Mental Makeover

Here are a few books to help keep those well-intended New Years resolutions.

 

The Life-Changing
Magic of Tidying Up:

The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing

By Marie Kondo

When she was only 5 years old, Marie Kondo spent hours poring over home and lifestyle magazines. She helped her mom keep their home tidy and would sneak into her siblings’ rooms to toss unused toys. Growing up in Japan where space is at a minimum and feng shui is common practice, it made sense that Marie’s passion for order would develop into her craft. She developed her own technique for organization—the KonMari Method—and became a highly sought after cleaning consultant with a three-month client waitlist. At the urging of her patiently waiting clients, she wrote a book on her method, and almost overnight KonMari became an international phenomenon. The core of KonMari is simple: only keep that which sparks joy. Kondo’s global fan base swears by her method, crediting her with a myriad of residual benefits, from stress relief to encouraging major life changes. 

 

The Brain Fog Fix: 

Reclaim Your Focus, Memory, and Joy in Just 3 Weeks

By Dr. Mike Dow

Our modernized, digitized, overstimulated lives have made us all consummate multitaskers. Yes, it’s incredible that we can simultaneously stream a playoff game, FaceTime with mom, check stock prices, bid on concert tickets and order takeout, all while walking our dog, sitting in traffic or standing on our head. But what is all of this multitasking doing to our psyche? Dr. Mike Dow’s new book lays out a three-week plan to naturally restore and rebalance three essential chemicals in the brain: serotonin, dopamine and cortisol. By rebalancing these three chemicals, Dow asserts that the rest of the brain’s chemistry can function optimally, providing clarity, sharper memory and enhanced creativity. The steps in his plan are incremental and achievable and, according to Dow, can leave you feeling more optimistic, calm, energized and inspired. 

 

Year of Yes:

How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person

By Shonda Rhimes

She’s the genius behind some of today’s most successful television shows including Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder, and Grey’s Anatomy, and she’s the creator of dynamic, iconic characters like Olivia Pope and Meredith Grey. So it may be hard to imagine that Shonda Rhimes, the woman who essentially owns Thursday night television, is actually a self-proclaimed introvert. Her success and fame brought her enviable opportunities—including invitations to the most coveted events and offers to appear on talk shows and speak at commencements. Yet her paralyzing fear of social interaction and potential public humiliation led her to always decline. On Thanksgiving 2013 her sister told her, “You never say ‘yes’ to anything.” The comment stung but had the desired effect. Shonda embarked on a year of saying “yes” to everything she feared. In her candid memoir, she poignantly recounts her year of challenging herself to step out of her reclusive comfort zone, confront her fears, embrace her blessed life and fully enjoy her day in the sun … all by simply uttering the word “yes.”

 

 

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