Book Review: Good Morning, Good Life

Good Morning, Good Life Book Synopsis

“Not a morning person? Not a problem! I want you to wake up on your terms and no one else’s.”

Morning routines. We hear about them all the time. We see them on social media feeds and in online videos. We read about them in memoirs and self-improvement books. So, what’s the big deal? What’s so important about what we do every morning?

In Good Morning, Good Life, Amy Schmittauer Landino— the world’s #1 productive lifestyle coach—reveals the truth about mornings and how to create daily rituals that are truly right for you.

Discover how to:

decide on a ‘why’ that will make you want to jump out of bed everyday,
defy the morning missteps that keep you from starting the day on the right foot,
rise for a new day well-rested and prepared for what the day has in store for you,
shine each morning doing what makes you feel like your best version of you (rather than what the rest of the world says to do),
and thrive throughout your journey with some bonus productive lifestyle tips for the rest of your day!
Landino is best known for her work as the award-winning host of AmyTV on YouTube, and as the host of the self-improvement podcast Detail Therapy. Her practical and uplifting coaching approach carries over in Good Morning, Good Life with a lot of customizable tips (and even more personality!)

This is a can’t-miss read for anyone who is ready to go after the life they want!

What I Thought

Ok I’m a huge fan of this book! It’s been a long time since I connected with Amy but ever since having her on my former podcast in May of 2016 I’ve watched what Amy has done in the world. And I’m impressed.

So I picked up this book to do a little research. I’m publishing a planner this year and Amy’s built a lovely little business with her Good Morning, Good Life suite of products and of course I wanted to see how I could offer slightly different value into the world. BUT in the process I got to revamp my entire morning routine.

I read the book in 2 plane rides with my notebook and pen in hand. What I love about each chapter are the questions that make you think before you even start to list out all the things you want to do in your morning routine.

I absolutely loved that she challenged her readers to figure out their why behind wanting to have an impact in the world, figuring out what obstacles to having a great morning routine stand in our way and then just choosing to go for it. I also loved all the snippets from her morning routine and others that have given me ideas on optimizing mine.

With 8 pages full of notes in my notebook, I can’t wait to optimize my morning routine for a good life 🙂

Book Review: Indistractable

9 / 26 / 239 / 13 / 23

Indistractable Book Synopsis

Synopsis on Kobo.com

We are living through a crisis of distraction. Plans get sidetracked, friends are ignored, and work never seems to get done.

Why does it feel like we’re distracting our lives away?

In Indistractable, behavioural designer Nir Eyal reveals the hidden psychology driving you to distraction. Empowering and optimistic, this is the book that will help you design your time, realise your ambitions, and live the life you really want.

What I Thought

I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook while driving back from our cottage after the September long weekend. While I’ve definitely already implemented many of the tips like turning on do not disturb mode, turning off app notifications I still get sucked into social media scrolling.

Some things that I learned were about making internal or external pacts with oneself or friends.

The example that Nir shared gave me an aha moment. He made an internal pact with himself that he would workout every day and if he didn’t he would have to burn a 100-dollar bill. I love that type of motivation! The other external pact example that stuck in my brain was promising to pay a friend 10,000 dollars if he didn’t finish the manuscript for the book by a certain date. I love a good accountability partner that doesn’t actually do anything! LOL

The part that I truly appreciated though was how to create a culture of indistractability for our kids! I highly recommend reading this book for yourself or your family!

Book Review: Hold On To Your Kids

9 / 19 / 239 / 3 / 23

Book Synopsis

Synopsis on Kobo.com

A psychologist with a reputation for penetrating to the heart of complex parenting issues joins forces with a physician and bestselling author to tackle one of the most disturbing and misunderstood trends of our time — peers replacing parents in the lives of our children.

Dr. Neufeld has dubbed this phenomenon peer orientation, which refers to the tendency of children and youth to look to their peers for direction: for a sense of right and wrong, for values, identity and codes of behaviour. But peer orientation undermines family cohesion, poisons the school atmosphere, and fosters an aggressively hostile and sexualized youth culture. It provides a powerful explanation for schoolyard bullying and youth violence; its effects are painfully evident in the context of teenage gangs and criminal activity, in tragedies such as in Littleton, Colorado; Tabor, Alberta and Victoria, B.C. It is an escalating trend that has never been adequately described or contested until Hold On to Your Kids. Once understood, it becomes self-evident — as do the solutions.

