Daring Greatly, Brene Brown
The subtitle, “How the courage to be vulnerable transforms the way we live, love, parent, and lead,” says it all. “What makes this constant assessing and comparing so self-defeating is that we are often comparing our lives, our marriages, and our communities to unattainable, media-driven visions of perfection, or we’re holding up our reality against…
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Simplify: Ten Practices to Unclutter Your Soul, Bill Hybels
Hybels gives sound advice with steps to take to gain energy, organization, and connection by focusing on what’s most important. “Simplified living is about more than doing less…It’s walking away from innumerable lesser opportunities in favor of the few to which we’ve been called and for which we’ve been created.”
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Flourish, Martin Seligman
Years ago, this book sparked my interest in positive psychology and started me on a path of learning that led to a master’s degree in psychology and a shelf full of books on happiness, well-being, gratitude, and positivity. Seligman (along with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience) started the positive psychology movement,…
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The Sweet Spot: How to Find Your Groove at Home and Work, Christine Carter
I learned a new term—“MED” (minimum effective dose)—and have applied it to many areas, including exercise, cooking, and reading. Instead of having lofty ambitions in every area, I’ve given myself permission to do “just enough.” This and many other lessons make this book a gem and a true life-changer. “Because we can’t do everything, we…
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The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy, Jon Gordon
The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy I listened to The Energy Bus as an audio book and got inspired by the 10 simple lessons that show how one person – YOU! – can positively impact your family, your work team, and everyone you meet each day.…
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Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose, Tony Hsieh
I took about 20 pages of notes on this book and ended up writing an article for other camp directors, because I was so inspired by Hsieh’s vision that Zappos be much more than just a shoe company. His focus on WOWing customers and creating a happy work culture are an inspiration.
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Coach Wooden: The 7 Principles That Shaped His Life and Will Change Yours, Pat Williams
John Wooden, the greatest coach of all time, was a man of great character who lived out his values and taught his players to do the same. This book offers a great reminder to focus on the people we love, help others, and be true to ourselves. “If you’ve made each day a masterpiece, then by…
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The Blessing of a Skinned Knee, Wendy Mogel, Ph.D
Like us, our kids aren’t going to be good at everything, so we can’t expect perfection. It’s important for them to experience mistakes and failures while they’re young. The Blessing Of A Skinned Knee: Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Self-Reliant Children
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Five: Where Will You Be Five Years From Today?, Dan Zadra
In a simple workbook format with many inspirational quotes, Five guides us to focus on our goals, priorities, and mission in life.
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The Connected Child, Nancy Purvis, Ph.D.
Although this book is written specifically for adoptive parents, there are many helpful insights about why we need to emotionally connect with our kids before we can correct misbehavior.
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Free-Range Kids: Giving our Children the Freedom we had without Going Nuts with Worry, Lenore Skenazy
Skenazy encourages us to see how our culture has made us unnecessarily fearful in our parenting and why our worrying is not beneficial for our kids’ growth and development.
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How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character, Paul Tough
Thanks to Tough’s book, I have a list next to my kids’ desk of the character traits they need: Grit, Self-Control, Zest, Social Intelligence, Gratitude, Optimism, Curiosity. I liked this book so much that I wrote a full review.
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