Category: reading list

reading list

Book Review: The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

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When I mentioned The War of Art by Steven Pressfield in my May Reading List post, I shared that I had read it before, but I rushed through it. I read it as part of a business “boot camp” that I participated in a few years ago. The book was good but since the business I was designing wasn’t “creative”, it didn’t feel relevant to my circumstances at the time.

However, I’m in a different space in my life now, and I am tapping into my creative powers regularly. That’s why I post daily in this space, whether I have lots to talk about or not much going on. It’s all about continuing to write and dedicating myself to my craft. Errors and all, I post here every day with the hope that I’ll share something that inspires or educates.

Back to War of Art: this book is all about learning what “Resistance” is, how it impacts our creative projects, and how to break through it. For those that don’t know, Resistance is anything that distracts us from our creative projects or interferes with our creative expression. Resistance takes many forms, but each of them are detrimental to the creative, who is denied their natural expression when they allow Resistance to win.

Resistance is described as an enemy that has mastered the art of disguise: so much so, it’s possible that this enemy is attacking you from several angles. However, once identified, the enemy can be defeated and the creative can realize his/her ultimate goal. Pressfield assures us that Resistance can be beaten, as he stated, “Defeating Resistance is like giving birth. It seems absolutely impossible until you remember that women have been pulling it off successfully, with support and without, for fifty million years”.

The book is divided into three sections. The first section outlines the many disguises of Resistance: it can be something as blatant as procrastination or as subtle as vicarious living through loved ones. The second section describes the way to conquer Resistance which is going “pro”: utilizing strategies of the “professional” to sets out to do his/her work regardless of all of the Resistance swirling in the atmosphere. The third section is all about what happens after Resistance is conquered. This section speaks of the magic of starting a project, the incredible outcomes of deferring to “higher powers” like God, the Muses, etc., and moving beyond the Ego.

This entire book is enjoyable, but I’m especially a fan of the second section. Many of the practices outlined are disciplines that could serve you in multiple arenas. I often need to be reminded of what a “professional” does, so that, instead of being frustrated by circumstance, I’m focused instead on what I need to do.

This was such a good read! I hope you all check it out and find some benefit in it for yourselves!

reading list

Reading List: June’s Book

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I’m almost done with The War of Art, so it’s time for me to select another book. I really wanted to read a book that I either 1) hadn’t read before or 2) had started reading but never completed. I also wanted the June reading selection to speak directly to one of my goals (by the way, I’ll be posting goal updates VERY soon!). At minimum, I wanted the selection to be in support of those goals.

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So, as it happens, the first book that I picked up while tidying my bedroom was Your Life by Design by Curtis R. Estes. I opened the book up and literally, the page I landed on spoke directly to me. I didn’t have to hunt for the book: my June selection found me!

I’m looking forward to reading this and discussing it with you all. Talk to you all tomorrow!

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Book Review: Lifestyle Design for a Champagne Life by Cassie Parks

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What’s better on a Friday than a book review? I can’t think of too many things I enjoy more than reading and talking about the books that I’ve read!

I really enjoyed rereading “Lifestyle Design for a Champagne Life” by Cassie Parks. I read the book previously and found the tips to be tremendously helpful, but I was due for a refresher.

For those interested in law of attraction (LOA), Parks gives a great formula for engaging and leveraging LOA to create a dream lifestyle. This is a fantastic intro to LOA principles and a step-by-step guide for using some common but powerful LOA tools.

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Here’s a toast to your dream life!

Parks’s overall approach is as follows:

-Envision your dream life

-Script your story

-Experience the life now

The steps are simple enough, but Parks gives additional details to add additional magic. Her system invokes more emotions – therefore, more intensity – than some of the processes used by other LOA coaches. That additional intensity means that your manifesting is more effective and you can align yourself with your desires faster. And when you align faster, the things that you desire come to you easier and quicker.

My favorite aspect of this book is how Cassie makes it easy to get in touch with your dream lifestyle. Her methodical approach is clear and easy to follow, and her genuine desire to help is endearing. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in using LOA tools to attract your dreamlife!

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May’s Reading Selection

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Happy Monday, friends! I’m excited to step into another week full of possibility and fun. I hope you all take full advantage of all of the good things that await you if you are BOLD enough to seize the day!

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May is shaping up to be quite an exciting month, so I want a book that keeps in step with that high energy but also reflect my goal of making 2018 the best year of my life. The May reading selection is The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. I’ve read this one several years ago but I rushed through it. This time, I really want to pace myself and take in the lessons.

