Mortgage Blog

Finished 83 pages of "Nudge" so far and purchased another book today: The power of moments.

I think I am a happy person since I am doing the things I like. I am a very good mortgage broker, who likes readings and running a lot. I build my system this way: my brokerage account will withdraw the money from my bank account to purchase some ETFs every month. So I will not spend much time on the investment. I finish my running by 8am on weekdays(10am by weekends). And then read some books the rest of day, if I am not doing the loans.

For the books, I would purchase a new one before I finish the old one, so I will not worry about which next book I should read. And sometime, I will recommend to my daughter.

For the book: The power of moments. I think I should post the review from one reader:



After reading this book, I decided to try out some of their ideas on creating special moments. I discovered that it's not a trivial thing to do. As the authors point out, it takes real effort and planning to make it happen.

To create these moments, we have to first understand what makes historical events stand out as special. Chip and Dan cite research that explains which memories really stand out. Here's the key: When we look back at some event, we forget about the duration, and instead recall just 2 main things: The best or worst moment, and the ending. For example, if you take a 2-week cruise, you will soon forget just about everything, even though you were on the ship so long.

Knowing what our mind recalls suggests a strategy: We focus on creating a few memorable highlights. The authors explain how to do that.
We should include one or more of these key events:
1) ELEVATION: Moments that rise above the commonplace
2) INSIGHT: Some new understanding
3) PRIDE: Moments of achievement
4) CONNECTION: Social engagements.

Chip and Dan spend a lot of time explaining each of the 4 keys, and tell lots of funny stories about how companies did something to create a special moment. I found the chapter on creating elevating moments especially interesting. The authors provide a recipe on creating such a moment:

(1) Boost the sensory appeal;
(2) Raise the stakes; or
(3) Break the script—do something radically difference.

After reading this book, I made an attempt to create a moment based on the "Elevation" notion. I thought I would try to "break the script." So, while I was biking around the San Francisco Bay, I tried to do something drastically different than what I normally do. It's harder than it sounds! For my bike trip, I decided to bike through a "secret" tunnel under the 242 freeway near Concord. It was fun, but I think not quite drastic enough.

So all in all, I found THE POWER OF MOMENTS to be a fun read, with lots of practical ideas. I love the entire concept, and enjoyed the anecdotes that illustrate the principles. Don’t miss the story of how the Ritz Carlton took photos of the forgotten toy “vacationing” around the hotel. Each chapter concludes with a summary called the “Whirlwind review.” I found this summary to be a good recap of the points in each chapter.