1. ISBN13: 9780061583254
2. Condition: NEW
3. Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Editorial Review :

Gretchen Rubin had an epiphany one rainy afternoon in the unlikeliest of places: a city bus. "The days are long, but the years are short," she realized. "Time is passing, and I'm not focusing enough on the things that really matter." In that moment, she decided to dedicate a year to her happiness project.

In this lively and compelling account of that year, Rubin carves out her place alongside the authors of bestselling memoirs such as Julie and Julia, The Year of Living Biblically, and Eat, Pray, Love. With humor and insight, she chronicles her adventures during the twelve months she spent test-driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific research, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier.

Rubin didn't have the option to uproot herself, nor did she really want to; instead she focused on improving her life as it was. Each month she tackled a new set of resolutions: give proofs of love, ask for help, find more fun, keep a gratitude notebook, forget about results. She immersed herself in principles set forth by all manner of experts, from Epicurus to Thoreau to Oprah to Martin Seligman to the Dalai Lama to see what worked for her—and what didn't.

Her conclusions are sometimes surprising—she finds that money can buy happiness, when spent wisely; that novelty and challenge are powerful sources of happiness; that "treating" yourself can make you feel worse; that venting bad feelings doesn't relieve them; that the very smallest of changes can make the biggest difference—and they range from the practical to the profound.

Written with charm and wit, The Happiness Project is illuminating yet entertaining, thought-provoking yet compulsively readable. Gretchen Rubin's passion for her subject jumps off the page, and reading just a few chapters of this book will inspire you to start your own happiness project.

Customer Review :

Life changing to say the least!

Great book, I couldn't put it down! Gretchen Rubin does and excellent job of combining wit, philosophy and advice with her own personal journey on her "Happiness Project." It'll encourage you to improve your own life and even after a few chapters I could feel a difference.

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Feel Good Book

This was a great book. It made me want to make some good changes in my life!

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Great book!

I found this book a very enjoyable and informative read. Gretchen Rubin wrote this in not only a humorous manner but very insightful. This is a book that everyone can learn something from. Though your circumstances may be different than Ms. Rubin's you may find ways that will increase the happiness in your life. Share this book with someone you love.

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Happiness is doing and a little bit being

The author's first commandment is "Be Gretchan". That is what we get in this book. I laughed out loud at her sincere attempts to be nicer to her husband even though he didn't seem to notice when she did an "Extreme Nice" week towards him. Her honesty about needing and wanting a gold star for all of the things she feels she needs to do to be a good wife, a good daughter, and a good daughter-in-law yields a lot of good suggestions. It's just that she can't seem to let go of her strong need for approval and a pat on the back. Her husband's "please don't make me" plea not to be coerced into stuffing and sealing Valentine photo card envelopes which is solely her idea was a tender observation of her self-described personality traits (anger, self-righteousness and prickly critical reactions.) I thought the weakest part of her sojourn was spirituality and mindfulness. Especially her quick resistance ("Be Gretchan") to exploring or even reading about Buddhism and mindfulness: no desire to do extensive research here. Her ignorance and subsequent arrogance shows up when she comes up with her own "koans" as though she already has an understanding of what Zen Koans and Buddhism are about. Cleaning out one's closets does make one feel better. There ARE a lot of helpful suggestions. In the end, Gretchan has written a book about DOING THINGS that will make one happier: the ultimate Western World approach to completing goals in life. What she is less willing to explore by "being Gretchan" is Eastern, which teaches BEING in the world. There, the striving quiets down and the self is able to reflect its true nature. Without even trying.

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good, but not great

I have mixed feelings about this book. Some of it was really good and resonated with me (including the included comments from her blog), some I thought was plain stupid. I also thought a lot of it was written in a very egocentric tone and somewhat lengthy - I had to skip over some pages to keep going. But then again, Rubin makes quite clear that this book is about her project, so why shouldn't she speak about herself?
Overall, I liked it and it got me thinking, but it is not a literary masterpiece - like most blogs turned books.

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Editorial Review :

A comprehensive manual starting with 'What Is Best Society?' and ending with 'The Growth Of Good Taste In America'

Customer Review :

lacks table of contents/navigation but GREAT

This book is tasty reading about a fading trait- manners. In the text and me/me/me world I long for the care and forethought of 1922. Soothing.

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Old Fashioned

My main complaint is that it is impossible to use the kindle version of this book as a reference book as there is no navigation between chapters, nor is there a table of contents.

