How to Train Your Mind: Exploring the Productivity Benefits of Meditation


Chris Bailey - 2021
    

Life Is in the Transitions: Mastering Change at Any Age


Bruce Feiler - 2020
      Bruce Feiler has long been writing about the stories that give our lives meaning. Recently he began to notice a new pattern: our old stories, with their predictable plot points along linear paths, no longer hold true. The idea that we’ll have one job, one relationship, one source of happiness is hopelessly outdated. Yet many people feel overwhelmed by this change. We’re concerned that our lives are not what we expected; that we’re living life out of order.   Galvanized by a personal crisis and family emergency, Feiler set out on what became an epic journey to harvest American stories and see what he could learn from them. He crisscrossed the country, collecting hundreds of life stories from a breathtaking range of Americans in all 50 states. He then sifted through and coded these stories, building a massive database of patterns and takeaways that can help all of us live better.   LIFE IS IN THE TRANSITIONS introduces the fresh, pressing vision of the nonlinear life, in which personal disruptions and lifequakes are becoming more plentiful, nontraditional life shapes are becoming the norm, and each of us has the opportunity to write our own story. Drawing on an extraordinary trove of insights, Feiler offers a powerful, new transition toolkit with original strategies for coping with the difficult, painful, or unsettling times of life.   From a master storyteller with a timely message, LIFE IS IN THE TRANSITIONS can move readers of any age to think deeply about times of change in their lives and how to transform them into periods of creativity and growth.

The Gifts of Imperfection


Brené Brown - 2010
    Brené Brown, a research professor and thought leader on vulnerability, courage, worthiness, and shame, shares ten guideposts on the power of Wholehearted living—a way of engaging with the world from a place of worthiness.

Simplify Your Life: Waste Less, Value More, Go Minimalist


Mary Conroy - 2020
    Minimalism can be a beautiful, enriching and life-transforming practice that, at its core, is all about re-establishing what holds value in your life and letting go of what does not. It's not about having your groceries displayed in glass jars or having chic, Scandinavian furniture - it's a way of life that allows us to strip away the clutter that stands in the way of us achieving our goals. Simplify Your Life is about exactly that: bringing simplicity back into your life, and with it, joy in the everyday. Dispelling the myths that minimalism is for either hardcore environmentalists or the privileged few, this book shows how minimalism is more relevant and necessary than ever, not least because it's the most accessible way to achieve a state of contentment in all aspects of life. Minimalism is for you if you want to:  •  stop mindlessly scrolling and start living with intention and purpose  •  spend more time on the things and people you love and less on what you "have to be/do"  •  take control of your finances and stop mindless spending  •  learn more about conscious consumption and reducing your waste  •  experience freedom and pride in your home instead of feeling trapped by your stuffAlthough minimalism is ostensibly about taking things away from our cluttered lives, it is really about adding richness, color, and meaning to our lives. It's about identifying the aspects of our life that we truly love and that nourish us. It's about trusting ourselves and leading the life we always wanted.

13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do: Take Back Your Power, Embrace Change, Face Your Fears, and Train Your Brain for Happiness and Success


Amy Morin - 2014
    That resilience inspired her to write 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do, a web post that instantly went viral, and was picked up by the Forbes website.Morin's post focused on the concept of mental strength, how mentally strong people avoid negative behaviors--feeling sorry for themselves, resenting other people's success, and dwelling on the past. Instead, they focus on the positive to help them overcome challenges and become their best.In this inspirational, affirmative book, Morin expands upon her original message, providing practical strategies to help readers avoid the thirteen common habits that can hold them back from success. Combining compelling anecdotal stories with the latest psychological research, she offers strategies for avoiding destructive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors common to everyone.Like physical strength, mental strength requires healthy habits, exercise, and hard work. Morin teaches you how to embrace a happier outlook and arms you to emotionally deal with life's inevitable hardships, setbacks, and heartbreaks--sharing for the first time her own poignant story of tragedy, and how she summoned the mental strength to move on. As she makes clear, mental strength isn't about acting tough; it's about feeling empowered to overcome life's challenges.

