I have been excited for this month of reading for probably almost a year! While doing my Happiness Project, I found that knowing myself better was a key success factor which enabled me to get real about what would likely impact my subjective wellbeing as opposed to what I thought shouldmake me happier. So I spent some time figuring out how to build a life better aligned with my own values, interests, and personality. And throughout that process I found that I really wanted to dedicate some time to learning about various personality theories and frameworks. Although I suppose this could have been a theme within that year, I decided to…
What I Read Last Month :: September
Among some of the most influential or impactful books that I have read over the past year or so, I would definitely have to include Laura Vanderkam's 168 Hours which completely changed my perspective on how I manage my time and focus more energy and effort on things that matter or add value and meaning to my life (I've wrote about her a few times here and here). Recently, she wrote a book called Off the Clock, which includes a chapter about investing in your happiness based upon her time use research which showed that people who have high time perception scores (that is, feeling like time is memorable) were…
What I Read Last Month :: August
Usually when I'm traveling I find that I often have more opportunity and time to read. As soon as I board a flight or the train typically I am ready with a book (and yellow highlighter!) in hand and read all throughout the trip unless it's a really long one or I have some work which needs to be done en route. However, since this past month and a half has meant so much travel and being on-the-go, much of my reading time has been limited to onlywhile in flight or in the odd "in between times." So unfortunately I didn’t have as much time as I would have liked…
What I Read Last Month :: July
Why in the world am I not reading more fiction??!?!! I was always an avid reading growing up and of course fiction was my first love, but I guess I've just deprioritized it in my adult life for whatever reason. BIG mistake. Over the past year, I was focused on my happiness project and during it I found it particularly helpful to read books either related to happiness and positive psychology or whatever theme/aspect of life my activities were focused for a particular month. Now that I've wrapped that up, I'll be diving into what I am calling my "Personality Project" next (more details to come obvi), but last month in…
The Benefits of Reading Fiction and Dark Chocolate Paleo Granola
I am definitely what one would call a creature of habit and love my routine oh-so-much. Recently my guided journal provided me with a writing prompt to describe the ideal/perfect morning. And to be honest, as I considered the idea, it didn't look all that much different than business as usual. I'd still get up early (usually between 5-530 AM) surrounded by my little fam and I'd prefer to eat one of my "normal" breakfast foods in my kitchen with a cup of coffee in hand and messy bun atop my head, before I head out to teach and take barre. Initially when I think about these types of questions,…
What I Read Last Month :: June
June marked the last official month of my year long Happiness Project! Time actually does fly and very sincerely, this has been one of the most impactful and biggest learning experiences of my life. I plan to do a full recap of some of the highlights and best outcomes in the near future, but as things are winding down I decided to read all the remaining books on my shelf about happiness in particular. And that included a pile of ones which I have been very excited about, but was saving for the grand finale! Here's what I read throughout the month of June ::
What I Read Last Month :: May
I guess I have always been a nerd. I genuinely loved school and was even always a proponent of a traditional liberal education which includes teaching specific knowledge of specific subjects as opposed to the progressive Montessori style which teaches only abstract skills (although I still continue not to convince many of my friends and family members who insist learning about significant historical dates or the factors that led to a scientific discovery are "pointless in the real world"). However (as you'll soon find out!) I recently read a much better articulated defense of traditional schooling which argued that "a mental skill is not the same as an algorithm -…
What I Read Last Month :: April
Often what I read throughout a given time period follows a particular theme and I have very often over the past year chosen a reading list which matches that month's Happiness Project focus. However in April, although not the focus or even intention, it was clearly all about food and nutrition. Which makes sense because a large proportion of my time the past few weeks was spent developing Whole30 coaching materials. And I don't mind at all since this is one of my favorite topics and it was fun to read some other sources of information and perspectives on health as we get fired up for the Flex in the…
What I Read Last Month :: March
One of the most effective ways of boosting our enjoyment of any activity is to share it with someone else. By telling others about our good news or bringing our friends along to barre with us, or sharing a good meal with someone else, the best things in life are just better when they also involve our loved ones. And so, because I love reading so much, over the past year or so, Jon and I have started to read one book at time together. So far, they have mostly been focused on marriage (current book: Happy Together by Suzann Pileggi Pawelski and James O. Pawelski), but they could technically…
What I Read Last Month :: February
When Jon and I first started dating, a major issue and area of frustration for him was my inability to prioritize. He is exceptional not only at taking a step back, looking at the big picture, and determining what really matters, but also at knowing his own limitations and resources. I find that I struggle a bit on all these points, but the biggest issue for me is actually ACCEPTING that I have limitations and can’t actually do everything all at the same time. But I have gotten immeasurably better over the past year especially. By investing time in knowing myself better, making lists of 100 dreams, remembering what I…
