Книги автора: Smart Reading

Notice: This is a SUMMARY of “How to Live Mindfully with the Help of Meditation” by Maria Gorina. Have you ever tried peeling potatoes, devoting to this activity all your fullness and strength? Have you tried to play with your child the way children play: putting aside thoughts about work, forgetting about your phone and immersing yourself in the construction of a Lego castle? Have you tried listening to your partner, focusing on his or her words, emotions, voice, and not on your thoughts? Consciousness, or mindfulness, is the ability to be in the here and now, to experience the fullness of life. This skill not only makes us healthier, happier and more stress-resistant, it also gives us back our lives – those hours and minutes when we failed to live properly, when we were lost in our thoughts about who knows what. This article is a brief guide to mindfulness: using it to benefit your body, emotions and thoughts, as well as actions and relationships. Read it and live life to the fullest!

Notice: This is a SUMMARY of “Chatter. The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It” by Ethan Cross. A Buddhist monk once said, “There’s a radio playing in our head, Radio Station NST: Non-Stop Thinking.” And this is definitely the case. It broadcasts every minute of every day and only stops working at night. And its content is mostly dramatic: every now and then thoughts pop up in our head about what we missed, what we didn’t say, or who was treated unfairly. The flow of thoughts in our head is tiring and annoying, but simply trying to turn off the radio will not work. “And it is not necessary,” psychologists say. Our inner voice is an evolutionary signal that helps us respond to reality. And you will be able to come to an agreement with your inner voice if you know how your consciousness works. Ethan Cross has been studying the nature of conscious thought control for many years and is now ready to offer a simple but effective system for neutralizing the chatterbox in our head.

Notice: This is a SUMMARY of “When Things Fall Apart. Heart Advice for Difficult Times” by Pema Chödrön. In her book, When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times, Pema Chödrön gives practical everyday advice on dealing both with life’s great tragedies and minor announces. Borrowing from her studies under the tutelage of teachers and masters of Tibetan Busshism, Pema proposes that we take a closer look at the nature of suffering and reconsider how we relate to it. The methodology she proposes in her book will help us not only overcome pain, but also turn hell into medicine.

Notice: This is a SUMMARY of “Peace Is Every Step. The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life” by Thit Nhat Khan. Modern life is full of anxiety, stress, and bad news. Peace of mind is the most valuable currency. And somewhere in the mountains, Buddhist monks sit calmly in their poses, after having reached complete peace, without a care in the world.... Both scenarios are myths. Even in the hustle and bustle of everyday life, we can feel beauty in the world. Buddhists are by no means out-of-this-world thinkers, proof of which is provided by the example of the Vietnamese monk Thit Nhat Khan, who for many years preached in different countries and has fought for peace in his homeland. In his main book, he offers advice that will be of use to people no matter what age or religion. The Teaching of Tit Nat Khan’s work does not need to be translated into a simple, worldly language – it is already transparent, like water. The meditations he teaches do not require special conditions – they are as simple as breathing. Everything you wanted to know about harmony and happiness is in his wise lessons.

Notice: This is a SUMMARY of “The Emotional Compass: How to Think Better about Your Feelings” by Ilse Sand. In the book, The Emotional Compass: How to Think Better about Your Feelings, Ilse Sand describes which emotions exist and gives us advice on how to recognize better understand what we are experiencing. Relying on her many years of practical experience, she gives tailor-made advice to people with various temperaments on how to deal with unpleasant emotions and avoid conflict situations, allowing them to live in harmony with their feelings and the people around them. She also stresses the importance of finding the right approach not only to those who have difficulty expressing their emotions, but to ourselves as well.

Notice: This is a SUMMARY of “The Innovator’s DNA: Mastering the Five Skills of Disruptive Innovators” by Jeff Dyer, Hal Gregersen, Clayton Christensen. The thesis of the book is that each of us has in our DNA what it takes to become an innovator.

