Careers Books

I bought this book after reading an article that mentioned it. I really enjoyed the book. Each story was interesting, even those I didn't particularly agree with. Whether someone is a stay at home mom, work at home mom or mom working outside the house I think it's something they would enjoy. I found it entertaining and interesting. It's worth the price and the time to read it.

Very excited to read this book. Very big let down. Never really addressed the normal and regular stay at home moms verses working moms with regular jobs. Don't waste your time, if you are a working mom you should not have time to read for pleasure and if you are a stay at home mom you should be reading to your kids.

I am reading this book and think I am going to throw up. So far, ALL of these women have pedigree and/or Ivy League degrees. This handful of all the authors glamorous ultra-high achieving friends or friends of friends in no way shape or form speaks for the millions of us who aren't multi-millionaires or make $300,000 a year. I wouldn't want to give that up either. Can someone write a book about normal women?

Whether it's by luck or by chance that one becomes a mother, one thing is certain, there are a lot of choices to make in how one goes about raising them: stay-at-home...continue to work...work full-time...work part-time...work from home...it's these choices that fuel the elusive mommy wars! The most important thing you can take from this book is that there is no right or wrong choice when it comes to being a parent...the evidence supports nearly ALL arguments...kids who have a stay-at-home parent gain access to certain benefits as do kids whose parents work and utilize daycare of some kind. What makes the difference is choosing what is right for YOU and YOUR family...the happiest mothers are the one's who make the "right" choice (or balance between choices) for who they are and what their goals are.

The Mommy Wars is a collection of 26 essays by well...mothers (with the exception of one essay which was written by a woman not yet a mother). There is a brief bio for each author and while there are some differences between them, for the most part we're talking about women who are more educated than the average mother and nearly all of whom turned a lucrative full-time (well paying) career into a similarly well paid freelance gig (part or full time), most have help (if not from family, they have the means to hire all the help they need) and nearly off of them live on the east (New York heavy) or west coasts with very little hard from the middle states. I understand why publishers want books like this...from women with writing experience, but I'd personally be will to sacrifice some quality of writing to hear more varied points of view, because Mommy Wars was interesting and enlightening, it's also skewed and hangs on the precipice of elitism that will certainly be a big turn-off for some readers.

I think what struck me most about this book is that there isn't really an external "mommy war" and the common themes of this book are spotlighted as these authors turn a spotlight on their own trials, tribulations and tumultuous thoughts on what is right and necessary to raise their children. There is a pretty even split between the stay-at-home and working mother camps (with more than a few that fall somewhere between) and fairly skewers all the most common stereotypes (smug working mom, bored to death stay-at-home mom, holier than thou stay-at-home mom, etc.) and brings to center stage those issues which are really the most important when deciding what is right for you, because what is right for you and your children is what makes you happy...if being at home and dealing with a toddler all day would drive you batty then work and spend happy quality time with your little ones...if working stresses you out and makes you feel inadequate (and you can manage to stay at home without going bananas from the day in and day out routines) then by all means stay at home or work part-time.

In the end, it's clear that this so called Mommy War is not going on "out there..." it's going on inside each woman who chooses motherhood (or has it chosen for her though circumstance). For some the decision to work or stay home is easy, very cut and day. For many...perhaps even most, this decision is heart wrenching, difficult and filled with doubt and worry. The only thing that is certain here is that this is an internal war which will probably never be "won," but it's nice to read the battles that others have engaged in and see them stand by their decisions and "get" that the most important (and often the most hurtful) judgments in the decisions of motherhood come from within. That makes this book worth reading, all by itself. I give it four stars, it's a worthwhile read.

From the title of the book, you might expect a contentious debate between the two sides of this divisive issue. And if so, you are in for a pleasant surprise. I found that, in general, the writers were trying to reach across the divide and to try and reduce the conflict. One writer put it "Women have to stop fighting among themselves - let's go back to the way it was before - and fight with the men!". While the book presents many different opinions and scenarios, I did find a number of things that stuck with me. In particular, a woman has to make the choice that truly makes her happy. If that means she needs to work, then she is not a bad mother for that choice. Similarly, if a woman wants to stay home for the first few years, that does not make her lazy. It is also clear that good parents are good parents, regardless of the choice that make to work or stay home for those first few years. Women that spend a great deal of their time at work away from their kids just so they can have 20 purses, 100 pairs of shoes, and a brand new Mercedes convertible are just as bad as women who don't work and spend their entire day shopping or hanging out with their friends.

In thinking about this book in the context of "The Feminine Mistake", it appears that the best situation is when a mother has an interesting career that she is able to pursue part-time/from home during the years when the kids are little/small. Then, as the kids grow more independent, the career side can grow accordingly. While this balance isn't easy, it is definitely doable and appears to be the most rewarding and it gives those mothers a good perspective on "both sides". Mothers who don't have a career they enjoy (prior to the baby) would be best served if they found a different career, but all too often the "stay at home mom" career option is too appealing. Sadly, it is temporary and financially risky. Of course, the obvious problem is that it is very hard to find a career that you can do part-time/from home for a number of years. That is, unless you are a writer.