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Manners get you through the day

I've used the hardback copy since high school! YES, through parties, dating, balls, teas, weddings, thank you notes, setting tables, divorces, writing your congressman, etc. I have to admit I haven't looked at it in about 10 years, but I think it's a good read for anyone. A few manners won't hurt anyone. I haven't yet had a chance to see my kindle version and from what I've read there's no index. Are you SURE? Sometime you have to go back to the cover and thumb through page by page to see the Index. If none, that is certainly a drawback since one needs to be able to go to the right subject as the occasion occurs. Then I'd recommend an updated version - especially if you are young (13 and up) and just "beginning life".

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Emily Post Etiquette

This item is a practical book, that anyone interested in good old-fashioned etiquette would appreciate, especially in this fast and furious age of communication.

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Good for research only

So glad this was a free book. With no way to navigate to a specific topic it is very difficult to use. The information is SO outdated that it is useful only as research of how people used to behave in "polite" society. Not at all realistic for today.

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1. ISBN13: 9781582701707
2. Condition: NEW
3. Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Editorial Review :

Fragments of a Great Secret have been found in the oral traditions, in literature, in religions and philosophies throughout the centuries. For the first time, all the pieces of The Secret come together in an incredible revelation that will be life-transforming for all who experience it.

In this book, you'll learn how to use The Secret in every aspect of your life -- money, health, relationships, happiness, and in every interaction you have in the world. You'll begin to understand the hidden, untapped power that's within you, and this revelation can bring joy to every aspect of your life.

The Secret contains wisdom from modern-day teachers -- men and women who have used it to achieve health, wealth, and happiness. By applying the knowledge of The Secret, they bring to light compelling stories of eradicating disease, acquiring massive wealth, overcoming obstacles, and achieving what many would regard as impossible.

Customer Review :

Awesome

This is an absolute necessity for every person on earth. It speaks to your heart and we should all look at life in this way.

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The Secret

This book is very inspirational. I like to think of the universe that it refers to as God, and I feel it is very biblically oriented. I loved it so much that I sent it to all my daughters.

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It's Great

I think this is a very positive and good feeling book. A must read for anyone looking for a real pick me up!

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Read it!

This is an amazing work. I also have the CD soundtrack. As a regular woman, and as a professional life coach, I firmly believe and use the Law of Attraction, which is the basis of "The Secret". After I read the book in 2007, I began using it for the little things as an experiment. I tried it for parking spaces and it worked. I have great parking spaces. Traffic flows better for me. And even if I leave late I get to my destination early or on time with ease. People are nicer. But the biggest thing is that I am now Multiple Sclerosis-Free. My body is healthy and works. My eyesight returned to normal, the numbness went away. And I can walk distances without an aid now. My neurologist is mystified.

I highly recommend "The Secret"! If you don't like to read, get the CD set instead. But either way, if you are open and have a positive heart, you will find it enlightening.

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There is power in your thinking

There have been many books written on thinking and how it affects our lives. Look at Bernie Siegel's books where he has known patients with terminal illnesses become cured through love, positive thinking and self healing. There's also the book, As a Man Thinketh which talks about how we become what we think about. Even the Bible talks about how we are what we devote ourselves to -- your heart is where your treasure is. The Secret isn't new, I think this incarnation of it has caught on because it's been cleverly marketed. Some people here say it's a load of bunk, but I can attest that in my own life I have noticed that depressive thoughts begets depression and I have even been told my therapists that if you're depressed the best way to get out of it (aside from medications when necessary) is to force yourself. One doc told me that I can't wait for the depression to lift before taking action, I have to take action and THEN the depression will lift. He was right. I have had times in my life where I've felt really good about myself, I've thought myself as a healthy person and during those times had little to no illness. Then I've had times I've thought myself as a sick person and was plagued with symptoms and problems. And that's ten years before The Secret was even published. I don't know about the spiritual or religious aspects but I think that you really can change yourself and your health etc. by the way you think. The Bible even says to capture your thoughts and to think about whatever is true and pure and good. And that advice is 2000 years old. So don't be too quick to cast The Secret aside. It may not be perfect and it's really fallen into the whole "super capitalism/greed" scheme of things but your thinking really can dictate how you feel and what you produce, and who wants to be around you and so on.

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1. ISBN13: 9780316010665
2. Condition: NEW
3. Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Customer Review :

Ausgezeichnet!!

One of the most facinating books I have ever read. If you want to know what people are really thinking, despite what they may be saying, read this awesome book.

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The King of Common Sense

After following Gladwell in the New Yorker, and enjoying his most recent work "Tipping Point", I've been eagerly awaiting the release of his newest piece, "Blink". Gladwell is the king of common sense, many of the points he addresses are based on what we already know. But I suppose that's the exact reason I enjoy his work so much. What many of us, not excluding myself, sometimes fail to recognize about the current understanding of the brain and human reactions - Gladwell saturates himself in. Secondly, being a lifelong fan of the Getty - I was pleasantly surprised with his remarkable insights into the museum as well.

