Do you want to achieve success in your personal and professional endeavours? The first step is to see a reality where success is possible. Only when we choose to believe we live in a world in which challenges can be overcome, in which our behaviour matters, and in which change is possible can we summon all our drive, energy, and emotional and intellectual resources to make that change possible.

In Before Happiness, Shawn Achor, former Harvard professor, and bestselling author of The Happiness Advantage introduces a groundbreaking new theory about success and human potential.

Achor shows how a positive mindset is the best predictor of motivation, engagement and performance in the workplace and in your personal life and offers five practical, actionable strategies for creating this mindset that will make us more successful at work and at home:

1)Add vantage points – how to select the most valuable reality


2)Map to success – mapping success greatly increases the chance you will get there


3)Finding the X Spot – proven techniques for harnessing your cognitive abilities


4)Boost the signal by cancelling the noise – how to cancel negative noise


5)Positive Inception – how to spread positive reality to others


Backed by science, great stories, and research-based strategies, by the time you finish this book, you will have a complete understanding of exactly how to create a better reality and magnify the volume of happiness and success in your life, and equally important, transfer that positive reality to others.

Aangesien gesinsgeweld tans 'n tema op hierdie webwerf is, wil ek hierdie fliek (wat maande in die kringloop was) sterk aanbeveel. Dit is 'n baie realistiese uitbeelding van die effek wat geweld op 'n gesin kan he, maar ook ontwikkel die storie tot so 'n mate dat Gabriella uiteindelik (met die ondersteuning van die koor waarin sy sing) standpunt inneem en haar en haar kinders beskerm teen haar man. Hierdie verhaal beklemtoon die belangrikheid daarvan dat iemand wat abuse word deur ander ondersteun moet word. Dit dra dikwels daartoe by dat die slagoffer sterk genoeg word om as oorwinnaar uit die stryd te tree. Hierdie fliek gaan egter nie net oor gesinsgeweld nie. Daar is ook ander, kosbare, temas wat As it is in Heaven 'n uitmuntende fliek maak.

Since family violence is one of the themes on this website, I strongly recommend this film (which has been on the circuit for months). It is a very realistic portrayal of the effect that violence can have on a family, but as the plot develops, Gabriella (with the support of the choir in which she sings) eventually takes a stand and protects her children against her husband. This story underlines the importance of someone who is being abused receiving support from others. This often helps the victim to gain enough strength to emerge from the conflict as the victor. The thematic material in this film extends beyond family violence. There are other valuable themes which make As it is in Heaven an outstanding film


OPSOMMING VAN DIE VERHAAL:
The famous international conductor Daniel Daréus has a heart attack with his stressed busy professional life and interrupts his successful career with an early retirement. He decides to return to his hometown in the north of Sweden, from where his mother left when he was a seven year-old sensitive boy bullied by Conny and other school mates, to live a low-paced life. He buys an old school and is invited to participate in the church choir by the local Shepherd Stig, but the reluctant and shy Daniel refuses in the principle. However, he gets involved with the community and feels attracted by Lena, a local woman with a past with the local doctor. His music opens the hearts of the members of the choir, affecting their daily life: the slow Tore has the chance to participate in the choir; Inger, the wife of Stig, releases her repressed sexuality; Gabriella takes an attitude against her abusive and violent husband; the gossiper and frustrated Siv opens her heart against Lena; the fat Holmfrid cries enough against the jokes of the businessman Arne; even Daniel starts loving people and Lena as the love of his life. When they are invited to participate in an important contest in Innsbruck, Daniel finds his music opening the heart of people making his dream come true. - Written byClaudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

SUSAN WEITZMAN
Not to People like Us: Hidden Abuse in Upscale Marriages
Publisher:    Basic Books          
(Synopsis)
How is it possible for a highly educated woman with a career and resources of her own to stay in a marriage with an abusive husband? How can a man be considered a pillar of his community, run a successful business, yet regularly give his wife a black eye? The very nature of these questions proves our unarticulated assumption that domestic violence is restricted to the lower classes. When we do hear stories of high-profile victims, we regard them as exceptional cases and still believe abuse doesn't happen to "people like us". Now Susan Weitzman counters this assumption by exploring a heretofore overlooked population of battered wives -- the well-educated, upper-income women who rarely report abuse and remain trapped by their own silence.

 With keen insight and sensitivity, Weitzman, a psychotherapist and educator, traces common patterns of behavior among this group -- their internal dilemmas and decisions, their dangerous desire to cover up abuse and maintain appearances. She shows how their abusive relationships follow a different course from those in other socioeconomic groups, and how these distinctions have profound implications for understanding the true nature of this behavior. Delving into the stories of these women -- wives of CEOs and attorneys, of physicians and professors, the women often professionals themselves -- Weitzman builds harrowing psychological
profiles of both the abused and the abuser.

From the author of the International Bestseller Authentic Happiness. In this groundbreaking book, one of the world's foremost academic psychologists - and founder of the Positive Psychology movement - offers a new theory on what makes people flourish and how to truly get the most out of life. Flourish is a fascinating evolution of Seligman's thinking, and offers inspiring stories of Positive Psychology in action - innovative schools that add resilience to their curricula; a new theory of success and intelligence; and evidence on how positive physical health can turn medicine on its head. Building on his game-changing work on optimism, motivation and character, Seligman shows us how to flourish and bring well-being into both our personal lives and society as a whole.

Cizelle Louw
Kliniese Sielkundige
24/09/2014