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Habit Change

Name: Habit Change
Author: Jeff Kaplan
ISBN: 978-0990652915

AN EXECUTIVE COACH'S STEPY-BY-STEP GUIDE TO DEFEATING UNWANTED BEHAVIORS

by Jeff Kaplan ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 23, 2015

Slim but still helpful behavioral guide.

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In this debut self-help guide, an executive coach explains how to shed bad habits in personal and professional life.

For Kaplan, who holds a doctorate in psychology, having willpower is not the answer, as it won’t lead to sustainable habit change. Instead, he says, one must undergo what he calls a “waking-up process,” consisting of mindfulness exercises that include taking a “habit inventory” to become more fully aware of subconscious behaviors, such as grimacing whenever a problematic colleague appears. He then outlines various steps to prepare for successful habit change, including setting what he terms “R.E.A.L” goals—realistic, evaluative (measured results), action-oriented, and time-limited. He discusses common barriers to change—e.g., value conflicts, such as how a family tradition of bonding over food may compete with a desire to maintain a healthy weight—and offers tips to overcome such obstacles: for instance, after overeating at a family dinner, take a walk to burn extra calories. Kaplan also recommends daily meditation and, crucially, developing a “three-question mantra,” by which to consider—and thus become more accountable to—one’s ongoing choices and actions. Kaplan wraps up by noting that his book touches on the same “inside secrets” featured in a 126-hour coach training program he co-developed; he also provides a link to his coaching website. While one aim of Kaplan’s brief book is surely to serve as promotional material for his consulting services, there are also some useful and practical exercises. More client examples would have been welcome, but Kaplan nevertheless offers down-to-earth suggestions for the professional and personal realms, including reducing your nighttime TV viewing if your habit goal is to get to bed earlier. His guide could be a solid quick-start manual to helping readers start to recognize and ultimately change some fundamentally self-defeating behaviors.

Slim but still helpful behavioral guide.

Pub Date: April 23, 2015

ISBN: 978-0990652915

Page Count: 76

Publisher: IGW

Review Posted Online: June 18, 2015

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.