But according to author and creative coach Jacob Nordby, nothing could be further from the truth. Every human being is creative, and having a regular creative practice is a vital key to a happy and fulfilling life. If we don't exercise our creativity regularly, our lives can feel dull, stagnant, and rote. Many people live this way and believe “this is just the way life is,” without realizing that developing a regular creative practice can be the cure to what ails them.Nordby knows this all too well. By the time he reached his midthirties, he was running a successful mortgage company and lived in a big house with fancy cars. But he felt like he was dying inside. Starting and maintaining a creative practice is what saved his life. Now, in this powerful book, he explains how he traded in his stagnant way of life for one full of meaning and purpose, and offers specific steps to help you build your own creative practice.The Creative Cure is a call for a revolution, fostering change where all change must begin: within. This internal change will allow you to express your own creative gifts, cultivate happiness, and experience the unique feeling of fulfillment that only a creative practice can offer. Packed with powerful, transformative exercises, this book is the medicine you need to find and reinvigorate your creative soul.

    As part of one of the first female classes of recruits to complete the Marine Corps Crucible and the Marine Combat Training, and as the only woman to deploy with her unit to Iraq in 2003, Tee tested her mettle and learned the key to becoming an unbreakable woman. With insightful honesty and wisdom, and set against the backdrop of Tee’s life, The Warrior Code will help you understand that things can beat us back from realizing our true potential...but the key is finding the way to realize one’s own innate strength.

    Skyscrapers have entire floors open for lease because the "same as everyone else" class of jobs have dried up. Many of us were raised to seek out a job that required us to fit in, to conform, to adapt until we fit the mold. The Freaks Shall Inherit The Earth is a guide for the kind of person who wouldn't normally pick up a business book. The personal business revolution is upon us. Here's your recipe book for starting your revolutionary business, including some of what you will learn:How to be as weird as you want while providing a viable business structure to support it What most people are missing from the basic frameworks of doing business How to turn passions into businesses How to build out the Digital Channel What Kickstarter and Square mean for the future of business) Take the plunge. Learn to fail and then win. Dare to do something that "everyone else" doesn't. The Freaks Shall Inherit the Earth will help. Bestselling author and successful entrepreneur Chris Brogan explains step-by-step how to build your business from the ground up, all without compromising the unique mindset and personal values that make you a freak in the first place.

    You live your days tightening your boot straps, wiping the sweat from your brow, chasing undiscovered happiness just around the bend. Higher! Faster! Better! Stronger! And on and on you run. Viral sensation and HGTV.com star Erin Loechner knows about the chase. Before turning 30, she'd built a fan base of one million women worldwide and earned the title “The Nicest Girl Online” as she was praised for her authentic voice and effortless style. The New York Times applauded her, her friends and church admired her, and her husband and baby adored her. She had arrived at the ultimate destination.So why did she feel so lost? In Chasing Slow, Erin turns away from fast and fame and frenzy. Follow along as she blazes the trail toward a new-fashioned lifestyle—one that will refresh your perspective, renew your priorities, and shift your focus to the journey that matters most. Through a series of steep climbs—her husband's brain tumor, bankruptcy, family loss, and public criticism—Erin learns just how much strength it takes to surrender it all, and to veer right into grace. Life's answers are not always hidden where they seem. It's time to venture off the beaten path to see that we’ve already been given everything we need. We've already arrived. You see?You'll see.

    In his novels and stories, in letters to editors, friends, fellow artists, and critics, in interviews and in commissioned articles on the subject, Hemingway wrote often about writing. And he wrote as well and as incisively about the subject as any writer who ever lived…This book contains Hemingway’s reflections on the nature of the writer and on elements of the writer’s life, including specific and helpful advice to writers on the craft of writing, work habits, and discipline. The Hemingway personality comes through in general wisdom, wit, humor, and insight, and in his insistence on the integrity of the writer and of the profession itself.—From the Preface by Larry W. Phillips

    Admired for its clarity and zest, Impro lays bare the techniques and exercises used to foster spontaneity and narrative skill for actors. These techniques and exercises were evolved in the actors' studio, when he was Associate Director of the Royal Court and then in demonstrations to schools and colleges and ultimately in the founding of a company of performers called The Theatre Machine.Divided into four sections, 'Status', 'Spontaneity', 'Narrative Skills' and 'Masks and Trance', arranged more or less in the order a group might approach them, the book sets out the specific approaches which Johnstone has himself found most useful and most stimulating. The result is a fascinating exploration of the nature of spontaneous creativity.

    Revealing the latest findings in neuroscience and psychology, along with engaging examples of artists and innovators throughout history, the book shines a light on the practices and habits of mind that promote creative thinking. Kaufman and Gregoire untangle a series of paradoxes— like mindfulness and daydreaming, seriousness and play, openness and sensitivity, and solitude and collaboration – to show that it is by embracing our own contradictions that we are able to tap into our deepest creativity. Each chapter explores one of the ten attributes and habits of highly creative people: Imaginative Play * Passion * Daydreaming * Solitude * Intuition * Openness to Experience * Mindfulness * Sensitivity * Turning Adversity into Advantage * Thinking Differently With insights from the work and lives of Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Marcel Proust, David Foster Wallace, Thomas Edison, Josephine Baker, John Lennon, Michael Jackson, musician Thom Yorke, chess champion Josh Waitzkin, video-game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, and many other creative luminaries, Wired to Create helps us better understand creativity – and shows us how to enrich this essential aspect of our lives.

