The Answer To How Is Yes: Acting On What Matters, by Peter Block
"We live in a culture that lavishes all of its rewards on what works, a culture that seems to value what works more than it values what matters. The phrase 'what matters' is shorthand for our capacity to dream, to reclaim our freedom, to be idealistic, and to give our lives to those things which are vague, hard to measure, and invisible."
Block writes passionately about the importance of asking the right questions and staying connected to what truly matters to us. He argues for depth over speed, intimacy over efficiency, and purpose over power. His essential question is: How do we live a meaningful life in the midst of a culture that would have us lead an efficient life?
Taming Your Gremlin: A Surprisingly Simple Method for Getting Out of Your Own Way. New York: HarperCollins, 2003 By Rick Carson
"Your gremlin is the narrator in your head. He tells you who and how you are, and he defines and interprets your every experience.Your gremlin wants you to feel bad."
This simple and lighthearted book presents a powerful way to deal with the gremlins that keep us from moving ahead with our lives. Carson's technology has been adopted by many life coaches and can even be done on your own!
The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1989 by Stephen R. Covey
"We see the world, not as it is, but as we are -- or as we are conditioned to see it."
This classic leadership book is still an inspirational, straightforward, and incredibly useful book. Covey is a powerful writer and uses lots of examples. It's a perennial bestseller because its so good.
Wherever You Go There You Are: Mindfulness and Meditation In Everyday Life, New York: Hyperion, 1994 by John Kabat-Zinn
"Mindfulness provides a simple but powerful route for getting ourselves unstuck, back into touch with our own wisdom and vitality. It is a way to take charge of the direction and quality of our own lives, including our relationships within the family, our relationship to work and to the larger world and planet, and most fundamentally, our relationship with ourself as a person."
Kabat-Zinn is the founder of the Stress Reduction Program at the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Mass Medical School in Worcester, MA. This beautiful book is about the practice and benefits of mindfulness meditation. It's not about visions and esoteric practices but about a simply practice of paying attention to ourselves as if it really mattered
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Loving What Is, New York: Three Rivers Press, 2002 By Byron Katie
"The only time we suffer is when we believe a thought that argues with what is... If you want reality to be different than it is, you might as well try to teach a cat to bark."
In this simple and radical book, Bryon Katie give us four questions that help free us from the tyranny of our thoughts. She asks us to inquire in a precise way to learn to find peace and joy in what is rather than living in the pain and frustration of wanting things to be different. A powerful tool for changing your life.
The Leader As Martial Artist, New York: Harper Collins, 1993 by Arnold Mindell
"It is my experience that human events that at first appear to be random and chaotic always evolve meaningfully from ordered, previously hidden parameters. Turbulent situations occurring during periods of rapid change or even revolution are full of potential meaning and order."
A deep and provocative book that suggests a new way for viewing groups, organizations and our lives. Mindell is not a great writer, but he is a brilliant and challenging thinker.
Let Your Life Speak: Listening For The Voice Of Vocation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Inc. 2000, Parker J. Palmer
"The great insight of our spiritual traditions is that we, especially those of us who enjoy political freedom and relative affluence, are not victims of that society: we are its co-creators. We live in and through a complex interaction of spirit and matter, of the powers inside of us and the stuff 'out there' in the world."
This is a book about personal leadership about finding our way to a life that is fulfilling to ourselves and the world around us. Parker Palmer is an inspiring writer and believes that we are all simultaneously leaders and followers.
A Simpler Way San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc, 1996 by Margaret J. Wheatley, Margaret J. and Myron Kellner-Rogers.
"There is a simpler way to organize human endeavor. It requires a new way of being in the world. It requires being in the world without fear. Being in the world with play and creativity. Seeking after what's possible. Being willing to learn and to be surprised."
This poetic book suggests that our struggle to get by is at least partly a function of the beliefs we hold. The authors suggest we give up our futile efforts to "control" what is going on around us and instead learn to work (and play) with the dynamic patterns and systems of the world.
Crossing The Unknown Sea: Work As A Pilgrimage Of Identity. New York, NY: Riverhead Books, 2001 by David Whyte
"Any life, and any life's work, is a hidden journey, a secret code, deciphered in fits and starts. One of the great disciplines of any human life is the discipline of memory, of remembering what is essential in the midst of our business and busyness. For a human being, finding good work and doing good work is one of the ultimate ways of making a break for freedom."
A wonderful and inspiring book written by a poet about his life and about the journey of finding work that nourishes us. Whyte honors the challenge and articulates the rewards of creating a life that springs from our deepest sources. Lots of beautiful language and vivid examples.
