Cultivating beneficial attitudes

I love fall. The leaves' turning red and the schoolkids' lining up at the bus stop are signs of renewal to me. It's a good time to look at personal and professional goals. The following books will help you think about your next steps -- at work or home.
"It's Your Move: Dealing Yourself the Best Cards in Life and Work," by Cyndi Maxey and Jill Bremer, Financial Times Prentice Hall, 2003, $22.95.
The authors, both professional speakers, have structured their motivational lessons about goal-setting around a fantasy card game. Each "hand," consisting of two or more cards, focuses on a self-improvement topic such as learning, attitude and listening. The cards themselves are action steps to take in completing each chapter.
Although I'm not wild about the extended metaphor, I will say that it's done very well. The authors are consistent in its use, and if you like games, you will probably enjoy the pretense.
I like this book for its content, not its gimmick. Maxey and Bremer are two of the most optimistic yet practical authors I've had the pleasure to read in the field of career development. From the first paragraph of the introduction, they had me hooked: "There's nothing more stimulating than change, and this book is about making positive changes in your life and work."
If this sentence doesn't strike you as earth-shattering, think about how many changes in your life you have greeted with a frown. As a culture, I'm afraid we have slipped into complaint mode when it comes to the challenges we face in our ever-changing world. These authors advise you to set goals and prepare for the changes, and they give you steps to do that.
Wholeheartedness
"Vital Truths: The Secret to Living and Leading Wholeheartedly," by Bruce Roselle, Ph.D., 2002, $19.95.
A more contemplative author, Roselle is a Minneapolis-St. Paul-based corporate psychologist with two decades of experience in workplace counseling. His book is based on seven principles, or vital truths, that he relies on in his own life and in his work.
At the core of the vital truths is Roselle's concept of "wholeheartedness," or the practice of carrying the same values into every aspect of our lives.
In his view, the reason many of us struggle with balance between our work and our home lives is that we are different people in these different settings. By recalibrating our priorities and actions against the seven vital truths, we can begin to bring consistency to our interactions and live more fully according to our values.
This slim book is clear and concise, filled with examples from Roselle's life and the lives of his clients. My favorite chapter revolves around the third vital truth: "Focus on the beauty that remains." Roselle describes a period of burnout in his life and his painstaking effort to remember the practice of thankfulness for even the smallest pleasures.
Through this discipline he was able to eventually refocus his perspective and reawaken his joy.
As he advises in this chapter: "If you long to have a job where you love the company and your co-workers, start by focusing on the ways you are thankful for them. Start by believing and acting as if people around you are worthy of your thanks, then notice how your positive attitude affects their behavior."
Dalai Lama's advice
"The Art of Happiness at Work," by the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler, M.D., Riverhead Books, 2003, $24.95.
Hmm -- a book on the workplace by a man who doesn't have a workplace. It would be easy to dismiss the book on this premise alone, but sometimes the best insights come from people outside the system they are discussing.
This book was actually written by Cutler, who used an interview-and-conversation process with the Dalai Lama to capture his views on key topics of interest to workers: the struggle to advance in a career, the question of calling and the desire to use work to serve a higher purpose.
To get the most from this book, buy it and underline passages that strike you. Read it from cover to cover, like a novel, and you will begin to absorb the fundamental philosophy underlying the Dalai Lama's answers to each question. Some will strike you as common sense, others as a startling reversal on problems you have thought unsolvable. Enjoy.
XAmy Lindgren, the owner of a career-consulting firm in St. Paul, Minn., can be reached at alindgren@pioneerpress.com.