of what they had lost were left broken and in despair. Whereas in contrast to falling prey to the despair of cruelty and misfortune some prisoners chose to spread hope. One example of such prisoners who chose hope over despair can be seen in the following excerpt form the book; “We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” These prisoners looked past their provisional existence, found purpose, even in those dire circumstances, and chose to uplift others and even share what little belongings they had. This book goes beyond just being a memoir and is one that gives us key life lessons that are essential to us thriving. Through it I have learned the huge role that the perspective we choose to adopt plays in how we navigate through not just tough life circumstances, but life in general. I also learned that our belongings and achievements do not define us and we should find a “why” or reason for living that is far beyond personal belongings and achievements. Lastly I learned that we should chose to always have a hopeful, helpful, selfless and generous attitude even in circumstances when it seems like all has been stripped away form us. What seems like a dire situation may actually be the right setup for us to rise to the occasion and provide much needed hope and a helping hand to others. Internal fixation on and rumination of the issues we face can often lead to disper, whereas changing our perspective away from ourselves and externally towards helping others may just be what helps us get through challenging times. |
AuthorI am forever a student, who loves learning new things, sees art in science and science in art, is passionate about and appreciates the simple things in life and has a great disdain for wearing socks. Archives
March 2024
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