Notice: This is a SUMMARY of “The Book of Joy” by Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, Douglas Carlton Abrams. What the reader should know: – The book is designed to help people develop an inner state of joy, independent of external factors and values imposed by others. – Assists people in learning how to cope with difficulties and stress, even the kind that the authors – some of the most renown leaders of our time – have experienced and continue to experience. Offers simple and effective exercises that teach you how to manage your emotions and feelings, using a state of joy to give them balance.

Notice: This is a SUMMARY of “Letting Go. The Pathway of Surrender” by David Hawkins. Once you learn to let go of your habitual suppression and condemnation of your feelings, Letting Go shows you how to transform the negative energy of your emotions into positive energy.

Notice: This is a SUMMARY of “Grit. The Power of Passion and Perseverance” by Angela Duckworth. A guidebook to finding your calling and developing the necessary self-discipline for this.

Notice: This is a SUMMARY of “The Obstacle Is the Way The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph” by Ryan Holiday. When we face obstacles, our resolve becomes paralyzed. But if we just change our perspective a bit, we can see that any obstacle can easily become an opportunity. Borrowing from the Hellenistic Philosophy of Stoicism, the author shares with his readers the importance of courage in battle. If your competitors have you against the ropes, now is the time to become fearless. Are your products drawing criticism? Use this opportunity to expand awareness of your business. Holiday and the Stoics share this ancient philosophy with readers so they can apply it to any of life’s challenges. Whether on the battlefield or in the halls of parliament, the philosophy has withstood the test of time. Be it Barack Obama’s election campaign, the emergence of the game-changing iPhone, or on the playing fields of Olympic Games, winners knows that giving up is not an option.

Notice: This is a SUMMARY of “Mini Habits. Smaller Habits, Bigger Results” by Stephen Guise. In Mini Habits, Stephen Guise explains how to overcome procrastination and start living again without putting major effort into it. This is an effective remedy for those who have started to change a hundred times since Monday and failed each time. A mini habit is a tiny action that you force yourself to do every day, so tiny that it cannot cause you much inconvenience. Steven Guise's book helps get the ball rolling even for people who are deeply depressed, despondent and stuck. The mini-habit system works because you’re playing by the rules of your brain instead of wasting your energy fighting against it. The author himself, thanks to this technique, read 10 times more books than he would have otherwise and got in excellent athletic condition. And he started with one single push-up a day.

Notice: This is a SUMMARY of “Thanks For the Feedback. The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well” by Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen. Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen’s Thanks for the Feedback teaches us techniques of productive listening and how to accept feedback constructively and beneficially – both compliments and criticism.

Notice: This is a SUMMARY of “Mindset. The New Psychology of Success. How We Can Learn to Fulfill our Potential” by Carol Dweck. Carol Dweck's book, Mindset. The New Psychology of Success. How We Can Learn to Fulfill our Potential was recognized as the book of the year by the World Education Federation and is already changing the approach toward management theory today. A professor at Stanford University, she has made a discovery in the field of psychology about the power and meaning of mindset. This discovery boils down to a simple, like all ingenious ideas, formula and scales from the individual to the culture of the whole organization. If you believe that talents are given to you from birth and do not change throughout life, then you have a “fixed” mindset that does not benefit anyone, and even less so yourself. If you believe that abilities can be changed by gaining new experience, then you have a “growth” way of thinking. Using real life examples, the author explains how to use a growth mindset to achieve happiness in your personal life and in business.

Notice: This is a SUMMARY of “Letting Go. The Pathway of Surrender” by David Hawkins. Once you learn to let go of your habitual suppression and condemnation of your feelings, Letting Go shows you how to transform the negative energy of your emotions into positive energy.

Notice: This is a SUMMARY of “Accidental Genius. Using Writing to Generate Your Best Ideas, Insight and Content” by Mark Levy. Mark Levy, author of Accidental Genius: Using Writing to Generate Your Best Ideas, Insight, and Content, tells us to break the mold for problem solving and venture outside our comfort zone to overcome mental roadblocks. Unfortunately, each of us has a literary critic in our heads who’s concerned with polishing our thoughts and ideas before they’re released to the general public. One way to release our minds from this restraint is to engage in Freewriting. Mark has championed this method for many years, which has allowed him to generate ingenious solutions for business, as well as come up with ideas for books and articles. Freewriting is deceptively simple: write without thinking, free your mind of your worries, while neglecting all concerns for grammar, punctuation, and spelling. At this pace, your inner critic be able to keep up with you, allowing you untethered access to your once-inaccessible creativity.

