Friday Finds

Friday Finds is a meme hosted by Mizb at Should be Reading.

So here are the books I have come across this week that have been added to my wishlist!

i) Mr Rosenblum’s List:Or Friendly Guidance for the Aspiring Englishman-Natasha Solomons.

ii) Perfection-Julie Metz

 

iii) Vision Board- Joyce Schwartz 

 

iv) The Book of Human Skin-Michelle Lovric

 

I would love to hear your comments on my "mixed-bag" , so please do leave a comment.

My "Uplift-erature"

Here are some of the books I would go to first when I need a "pick-me-up".









I would love to hear what books always put a smile back on your face.
Please do leave your suggestions.

Fear of Making Decisions?

I have been dreaming of,  and planning a new project which I’ve had in mind for some years now. Finally the time has arrived  to start putting the ideas into action.  However, now the time has arrived of the actual “doing” part of the project, I have lost a little of my “mo-jo”. I’ve been so enthusiastic about this project for a few years now, but now that it is all systems go, I seem to be debilitated into non-action. 

Why?

I  think it’s the fear of making the wrong decision. While the idea is  a pipe-dream, it’s OK to fantasize. But once you start putting the pieces together we suddenly fear that the decisions we are making are not the “perfect” ones. The fear of making the wrong choices can be completely debilitating (as I am finding out!).

Having to do everything perfectly is paralyzing. If we have to know without a doubt that the decisions we are making are the perfect ones, we risk never making any choices at all.  We have to remember it’s OK to make mistakes. Mistakes are messengers, letting us know when we are getting closer and when we are moving further away from our destination. They are powerful guides. But the key is NOT to dwell on our mistakes. We become what we think about, so we need to choose to focus instead on all the things that are going correctly; all the things we are doing proactively, and positively moves towards our objectives.   

I would love to hear your thoughts. Do you find it difficult to make decisions, or do you jump in with both feet fearless?

Please leave a comment with your thoughts.

Over at Should be Reading, MizB hosts WWW… WEDNESDAYS and asks readers to just answer the following 3 questions:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

As an avid reader here's my choice for this week:

Currently re-reading:

‘Your life in Your Hands’ by Professor Jane Plant

 

I BEG every woman reading this blog to please read this book. It’s the book the medical and pharmaceutical industry don’t want you to know about. I have no affiliation with the author. But, I have been touched by cancer (I lost my mum to cancer when I was only 24 and she was only 49). I have given this book to all my close girlfriends and gifted this book to all my clients. Two friends who had cancer and who had each been told by the doctors they had months to live, are cancer free and healthy 5+ years later. Please love yourself enough to read this book.

Recently finished reading:

 

 It's the first time I have rad this author, and don't really like romance books, but absolutely loved this book.

What do I think I will read next?

'Very Valentine'- byAdriana Trigiani, as I loved the first book I read of hers (above)

'What Everybody is Saying'-Joe Navarro

As a former Criminal Psychologist, how can I not want to read this!

I would love to hear your comments on my selections.

Happiness is.............

.....................many things to many different people.

Here are some of my favourite tips and simple pleasures that always brighten up my world.

Tip1: Become and optimist.
Optimists are happier and more successful. In the face of set-backs they see the future as full of possibility. How? Imagine your best possible self 10 years from now. What are you doing? How are you feeling? Reflecting on dreams can help you think positively.

Tip 2: Focus on what’s going right.
This is a “biggie” and one of the principles of the law of attraction.Ever wondered why the law of attraction isn’t working for you? I’m sure you will find the principle reason is you are focusing on all that isn’t working and not what is going right. In tests 92% of depressed people who listed every day three things that went well, became happier with their symptoms halved in 15 days.

Tip 3: Try meditation.
Buddhist Matthieu Ricard is one of the world’s happiest people. He has spent much of the past 35 years meditating. Studies have shown that meditation causes huge activity in the brain area associated with happiness. A few hours of meditation can kick-start this process.

Tip 4: Perform Random Acts of Kindness.
According to various research happy people are more likely to volunteer, and the more they do, the happier they are. Acts of kindness are an easy way in; they give you perspective and counter feelings of alienation.


Here are some things that create those warm, fuzzy feelings of happiness within me (aside from the obvious of family and friends).

Films:
Grease
Little Miss Sunshine
Hairspray

TV:
Glee
Friends

Sights:
My luggage coming out first on the conveyor belt at the airport
The postman arriving with lots of packages

Guilty pleasures:
Ben and Jerry's ice-cream
Cashmere socks for slouching around in the house
New books
Homemade soup on a really cold day

Songs:
Lovely Day-Bill Withers
Dancing Queen- Abba
Don’t Stop me Now- Queen
Club Tropicana- Wham

Please leave a comment and let me know what makes you happy.

Waiting is a Trap!

I have a wonderful quote on my website that inspired me to write this short post.

It says " If we wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything is ready, we shall never begin"- (Ivan Turgenev)

How true is that?
Why are you waiting to be healthy, waiting to change careers, waiting to be happy, waiting to start a new business, waiting to clear up the relationships that are not working, waiting to fall in love etc etc?

We wait for out holiday (or the weekend to finish) before we start our diet, we wait for interest rates to go down, we wait because we think our friends/partners bad behaviour will change, we wait for the economy to get better. We are constantly waiting for something. And whilst we are "busy" waiting, life is moving ever faster.

Sometimes waiting is just an excuse to not do something. I have  a number of clients who list a multitude of reasons as to why they can't start their action plan, and it's usually because they are "waiting" for something. But after some digging and delving, we soon uncover that what they are  waiting for is irrelevant; it really won't stop them beginning their change NOW! It's a cover to hide behind to avoid taking action. 

What are you waiting for? Is it genuine or just a ruse to delay action?

Please leave your comments and share your thoughts.

WWW....Wednesdays

Over at Should be Reading, MizB hosts WWW… WEDNESDAYS and asks readers to just answer the following 3 questions:

1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you’ll read next?

As an avid reader I follow a lot of blogs and came across this wonderful thread posted by MizB
OK, here are my answers:

1)Currently reading:
I am currently reading
This was recommended on another blog (can't remember which now), but really enjoying it.

Also reading


I always feel I should read a business book. I feel terribly guilty if I read a novel during the day.

And finally, re-reading



2) Recently finished:



This book is hauntingly beautiful and will stay with you long after you turn the final page. I couldn't stop thinking about it weeks after I finished it.And it still brings tears to my eyes now.

3)Planning to read next:

Just ordered One Day by  David Nicholls, Seventh Heaven by Alice Hoffman and Spiritual Economics by Eric Butterworth.

 



That's my list.
Any recommendations  or  comments on the books I am planning to read next would be appreciated.