Beck would no doubt approve of Shunmyo Masuno’s book How to Let Things Go: 99 Tips from a Zen Buddhist Monk to Relinquish Control and Free Yourself Up for What Matters. Like her, the best-selling Buddhist monk is concerned about the clamour of information to which we are subjected day after day. He advises readers how to leave much of it behind and how to transform relationships that weigh heavily on us, too.
In Power Manifesting: The New Science of Getting What You Want, Paul McKenna draws on decades of experience in transforming people’s lives. Movie stars, Olympic medallists, and business titans have all called on him for help. In this new book he sets out the notion of what he calls “power manifesting”. This is a set of strategies, based on neuro-linguistic programming, that insert powerful, positive suggestions into the unconscious and direct behaviours, thoughts, and feelings toward getting what you want. These are not small claims, but McKenna was recently named by the august UK Times as one of the world’s leading modern gurus.
The 5 Types of Wealth: A Trans-formative Guide to Design Your Dream Life was authored by Sahil Bloom. He draws up a blueprint of the different types of wealth we desire: time, wealth, social wealth, mental wealth, physical wealth, and financial wealth. He maintains that, if these work together dynamically, a life of true fulfilment and contentment is within reach. Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, is just one powerful personality who swears by Bloom’s approach.
Finally, a slightly different self-development book. Right Thing, Right Now by Ryan Holiday is subtitled Good Values. Good Character. Good Deeds and is part of the Stoic Virtues series. For the Stoics of ancient Greece, integrity was all. Everything worth pursuing in life flowed from a strong sense of justice and the individual’s commitment to doing the right thing, no matter how difficult. In order to be courageous, wise, and self-disciplined, one must be steadfast in belief. Anything else is cowardice and folly. Holiday says that only by having the courage of our convictions, of standing by them, can we truly be happy. He builds his argument through the lives of such role models as Ghandi and Marcus Aurelius, and holds up a few cautionary figures, like the dissolute writer F Scott Fitzgerald.
The ancient world is all the rage now and these Stoic books are well timed.
Michele Magwood is an award-winning literary critic.
Read Alert
Bye-bye, January brain
Bookstore shelves are crammed with uplifting books at this time of the year. These five look at different aspects of revitalising mind and body
First off: Martha Beck is a familiar name in this genre. After writing her landmark book Expecting Adam back in 1999, about giving birth to her son with Down’s syndrome, Beck has become an admired author and life coach. She’s Oprah’s go-to guru for self-help and inspiration and has sold countless books.
Her latest is called Beyond Anxiety: Curiosity, Creativity and Finding Your Life’s Purpose. Surprisingly, Beck suffered from anxiety for most of her life, even though she is wildly successful. She meditated and medicated but couldn’t overcome it until she started studying the actual nature of anxiety to help her clients during the pandemic.
She identifies the anxiety spiral, which needs to be both calmed and replaced with something else: curiosity and creativity. She walks readers through simple, powerful exercises that can help us step out of this spiral, reduce anxiety immediately, and trigger our innate creativity.
The all-star line-up
Beck would no doubt approve of Shunmyo Masuno’s book How to Let Things Go: 99 Tips from a Zen Buddhist Monk to Relinquish Control and Free Yourself Up for What Matters. Like her, the best-selling Buddhist monk is concerned about the clamour of information to which we are subjected day after day. He advises readers how to leave much of it behind and how to transform relationships that weigh heavily on us, too.
In Power Manifesting: The New Science of Getting What You Want, Paul McKenna draws on decades of experience in transforming people’s lives. Movie stars, Olympic medallists, and business titans have all called on him for help. In this new book he sets out the notion of what he calls “power manifesting”. This is a set of strategies, based on neuro-linguistic programming, that insert powerful, positive suggestions into the unconscious and direct behaviours, thoughts, and feelings toward getting what you want. These are not small claims, but McKenna was recently named by the august UK Times as one of the world’s leading modern gurus.
The 5 Types of Wealth: A Trans-formative Guide to Design Your Dream Life was authored by Sahil Bloom. He draws up a blueprint of the different types of wealth we desire: time, wealth, social wealth, mental wealth, physical wealth, and financial wealth. He maintains that, if these work together dynamically, a life of true fulfilment and contentment is within reach. Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, is just one powerful personality who swears by Bloom’s approach.
Finally, a slightly different self-development book. Right Thing, Right Now by Ryan Holiday is subtitled Good Values. Good Character. Good Deeds and is part of the Stoic Virtues series. For the Stoics of ancient Greece, integrity was all. Everything worth pursuing in life flowed from a strong sense of justice and the individual’s commitment to doing the right thing, no matter how difficult. In order to be courageous, wise, and self-disciplined, one must be steadfast in belief. Anything else is cowardice and folly. Holiday says that only by having the courage of our convictions, of standing by them, can we truly be happy. He builds his argument through the lives of such role models as Ghandi and Marcus Aurelius, and holds up a few cautionary figures, like the dissolute writer F Scott Fitzgerald.
The ancient world is all the rage now and these Stoic books are well timed.
Michele Magwood is an award-winning literary critic.
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