Dew shares meaningful thoughts

We live in a noisy world. There's so much going on, so many distractions, so many things coming at you, that "if you are not careful you can get pulled away from the purpose of life," says Sheri Dew, popular author, speaker and CEO of Deseret Book.

"Staying focused on what we are doing here is a daily challenge," she says. "Every day we have to wrestle with the next family challenge, the next work challenge, and sometimes it's hard to see the sweep of what is taking place in life."

One little technique that she has found to be of help is to "put a meaningful thought in my head early in the day, usually while I'm doing my early morning exercise routine, and then let it circle through my mind throughout the day. It helps to shut out the noise of the world."

Sometimes, she says, that thought will be a particular scripture; sometimes it will be something she has read or a quote from a favorite author. It's no surprise we live in a sound-bite world; those pithy, little thoughts can easily stick with you, she says.

And that's kind of the reasoning behind Dew's latest book, "Saying It Like It Is" (Deseret Book, $17.95), a collection of meaningful thoughts from her own books and speeches.

"It was not my idea," she hastens to add. "It was the brainchild of one of the product managers here who thought it would be interesting to collect statements that are the epitome of the things that I often talk about. It took some arm-twisting, but these are things I care deeply about. They are topics that I go to all the time, and maybe they can help other people shut out some noise."

What has also been fun about the project, she says, is that it includes photographs, some of which she took herself, "of people and places I love. Finding the pictures to harmonize with the excerpts was meaningful to me."

Dew learned early on that words have power. "I grew up on a farm where we worked long and we worked hard. But I had a secret hiding place in the back of my closet where I could use a flashlight and finish reading a book."

That love of reading has stuck with her. "I truly believe that you will never be bored if you like to read. And I still read as much as I can. Reading helps you take the blinders off, helps you see the wider picture. I often read something that makes me think in a different way."