March 2023 MBR The Self-Help Shelf

The Self-Help Shelf

Your Best Life
Mike X
X-Up Press
https://www.x-up.press
9798985804300, $28.00, HC, 400pp

https://www.amazon.com/Your-Best-Life-Fulfillment-Abundance/dp/B0BSMQM57T

Synopsis: Thirty years after Tony Robbins released "Awaken the Giant Within", with the publication of "Your Best Life: Tactics, Tools and Insights to Create a Life of Fulfillment, Joy and Abundance" by Mike X brings us what may be the only other book to deliver as much life-changing advice and insight as Robbins' original tome.

"Your Best Life" will change how you think about every aspect of your life. You'll upend your priorities, rethink your daily habits and find endless new ways to enjoy every moment of every day. "Your Best Life" is a singularly impressive combination of motivational instruction and 'how-to' manual that is as fun to read as it is life transformative.

Critique: A compendium of 'real world' information, with, wisdom, and insight, "Your Best Life: Tactics, Tools and Insights to Create a Life of Fulfillment, Joy and Abundance" is exceptionally well written, organized and presented. Of special note is the 'How To Use This Book' introduction. Simply stated, "Your Best Life" is especially recommended for personal and community/academic Self-Help/Self-Improvement collections and reading lists.

Editorial Note: In a previous career (before dedicating himself to personal development) Michael X. Franzini, writing as Mike X, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_X) was a multi-Emmy winning television director. He created arresting 30-second TV commercials to promote a wide range of worthy causes, from HIV prevention to education reform. He worked closely on projects with Al Gore, Bill & Melinda Gates, Oprah, Elton John, Magic Johnson and countless captains of industry. The skill he honed across those decades of work was that of converting dense, complicated, often boring subject matter into a form that grabs people's attention and makes it fun to consume. "Your Best Life" represents the combination of that skill with years of in-depth research directed at identifying the keys to living a life that is truly extraordinary.

Grittitude: Choose Your Own Life Story
Kay Woodburn, author
Jacqui Flavell, author
Authors & Co.
https://authorsandco.pub
9781915771032, HC, $22.99, 242pp

https://www.amazon.com/Grittitude-Kay-Woodburn/dp/191577103X

Synopsis: Is the story of your life an adventure, a thriller, a romantic comedy or a tragedy? Are you living a life of choice? When did you last stop and ask yourself challenging questions? Have you been avoiding your own cold, hard truths?

If the answer to any of these questions is Yes, then "Grittitude: Choose Your Own Lif Story" by co-authors Kay Woodburn and Jacqui Flavell offers you a unique opportunity to explore these and other questions you may never have considered.

Critique: Reading what Kay and Jacqui have published is like chatting with friends over a cup of tea, while getting the benefit of a combined fifty years' experience in transforming people's lives. A compendium of sound advice, informative insight, motivational inspiration, and thoroughly 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation, "Grittitude: Choose Your Own Life Story" is especially and unreservedly recommended for community library Self-Help/Self-Improvement collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Grittitude" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9781915771025, $12.95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $1.14).

Editorial Note #1: Kay Woodburn is the Managing Director at Gritty People and Gritty People Athletes. She currently resides in Frodsham, England.

Editorial Note #2: Jacqui Flavell (https://www.2ndcupoftea.co.uk) is an International Coaching Federation PCC Coach, a Master Practitioner NLP, Timeline Therapy, and Hypnotherapy, NVQ Level 3 in Management, Learning & Development, a Mindfulness Association Practitioner, and a Strengthscope Practitioner.

Soul Center
Jennifer Rurka
https://www.jenniferrurka.com
White Mud Publishing
9781778285837, $14.99, PB, 241pp

https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Center-Through-Control-Emotions/dp/177828583X

Synopsis: Do you feel overwhelmed and exhausted by mental chatter? Are you wobbling back and forth from one emotional extreme to another, attempting to find balance in your life? You may be asleep to past traumas, perhaps from childhood, which still have the power to cause pain that overrides and controls you.

With the publication of "Soul Center: The See It Through Method to Take Control of Your Emotions, Heal Your Past, and Live a Soulful Life", perception facilitator and yoga instructor Jennifer Rurka explores how to connect your inner world to your outer experience and examines how the past programs us. She uses the soul, psychology, and events from her life to describe how healing and transformation can take place in anyone who is genuinely open to personal growth.

"Soul Center" reveals: Steps to use the SIT (See It Through) processes, beginning by writing down your issue in one sentence; The difference between reality and "reelality" -- a movie state of mind; Rurka's philosophy about where the seven major chakras reside in the body and how they work (e.g., the heart chakra is in the chest and connects to love, relationships, and self-acceptance); Ways to use meditation as a tool -- specifically, how to listen; The effects inflamed thinking has on the body, like bloating and other gut issues.

Critique: "Soul Center: The See It Through Method to Take Control of Your Emotions, Heal Your Past, and Live a Soulful Life" is particularly recommended to the attention of non-specialist general readers needing to drive out the negative thoughts, beliefs, and emotions that create fear and anxiety -- and to instead, delve into the inner workings of what's holding them back in life, develop habits for lasting change, and begin understanding themselves from a new and insightful perspective. While also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99), "Soul Center" is a truly exceptional and recommended addition to personal, professional, and community library Self-Help/Self-Improvement collections and reading lists.