The past few weeks have been a bit more stressful than normal. Despite participating in the Joy Challenge and actively cultivating joy in my daily life, I feel like my creativity is suffering a bit (not to mention my dissatisfaction with my job is increasing).  My hope is that this reading selection will help me to get back in touch with my creative “fire” as well as align me with better options for either eliminating or minimizing my dissatisfaction. If any of you have experienced similar feelings of frustration and stagnation, it may be worth check out this book, as well. I’ve linked the book above, so if it interests you, go ahead and pick it up!

reading list

Book Review: How to Be Adored by Caroline Cox

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It’s the weekend, beloveds! I wanted to drop in and do this review quickly, as I have a very busy Saturday ahead of me. I’m a sucker for glamorous style, so what better way to honor my passion than to talk about last month’s Hollywood-inspired book selection?

This post is a review of the March reading selection “How to Be Adored“ by Caroline Cox. Throughout the book, Cox assures us that we, too, can be glamorous and adorable.

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The book opens with Cox explaining the glamour is a form of magic: a supernatural force that attracts and charms. The best glamour doesn’t offend nor does it discriminate: it intoxicates both men and women. This kind of sorcery is what the book promises to help readers achieve.

The book assures readers that we need not be born beautiful to become glamorous. It goes through the process of analyzing your physical traits and explaining how to best enhance them. It also dishes on the beauty secrets of several stars.

The book is over 250 pages but is a remarkably quick read (that may have something to do with it’s small size and generous use of photographs). I like the specific details outlined, as well as the behind-the-scenes look at the beauty routines employed by women that we all know and love. It even has recipes for Hollywood-inspired cocktails!

I recommend this book for anyone that enjoys reading random facts about stars as well as learning the beauty secrets for looking flawless on a daily basis. This is a fun read: you’ll enjoy it!

life curation · reading list

The Best Year of Your Life: The “Plan It” Section, Part 1

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Ooh, it’s Monday again, and this month is just moving right along! I’ve been having a lot of fun with April: that may be because of the Joy Challenge, or maybe it’s the warmer weather we enjoyed over the past weekend. In any case, this has been a fun time for me.

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As part of creating the best year of my life, I’m reflecting on my December book selection, The Best Year of Your Life by Debbie Ford. In my previous post here and here, I discussed the Dream It section of the book, and how I worked through the exercises outlined in those chapters. Now, I’ll discuss the Plan It section of the book, which I feel has the most intense and critical exercises of the book.

Since the material in this portion of the book are crucial to consciously creating the best year of my life, I’m going to go through this part MUCH more carefully. I’ll break this review down into three parts: one for each chapter in the Plan It section.

Chapter 4 of this book talks about creating a clean slate. How many of us try to create something brand new and wonderful on top of our old mess? I can’t recall how many times I “turned over a new leaf” only for those same old leaves to pop up as soon as I lose my focus or resolve.

So my exercise for this chapter was to handle unresolved projects, incomplete tasks, and relationships past their expiration dates. I’m happy to say that there are only a few projects and tasks that I have to do (mainly, closing out some tax consulting projects from last year and finalizing financial arrangements) and I have no relationships that I need to sever: my current circle is healthy and positive. I’ve given myself until June 30th to complete the old tasks and projects, allowing myself one project/task per week until they are all done. I’ve listed out the actions I need to take on my calendar, so I won’t have to think too hard about what to do next.

Do you need to “clean up” before you move forward? Let me know what you intend to finish up during the next few weeks and months!

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Reading List: April’s Book

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creativity is Intelligence having fun (1)

As part of creating the best year of my life, I’m committed to doing the internal and external work that will help me realize my intentions and create the lifestyle that I desire. In support of this journey, I am focused on reading books that will enhance my life, either through providing inspiration, knowledge, or entertainment, all for the sake of crafting a wonderful year.

For April’s book of the month, I’ve selected Lifestyle Design for a Champagne Life by Cassie Parks. I’ve read this one before, but I didn’t execute all of the exercises mentioned in the book. I have, however, read another of Cassie’s books, Manifest $10,000, and I got phenomenal results, so I am confident that Lifestyle Design for a Champagne Life will be truly life-changing for me.

However, as you all know, I’m doing the Joy Challenge for April, so I am going to read Lifestyle Design but I may have to save the exercises for May, when I have a bit more time and can give it my full attention. That being said, if I find that I do have a bit of time, and inspiration leads me to completing some of the exercises in April, then I’ll do so. I believe in not “overworking” my conscious creation muscle by doing too many things at once. But I also believe in following inspiration, so we’ll see how it goes.

Have any of you read Cassie Parks’s books before? Let me know in the comments below!

life curation · reading list

Book Review: How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci by Michael J. Gelb

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I’m a bit behind with my book reviews, but it’s great to finally get caught up.  February’s book selection was  “How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci” by Michael J. Gelb.

