Three of My Favorite Books Right Now
I thought I’d switch things up a bit this week and share three of my favorite books right now. Normally, in the summer, I indulge in page turners like the latest “alphabet” mystery by Sue Grafton. I like her heroine, Kinsey Milhone, who is a scrappy, hard-boiled, private detective living in a fictional town in Southern California.
Reading fiction has taken a back seat as I focus my time and efforts on building my creative business. I still have a lot to learn about building a successful business online. You know I didn’t start out being an entrepreneur. I had a corporate career for 25 years until suddenly, unexpectedly, I didn’t. I’ve had to learn so many new things and, as a result, I’m reading non-fiction now.
The three books that I want to talk about today aren’t business books, per se. They’re not self-help books either. Let’s jump in and talk about them.
Tara Mohr, the author of Playing Big, lives in my small town of Mill Valley, California. I met her through the beautiful co-working space, The Hivery, that’s just down the street from me. Pre-Covid, Tara offered in person workshops focused on helping women like me, women in transition, figure out what to do next.
In addition to her book, she runs a brilliant leadership program also called, Playing Big. She focuses on:
· Quieting the inner critic
· Discovering your inner mentor
· Unhooking from praise and criticism
· And a whole lot more
During these challenging times, when we can’t get together safely in groups, Tara hosts virtual co-working gatherings on zoom. You have to be on her email list to gain access. The sessions are generally two hours long and start with a brief grounding exercise, led by Tara herself. Then you work quietly on your own project or tasks and Tara checks back in mid-way through the session before the second portion begins.
You might think, what’s the point? But when I joined one recently, I found it very comforting. You make a commitment to attend and focus on your work, quietly, but in the company of others.
Read her book, take her online program, or get started by joining her email list so that you can try one of these co-working sessions yourself. As she says: “If you are feeling at all lonely, depleted, stuck, aimless, or stressed… give it a shot.” If you prefer the audio book, which is narrated by Tara herself, you can get it HERE.
The next book is Worth It, by Brit Barron. The full title is Worth It: Overcome Your Fears and Embrace The Life You Were Meant For. Brit is a dynamo of positive energy and happiness. She was the MC for Amy Porterfield’s live event, Entrepreneur Experience, that I attended last year. Brit was funny, endearing and wise beyond her years.
The book has just recently come out and I heard Brit talk about it on Amy’s podcast, Online Marketing Made Easy. Amy’s podcast is always fantastic. This episode made me pull over to take notes. I was driving home from my Dad’s house in the city and literally, I kept having to pull over so that I could write down what Brit was saying.
Here’s my favorite quote where Brit encourages us to ask ourselves: “Is your life a reflection of who you want to be or a reaction to people you don’t want to upset?”
Both Tara and Brit’s books explore what it means to not play small. To not limit yourself because you’re afraid. And realize that when you start to think about fulfilling your potential, you’ve already begun the process and you need to give yourself permission to keep going.
My husband bought me a FitBit to encourage me to move away from the computer (LOL – I’m at my computer writing this) and get some exercise. His encouragement does work especially when I have a fabulous audio book to listen to while I walk. Brit narrates the book herself and I love her voice. It’s a win-win. You can grab the audiobook HERE.
The next book I want to talk about today is Michael Hyatt’s Free to Focus. You know me pretty well by now so of course I have to end with a book about productivity, right? Something practical that involves a step-by-step method for achieving more by doing less.
Michael is a former corporate CEO who realized, relatively late in life, that his work schedule was brutal, unsustainable and kept him away from the large extended family that he loves. He did a massive pivot and became an online entrepreneur with all of the bumps along the road you’d expect. While he may focus more on people in traditional 9-5 jobs, his advice is gold for anyone looking for productivity hacks – like me!
His philosophy, in a nutshell, is: “Most people think productivity is about finding or saving time. But it’s not. It’s about making our time work for us. Just imagine having free time again. It’s not a pipe dream.” I listened to the audio book while out on my walks and it led me to adopt his entire planning system that’s outlined in his Full Focus Planner. We talked about the planner last week because I use it in my own annual planning process, From Vision to Execution.
If you want a fun and engaging overview of the book, listen to Amy’s podcast episode #258 where she interviews Michael about it. One of my favorite parts of the interview is when Michael talks about how we think our smartphones help us save time when in fact, they create more distractions in our lives. So true!
That’s it for today. I hope you enjoy exploring these books. Don’t forget to join me for our weekly Wednesday chat. Come rain or shine, I’m LIVE over on my Facebook page, Anne LaFollette Art, at noon pacific time every Wednesday. See you there!
Remember,
It’s Never Too Late to Create
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MEET ANNE
Hi…I’m Anne!
My creative inspiration comes from a lifetime of observation. I grew up in Paris on the Place St. Sulpice and walked to school through the Luxembourg gardens. And that was only the beginning… Learn more by watching the video on my About page.
