Previously recommended books
I'm updating my lists of books on the Resources page on a regular basis. The following reviews are for books that have previously appeared in my lists of recommended books.
Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway
By Susan Jeffers
Many of us just want fear to go away so we can get on with our lives, but the good news and the bad news according to Jeffers is that fear is an essential sign of growth and there's no getting rid of it. So what's a person to do? This book outlines specific techniques for turning fear, indecision and anger into power, action and love. It calls for making several paradigm shifts, but if you’re up for turning your relationship to fear on its head, pick this book up and try it out. The exercises are powerful and build on one another, and can complement any work you are doing with a life coach.
Taming Your Gremlin:
A Guide to Enjoying Yourself
By Richard D. Carson
This book presents a creative approach to dealing with the negative narrator in your mind, which Carson calls "your gremlin." The 1970's illustrations aside, the book outlines a simple and sane process for how to live with that pesky gremlin (who unfortunately never goes away). Employing the process results in more feelings of empowerment and fewer of being a victim.
Work To Live
By Joe Robinson
Robinson is the founder of the Work to Live campaign, which is lobbying for a minimum of three weeks of vacation time for all Americans. This book is perfect for the professional who is ready to start enjoying more time off from work but doesn't see how it is possible. Robinson offers practical advice on how to start believing you deserve not to be overworked and how to negotiate new boundaries with your organization.
Leave the Office Earlier
By Laura Stack
The title really hooked me, and I wasn't disappointed with the book. This is really a productivity book disguised as a work/life balance book, and really the two issues go hand in hand. You can learn to improve your work results and lower your stress in the workplace. There are many quizzes and self-assessments to help you zero in on what your strengths and weaknesses are around productivity at work and managing stress.
The Entrepreneurial Parent
By Paul and Sarah Edwards and Lisa M. Roberts
Ready to leave your organization and become an entrepreneur at home? Read this book first! It offers a detailed and thorough tour of different family-friendly home businesses and careers, written by the parents who are working in them. The book also covers the tricky business of how to enjoy your family, your work and your life. You'll learn about the pros and cons to consider when making the switch to being an entrepreneurial parent, and the keys to success that other such parents are experiencing. There's even a step-by-step guide to how to create your business and tips on time management.
The Trouble with Perfect:
How Parents Can Avoid the Overachievement Trap and Still Raise Successful Children
By Elisabeth Guthrie, MD, and Kathy Matthews
Many well-meaning parents push their children in unhealthy ways to achieve success. This book does an excellent job of describing the hype surrounding children and success that parents fall prey to, the high cost that burned-out children pay for being pushed, and how parents can find a healthy balance between guidance and pushing. Several of the case studies made me wince (too close to home!), and I came away with new insights into my own children and my parenting that I can put into practice right away.
Dreamcrafting: The Art of Dreaming Big, the Science of Making It Happen
By Paul Levesque, Art McNeil
Many people set out to achieve a big dream, such as starting a business or writing a book, but when they don't succeed right away, the dream fades. Often these people have plenty of talent and expertise related to their particular dream, but those skills, which authors Paul Levesque and Art McNeil call "microskills," are usually not enough. Dreamcrafting identifies and teaches the five "macroskills" — aspiration, motivation, projection, inclusion, and application — that people need to make any dream a reality. This book is filled with practical ideas on pursuing a big dream that I haven’t found elsewhere.
Ask The Children: What America’s Children Really Think About Working Parents
By Ellen Galinsky
Ellen Galinsky is the president of the Families and Work Institute, which is a non-profit center for research on the changing family, workplace and community. This book not only describes the findings of the famous, late 1990's study that asked 1000 children what they think about working parents, but is also a thorough discussion of the entire issue of the relationship between work and family life. It is easy to read, completely fascinating, and filled with research-based, realistic suggestions for how to navigate between your work life and home life with greater satisfaction.
Take Time for Your Life
By Cheryl Richardson
In this book Richardson makes a strong case for a concept she calls "extreme self care" and outlines seven steps for busy people to follow who want to be able to step back, regain control and make conscious decisions about the future they wish to create. I underlined something that I wanted to remember on almost every page. The chapter on how to stop living on adrenaline alone is worth the price of the book. The exercises she suggests are well worth your time. This book changed my life, and I highly recommend it!
Authentic Happiness
By Martin E.P. Seligman, PhD
This is a fascinating and thorough book by a nationally known and respected psychologist who is a leader in the Positive Psychology movement. You may have read or heard about a couple of his earlier books, Learned Optimism and Learned Helplessness. In this book Seligman presents a highly insightful and scientific reflection on the nature of happiness and details how we can maximize lasting feelings of fulfillment through the knowledge and application of our individual signature strengths. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to thoroughly answer the question, "How can I experience more fulfillment in my life?"
Inner Peace for Busy People
By Joan Borysenko
Borysenko has written 52 inspirational yet practical essays designed to help you create and maintain a sense of inner peace. She writes about the absolute basic strategies for life, for taking care of yourself, for changing your relationship to time, for managing your mind, for developing compassion and clear communication, and for creating wisdom and purpose in your life. I reread part of this book every week.
