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Showing posts with the label Self-Help

Finding a good baby carrier is like finding a good man...

It takes a lot of time and you have to go through a lot of bad ones. Before I had a baby, I thought the simplest way to figure out what kind of gear I would need was to read reviews on sites like Baby Gear Lab and Baby Center (if only parenting were this simple.) As ergo was consistently named one of the best carriers, I felt fortunate when my sister-in-law re-gifted me her never used ergo carrier. Unfortunately, my baby did not feel the same way. I quickly discovered why the ergo was never used by my sister-in-law. Whenever I put my baby in the ergo, he cried. Not cute little kitten squeals, but full on pterodactyl type shrieks. So desperate was my little one to escape from the ergo that he would arch his back and use his feet to launch himself off of me in some kind of deranged baby suicide attempt. There was nothing ergonomic about the ergo for my baby or I, so we moved onto the baby k’tan. I loved my baby k’tan – it was soft, comfy, easy to put on and oh so cuddly. It rem...

Influence People

Today we continue exploring Dale Carnegie's book How to Win Friends and Influence People.   The first part of this two series post was on How to make friends which you can check out by clicking the link below: How to make friends The other portion of this text is about influencing people.  If you'd like to read all the points that Dale Carnegie suggests, wikipedia does a nice job of laying it out in an easy to read format in the link below. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Win_Friends_and_Influence_People While Mr. Carnegie lists out twelve key points to winning people over to your way of thinking, I'd like hone in on a few of his points that in my opinion are the most important.  I think because these points feel so counterintuitive that it becomes difficult to understand how these points could be valid. Nonetheless, I would like to share my thoughts with you on these few ideas and pair them with a brief anecdotal.  Then you can be the judge and d...

How to make friends

How to make friends and influence by Dale Carnegie is one of the most influential books of all time.  Much like the title suggests, it is a self-help book that provides a mindset and strategies to make friends and influence people.  As an exploration of this text, we are going to do a two-part series on Carnegie's book, with today's post focusing on making friends. I found out about this book when I was reading an interview on Barbara Cocoran.  The founder of the Cocoran Group and current panelist/investor on Shark Tank.  In the interview she mentioned that the last book she had read was the aforementioned text.  She stated that this book was her guide to interacting with people and with making sales. I must admit that even in my own life I have incorporated parts of this book into my interactions.  In addition, as a person who has gone through leadership training programs, I am shocked at how much of his teachings are incorporated into the modern e...

Reach - A new strategy to help you step out of your comfort zone

Reach: A New Strategy to Help You Step Outside Your Comfort Zone by Andy Molinsky is a self-help book that focuses on challenging yourself by doing things that are typically uncomfortable for you.   The book consists mostly of case studies that Mr. Molinsky has compiled about individuals who have been placed in positions where they had to adapt to challenging situations or face harsh consequences such as losing their business, not getting a promotion, and so on.   After a series of case studies, Mr. Molinsky usually offers a brief analysis/summary to encapsulate the heart of the message to the reader so that they can have a few take-aways in their pocket.   The book is an easy read and can be finished in single to a few sittings.   There a few lessons that are taught in this book but ultimately the greatest take-aways are the following. 1)      Do not be afraid of confrontation.   Especially if it will lead to better results.  ...