August 2003 Newsletter
Online Issue # 4

Good Books

As you look over this summer’s list of books, I hope you discover at least one new book that might make a difference to you or someone you know. Thank you to everyone who took time to recommend a book.

Work to Live: The Guide to Getting a Life
by Joe Robinson
Perigee, 2003
paperback, $14.95

Joe Robinson is committed to educating workers about the true cost and the real danger of overdoing work. He is the founder of the grassroots “Work to Live” campaign which is currently lobbying for a minimum of three paid weeks of vacation for workers in the United States. If you want support for living a more balanced life, with less work and more time for the other things you value, this book offers the facts, inspiration and guidance you’ll need to begin making changes. You can also learn more by visiting www.worktolive.info.

Roadtrip Nation: A Guide to Discovering Your Path in Life
by Nathan Gebhard, Michael Marriner with Joanne Gordon
Ballantine Books, 2003
paperback, $13.95

Gebhard and Marriner, two new college graduates from California, traveled cross-country in a thirty-one foot RV to interview successful people: “folks with interesting stories who love what they do.” The write-ups of each interview are short, fascinating and informative. In the final section you’ll learn how to make cold calls to get interviews with people you’d like to talk with, how to create your own interesting interview questions, and more. The book is intended to encourage twentysomethings to explore their individuality and “self-construct” their own lives. It’s also a resource for anyone who wants to know more about how other people get to do likable things in the world of work.

Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work & in Life, One Conversation at a Time
by Susan Scott
Viking Press, 2002
hardcover, $25.95

Fierce Conversations is also the name of Susan Scott’s international consulting firm; think  fierce as in robust, intense, real - - not  fierce as in aggressive. “In its simplest form, a fierce conversation is one in which we come out from behind ourselves into the conversation and make it real.” The way Scott sees it, these are the essential conversations we need to have, FIRST with ourselves and then with others - - at home and at work. These conversations are our relationships and our results. “... our very lives succeed or fail gradually, then suddenly, one conversation at a time. While many people are afraid of “real,” it is the unreal conversation that should scare us to death.”

Dragon Spirit: How to Self-Market Your Dream - - A Zentrepreneur’s Guide
by Ron Rubin and Stuart Avery Gold
Newmarket Press, 2003
hardcover $19.95

The authors of  Dragon Spirit are Chairman and COO of “The Republic of Tea.” In their quest for the world’s finest teas they travel the globe collecting teas, good stories and ancient wisdom. If you have a dream to market (or a business, product, idea, talent, skill), here’s new enthusiasm to add to your project. Among the topics included are overcoming limiting beliefs, maintaining faith, persevering, and doing well by doing good. “While entrepreneurs get hold of an idea, Zentrepreneurs allow an idea to get hold of them.”

What Happy People Know: How the New Science of Happiness Can Change Your Life for the Better
by Dan Baker
Rodale Press, 2003
hardcover, $22.95

Dan Baker directs the “7-Day Enhancement Program” at Canyon Ranch where he teaches people about happiness. It turns out that happiness and unhappiness might not be what you thought. According to Baker, a person’s highly evolved survival system with its “biological circuitry of fear is the greatest enemy of happiness.” The book explores common happiness traps: trying to buy happiness, trying to find happiness through pleasure, trying to be happy by resolving the past.... The book also offers tools to cultivate happiness: appreciation, choice, personal power.... Instead of asking, “Are you happy?” Baker poses the telling question, “Are you winning at life?” If happiness is a constant struggle, this book deserves your attention.

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