April 2009 Newsletter
Online Issue # 21

Good Books

Success Intelligence:
Essential Lessons and Practices from the World's Leading Coaching Program on Authentic Success
by Robert Holden
Hay House, 2008
hardcover, $26.95

I picked up a copy of Success Intelligence, not recognizing the author or his work; the title just intrigued me. It turns out that Robert Holden wrote the best-selling books Shift Happens! and Happiness Now! which are both available in paperback. Holden is the Director of Success Intelligence and The Happiness Project, and his work is featured in two BBC television documentaries: The Happiness Formula and How to Be Happy, neither of which I've seen.

In the Prologue to Success Intelligence, Holden tells the story of when he was sixteen years old and the painful reality of his father's alcoholism confronts him on the public sidewalk of his hometown. Questions, triggered by what was happening to his father, haunt Holden as they also shape his life's work. What is success? What is happiness? What's real? What is life for?

In seven parts, Holden explores the primary, interweaving themes of vision, relationships, and work as they relate to success and happiness. He also considers the importance of potential, wisdom, courage, and grace. In the final part, Renaissance, his focus is on the “challenge to take your true place in the world.” Thirty of the chapters end with a Success Intelligence Tip, which is really an opportunity to personally explore an aspect of Success Intelligence in your own life. Expect more of Holden's original questions.

Robert Holden is a thoughtful and engaging writer, who knows and appreciates the challenge of living and working in a “Manic Society” that values busyness and speed more than vision. He is also a leader in the use of positive psychology to bring about individual and organizational change. Reading Success Intelligence had the feel of talking with a wise and caring mentor who took the time to pass along what he has learned and believes will make all the difference—a life with authentic success and real happiness. I am grateful for this book.

The Hay House paperback edition of Success Intelligence is scheduled for early May.

“What looks like a dead end to our egos is really an invitation to go higher than before. It is a lifting-off point where you are asked to give up your own efforts for more grace and to let go of your own plans for greater inspiration. Every dead end is a place in the road where you must let go of what does not really work for what really can.”

-Robert Holden

The Answer Is Simple...
Love Yourself, Live Your Spirit!
by Sonia Choquette
Hay House, 2008
hardcover, $19.95

Who among us doesn't want to love the life we are living?

In her latest book, The Answer Is Simple, Sonia Choquette, writes about how it's possible to love your life, regardless of the inevitable ups and downs or less than fortunate circumstances you might be facing. As the subtitle suggests, loving yourself and living your Spirit come before loving your life; not the other way around.

Through her work Choquette has been fortunate to talk with and observe people, from widely different circumstances, who succeed in really loving life—and to her they are different. Instead of relying upon ego and intellect to navigate life, these individuals are guided by the Spirit within. They know who they are: they are worthy, part of the Divine whole, here to love what they love, and share that love.

The book is organized into ten simple steps/ideas intended to help you practice “self-love and authentic Spirited living”: Welcome Your Spirit, Connect with Your Soul Family, Remember What You Love, Choose Kindness, and six more. Each idea is followed by practical action you can take to live in the joy, light, and love of your Spirit, rather than the pain, fear, and control of your ego.

Midway through the book, you'll find an “Interlude” titled The Heart of the Matter. This section focuses on how to fully engage the heart—love yourself and live your spirit—by considering four expressions of Love/Spirit: open heart, clear heart, wise heart, and courageous heart.

The Answer Is Simple is a book that will be valued by readers who seek to know and live the uncomplicated truth of their own hearts.

Choquette is the author of several more best-selling mind-body-spirit books, including Trust Your Vibes. The Answer Is Simple is also available as a deck of oracle cards.

“The ego differentiates...things as more or less important, but not the Spirit.... All gifts are equal in Divine mind. Claiming, valuing, and then sharing yours completely, without hesitation or interference from your ego, is one of the greatest and simplest secrets to loving yourself and living your Spirit. What do you love? Sharing that fully is your purpose.”

-Sonia Choquett

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