Hold On to Your Kids will restore parenting to its natural intuitive basis and the parent-child relationship to its rightful preeminence. The concepts, principles and practical advice contained in Hold On to Your Kids will empower parents to satisfy their children’s inborn need to find direction by turning towards a source of authority, contact and warmth.

What I Thought

So I listened to this book on Audible. And thought it was extremely long to listen to. By Chapter 13 I was craving solutions. I thought the book was quite comprehensive but I also thought it was way too extensive into the problems. If you are like me and don’t want to hear about all the ways that kids are falling apart then skip to Chapter 14 and go from there 🙂

I am, however, highly recommending this book because it gives great advice. Here are my 4 takeaways that we’ve already implemented or will be implementing with our family.

Keep Family Time Sacred
Book Family Vacations
Collect Your Kids
Build A Village Of Parental Figures In Your Kid’s Lives

Book Review: Homeschool by Design

9 / 12 / 239 / 3 / 23

Book Synopsis

Synopsis on Amazon

How would it feel to know exactly how to homeschool? Join homeschooling expert, Monica La Vella, as you embark on a quest to design your homeschool. In this fun and easy-to-read guide through the Sea of Knowledge, you will create a homeschool design that’s a perfect fit for your family. By the end of this book, you’ll: – choose your homeschooling method – be confident in planning your days (or in choosing not to plan your days) – know how to document learning in a fun and carefree way – create a fully designed homeschool that’s right for your family.

What I Thought:

Never in a million years, did I think I was going to be considering homeschooling our twins. But here we are living in a crazy world. Where public schools no longer seem like a safe place for children to be. AND I know that we can teach them beautifully how to navigate this world in a supportive and uplifting environment.

After watching one of my friends Ange Peters shift to homeschooling her children a few years ago I knew I could count on her to share resources. One of her book recommendations was Homeschool by Design by Monica La Vella. I picked it up on Amazon and have been reading it on and off over the summer. I’m in no rush to homeschool the kids. To be honest, we will probably wait to put in a more organized structure (if any) until they are 6 years old. I just knew I wanted to start learning myself sooner rather than later. That way I didn’t feel like I was rushing to set everyone up for success when the time came.

I appreciate the different chapters and the questions that she poses to parents. As we decide on everything from structure or no structure to getting organized to documenting learning and more.

This book will definitely be used as a reference guide when the time comes for us to organize their homeschooling more.

Book Review: Anatomy of the Spirit

9 / 20 / 215 / 12 / 22

Synopsis on Kobo.com

Building on wisdom from Hindu, Christian, and Kaballah traditions, this comprehensive guide to energy healing reveals the hidden stresses, beliefs, and attitudes that cause illness.

Anatomy of the Spirit is the boldest presentation of energy medicine to date, written by one of its premier practitioners, internationally acclaimed medical intuitive Caroline Myss, who is amongst the “hottest new voices in the alternative health/spirituality scene” (Publishers Weekly). Based on fifteen years of research into energy medicine, Dr. Myss’s work shows how every illness corresponds to a pattern of emotional and psychological stresses, beliefs, and attitudes that have influenced corresponding areas of the human body.

Anatomy of the Spirit also presents Dr. Myss’s breakthrough model of the body’s seven centers of spiritual and physical power, in which she synthesizes the ancient wisdom of three spiritual traditions-the Hindu chakras, the Christian sacraments, and the Kabbalah’s Tree of Life-to demonstrate the seven stages through which everyone must pass in the search for higher consciousness and spiritual maturity. With this model, Dr. Myss shows how you can develop your own latent powers of intuition as you simultaneously cultivate your personal power and spiritual growth.

By teaching you to see your body and spirit in a new way, Anatomy of the Spirit provides you with the tools for spiritual maturity and physical wholeness that will change your life.

What I Thought:

I listened to this book on Audible as we drove to the cottage for the September long weekend. It was a 2 hour and 23 min listen so it was perfect for our 5-hour drive!

I really loved that this booked combined Christian teachings which I’m familiar with from my upbringing with Jewish traditions and linked it to the Chakra system which I’ve become fascinated with in my 30s.

I got a lot out of the chapter on the Third Chakra: Personal Power it really made me think about how I view myself and if I truly like myself. The fourth chapter on the Fourth Chakra: Emotional Power made me view forgiving in a brand new light. The principle around how our health is linked to our personal power was fascinating to me. I really like Caroline Myss’s teaching style and I’m excited to dive into more of her teachings.

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