Editorial Note: Jennifer Rurka (https://www.jenniferrurka.com) is a yoga instructor and energy facilitator. She enjoys working one-on-one with clients and wants to help them find freedom from their pasts and the strength to move forward. In Soul Center, Jennifer shares her life experiences and the tools she used to overcome the buried trauma driving her emotions, thoughts, and behaviors.

Brave Boundaries
Sasha Shillcutt, MD
Health Communications, Inc.
301 Crawford Blvd, Suite 200, Boca Raton FL 33432
https://hcibooks.com
9780757324192, $16.95, PB, 224pp

https://www.amazon.com/Brave-Boundaries-Strategies-Control-Empowered/dp/0757324193

Synopsis: No matter how educated they are or how far they have climbed up the ladder, women are taught one thing over and over at every stage of their lives: when someone asks you for help, you say yes. Women are supposed to agree to take on whatever is asked of them, regardless of how busy they are. No matter how much a woman deeply desires to say no, the societal expectation is that women are helpers - taught to fix problems, show up at all times, and not let people down. They are instructed to never say no to tasks or duties asked of them, even when they are drowning in work and barely hanging on by a thread. Rather than say no, they often become avoiders and lose opportunities for personal growth. This leads to feelings of immense failure, inauthenticity, and burnout.

Dr. Sasha Shillcutt has known this feeling, too, but now she understands and shows women there is another way. Having coached thousands of professional women and business leaders in her classes and conferences, she knows that setting boundaries is the essential lesson that they need to learn in order to avoid burnout and a loss of themselves in their incessant drive to please and say yes. In her special down-to-earth way, Sasha will show readers how to erect fences that protect their physical and mental health while providing opportunities for joy and growth. Readers will learn that boundaries are kind, not restrictive, and being a person with boundaries is the most empowering and peaceful way to live. They will learn to say no to others and say yes to themselves.

Critique: An essential and 'real world practical' instructional DIY guide for women on how to set strong, workable boundaries to safeguard their health, happiness, and wellbeing, "Brave Boundaries: Strategies to Say No, Stand Strong, and Take Control of Your Time: The Key to Living Empowered" is exceptionally well written and thoroughly 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation. Informatively enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of a two page listing of Resources, a two page listing of Recommended Reading, and a six page References and Bibliography section. While also available for personal reading lists in a digital book format (Kindle, $12.99), "Brave Boundaries" is a strongly recommended addition to community library Motivational Self-Help/Self-Improvement collections.

Editorial Note: Sasha Shillcutt, MD (https://womenasone.org/resources/shillcutt) is a tenured professor of anesthesiology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska. She is a gender-equity researcher, award-winning clinician, professional coach, and speaker. In 2016, she launched her organization Brave Enough, where she leads a community of thousands of women. She teaches women how to have work-life control through coaching, courses and conferences. Her passion is empowering women to be brave enough in their professional and personal lives to set boundaries. She speaks often at conferences, workshops, and retreats, including her annual conference for women's leadership and wellbeing on the topics of career burnout, boundaries, and developing resilient leaders. In 2016, Sasha was awarded the national American Medical Association's Women Physician's Inspiring Physician Award by her peers.

We Are All Addicts
Carder Stout, PhD
Viva Editions
http://vivaeditions.com
9781632280817, $16.95 PB / $9.99 Kindle, 188pp

https://www.amazon.com/We-Are-All-Addicts-Compulsions/dp/1632280817

Synopsis: Expert therapist Dr. Carder Stout believes that the soul's authentic voice has the ability to heal addictive cycles and completely remove them from the psyche. The soul is pure consciousness untethered from human experience, and Dr. Stout has maintained sobriety for seventeen years by utilizing this untapped resource. In turn, he has successfully treated numerous clients for addiction and other mental health conditions using the same technique. It is with this expertise, he breaks down his theory of "We Are All Addicts" in a compellingly readable guide.

With the publication of "We Are All Addicts: The Soul's Guide to Kicking Your Compulsions", Dr. Stout deftly presents a spiritual approach to ridding the mind of the complex problems created by addiction. These solutions to obsessive thinking and compulsive behaviors are unconventional, and have previously been shared exclusively with his patients in therapy -- until now!

Through exercises, meditations, visualizations and writing, Dr. Stout will demonstrate how to connect deeply to your soul. Readers will not only gain an understanding of the addiction holding them back, but how to overcome it through self-honesty and self-love.

Critique: Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, "We Are All Addicts: The Soul's Guide to Kicking Your Compulsions" is both a practical and a spiritual self-help guide to liberating oneself from destructive and addictive patterns. Exercises, meditations, visualizations and more are presented as therapeutic tools. An excellent guide emphasizing the importance of being honest with oneself and loving oneself, "We Are All Addicts" is highly recommended. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "We Are All Addicts" is also available in a Kindle edition.

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