My Favorite Book (Henry Cloud)

“A room without books is like a body without a soul.”

(Marcus Tullius Cicero)

The Walk into the Future blog allows me to cover a wide range of topics to include my travel and running pursuits.  These are two things I love and will continue to chronicle for my readers and myself.  Laying down these tracks provides me with a sense of satisfaction and completion weekly.  Stay tuned for more content in 2026! 😊

My friend, Cathy, and I were discussing writing prompts and books last week.  We got on this discussion because I gifted her a copy of my book and we discussed some of the topics I wrote about including taking my own advice.  I need to give my book another run because I dropped some wisdom on those pages. 😊

We got on the topic of my favorite author and book:  Henry Cloud’s, 9 Things You Simply Must Do to Succeed in Love and Life.  I discovered the author and this book in a master’s level Career Development course while studying at Liberty University.  I never thought a college textbook would have such a profound impact on my educational, professional and life journey.  This book opened my eyes and set me on a life path that I still embrace daily.

Why was this book so impactful?  Great question, Maria! 😊

The book is a page turner from start to finish with insight that is easy to understand and put into daily life.  The author discusses the concept of DÉJÀ VU People but really explains that successful people regardless of profession display similar traits.  You may think you recognize someone who crosses your path, but you are really seeing traits that led multiple people to successful outcomes.

The Nine Things Hidden in Plain Sight are:

• Dig it Up
• Pull the Tooth
• Play the Movie
• Do Something
• Act Like an Ant
• Hate Well
• Don’t Play Fair
• Be Humble
• Upset the Right People

Let’s explore Principle 3: Play the Movie.

This principle is like every action has a reaction.  I love how the author highlights how each decision we make in life leads to new outcomes.  Your actions have future implications, and this chapter is written to remind readers of this simple fact.  Playing the movie for me comes into play each time I enter a full marathon training cycle.  Skipping a training run is a simple action when isolated but that one missed run can impact my entire training program for the week.  Skip too many training runs and my training cycle and marathon may be ruined.  Playing the movie allows me to see the consequences of my actions.

You can add the same concept to your daily work activities.  Preparing before your big work meeting allows you to provide better feedback to your colleagues.  Ignoring the preparation process and your lackluster interactions could set you and your colleagues back.  That scene in your movie impacted the next few scenes.  Sounds simple, huh?

I remind myself to play the movie in every decision I make daily.  What outcomes do I want from my decision?  What are the next scenes in the movie I want to play?

Dr. Cloud introduces the Nine Principles in an easy format, and I walk around with his book daily.  It’s highly worn but it still provides me with wisdom daily.

I plan to dig into other principles in future blog articles.  Stay tuned Melissa! 😊

Irie!

Calvin Williams

“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.”

(Frederick Douglas)