Self Help & Motivation

Brief summary The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work Our most commonly held formula for success is broken. Conventional wisdom holds that if we work hard we will be more successful, and if we are more successful, then we’ll be happy. If we can just find that great job, win that next promotion, lose those five pounds, happiness will follow. But recent discoveries in the field of positive psychology have shown that this formula is actually backward: Happiness fuels success, not the other way around. When we are positive, our brains become more engaged, creative, motivated, energetic, resilient, and productive at work. This isn’t just an empty mantra. This discovery has been repeatedly borne out by rigorous research in psychology and neuroscience, management studies, and the bottom lines of organizations around the globe. In The Happiness Advantage, Shawn Achor, who spent over a decade living, researching, and lecturing at Harvard University, draws on his own research—including one of the largest studies of happiness and potential at Harvard and others at companies like UBS and KPMG—to fix this broken formula. Using stories and case studies from his work with thousands of Fortune 500 executives in 42 countries, Achor explains how we can reprogram our brains to become more positive in order to gain a competitive edge at work. Isolating seven practical, actionable principles that have been tried and tested everywhere from classrooms to boardrooms, stretching from Argentina to Zimbabwe, he shows us how we can capitalize on the Happiness Advantage to improve our performance and maximize our potential. Among the principles he outlines: 1. The Tetris Effect: how to retrain our brains to spot patterns of possibility, so we can see—and seize—opportunities wherever we look. 2. The Zorro Circle: how to channel our efforts on small, manageable goals, to gain the leverage to gradually conquer bigger and bigger ones. 3. Social Investment: how to reap the dividends of investing in one of the greatest predictors of success and happiness—our social support network A must-read for everyone trying to excel in a world of increasing workloads, stress, and negativity, The Happiness Advantage isn’t only about how to become happier at work. It’s about how to reap the benefits of a happier and more positive mind-set to achieve the extraordinary in our work and in our lives. ISBN:9780307591562 Author:Shawn Achor

Brief summary Here, from Bill Clinton, is a call to action. Giving is an inspiring look at how each of us can change the world. First, it reveals the extraordinary and innovative efforts now being made by companies and organizations—and by individuals—to solve problems and save lives both "down the street and around the world.” Then it urges us to seek out what each of us, "regardless of income, available time, age, and skills,” can do to help, to give people a chance to live out their dreams. Bill Clinton shares his own experiences and those of other givers, representing a global flood tide of nongovernmental, nonprofit activity. These remarkable stories demonstrate that gifts of time, skills, things, and ideas are as important and effective as contributions of money. From Bill and Melinda Gates to a six-year-old California girl named McKenzie Steiner, who organized and supervised drives to clean up the beach in her community, Clinton introduces us to both well-known and unknown heroes of giving. Among them: Clinton writes about men and women who traded in their corporate careers, and the fulfillment they now experience through giving. He writes about energy-efficient practices, about progressive companies going green, about promoting fair wages and decent working conditions around the world. He shows us how one of the most important ways of giving can be an effort to change, improve, or protect a government policy. He outlines what we as individuals can do, the steps we can take, how much we should consider giving, and why our giving is so important. Bill Clinton’s own actions in his post-presidential years have had an enormous impact on the lives of millions. Through his foundation and his work in the aftermath of the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, he has become an international spokesperson and model for the power of giving. " ISBN:9780307266743 Author:Bill Clinton

Brief summary For Better or for Best: A Valuable Guide to Knowing, Understanding, and Loving Your Husband So you want your husband to: - be sensitive to your emotional and romantic needs? - comfort you when you're down? - spend more time with you? - listen to what you have to say? - appreciate you? - do more around the house? - spend time with the kids? - be your most intimate friend? Gary Smalley explains what motivates men and how women can use their natural attractive qualities to build a better marriage. He helps women to understand not only the way men think, but also how to move a man's heart. Using case histories and biblical illustrations, he solves with empathy, humor, and wisdom every practical and emotional problem a woman can face in her marriage. ISBN:9780310214670 Author:Gary Smalley and Norma Smalley

Brief summary The Encore Effect: How to Achieve Remarkable Performance in Anything You Do Whether you want to win that new account or inspire your family and friends, bestselling author and acclaimed speaker Mark Sanborn shows us how to make every performance count. Every day, we are called to perform— at work, at home, in our communities. But is it possible to make every performance outstanding, the kind that leaves people applauding for an encore? Mark Sanborn, leadership expert and bestselling author of The Fred Factor, says that anyone can achieve remarkable performance time after time—no matter what their personality, strengths, or weaknesses. In The Encore Effect Sanborn demonstrates, through his own experiences as well as those of the people he’s worked with in his career, how you can cultivate the traits shared by remarkable performers and achieve extraordinary results in all aspects of your life. The secrets lie in five steps: 1. Passion: The fuel for remarkable performance 2. Prepare: How remarkable performance begins 3. Practice: It won’t make you perfect, but it will make you better 4. Perform: How to engage your audience 5. Polish: Making your performance shine Whether your "stage” is an office, a sales floor, the boardroom, or your own home, Sanborn’s sound advice and rousing encouragement will help you shine in every situation where it matters most. ISBN:9780385519052 Author:Mark Sanborn