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A guide to rapid thoughts

With the its pages rich in contemplation into the instantaneous decision-making capabilities of the human mind, Malcolm Gladwell's Blink is a great introduction to the art of rapid cognition. Gladwell excels in introducing his theory with major, real-life studies, but also leaves room in his novel for views against his own theory. Through each of the organized chapters of his presentation, Gladwell succeeds in changing the way the reader looks at the world. Towards the end, he even challenges the reader to take the lessons to heart and to make positive changes in their future decisions. The book itself comes through exactly as described: "The power of thinking without thinking." It is the presentation of Gladwell's personal experiences and research that cater to the cause of challenging the reader's view of the world. Having coined certain terms in his theory, such as "the blink", "thin-slicing", and "listening with your eyes", Gladwell's philosophical approach to rapid thought processes is bound to be accepted within the bounds of our society by some point. Overall, this book was a great read and definitely provided great insight into the way people have been thinking without knowing for years.

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Worst book that I never read

Alright, I did start it, but I could not finish it. It was that boring. Don't make a snap judgment though, you should read it for yourself and realize that anyone without a brain can get published these days. A former boss who liked to drink and employ the services of hookers gave our team this as a Christmas gift which were some of the many Blink judgments he made.

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Recognizing how to know...without thinking; A very useful tool!

Having taken sociology as a minor in college, I personally found this book to be quite intriguing as Malcom Gladwell did an outstanding job in explaining and providing examples of how people react with one another or find themselves in certain situations from the perspective of utilizing the unconscious portion of one's mind. Simply put, the title of his book, says it all! His scientific approach to rapid cognition, along with other studies such as the race IAT, will leave you dumbfounded as you try to attempt to either shape, confirm, or deny your own opinion of how your perceive people of different races when you associate them with different words. I have always loved learning about people, social groups, and knowing why people behave or respond they way they do with other people and/or other cultures. This book just takes it a step further by explaining how people's rapid intuitiveness and instant judgment often provides a more accurate conclusion than what they would have otherwise spent large amounts of time thinking about only to surface with poor judgment aka the wrong answer/solution (in some cases....not all). If anything, this book will make you a bit more life smart/people smart/street smart in being more mindful and understanding of how people behave and make judgments...especially when judgments occur in the BLINK of an eye!

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1. everything we think we know about what motivates us is wrong
2. Riverhead Hardcover
3. 1594488843
4. Daniel H. Pink

Editorial Review :

Forget everything you thought you knew about how to motivate people--at work, at school, at home. It's wrong. As Daniel H. Pink explains in his new and paradigm- shattering book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, the secret to high performance and satisfaction in today's world is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.

Drawing on four decades of scientific research on human motivation, Pink exposes the mismatch between what science knows and what business does--and how that affects every aspect of our lives. He demonstrates that while the old-fashioned carrot-and-stick approach worked successfully in the 20th century, it's precisely the wrong way to motivate people for today's challenges. In Drive, he reveals the three elements of true motivation:

*Autonomy- the desire to direct our own lives
*Mastery- the urge to get better and better at something that matters
*Purpose- the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves

Along the way, he takes us to companies that are enlisting new approaches to motivation and introduces us to the scientists and entrepreneurs who are pointing a bold way forward.

Drive is bursting with big ideas-- the rare book that will change how you think and transform how you live.

Customer Review :

Drive is my new gift book for my clients

Dan Pink has done an amazing job of putting the facts together about motivation. I also like that he broadened the discussion beyond the corporate, business management, leadership to include students (teens and college students). His book fits perfectly to my corporate consulting practice and the Career Coaching for Students program I'm providing to high school students. There are a few of us out there that have been focusing on the very teachings in Dan's book for the past 10 years. I can say the results are phenomonal for my clients. Drive speaks to the facts very eloquently at a level and pace that is easy to consume. This is a must read for any manager of people and especially if you expect to find success for your organization through people.
Carl Nielson
The Nielson Group [...]
and
Success Discoveries, LLC [...]
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

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Terrific book

"Drive" is an excellent take on what motivates people in modern society compared with times past. Things it covers are:

1. A couple of decades ago rhesus monkeys solved a puzzle without a reward of food, water or sex. They began playing with it and solved it, implying a thrid drive - some intrinsic reward. They even made more errors when an external reward was used - raisens. Then, more recently similar results were found in an experiment (a Soma puzzle) with humans, implying humans also have this third, intrinsic, drive - for novelty, challenge, with scientific proof counter to what business usally does to motivate workers.

