Books for Success in the New Year - 2009

My wife and I recently decided to read three of the same books during the new year and base some of our resolutions around them.

Generally, I will read 50-75 books throughout the year and browse many others. I have begun to think that reading is a sort of addiction for me and that has not been as enriching and fulfilling as it should be. Yet I find reading to be one of the best ways to enter into the "now".

This The Power of Now is one of the books we will be reading over the year. Actually, we will be reading Practicing the Power of Now. Eckhart Tolle writes about what we are usually missing in life because of our mind's incessant thinking. Instead of living in the now, we worry about the past or future.

If find this to be incredibly true. Our mind spends much of the day worrying about what we should be doing instead of enjoying what we are doing. I suspect there are many reasons for this habit of our mind, and I will explore these issues throughout the year.

On the subject of habits, we will be reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. I actually read this book a few years ago and found it very powerful. I even incorporated some of the ideas into my life, but want to do so in a much fuller way. I've read enough other books in the same vein to know that this really is one of the best.

One indicator of the work this book demands came to me at the end of the chapter about the first habit: practice this habit for 30 days. And that is what I will be doing until January 31st.

The last book my wife and I will be focusing on is Confident Parents, Remarkable Kids by Bonnie Harris. We have found this book to be incredibly insightful, though we are only a few chapters in. Bonnie Harris sets out 8 principles by which to parent. The first one is quite enlightening and powerful: Your child wants to be successful.

This simple principle has already changed my tone of parenting. Though I lose my patience often, I do have hope to greatly decrease these instances by gaining a consistent mindset about what my children need, and being constantly aware that they want to be successful. Don't people of any age just want to be successful?

I hope you new year is great and that you find your own books to explore to their fullest potential this year. Maybe one of the above will provide some inspiration!