    I have to talk myself into bravery with every sentence, agreed Cynthia Ozick, sometimes every syllable. E. B. White said he admired anyone who has the guts to write anything at all.An author who has taught writing for more than thirty years,In The Courage to Write, Ralph Keyes, an author who has taught writing for more than thirty years, assures us that anxiety is felt by writers at every level, especially when they dare to do their best. He describes the sequence of courage points through which all writers must pass, from the challenge of identifying a worthwhile project to the mixture of pride and panic they feel when examining a newly published book or article.Keyes also offers specifics on how to root out dread of public performance and of the judgment of family and friends, make the best use of writers' workshops and conferences, and handle criticism of works in progress. Throughout, he includes the comments of many accomplished writers -- Pat Conroy, Amy Tan, Rita Dove, Isabel Allende, and others -- on how they transcended their own fears to produce great works.

    Right now, you might have everything you need for a happy life. You might have a great family, a good job, wonderful friends. But there’s one thing wrong — you simply don't feel calm and happy. The demands of everyday life, your hectic schedule, those constant feelings of overwhelm and anxiety make you feel out-of-control and exhausted. How can you jump off the hamster wheel to feel peaceful and free from anxiety symptoms? When you learn the peace of mindfulness techniques, you have the power to tap into a wellspring of tranquility and a lasting contentment you’ve never known before. MINDFULNESS IN DAILY LIFE The practice of mindfulness in daily life holds the promise not only for peace of mind, but also to revitalize your self-worth and transform the way you view the world. It awakens you to the beauty of every moment. You live in unity with life, rather than struggling against it. Mindfulness doesn’t mean you must sit for hours in meditation or attend long retreats. You can experience calmness and present moment awareness in all your daily activities, and perform every task, thought, and action through the lens of mindfulness. In Peace of Mindfulness, you’ll learn simple daily routines to bring you back again and again to the pleasure of full presence and awareness. THE BENEFITS OF MINDFULNESS: HOW MINDFULNESS CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE Whether you’re coping with stress and anxiety, or you simply want to increase self-awareness and contentment, the skills taught in Peace of Mindfulness meet you exactly where you are — in your home, your work, your simple daily tasks. Once you live your days with mindfulness, you’ll enjoy physical, emotional, and mental benefits that further enhance your experience of life. Science has proven mindfulness reduces stress, improves memory, offers pain relief, helps your sleep, improves relationships, and promotes mental health. ORDER: PEACE OF MINDFULNESS: EVERYDAY RITUALS TO CONQUER ANXIETY AND CLAIM UNLIMITED INNER PEACE Peace of Mindfulness is a handbook for winning back control of your thoughts and emotions so you can release anxiety and enjoy a happier, healthier, more conscious life.Every chapter offers specific actions you can implement and practice right away to facilitate change. You’ll learn: ** The Powerful Benefits of Mindful Breathing ** How to Tame the “Monkey Mind" ** Simple Mindfulness Meditation Practices ** How Practicing “Flow” at Work Makes You Love Your Job ** How to Use Visualization and Affirmations to Boost Brain Power **The Best Mindful Fitness Routines ** How to Practice Journaling to Enhance Mindfulness **How to Make Mindfulness a Way of Life** Want to Know More? Order and find the peace of mindfulness starting today. Scroll to the top of the page and select the “buy” button.

    It’s about getting only the right things done.  It is not  a time management strategy, or a productivity technique. It is a systematic discipline for discerning what is absolutely essential, then eliminating everything that is not, so we can make the highest possible contribution towards the things that really matter.  By forcing us to apply a more selective criteria for what is Essential, the disciplined pursuit of less empowers us to reclaim control of our own choices about where to spend our precious time and energy – instead of giving others the implicit permission to choose for us.Essentialism is not one more thing – it’s a whole new way of doing everything. A must-read for any leader, manager, or individual who wants to learn who to do less, but better, in every area of their lives, Essentialism  is a movement whose time has come.

    The author instructs in coil, slab, mold, and pinch techniques to produce pots, bowls, vases, tiles, and other decorative pieces. She also advises on acquiring basic tools, mixing and preparing clay, and using coloring agents. Newcomers to pottery crafting will especially appreciate her tips for making projects easier to accomplish, such as use of a hairdryer at regular intervals for drying out too-wet clay, and easy methods for keeping clay soft and pliable. Step-by-step color photos with detailed captions guide handcrafters through each project from start to finish. Many photos are of the cutaway type to show correct hand positions for controlling the clay, both inside and outside the form. Here's the book that takes the mystery out of handbuilding in clay, demonstrating each step in the pottery-making process. More than 400 color photos.

    Overwhelmed? Disorganized? Living in Chaos? The FlyLady's Simple FLYing Lessons Will Show You How to Get Your Home and Your Life in Order--and It All Starts with Shining Your Sink!

    Maxwell has done exactly that in The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. He has combined insights learned from his thirty-plus years of leadership successes and mistakes with observations from the worlds of business, politics, sports, religion, and military conflict. The result is a revealing study of leadership delivered as only a communicator like Maxwell can.

    Forever.

    Our polarized, divisive culture seems to be without heroes and role models. We are adrift in a dark sea of disillusionment and distrust and we need "human lighthouses" to give us hope and direct us back to the goodness in each other and in our own hearts. Steve Pemberton found a lighthouse in an ordinary man named John Sykes, his former high school counselor. John gave Steve a safe harbor after Steve escaped an abusive foster home and together they navigated a new path that led to personal and professional success. Through stories of people like John and several others, you will identify how the hardships you have overcome equip you to be a "human lighthouse," inspiring those around you. The humble gestures of kindness that change the course of our lives can shift the course for America too. With a unique vision for building up individuals and communities and restoring trust, The Lighthouse Effect opens your eyes to those who are quietly heroic. You will reflect on the lighthouses in your own life and be reminded that the greatest heroes are alongside us--and within us.