Motivation Science

Are we living the good life - and what defines good, anyway? Americans today are constructing a completely different framework for success than their parents' generation, using new metrics that TEDWomen speaker and columnist Courtney Martin has termed collectively the "New Better Off".

Inspired by ancient Greek philosophy and traditional Greek village life, and backed by years of research, The OPA! Way offers a breakthrough, practical approach to discovering and reconnecting with the true meaning of our lives and work. Best-selling authors Alex Pattakos and Elaine Dundon, founders of The OPA! Way® and The Meaning Group, share insights, stories, and three core lessons to guide you on your odyssey to meaning.

When it comes to negotiation, there is an ugly double standard. As women, if we make concessions to further a deal, we're viewed as weak. But if we play hardball, we can be seen as overly aggressive - and the strategy backfires. No wonder most women hate negotiating.

More women are running major companies than ever before. While still far too few in number, these female heads of industry are the forerunners of a radical shift in power now underway. During the past few years, women's groups have been coalescing in every major American city. Formidable ladies across professions are convening at unprecedented rates, forming salons, dinner groups, and networking circles, and collaborating to achieve clout and success. A new girls' network is alive and set to hyperdrive.

How to Choose The Right Dog for You! This is a practical guide to guarantee you and your new "man's best friend" enjoy a great life together. What are the basic guidelines and checklists I should follow to make choosing the right dog? I compiled all my research and life experience with dogs, and had one created! Figuring out what dog you want is largely based on you: here's just some of what's inside. Are you ready to have a dog?

Author Johnathan Borschkey brings his biting wit and not-so-common sense to his latest title: Kill Your ISMs. Inside, he examines the result of what happens when you choose to surrender your brain to the people who claim to have a monopoly on the one true thought system for living out the rest of your days. Liberalism, communism, evangelicalism, pacifism, creationism, fascism, environmentalism, conservatism, objectivism - there are far more "one true thought system" out there than you can possibly imagine.

Why are each of us here? Is this our first and last time around? If not, what aspects of our true "selves" will follow present mortal experiences? Such fundamental questions have fascinated philosophers, theologians, and scientists over thousands of years. Cosmic Musings author Professor Larry Bell explores a literal universe of possibilities revealed through his provocatively thoughtful lifelong tour of diverse teachings and theories dating from Aristotle to leading contemporary thought leaders.

Which is more important to New York City's economy, the gleaming corporate office--or the grungy rock club that launches the best new bands? If you said "office," think again. In The Warhol Economy, Elizabeth Currid argues that creative industries like fashion, art, and music drive the economy of New York as much as--if not more than--finance, real estate, and law.

What if you could go back to key points in your life and ask different questions of yourself and others to change where you are today? Speaker, author, and entrepreneur Laura Atchison had it all - a great career, a successful business, ambitious goals, and a loving family - when she realized she was off course. Instead of achieving the life she was meant to live, she had been stuck on autopilot - plodding through the life others wanted her to live.

We all eventually ask ourselves the question, "Am I making a difference?" We want our lives to have meaning. But just as an airline flight attendant will tell you to put your own oxygen mask on before assisting others, getting your own life together is the first step to making a positive impact on the world around you. In this new book, FranklinCovey cofounder Hyrum Smith shows that achieving a meaningful, fulfilling, and impactful life is a straightforward process.

Does the name "Audubon" make you think of birds? If so, then no one would be more surprised than bird man John James Audubon himself, who feared that he would die unknown. Today his name is recognized all around the world, but during his own lifetime he was just another man with a dream that nobody wanted to support. His dream was to publish a series of bird books that featured his lifelike bird sketches, so that all the world could know birds as he did.

People love video games, and that’s not always a foul thing. Whether played on a hand-held device, a computer, or a TV, the games may provide hours of quiet fun. The games may boost PC skills and better eye-hand coordination. One field of study demonstrated that surgeons who play video games perpetrate fewer surgical mistakes than do their non-game-playing counterparts. Do you discover yourself supervising how much time someone in your life or you spends with his Gameboy?

Rodolpho Feijo's Sound Minds: Sound as a Primary Media is a 27 minute philosophical manifesto about the role of sound in human society. While making listeners think, reflect, and open their ears, Rodolpho takes you on a "never heard before" immersive audio experience. Sound Minds: Sound as a Primary Media can be also used as a guide for debates and profound discussions related to media, sound, and philosophy.

The audiobook highlights simple changes that can be easily incorporated into everyday life to reduce the use of energy, chemicals and water, and the waste and pollution that is created. It shows how being green is not only better for the planet, but can also save money and make us happier and healthier.

In What It Takes, Amy Henry, a formidable businesswoman and national star from The Apprentice, shares her experiences, skills, and in-your-face advice for moving up in today's workplace.

Leaving the medical profession, whether through retirement, a planned career change, or one dictated by circumstances can be a difficult transition. There may be opposition from others and from inside themselves. They may be worried about what to do next, and find their expertise and professional status hard to leave behind. Told by Susan Kersley, retired doctor and a life coach, this book helps and motivates doctors who are facing this transition.

The state of working women has been declared, debunked and debated since the days of Rosie the Riveter. The headlines, and the statistics behind them, however, don't tell the whole story. The truth is, many women today are breadwinners; and these breadwinners are struggling. They are caught in a perfect storm of male-dominated culture at work, traditional social norms at home, and outdated schedules in the schools. Mogul, Mom, & Maid takes an honest look at how women are balancing home life and career.

Is Social Security really going bust, and what does that mean to me? If I hire an immigrant, am I hurting a native-born worker? How much can presidents really affect economic outcomes? Why does the stock market go up when employment declines? What's a "living wage?" Why do I feel so squeezed? If you'd like to know the answers to these questions, premier economist Jared Bernstein is here to help.

Are you ready to embrace universal law and live a natural life? If there is one overall message to this book, it is that we must avoid being overwhelmed by life, to realise that there is something larger than us which is willing to shoulder the burdens. If we can live by faith instead of fear, we have found the secret door to success that she speaks of. Scovel Shinn devoted her life to helping people recognize the link between their attitudes and their level of happiness. A relaxed state of expectancy, she taught, is the best mindset for bringing success into your life.

Combining the deft social analysis of Where Good Ideas Come From with the optimistic arguments of Everything Bad Is Good for You, New York Times best-selling author Steven Johnson's Future Perfect makes the case that a new model of political change is on the rise, transforming everything from local governments to classrooms, from protest movements to health care. Johnson paints a compelling portrait of this new political worldview.