Wow, I’m noticing a follow-your-dreams theme in my writing today.

I picked up this little book last night called It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be, by Paul Arden, and read the entire thing on my train ride home.

Arden instructs readers to aim high, set lofty goals, and accept nothing less. He says to be who you want to be, instead of who you are: talk big, and make it happen. He talks about how to please your clients and earn their trust. Most importantly, he encourages you to take responsibility for yourself, and constantly push forward, rather than becoming complacent and settling for less than what you truly want.

The book is filled with zen-like truth that applies to today’s world. It’s straight to the point, and brutally honest. Some of the advice is obviously related to advertising and creative endeavors, but the wisdom in this book is universal. I’ll read this again and again.

I like data mining. I like numbers. I like indicators. I didn’t realize it, but I like economics.

Freakonomics is a look at some of the issues of the real world through the eyes of an economist. Morality is irrelevant. Common wisdom is useless. All that matters is data.

The authors find some interesting answers buried in data. They find evidence that a child is significantly safer in a house with a gun than in a house with a swimming pool. They give valuable insight into why a child’s name matters. They also reveal data which shows that legalized abortion has been the single most effective thing we’ve done to lower crime in America.

In addition to the stunning revelation about the very positive effects of legallized abortion, I was also quite impressed with the data analysis showing which factors matter regarding the raising of a child and which don’t. They reveal that having a full-time, stay-at-home mother made almost no difference, whereas the age when the mother had her first child make a huge difference — one that cannot be corrected for later. Likewise, frequent visits to museums had no relation to a child’s education, whereas parent involvement in PTA did. Also interesting was the data which showed that urban children generally test higher than suburban and rural children.

When you look at life through the realistic eyes of an economist, rather than through the filters of morals and common wisdom, you begin to see a very different world. I, like many people I know, always thought that having a full-time parent, or frequent visits to museums were important to a child’s development, but now I see that those beliefs are quite plainly wrong, and that those things are irrelevant. Far more important are the education of the child’s parents, their involvement in PTA, and the age at which the mother had her first child.

Moreover, it seemed clear that these things are not causes, but rather indicators of the real cause: breeding. In fact, on the whole, it seems that there is very little you can do for your child once it is born. The best chances of raising a smart child seems to come from your choice of mate more than anything else.