"one day"

I have continued my serial reading spree throughout my first week of winter break.  One Day by David Nicholls was not the lovey-dovey cliche that I thought it would be, for which I was actually very grateful.  It was a gripping and frustrating novel about a romance between two best friends from college.  There were so many times where I just wanted to shake the main characters and make them spit out their undying love for the other.  While this was not at all what I expected from the book, I very much enjoyed the saga of Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew.  Below are a few quotes from various parts of the book:

"That was a memorable day to me, for it made great changes in me.  But, it is the same with any life.  Imagine one selected day struck out of it and think how different its course would have been.  Pause, you who read this, and think for a long moment of the long chain iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on that memorable day.  Charles Dickens, Great Expectations"

"Sometimes you are aware when your great moments are happening, and sometimes they rise from the past.  Perhaps it's the same with people.  James Salter, Burning the Days"

" 'Live each day as if it's your last,' that was the conventional advice, but really, who had the energy for that?  What if it rained or you felt a bit glandy?  It just wasn't practical.  Better by far to simply try and be good and courageous and bold and to make a difference.  Not change the world exactly, but the bit around you.  Go out there with your passion...and work hard at...something.  Change lives through art maybe.  Cherish your friends, stay true to your principles, live passionately and fully and well.  Experience new things.  Love and be loved, if you ever get the chance."
 

so many books, so little time

This year, I've been making a point to set aside time to read things that I want to read. It has been such a relaxing way to unwind at night or wake up on the weekends. This is the current stack of books I'm working through.

I actually finished Thirteen Reasons Why in less than a day when I was back home visiting my family recently. It was a gripping story about a teenage girl choosing to end her life, but in the end, it leaves you with the message that you never know how much the smallest actions affect others. In this book, Jay Asher defines the way we interact with each other. Definitely one of my favorite books, hands down.

I'm reading The Tipping Point as part of an assignment that I created for the Marketing Team I advise. The Marketing Team plans events and performs basic marketing functions for a campus organization here. I inherited the role of supervising the team when I claimed my role as a Junior intern for the organization. Now, as a Senior Intern, I've really tried to take ownership of my role as an adviser/mentor/supervisor/manager. One of the ideas I've implemented is having a common group book that we discuss each week. In the end, the students will write a blog post for the organization's blog about one of their favorite topics that Gladwell covers in the book.

Linchpins is a book that I randomly picked up on one of my hour-and-a-half visits to Barnes and Noble. I love to just browse books, and I keep a running list of books I would like to get (once I tackle the growing stack on my bookshelf). This book jumped out at me, and that's probably because it covers exactly what I need to be focusing on right now: understanding your personal value and becoming truly indispensable. While a lot of the book is focused towards being invaluable in the workplace, most of the concepts apply to just improving your outlook on life in general. I love reading and highlighting everything in this book.

And last there is The Hunger Games. For some reason, I'm really struggling with getting into this book. I've heard so many fantastic things about it, but I'm not hooked yet. Looks like this is going to be a slower read for me.

Next in line I have a self-help book (Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project), a Nicholas Sparks book (which is completely necessary every now and then..), the Steve Jobs biography, a Jonathan Safran Foer novel, and a variety of others. Good thing Thanksgiving and Winter Break are quickly approaching...

notes on buy-ology by martin lindstrom

During the laid-back summer months that I was not involved with Tech's New Student Orientation, I was able to satisfy the bookworm in me. One of the best books I read this summer was Buy-ology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy by Martin Lindstrom.

The other night I was reading through some of the notes I wrote while I was reading the book and tabbed important pages. I was quickly reminded of how much I enjoyed reading this book. Lindstrom truly delves into the subconscious mind of consumers-- and of the human population in general. He mentioned multiple times that his research and analysis were not solely for the benefit of marketers. He wanted consumers to understand why we tend to make decisions irrationally and how to avoid falling subject to subliminal marketing techniques.

First, I should start off by actually explaining what "buyology" is. Lindstrom defines this clever term as "the subconscious thoughts, feelings, and desires that drive the purchasing decisions we make each and every day of our lives (3)."

Lindstrom points out that "how we say we feel about a product can never truly predict how we behave (169)." This observation suggests that traditional marketing research techniques may not be sufficient in revealing consumer opinion about certain brands. Enter neuromarketing studies. These studies help the industry--as well as us, the consumers--understand our "unconscious minds control our behavior (11)."

Lindstrom also elaborates on the point that brands are more than attractive packaging and aesthetically pleasing design. Some brand associations are deeply rooted in our memories from years of exposure and continued loyalty to certain products.

Other cool topics in this book include...

The role of mirror neurons in our purchasing decisions. Mirror neurons are "neurons that fire when an action is being performed and when that same action is being observed (54)." How does this play into our purchasing decisions? When we see someone we admire-- or would like to identify ourselves with--with a certain product, we too would like to obtain said product. As Lindstrom says, "it's as though you've just bought an image, an attitude, or both (59)." In much simpler terms, monkey see, monkey do.

My personal favorite insight I gained is scientific PROOF that shopping does in fact make us happier. This, of course, is something I've always inherently known, but it's reassuring to have the evidence to justify my urge to buy that new pair of shoes. As found on page 63, "that does of happiness can be attributed to dopamine, the brain's flush of reward, pleasure and well-being. When we first decide to buy something, the brain cells that release dopamine secrete a burst of good feeling." So there IS such thing as retail therapy.

We can't make decisions without somatic markers. Somatic markers are "brain shortcuts" that are formed when the brain "scans incredible amounts of memories, facts, and emotions and squeezes them into a rapid response (130)." Many of our brand preferences stem from "somatic markers the brand has carefully created (133-4)." Often times our purchasing decisions seem rational, but instead they are many times irrational and subliminal.

"The current recession has created: one big somatic marker linking money and spending to the massive sense of fear and uncertainty that has wracked the world (208)." I think that this quote is pretty self-explanatory in terms of how somatic markers are created and acknowledged by our unconscious selves. We see the turmoil in the economy, and we note that frivolous spending is deemed irresponsible because of people's monetary standing. People of my generation will now have this somatic marker, or memory of a difficult experience, to refer to in future years, so hopefully unnecessary excessive spending will not be a problem...until the next generation comes around.

I hope that you are now intrigued and will go out and read this book. It is truly one of my favorites.

All quotes are from:

Lindstrom, Martin. (2010). Buy-ology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy. New York: Broadway Books.

bookworm

I plan on using the gorgeous weather today to spend some time outside and catch up on my reading. I've thrown together a compilation of the books in my "to-read" queue. I already read Good to Great, and I have used Strengths Finder in both my internship with the Residential Leadership Community and my training for an Orientation Leader for Virginia Tech. I intend to include my thoughts on these in later posts. Any other recommendations welcome!