The Library

Good Reads

Check this page frequently to learn about books, links and leads that I or someone I know well is recommending because the read was somehow a positive influence in our lives. Maybe we were inspired or perhaps we learned a skill that improved the quality of our life. Or maybe the read made our eyes water or our bellies shake with laughter. My hope is that you might find a “good read” here once in a while.

Most Recent Read

  • Good Reads

    • Mastering Life’s Energies by Maria Nemeth

       

      In Mastering Life’s Energies, Maria Nemeth asks us to slow down and re-evaluate if all the energy we are putting into our personal and professional lives is leaving us drained and fearful or experiencing a wonderful tiredness at the end of the day.  Her goal is to help us see that we can accomplish all we set out to do with clarity, focus, ease, and grace.

       

      Maria’s approach is direct and practical. She has a wonderful sense of lightness in teaching her important message. She has created a clarifying and systematic process to creating and claiming an authentic life that serves us, those we love, and the larger world.

       

      The many tools she has created are valuable separate from the full process as well. For example, there is a poignant and clear piece on drawing conclusions. Maria suggests we may draw our conclusions about a situation or a person first, and then we begin to gather evidence to support our conclusion. Does it sound backwards? More importantly, does it sound familiar? Then we begin to gather evidence which supports our conclusion. The evidence we gather, influences how we  show up in relationship to a situation or person. That in turn affects how others show up around us. Maria shows us how to turn that habit around and suggests the different outcome we might experience. For sure, it has made me more mindful of how conclusions can serve rather than hinder myself and others.

       

      This is one of those books that, no matter your role in life, is an affirmation and help to living your best life. Enjoy!

Good Reads Archives

  • Good Reads

    • Mastering Life’s Energies by Maria Nemeth

        In Mastering Life’s Energies, Maria Nemeth asks us to slow down and re-evaluate if all the energy we are putting into our personal and professional lives is leaving us drained and fearful or experiencing a wonderful tiredness at the end of the day.  Her goal is to help us see that we can accomplish all we set out to do with clarity, focus, ease, and grace.   Maria’s approach [...]

    • Quiet Leadership by David Rock

      The subtitle of Quiet Leadership is: Help People Think Better – Don’t Tell Them What to Do! That is a great synopsis of the content of this engaging read by David Rock. Rock lays out a brain-based approach to assist leaders and colleagues to be partners in improving one another’s performance by improving one another’s thinking.  Rock combines highly effective communication skills such as focused listening, intentional speaking, and effective [...]

    • The Journey

      April is National Poetry Month, as proclaimed by the Academy of American Poets in 1996. As a middle school language arts teacher in a former lifetime, I looked forward to using poetry as the means for my students to study and play with language and their life experiences. I like poetry in general and some poetry, I love. So for this month’s good read, I offer to you, “The Journey” [...]

    • The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander & Benjamin Zander

      A shoe factory sends two marketing scouts to a region of Africa to study the prospects for expanding business. One sends back a telegram saying, SITUATION HOPELESS STOP NO ONE WEARS SHOES The other writes back triumphantly, GLORIOUS BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY STOP THEY HAVE NO SHOES So begins, The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander. For me, the takeaway from this compelling and uplifting read is that [...]

    • It’s Not the End of the World – Joan Borysenko

         It’s Not the End of the World is a short, tight read about how we can respond to stressful change in positive and creative ways. In 131 pages, Joan Borysenko examines the concept of resilience and the role it plays in using change as an opportunity rather than a drawback. Resilient people are grounded in three basic premises: They have a resolute acceptance of reality They hold a deep belief [...]