The One About My September Resources and Readings

September 4, 2013 by grace 3 Comments

A key part of Gretchen’s Happiness Project was gaining knowledge through authors who wrote on happiness.  So.  I, too will be taking advantage of an intentional approach to the books I read for the next year of my SP.

I’ve come to really appreciate the role of books in my life for the past 19 yrs.  Which is to say, I didn’t appreciate books until I was nearly an adult and therefore wasted all those precious responsibility-free teen yrs. re-watching Pretty Woman and clubbing.  I digress.

Not only do I delight in being transported to new worlds -ala Harry Potter– but I have this thing for non-fiction, self-helpy, leadershipy type of books -ala The Outliers. If it’s a book telling me how to live more thoughtfully or do something better (pray, clean, lead, market, etc.) I’m probably going to like it.  After that, I can read -no DEVOUR- memoirs of any sort.  (In fact, I’m writing my own!  More on that later).

It only perfect sense for me to bring my huge values for reading, for self-knowledge, for information seeking into my SP.

I created a RESOURCE page to keep an ongoing, updated list of the books involved in and informing my SP.

What I’m Reading in my Planning Month

1. The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun – It’s been at least 9 months since I read the whole thing.  Truthfully, I listened via Audible.  Twice.  Now, I’m quickly reviewing my Audible copy for pertinent details to help me flesh out the next 12 months.  I may splurge the $1.07 for a used Amazon copy.  May I suggest you do to?

2. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity – Confession: This isn’t exactly part of my SP.  I’ve been reading my hard copy AND listening to it via my Audible copy in the last 3 weeks in order to get David Allen’s system hard-wired into my brain.  Mastering the “GTD” system is one of the key resolutions in my SP but I could not wait two months to start because I’ve recently started a new job that I wanted to start fresh with GTD.  Call it pre-SP planning if you will.

3. The Attentive Life: Discerning God’s Presence in All Things – I knew I wanted to start my SP with matters of faith since my faith is the most important thing in my life.  I’ve heard wonderful reviews of this book and the first 18 pages have been beautiful, thought-provoking and challenging.  One of my September resolutions was to have time with the Lord each morning even if it’s brief.  I’m hoping this book will challenge me to consider how to incorporate God’s presence throughout each day.

I will Audible as many of the books as I can.  I listen to books on my morning/evening commute, while I clean, cook and do laundry.  Sometimes, I listen to books or podcasts in the morning while I’m doing makeup and hair until the kids come in with their blatant disregard for appropriate levels of speaking.  Often, after a good Audible week, I’ve realized I’ve listened to over 20 hours of books & podcasts.  If you want to know how I read so much.  Audible.  Seriously.  It’s worth the monthly $14.

I also take advantage of the library since we bring our boys every 3 weeks.  Why pay for a book you can borrow for free?

If it’s a book I MUST have, I order it used and cheap-as-possible on Amazon.

September Resolutions

1. Get up each morning at 6:30am, including weekends to reset my body clock & hopefully help with my insomnia.

2. Go to bed by 10pm, hopefully be asleep by 10:30pm after a lil’ light reading of course. =)

3. Spend time in prayer & Bible study each morning, even if it’s only 5 minutes.  I do this not of out of duty or legalism.  I truly enjoy my morning’s with the Lord and they’ve been a -wonderful- staple in my life for over 18 years now.

4. Plan the rest of my SP!

5.  Read/listen to my September SP books.

So, folks what are you reading?  Do any of you Audible?  What role have books played in your life?

To stability & beyond!

:::: Grace

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