Manage Your Time to Reduce Your Stress: A Handbook for the Overworked, Overscheduled, and Overwhelmed


Rita Emmett - 2008
    How often do you think to yourself, So much to do and so little time? In the sympathetic and insightful style of The Procrastinator's Handbook, Rita Emmett offers help for those of us with too much to do. The key is not time management but "stuff" management—taking control of all those tasks to do, people to see, commitments and obligations to fulfill. Mismanagement of all that "to-do" stuff is what leads to stress. We often have little control over the demands made upon us, yet we can control our response. That's where the management of stress must start. Emmett combines quick, easy-to-digest tips and infectious good humor to give readers positive ways to handle stress and their overly busy lives, first by understanding how stress impacts our physical, mental, and emotional health. She shows us how to cut down on distractions and interruptions that sap our concentration and energy, be more organized and streamline our duties, ask for help and be more selective about what we choose to do, and clarify our values and prioritize activities based on what is important. Spending time doing things that are incongruent with your values, striving for perfection, being overly competitive, and job insecurity are some of the reasons people feel overburdened and overwhelmed. Emmett draws on the stories of many people who have participated in her seminars, and readers will not only identify with their problems but can find common ground in the strategies that have worked for them.

The Sentimental Person's Guide to Decluttering


Claire Middleton - 2017
    and none of the mess you live with now. Declutter Your Home and Let Go of Your Stuff Without Losing Your Nostalgic Memories In this book, Claire shares tips that will help you give up the bulk of your sentimental clutter while keeping your most precious treasures to use and display. Learn how to shrink your collections of nostalgic items such as: Your children's baby clothes and toys Mementos from your own youth Clothes you've kept for decades Heirlooms you inherited Books you've kept for years Gifts you don't want (but feel you have to keep) Holiday decorations And everything else that brings back happy memories. Claire will teach you the art of discarding items that trigger your memories without actually losing those memories. If you've been hoarding too much stuff because you fear losing the memories along with the stuff, you need this book. This Decluttering Guide is Packed with Advice Whether you're downsizing the family home or you simply need to learn how to declutter in a way that honors your memories, this book is for you. If your adult children are moving out, or you're faced with going through the belongings of a beloved parent or other loved one, this will be one of your books that you refer to again and again, as it lists categories of sentimental items, and how to deal with each. Yes, You Can Declutter Without Losing Your Treasured Memories You don't have to live with overflowing closets, an attic full of boxes and a basement packed with more of the same, just because it's so hard for you to sort through and give up belongings linked to your past. The truth is, you CAN finally free yourself of clutter while keeping your most treasured belongings. There are many decluttering books and downsizing books, but this one is written by someone with personal experience. Claire and her family gave up more than half their possessions when they downsized from their large family home to a much smaller house. She let go of things she'd been carrying around for most of her life, as well as treasured mementos from many years of raising her large family to adulthood. In this book, she spells out the steps a sentimental person can take to reduce their clutter while keeping their memories intact. Read The Sentimental Person's Guide to Decluttering now, and start on the path to conquering clutter without giving up happy memories.

Happy Habits: 50 Science-Backed Rituals to Adopt (or Stop) to Boost Health and Happiness


Karen Salmansohn - 2020
    

The Last Safe Investment: Spending Now to Increase Your True Wealth Forever


Bryan Franklin - 2014
    If you want to get ahead and enjoy a life of prosperity, you must invest in the last safe investment: yourself, and your own skills, value to others, relationships, and overall happiness.Business strategist Bryan Franklin and author Michael Ellsberg (The Education of Millionaires) team up here to present a blueprint for building “True Wealth”: the ability to generate not just financial value but also the experiences you cherish most—security, freedom, creative ex­pression, and love.  Discarding traditional advice, Franklin and Ellsberg propose the Self-Amplifying Financial Ecosystem (SAFE) plan. This plan teaches you:·Small investments you can make for a big im­pact on your value to other people, multiply­ing your earning potential·The secret to accumulating savings without willpower or deprivation ·How to invest in life’s richest experiences (which money can’t buy)·The “Super Skills”—the most valuable, sought-after, rewarded, and universally ben­eficial human skills·Why most people are throwing away huge sums of money in the quest for happiness, and how to spend that money more effectively This bold manifesto will change the way you think about money, wealth, investment, and spending forever.