Notice: This is a SUMMARY of “The Soul Unchained. Journey Beyond Ourselves” by Michael Singer. Spiritual guru Michael Singer’s book “The Soul Unchained. Journey Beyond Ourselves” explores our consciousness. Even when you are happy, your inner voice expresses doubt and fear, and tries to teach you how to live. It prevents you from enjoying life because it does not allow you to perceive reality objectively. This inner voice evaluates events, which persuades your consciousness to create a model of the world in which you feel comfortable. How can you separate this inner voice of self-reflection from your true self? Why are you so afraid to change your life? How can you get rid of negative thoughts? The book, a collection of lectures on yoga philosophy, self-concept, the meaning of life, and the theory of the mind, was number one on the New York Times Best Seller list. Singer's ideas even caught the attention of Oprah Winfrey, who then decided to invite the author on her talk show.

Notice: This is a SUMMARY of “Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness” by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Jon Kabat-Zinn's “Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness” is a program on how to reduce stress through mindfulness. The book, which gave rise to a whole field in medicine and psychology, explains how to combine proven medical techniques with the practice of meditation and yoga. Pain is feedback from our body. In this way, it tells us where the disorder or damage has occurred. Our consciousness has a direct impact on physical and emotional health, so it is important to learn how to control it. The goal of the program is to restore the balance between body and mind, harmonize your condition, increase immunity, and learn how to heal yourself. The book includes simple, very applicable meditation exercises. They will help the reader cope with even chronic pain, and by regularly putting these methods to use can improve quality of life.

Notice: This is a SUMMARY of “The Art of Systems Thinking: Essential Skills for Creativity and Problem Solving” by Joseph O'Connor and Ian McDermott. The Art of Systems Thinking goes far beyond formal logic as it considers any phenomenon in its dynamic, in its time. In their book, Joseph O'Connor and Ian McDermott, as NLP specialists, rework the traditional view of the nature of things, and strive to teach us to see the whole picture – and see things in a new way. We live in a world of ready-made mental models that we ourselves have not created. The world around us is often perceived as a given and we live in a vicious circle created by culture, public opinion, and upbringing. We ourselves come up with artificial restrictions and thereby complicate our lives. This can be corrected by properly influencing our existing mental models. The authors discover ways that allow you to find the trajectories of dynamic systems, eliminate their vulnerabilities, and change your life for the better.

Notice: This is a SUMMARY of “Emotional Intelligence. Why it can matter more than IQ” by Daniel Goleman. Everyone knows that a high IQ is no guarantee of success, happiness, or virtue, but until emotional intelligence was discovered we could only guess why. Daniel Goleman's brilliant research dives into psychology and neuroscience and offers surprising new insight into our «two minds» – the rational and the emotional – and how they together shape our destiny. Using clear examples, Goleman identifies the five crucial skills of emotional intelligence, and shows how they are key our success in relationships, our profession, and even our physical well-being. Today many MBA program have included the importance of emotional intelligence into their curriculum and not only the quantitative side of business. “Emotional Intelligence” was on the New York Times Bestseller’s list for 18 months, has been translated into 40 languages and is sold all over the world.

Notice: This is a SUMMARY of “Thinking, Fast and Slow” by Daniel Kahneman. Daniel Kahneman's book Thinking, Fast and Slow, is dedicated to the workings of human thought. It was the result of scientific research for which the author received the Nobel Prize in Economics. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman proves that any normal person can make systematic errors in reasoning, especially in the face of uncertainty. These mistakes are inherent in a person’s true nature, his or her emotional state does not play a role. The author divides the mechanism of human thinking into two systems. System one uses associations and metaphors to casually sketch reality. System two uses reasoned and considered judgments, but is reluctant to get involved. People are looking everywhere for easy solutions and therefore quickly finds patterns where there are none.