And with that we come to the book's tragic flaw. Every single contributor is a writer. That makes for well written essays (and they are quite well written, humorous, and a delight to read), but it also makes for a very non-representative sample. All of the women were able to cut back on their work - and even the stay-at-home-moms still wrote - after all they wrote these articles! I would have preferred poorer writing quality and a more inclusive sample. If every mom was a writer (or another profession where contract work was prevalent and available) we wouldn't have the "Mommy Wars" issue at all.

Recommended: Mothers, writers, those seeking balance in life and/or trying to understand "the other side" in this debate.

Received the book in the condition specified in the listing. It was delivered promptly with no problems. Would recommend this seller.

Creating a Life Worth Living is one of the best purchases I've made in some time. Rather than the usual advice of satisfying an inner child or making a laundry list of things you THINK you might like to try, Carol Lloyd leads you through a series of exercises that help narrow down the field considerably. She requires you to work, to think about who you are, identify your bad habits and obsessions and incorporate those as well as your talents and inclinations. She encourages you, but it's clear the work is yours to do. This is a workbook for people who are creative, are looking for a direction, and can use self-examination as a propelling force rather than an excuse for not moving forward.

I've owned this book for a few years and even now, I turn to it once in while for motivation. Similar in objective to Julia Cameron's books, it is designed differently, more like a 15 weeks workshop. It is absolutely essential for creative types looking to guidance on their path, no matter what turn they are at.

Even if you don't make a living at your art or craft, this book is excellent for those who want to give more space for their personal project. "Creative types" loom large; there must be something in "Creating a Life Worth Living" for a large number of persons. Most alive and curious working people have a second or many passions beside working at their jobs: engineers writing science fiction books, secretaries making specialty chocolate or salesmen writing books.

Whatever your passion, whatever the stage you are at living it, you can find ideas to guide you and portraits of creative people enjoying their own life worth living. In the same vein, I would also recommend "The Pathfinder" by Nicholas Lore and "Soul Mapping" by Nina Frost et al.

Carol Lloyd's "Creating a Life Worth Living" bears a subtitle that declares it to be "a practical course in career design for artists, innovators, and others aspiring to a creative life." And in that, it succeeds quite well. The course (developed from workshops Lloyd teaches) starts with the assumption that maybe you have a yearning to do something different with your life, but you don't yet know what that is or, at least, how to do it. Starting with a "daily action" and moving on to some material on idea generation and abstraction, Lloyd mixes thoughts on creativity ("It's good to simply look at your lived experience and separate it from your concepts about 'life.'") with concrete exercises and interviews with successful creative people from all walks of life: teachers, painters, actors, writers, inventors, entrepreneurs, performance artists, dancers, directors, and more.

A book like this won't bandage up your life and make everything better in five easy steps. It won't reveal a magical key that will show you how to make millions from your watercolors. But it can help you to see your life a bit more clearly. It can help you to see the options and resources you might have missed, and it can help you to figure out what needs you have, creatively speaking, and how best to fulfill them.

Questions encourage you to take both the short and the long view, the practical and the ideal. Lloyd helps you to let go of your preconceptions by having you write down everything, no matter how silly, and by sharing stories of people who succeeded by doing what everyone told them they shouldn't do. So if you're already snugly fitted into your creative career, you'll have little use for this book. But if you're struggling to figure out what to do next or where to go, this book could help you turn your interests and desires into a concrete plan of action that fulfills both emotional and practical needs.

This book speaks specifically to people who aspire to creative careers. Lloyd talks about the pitfalls that keep people from creating, as well as the structures in the day that foster artistic activity. The author knows intimately what helps and what doesn't, in terms of an artists' career development and personal habits. Also, throughout the book are descriptions and interviews with successful artists. These were instrumental in helping me see that there are many different ways to be a successful artists, and that it is possible to make a living doing art. In fact, nothing seems more fun than that!

To anyone who is creative, not necessarily even an artist, I HIGHLY recommend this book. I've read many, many career books, and this one has done it like no other, because it goes beyond merely brainstorming what you love to do, into structuring your lifestyle to focus on what you love to do.

I ordered this book on October 24th and paid instantly through my credit card, I am in an accelerated course which started on October 26th and the first assignment wasn't until like November 1st...I didn't receive the item until November 14th! Wow, Now I'm two weeks behind and luckily I was able to wing it for two weeks and still maintain an A...If you are going to order give them at least a month to ship it out.

