Lynda Sez » Books

Go with your strengths?

rgdaniel — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:10:49 +0000

We often hear people say, “go with your strengths” but usually it’s said in jest. Most common approaches to self-improvement focus on personal weaknesses, finding out where you have shortcomings, so you can improve those and do well in all areas. Marcus Buckingham has a different idea. He proposes that it is our strengths that hold the key to living our most satisfying and successful lives. His new book, Find Your Strongest Life, makes the case for figuring out what you really do well, then altering your career and personal path to capitalize on those strengths. Only by intentionally imbalancing your life to do more of what you excel at can you achieve the happiness you deserve, he says. He speaks directly to women, because, as he quotes from compelling survey data, we are not as happy as we could be, and we are certainly not as happy as we were 40 years ago. To help sort out our strengths, he offers a free online quiz that defines a lead and supporting role. The book goes into some detail about the roles, so you can figure out what to do with the answers you get. This book is a quick read and a fresh take on self-help that I found convincing and useful. However, it falls down badly in the final section, Strong Life Tactics. Rather than a compelling action plan, he gives us a hodge-podge of questions and answers that seem far less organized and persuasive than the rest of the book. But take the quiz and read about your roles – you may be surprised.

Books I should be Reading

rgdaniel — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 04:34:57 +0000

I thought about posting a list here of all the books I have bought and haven’t read yet, but I decided it would be too embarrassing. Besides, there are still many books in boxes since our move, so I couldn’t make an accurate list, could I? Instead, here’s the pile on my night table, the ones I have started to read or really, really, want to start.
Information Development: I know this sounds boring, but the author, JoAnn Hackos, is one of my idols and this is her latest, the book I got most recently and the one I really need to swallow whole in a hurry. (624 pages, softcover — yikes)
The Laws of Simplicity: This little hardcover came with the Hackos book and has a much better chance of rising to the top because it’s just over 100 pages and feels good with its sexy-smooth dust cover.
The Victorian Internet: I’ve wanted this one for ages, so I finally added it to my last Amazon order. It’s all about the telegraph and the “nineteenth century’s online pioneers” and it looks like a good curl-up-by-the-wood-stove read.
Wikinomics: Another must-read-to-keep-up choice that sounds interesting. Trouble with this one is that if I don’t get to it soon, its trendiness will be over. Ooh, the pressure!
A Midwife’s Tale: This is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel based on a genealogical artifact, a diary of an 18th century Maine midwife. I picked it up at a Harvard bookstore when I was in Boston last December and it has sat on my night table ever since. Maybe I’m saving it for a summer day in a hammock.
The Power of Positive Dog Training: Claire sent me this one and I’m halfway through it, already trying it out on her dogs and mine. The good thing about having dogs, and having a book like this, is that if the day isn’t going too well, you can still feel like a positive human being by doing training exercises with a dog. Pooch+something they know how to do or can figure out+treat=success!
Paint Ideas and Decorating Techniques: I’m a sucker for these ones at the remainder sales. Anything that makes me think I can transform my house in a weekend to a designer paradise, I’m there. It comes down to a chaste, non-fattening indulgence in fantasy — so what’s wrong with that?

Thinking About Stuff

rgdaniel — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 02:57:24 +0000

There has been a flurry of activity in this household lately to review and purge (more than the usual), thus leading me to more consideration of how to organize what remains. I came across this rumination on how to organize books (yes, we have lots of those in the house). When I read this, I remembered that our friends Marie and Ian did exactly that in their living room when they were still living in Mississauga. I don’t know if I could let go of my compulsion to organize by topic, but it’s appealing to try.