2. Like computers, societies have operating systems - a) Motivation 1.0 - in older times just for survival, b) Motivation 2.0 - the industrial revolution led to rewards and punishments, carrots and sticks to motivate workers, c) Motivation 2.1 - some refinements like flex hours and casual dress, d) Motivation 3.0 - purpose driven rather than monetary compensation - think Wikipedia versus Microsoft's Encarta encyclopedia, Firefox, Apache web server, Linix. Strongest motivation - enjoyment. Vermont - first state to implement a new business organization, "low profit limited liability corporation" with purpose maximized rather than profit.

4. Behavioral economics shows people motivated also by irrational motives. US census showed many non-employer businesses. Financial rewards can turn play into work - reducing performance, loss of creativity. - the Sawyer Effect.

5. Extrinsic rewards can work for left-brain algorithmic tasks, but not for right-brain flexible problem-solving, creative solutions - can lead to bad, even unethical behavior and sort-term thinking like what led to the recent Great Recession - too much pay caused epic problems. Goals which lead to mastery are good - rewarding the activity better than rewarding the result.

6. Rewards best if unexpected, not if-then but now-that.

7. Self Determination Theory (SDT) - Type I person - 3 needs of a Type I person: a) autonomy - over 4 T's - task, time, technoque, and team, b) mastery - a flow - 3 laws to get in the flow - mindset, pain, asymptote - getting closer and closer to perfection but never reaching it, c) purpose - words are important like having an oath, when an employee says "we" rather than "they" for the company.

8. Toolkit for a Type I person - a) flow test - one sentence for a person like freed the slaves for Lincoln, b) small question - like was today better than yesterday, c) take a "sagmeiter" - a sabbatical like every 7 years - do something different like travel, d) do annual personal performance reviews, e) get unstuck by going oblique - by pushing out of a mental rut, f) move 5 steps closer to mastery - deliberate practice, g) 3x5 cards with question/answer to give meaning to each day, h) create your own motivational poster.

9. Nine ways to get your organization to be Type I - have 20% free time, encourage peer-peer now-that rewards, conduct an autonomy audit, take 3 steps to giving up control, play "whose purpose is it?", Reich's pronoun test - we or they, design for intrinsic motivation, Goldilocks for groups - not too easy, not too hard tasks, turn offsite into "FedEx day."

10. Type I compensation - get it right then get out of sight. Ensure internal, external fairness - harder job gets paid more, etc. Pay more than average.

11. Tips for parents on how to motivate kids: homework - autonomy, mastery, purpose, have a FedEx day, Do It Yourself (DIY) report cards, don't combine allowances and chores, praise strategy and effort not IQ, let kids see the big picture of things.

Overall, this book is very insightful and an easy read - recommended.

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Wonderful read after a long time!

Excellent book - gave a great understanding beneath why we do certan kinds of things indifferently or with passion. Great read in general. Actually this is a great book for parents :-) it will change the whole way you see your child. I am thinking if the same kind of motivation is apt for canines too as increasingly reward(read treat) based training is in picture nowadays..wonderful book!

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Should Be Required Reading for all Managers and Employers

What really drives people to perform at their best? According to Daniel Pink, far too many managers rely on the carrot/stick approach to motivate employees. He cites substantial scientific research that shows that these approaches are outmoded and simply do not work for many types of work in the modern economy. In fact, the carrot or stick approach can actually diminish workers' performance over time. (The notable exception is that these approaches can be effective for workers who do routine, repetitive tasks, that require little creativity or individual initiative.) Pink shows that for many types of work, money is not the most powerful incentive. He shows that paying expected bonuses can actually diminish productivity, creativity, and performance over time.

Drive's main point is that the most effective way to motivate people is to pay them fairly and create a work environment that fosters autonomy, mastery, and a sense of purpose. The book cites several interesting examples of organizations that have created new and highly successful models for motivating their workforces.

Drive is an important book. Plus it's a quick and entertaining read. I highly recommend that any manager or employer who wants to get the very best from his/her employees at all levels ought to study Drive, as well as First Break All the Rules by Marcus Buckingham.

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A Far-fetched How To Book on Motivation

The book is about Motivation and it is a bit gimmicky, like Motivation 1.0 to Motivation 2.0, etc.

In the digital economy, autonomy, mastery, and purpose are treasured, and motivation is more intrinsically driven. This sounds great on paper. But many people still live in the not entirely digitalized world, and external motivation in terms of Carrots and Stick still work in some under-developed countries.

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