Ordered October 24th
Recieved Nov. 14th

I just finished this book while flying to Chicago to work with a client. While I think I am on top of my game from a business manners perspective, I found myself running a checklist on me and how I handle myself in certain business situations and yes I found some holes in my armor.

This is one of those books you need to have in your reference library. We all need help in handling ourselves in business situations that require that we put our best foot forward. Just remember to refer to this gem before you make a fool out of yourself and loose a very important client or worse in our highly competitive business world.

I enjoyed this book. It was an easy read book that gave good examples and good advice. Many times there were situations mentioned that I would have never thought would have mattered in a business environment. I learned many things on how to handle myself and appearance in a professional way. Many of the things mentioned in the book are easy to implement and take little time, others are larger. I would recommend this book to every student before entering the business work place.

This book gives 601 little things that you probably already do know, but I bet that if you have to stop and think about them, you will realize that you do not remember them. A very good book that reminds us of the way to do things a little better than we were doing them now, and a reminder for the other 599 things that we were doing to keep on doing. This book gives something for everyone. I am glad that I bought it, and I will read it more than once, you can be sure of that.

This book is just what I was looking for...so many things I have forgotten over the years; and I love the practice exercises and sample tests.

This book is an excellent preperation material for the Civil Services Exams.

this book provides valuable information for starting, evaluating, and maintaining a comprehensive school counseling program. the information goes hand in hand with the growing trend of accountability in the school counseling field. i have referred back to this book several times and it has helped me feel more confident in being able to start a comprehensive school counseling program.

I loved the title and grabbed this book on impulse off of the new books shelf at my local library. A couple of hours later I was very disappointed. The author has some good basic ideas (albeit a bit trite) but they are clogged by the tales of her version of "the good life"--a round-the-world trip at age 16, multiple trips to Bermuda and Paris, her meals at the "finest restaurants in New York". I especially loved the part when she gently chides her readers to ease back on some of the technological demands of their jobs, as she does thanks to her three assistants. I can't afford to pay someone to screen my e-mails for me, and funny, my boss doesn't seem to be receptive to picking up the tab either. Some of her examples are alienating, insensitive, and insulting to the readers out there who are squeaking by financially and can't afford to have a dress made for themselves in Hong Kong. I will never pick up another book by Alexandra Stoddard.

I ordered this book looking for inspiration during a down time. I didn't find it. Stoddard does nothing but quote Western philosophers and brag about her own experiences living the good life. The book is, literally, all about her. We hear about her trips to various resorts, how she and her husband (an attorney)treat themselves to a hedonistic dessert every day, and about her design business. We hear about what type finial one customer requested and about the maple bed another client fussed over. I have no idea what any of the Aristotle quotes, Barbados trips, ice creams, or design customers have to do with me learning to live the good life, but Stoddard spends the entire book sprinkling mindless rhetoric with these unremarkable bits of news.

If you want to help yourself live the good life, save a few bucks by avoiding this book.

This book reminds us of what we already know - that we are indeed responsible for our choices which result in our lifestyle outcomes.

It is a timeless nudge at what we are all hoping to achieve and how we embrace or block the results - a very inspiring read.

I enjoy Alexandra Stoddards books. This book was also very good. You can pick it up and read a small section at a time which is very nice if you are busy. Its just a short pick me up to get the day going on a positive note.

I believe it is so beneficial to read something inspirational every day, and especially before bedtime. This is a great book for inspirational reading.

Alexandra encourages you to "read these fifty essays in any order you choose-just dive in and muse." -from the book
I first thought that's just what I'd do, -being one who doesn't do well with rules and the 'proper' way of doing things. I love books of essays because you get to skip around and read just what you want, when you want. Well, after I read the introduction, which is actually labeled: "An Invitation", I thought I'd go ahead and read a few pages in and then look around in different places in the book and read whatever looked appealing to me. Well, I guess I got sucked into reading it in chronological order because the 'invitation' was so non-demanding that I couldn't help but keep reading it in order!

Once again, as happens so often with me, the right book at the precise time I needed it. Sometimes it's almost scary how that seems to work out. I recently (the same day I got this book!)was faced with making a decision about something that was pretty important to me. I was struggling with how to pick the right one, because isn't that what we all really want when faced with big decisions -To choose the right one? The second chapter is "Be True to All Your Choices" I LOVED that one as it made me feel confident and reassured in the decision I had made. Then, I just kept reading and trying to absorb all the healthy inspiration I just came across.

The nice thing is that you can dive in anywhere in the book and get a lot of great advice no matter what you're reading about. The chapters (essays) are only a couple of pages each. The point is made in a pleasant short and sweet style. There are quotes and references from many inspiring philosophical sources throughout the book.

I very much enjoyed this book and highly recommend it! Really great gift idea!