The Happiness of Pursuit: Finding the Quest That Will Bring Purpose to Your Life


Chris Guillebeau - 2014
      When he set out to visit all of the planet’s countries by age thirty-five, compulsive goal seeker Chris Guillebeau never imagined that his journey’s biggest revelation would be how many people like himself exist – each pursuing a challenging quest.  And, interestingly, these quests aren’t just travel-oriented.  On the contrary, they’re as diverse as humanity itself.  Some involve exploration; others the pursuit of athletic or artistic excellence; still others a battle against injustice or poverty or threats to the environment.   Everywhere that Chris visited he found ordinary people working toward extraordinary goals, making daily down payments on their dream.  These “questers” included a suburban mom pursuing a wildly ambitious culinary project, a DJ producing the world’s largest symphony, a young widower completing the tasks his wife would never accomplish, and a teenager crossing an entire ocean alone - as well as a do-it-yourselfer tackling M.I.T.’s computer-science course, a nerd turning himself into real-life James Bond, and scores of others writing themselves into the record books.   The more Chris spoke with these strivers, the more he began to appreciate the direct link between questing and long-term happiness -- how going after something in a methodical way enriches our lives -- and he was compelled to complete a comprehensive study of the phenomenon and extract the best advice.  In The Happiness of Pursuit he draws on interviews with hundreds of questers, revealing their secret motivations, their selection criteria, the role played by friends and family, their tricks for solving logistics, and the importance of documentation.   Equally fascinating is Chris’ examination of questing’s other side, including questers’ acute awareness of mortality, their struggle against monotony, and their wistful feelings once a quest has succeeded. What happens after the summit is climbed, the painting hung, the endurance record broken, the “at risk” community saved?    A book that challenges each of us to take control – to make our lives be about something while at the same time remaining clear-eyed about the commitment -- The Happiness of Pursuit will inspire readers of every age and aspiration.  It’s a playbook for making your life count.

10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works


Dan Harris - 2014
    A lifelong nonbeliever, he found himself on a bizarre adventure, involving a disgraced pastor, a mysterious self-help guru, and a gaggle of brain scientists. Eventually, Harris realized that the source of his problems was the very thing he always thought was his greatest asset: the incessant, insatiable voice in his head, which had both propelled him through the ranks of a hyper-competitive business and also led him to make the profoundly stupid decisions that provoked his on-air freak-out.We all have a voice in our head. It’s what has us losing our temper unnecessarily, checking our email compulsively, eating when we’re not hungry, and fixating on the past and the future at the expense of the present. Most of us would assume we’re stuck with this voice – that there’s nothing we can do to rein it in – but Harris stumbled upon an effective way to do just that. It’s a far cry from the miracle cures peddled by the self-help swamis he met; instead, it’s something he always assumed to be either impossible or useless: meditation. After learning about research that suggests meditation can do everything from lower your blood pressure to essentially rewire your brain, Harris took a deep dive into the underreported world of CEOs, scientists, and even marines who are now using it for increased calm, focus, and happiness.10% Happier takes readers on a ride from the outer reaches of neuroscience to the inner sanctum of network news to the bizarre fringes of America’s spiritual scene, and leaves them with a takeaway that could actually change their lives.

The Yoga Bible: The Definitive Guide to Yoga


Christina Brown - 2002
    Featuring over 170 postures from the main schools of yoga, The Yoga Bible is the ultimate, comprehensive guide to practicing yoga and finding a mental and physical balance in life. The book encourages yoga beginners and experts alike to find a yoga sequence that suits their personal needs and abilities.

