On Christmas Eve, 1929, the White House experienced its most powerful fire since the British torched the Executive Mansion 115 years earlier.
This happened just 2 months after the Stock Market crash!
At about 8pm that night, a message was sent to the police and Secret Service that someone smelled smoke coming from the West Wing.
Running to the top of the stairs, police officer Richard Trice and Secret Service agent Russell Wood realized that in stored in an attic at the top of the stairway were nearly a quarter-million government pamphlets on almost every imaginable topic since the days of President Theodore Roosevelt.
And, the room was going up in flames!
Last month, I was at the White House.
A Presidential Appointee in the Office of Science and Technology invited us.
About a week later, I was invited to return to the White House to present a workshop based on the book that Jodi and I published this year!
Before we left the White House, I stopped at the gift shop, and there I found a present to bring back to California for family and friends:
The Official 2016 White House Christmas ornament honoring the administration of Herbert Hoover, president of the United States from 1929 to 1933. It is inspired by the fire trucks that responded to the 1929 Christmas Eve fire at the White House.
As a trained historian and psychologist, it’s my job to study the past. But, I don’t just study it to find out what happened.
I study to make different decisions BASED on the past.
I look back, to look forward.
As I researched the White House fire of 1929, I realized again just how important it is to review your year. Not just to remember what you did, but to learn from it for the future.
I learned about some decisions made at the White House to secure the documents stored there, as well as improve the overall safety features of the White House.
Get Momentum by reviewing your year.
Open your calendar, take out your to do lists, and start a new journal entry.
Ask yourself:
What are the top 10 events from this year?
What are some lessons I learned this year?
What improvements did I make to myself?
My business?
What is the smartest decision that I made this year?