Really enjoyed this, it is a lovely easy read dealing with a very important topic - what matters most in life ! Smith is a fan of Covey so you might find the references to Covey a bit grating at times, but stick with him. Worth buying for sure !

the author's first book "The 10 natural laws of time and life management" which got a better balance of strategies and tactics.

According to page 66, the primary objective of the book is to help readers close the gap between what they really value and what they are doing, which the author describe as the most excruciating kind of pain. Along such, the author "prescribed" : "Burn it into memory. Wake up each morning and ask yourself, "What am I going to do today to close the gap between what I am doing and what really matters most to me?"" In my opinion, the author had been very successful in achieving his goal. This is a very enjoyable book under the author's very good writing skill. I might have rated it a five star if I had not read "The 10 natural laws" before this.

Below please find some passages I love for your reference. Hope you can have a better grasp of the strengths of this book.

Page 64: Why New Year Resolutions don't work? Part of the problem is that we have the cart before the horse. We think that by simply setting out a few vague goals, behavior changes will miraculously happen. Setting goals is important and necessary, but it's not the place to begin. My suggestion is that you delay writing resolutions until you have identified your governing values, those things in life that matter most to you, those things without which you would find life meaningless or unfulfilling, those things that lie at heart of who you are and who you hope to become.

Pg 150: The most effective tool I have discovered in whipping the demons is to have regular victories in my life every single day. When you do something right, take a moment and savor the feeling. Even a little victory does wonders for your confidence and motivation. Make a conscious effort to successfully complete some task each day related to something that really matters to you. That'll help keep the demons at bay.

Pg 151: There are many types of diseases that afflict the human body, and we spend millions and perhaps billions of dollars trying to find cures. But there is one disease of epidemic proportions in our society on which we spend little or no money or effort - the crippling disease called fear of failure.

Pg 153: There is a wonderful story about a very successful entrepreneur who was asked why he was so successful. His response was "Good decisions." The second question was "Well, how do you make good decisions?" The response,: "Experience." And then the final question: "How do you get experience?" And the response:"Bad decisions."

If you are already familiar with the other books written by Hyrum W. Smith, you will know that his words inspire confidence and encourage people to find greater meaning in life. This book is similar and will help readers discover their values as well as their goals. The two are inseparable and the author shows how and why. Establishing a mission statement is recommended to encapsulate aims and aspirations. There are wonderful exercises that develop self-understanding and to assess what the author calls "governing values".

Smith is a clever writer, creating short and catchy phrases to get his meaning across and to make it memorable. "Be yourself, but be that perfectly" is the theme of this book and that phrase itself could be meditated upon for a while. There are many of these short and snappy expressions in the book, which highlights the author's ability to take an issue and whittle it down to bite-sized pieces. That's so important in a book like this. After all, the reader will want to take something significant from these pages, and Smith recognizes that and even helps to make by making these principles clear and concise.

There is a genuine emotional appeal here, as he discusses the real fears of failure and change. He has many anecdotes that make his ideas come alive. It's obvious that he understands the path to success and is really reaching out his hand for the reader to come along. At times though, he attitude seems a bit condescending and even smug, but that may be because it's the printed word. He is a sought-after motivational speaker and these same ideas are presented to audiences with outstanding results.

He expounds on the idea of acting perfectly and describes it as the feeling we have when we act within our moral values. This is an exciting concept and most readers will nod their heads in agreement. Basically, the book rests on exploring ways to verbalize and recognize these values, and then incorporating them into every aspect of our lifestyles. When a person's values are allowed to set their course, they will understand their life's work and actually enjoy it.

Smith knows how to connect with people and his discussion of hero qualities is excellent. He demonstrates how each person is unique, filled with certain traits and qualities that give them their own brand of personal magnetism. This is like a breath of fresh air. Every reader will go away from this book knowing they are special and are made for something important.

The author is also to be applauded for recognizing the agony of deferred dreams. Instead of just glossing over this lament, he urges everyone to start right now--today. We can stop the loss of time by grabbing hold of these principles and putting them into effect now. There is hope on every page and the emphasis is on renewing character and developing integrity. Change comes from within, but first the author shows how to start it happening.

Readers who want a new beginning in their lives will love this book. Smith tells us how to take control of our lives by first finding out its true meaning. Once we are set on a course that is steered by our values, the only way to go is up!

Raymond Le Blanc: psychologist & economist
Author: Achieving Objectives Made Easy! Practical goal setting tools & proven time management techniques

This is one of the most powerful and useful books on identifying my core values. The stories relayed and examples given are on point and very applicable to me and my life. I found myself tabbing several pages with quotes or historical references that provided insight into my values and how I want to live my life.

If you are searching for a set of rules to get your life on track this is a highly advisable read. He talks about the affects of roles, missions, and values on how we make decisions about who we are and identifying who we want to become. It is a very COMMEN sense book which does have a lot of what's already been said alot of other times, but is still well worth reading.