The Underdog Advantage - Rewrite Your Future By Turning Your Disadvantages Into Your Superpowers


Dean Graziosi
    Do things look good on the outside but on the inside, you feel like a prisoner trapped in mediocrity? Or maybe you feel like you missed your chance, or you can’t find your starting point and no matter what you do, nothing moves you forward? You’re the underdog—dismissed, counted out, lacking the right resources and unsupported. This book changes all that by taking you on a journey and showing you what successful "Underdogs" throughout time have already discovered. Your so called disadvantaged are the fuel and the hidden superpower to accomplish anything you know the secret on how to flip the success switch on in your life... This Book will show you that as an underdog (Something we all are) you’re actually in a great position, and with one or two small shifts, you can unlock limitless potential. Being an underdog means you don’t have to worry about what other people think, you have a lot of room to improve, you can get easy momentum, you can sneak up on competitors, and you have incredible sources of motivation. Soon you will learn that being an underdog is actually your ultimate unfair advantage to next level wealth, prosperity, happiness and joy...

The Minimalist Mindset


Danny Dover - 2017
    Your time and money are not infinite so if you want to add something important to your life, there is no way to avoid removing something else.Unfortunately, these types of eliminations are very difficult to implement as they require removing something from your life that is already there for a specific reason. To make room for your passions are you going to sleep less? Are you going to spend less time with your family? Are you going to expend less energy at work? These are hard and often unrealistic trade-offs to make.The Minimalist Mindset is not a book about tidying up (that book has already been written) and it is not a book about the philosophical exploration of minimalism (that book already exists too). Instead, The Minimalist Mindset is a book about a down and dirty process you can use to make deliberate decisions about how to prioritize how you live your life. This book walks you through the habits you can implement to consistently make realistic and sustainable trade-offs so that you can prioritize your passions and retake your freedom.Best-selling author Danny Dover shows you a reproducible process he used to go from a boring life in a cramped apartment in Seattle, Washington, to a fulfilling multi-year adventure that included visiting nearly 100 countries, learning to play music, studying a new language, and the eventual completion of his more than 150-item Life List.In This Step-by-Step Guide, You Will Learn How To: • Automate your finances so that you can effortlessly save more money than you thought was possible (Chapter 6) • Spend more time with the people you love, while still doing the things you care about (Chapter 7) • Say no, in a polite and effective manner, to incoming asks for your time or expertise (Chapter 7) • Earn the clout necessary to work remotely from cities around the world (Chapter 8) • Take control of your e-mail inbox once and for all (Chapter 12)If you are tired of working to enable others to follow their dreams rather than being able to pursue your own, The Minimalist Mindset is your escape hatch. Read this book now, and retake your freedom.

Love Louder: 33 Ways to Spark Inspiration and Amplify Your Life


Preston Smiles - 2016
    As a teen he joined a local gang that was first involved in petty burglary but later escalated into more dangerous crimes. One night when Preston was fifteen, he was faced with a decision to take a routine ride of mischief with the friends or stay home. Intuition told him not to go. Within an hour, everyone in that car was shot. This tragic event shook him to his core and catapulted him to finding higher purpose for himself.Love Louder presents a positive approach for getting more love and meaning out of life. With the lessons he’s learned through the years, he distills ancient wisdom and new thought teachings into thirty-three timeless tools to living your best life and asks questions such as:-What do you truly believe you deserve? Are your actions reflecting that?-What are you a slave to? Facebook? Twitter? Alcohol? Him? Her?-Do you have the need to be “right” all the time?Love Louder can help you tackle these everyday challenges and teach you how to live with more excitement, productivity, clarity, and confidence. Full of insights and powerful anecdotes, Preston’s motivational story is a heartwarming read for anyone seeking guidance on overall happiness and fulfillment in life.