I enjoyed that this book is broken down into 7 broad concepts, and the author goes to great lengths to describe how da Vinci embodied those concepts

The seven Da Vincian principles – Curiosita (curiosity), Dimostrazione (closely examining beliefs and learning via questioning), Sensazione (fully engaging the senses), Sfumato (embracing uncertainty and ambiguity), Arte/Scienza (balancing between arts and sciences), Corporalita (physical health and fitness), Connessione (understanding relationships between and connection among all things)- are the building blocks for living a genius life. Gelb provides examples from da Vinci’s life, as well as practical exercises, to describe how these principles worked in the past and how we can make these work in the present day.

 

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I especially appreciated how Gelb provided exercises for embodying the Da Vincian principles at work and while parenting. He took great care to show how these concepts can be applied wholistically. I feel that many books exclude multiple groups in favor of focusing on one particular group. But this is a testament to Gelb’s application of da Vinci’s stance of connessione: all groups are connected, related and at some level inseparable.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will definitely reread it! I think I’ll draw upon these concepts for future posts, because I strongly feel that this multidimensional approach to life is crucial. In these times, where change can happen in an instant and we need to be able to respond quickly, I feel there is so much benefit to training ourselves to be the best thinkers that we can be.

Make sure that you check this one out! You won’t regret it!

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Book Review: The Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss

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As you all know, my January book review was overdue because of my wonderfully restorative Nairobi vacation. Now, I’m finally giving you all my (very late!) review of Tim Ferriss’s “The Four Hour Work Week”.


This book has been around for about ten years, and it focuses on showing entrepreneurs and employees how to minimize their work hours and maximize their life enjoyment. Tim’s methodical approach to reducing work and creating systems that allow more freedom and income is nothing short of inspirational.

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The author, Tim Ferriss (photo from his website)

Tim provides specific steps for making money online and negotiating remote work agreements, so that readers can start spending more of their time in meaningful, life-enriching activities. I am a big fan of any materials that encourage people to create truly satisfying lives, so Tim’s message definitely resonated with me.

The book is voluminous so I won’t give a chapter-by-chapter overview like I did with The Best Year of Your Life, but I will confirm that the book includes testimonials and hacks that could be very useful to anyone that is willing to give it a try.

My only advice for this book would be to focus on implementing the concepts and principles first, because jumping directly into the Income Autopilots could be an exercises in frustration and futility. While I think the framework for Income Autopilots is effective, the book *is* ten years old and the Internet has changed a lot. That being said, having the groundwork – the mindset and approach as explained by Tim – in place already would prevent some of the mistakes that may come from trying to implement older strategies. Also, I’d advise that any interested readers be sure to listen to Tim’s podcast, as this is consistently updated with Tim’s most recent tips, hacks and life advice.

Overall, this is a great book for any aspiring entrepreneurs or for employees that are ready to create some real work/life balance. I’ll be referring to it throughout the year, as I’m interested in trying some of Tim’s techniques to see if I can increase my income and reduce my reliance upon my current employment.

life curation · reading list

The Best Year of Your Life: The “Dream It” Section

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Happy Monday, beloveds! What better way to start a week than to discuss some of the things I’ve done during the past (almost) two months in preparation for my best year ever?

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(photo courtesy of StrangeCharmed.com, one of my new favorite websites)

As you all recall, Debbie Ford’s The Best Year of Your Life was my December reading list selection, and I reviewed the book in January. I didn’t want to make the review too exhaustive, because I intended to reference it throughout the year. This post is the first of those references, and I’ll share my takeaways from the first section of the book, the Dream It section.

Chapter 1: Creating a Powerful Intent – I’ve been doing affirmations for quite some time now, but I recently changed my daily affirmation to the one provided in the book. Daily, I affirm, “This is the best year of my life”. I’ve noticed that I have had a much “smoother” day-to-day experience, My life isn’t “perfect” but it’s good and I am more aware of the little ways that show my life as being good and satisfying. I can improve on this step by using some of the tips in the book, such as writing my affirmation on signs and notes and posting them in my office and home. I could also use it as a background on my phone and computer.

Chapter 2: Exposing the Fantasy – I need to redo this step. I did it in December but I didn’t put as much time and energy into it as I would like. I need to specify the feeling I associate with my “fantasy” life and then clarify exactly how I will activate that feeling daily. This is a key principle of law of attraction, so I’ve done it before but I’ve never been consistent about it. The consistency will really make the difference.

Chapter 3: Stepping Into Greatness – I could stand to redo this step, as well. My vision for this year isn’t as laser-focused as I would like. It’s a bit fuzzy, so getting really clear and then identifying the personality traits that would make it possible would do wonders for realizing this best year of my life. Off of the top of my head, traits such as discipline and boldness (extroversion) would bring me closer to my dream. But, I want to make sure that I’m invoking the best qualities to bring about my ideal life, so I’ll spend some more time on that.

So I’ll post again, in a couple of weeks, just confirming the progress I’ve made on redoing the activities from Chapters 2 and 3. I’m looking forward to sharing that with you all!