End of Summer Reading List
Sadly, summer is almost over, but there is still time to add some books to your summer reading list as you make your transition to the more structured (and busy) days to come. Here are three books that will keep you motivated, efficient, and encouraged as you are growing your yoga business in the frenzied fall.
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondō
Sorting through old t-shirts in the dresser to find something to wear to work, dumping your makeup bag in pursuit of the perfect eyeshadow shade, feverishly searching through that stack of mail on your entryway table to find your car registration that expires tomorrow—chaos at home makes it quite difficult to be productive in your yoga business. Marie Kondo’s organizing book breaks down her radical approach to tidying. Put your hands on everything you own, ask yourself, “Does this [pair of expensive jeans that I never wear, yoga bag that I bought at that fancy yoga festival, NKOTB concert t-shirt, sock missing its mate] spark joy?” If it doesn’t, you thank it for its service and get rid of it. If it does, put your joy-giving item in a place where it’s both visible and accessible. Through this process, Kondo says, you will attain the nirvana of housekeeping and never have to clean again.
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth
It is hard running a yoga business. You wonder if all of the hard work is worth the sacrifices you have had to make. You may even wonder why you bothered to start your business in the first place. Angela Duckworth defines grit as a “combination of passion and perseverance”—coupled to their raw talent. She acknowledges that talent is important, but talent multiplied by grit is what builds skill, and skill multiplied by grit equals achievement. Duckworth believes that talent or genius is innate, but “grit grows.” Although she doesn’t quite enlighten us on anything we already know, she shows how you can develop grit “from the outside in” and “from the inside out” so that on days when we don’t quite feel like persevering we have the tools to stick with it.
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown
We all know that we should say “no” more often, and yet many of us continue to say “yes” to things that we really don’t want to do. Things that initially never seem like they are all that time consuming but eventually we feel overwhelmed and anxious about our ever-growing responsibilities. We live in a world where it’s considered a positive thing to take on more and more, thinking that the end result will be greater success. This is not the case. The idea of Essentialism exposes some of our challenges—we take on way too much, underestimate completion times, and let all of this seep into other precious areas of our lives. This is a must read for those of us who feel overcommitted, overloaded, or overworked so that we can regain control of our health, well-being, and happiness.
Happy end of summer reading!
