People have been telling us for years to “be prepared” — as far back, perhaps, as the Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts.
But prepared for what? Life’s perilous yet exciting journey? Forks in the road? Obstacles when they threaten? Opportunities when they tantalize?
To get prepared, people typically pick up stereotypical instruction books that say do this or do that. But in today’s storytelling-obsessed society, perhaps there’s a better way. For an enlightening and entertaining alternative, here’s a wonderful fable in which a young man journeys to a fictitious island and learns how to create a roadmap for living a harmonious life. It’s called “The Island of the Four Ps” (Skyhorse Publishing) by Ed Hajim.
A unique story
It’s not a “how-to” book as much as a “think-about” book. Thinking about one’s future, Hajim admits, is difficult, scary and frustrating. “You can’t subcontract the life-thinking process,” he writes. “You can’t just Google ‘my roadmap to happiness and success’ to find your life plan.”
This story and its messages are as much about the “what” as the “who.” Hajim uses his own extraordinary life as a framework, which is masterfully chronicled in his memoir, “On the Road Less Traveled.” Kidnapped by his father at the age of 3, driven across the country and told his mother had died, Hajim spent his childhood in and out of foster homes and orphanages. The intelligence, resilience and innate leadership he used to rise from deprivation to the pinnacle of personal and business success provides the insight he shares with readers.
The four Ps
In the story, a young man, Marketus, is led from village to village in a systematic process of self-examination. What he sees and who he meets help shape his personal priorities in attaining his goals.
At the core of his journey, naturally, are four villages, or four Ps, which have guided Hajim throughout his life:
Passions: Find your passions, find the things that excite and motivate you. Recognize that passions do change and you must monitor them throughout your lifetime.
Principles: Find the rules you want to follow and the lines you won’t cross. They provide an important structure and bring organization to your life.
Partners: No individual can succeed alone. Consider the kind of friends, collaborators and advisers you’ll need around you, recognizing that those needs will evolve.
Plans: Find your plans, write down where you want to go and how you plan to get there. Pay attention to your environment and things that will happen during your lifetime, and try to find a wave or a cycle you can marry with your passions and principles.
Transform your reality
“The Island of the Four Ps,” says Hajim, “is a fable about the huge, scary challenge we all face: carving our path to success and happiness. It uses fiction to capture the truth of human experience — our striving and yearning, our courage, joys and fears.”
While the story’s “plot” is light and engaging, its purpose can be heavy and complicated. Readers are advised not to breeze through it but to stop and ponder, every step along the way.
Hajim is a highly credentialed and engaging guide to the journey and has much to share about accomplishing life goals. He is inspirational in helping readers extend their personal boundaries and understand that they are capable of so much. But understanding, he cautions, is not the same as making something a reality.
“When we knit together our inherent advantages and ‘transformed’ advantages — and add a dash of good luck — each of us can accomplish wonderful things.”
“The Island of the Four Ps” is an important step in getting there.
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