Creating Your Best Life: The Ultimate Life List Guide

by Caroline Adams Miller MAPP, Michael B. Frisch

Overview

The passion for life lists has spawned an industry that includes thoughtful experts such as Caroline Miller, a life coach and motivational book author, and Dr. Michael Frisch, a positive psychology coach and clinical psychologist at Baylor University. Working together, they have fashioned the most useful, science-based, and up-to-date book on the topic of goal setting and accomplishment.
Creating Your Best Life supplies dozens of interactive exercises and quizzes readers can use to identify their most cherished needs, ambitions, and wishes. The exercises are fun, making the process of self-discovery enjoyable and productive. The authors’ unique “life list coaching” program organizes life lists into 16 key areas that are universally known to make people happy—to help you actually achieve your aspirations. No other life list book offers research-validated information on why certain steps matter in goal accomplishment, or even how goals are connected with any type of life satisfaction.
Readers will feel both educated and inspired to start writing goal-setting lists in order to live their lives more consciously, productively, and happily.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781402776816
Publisher:	Sterling
Publication date:	12/07/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	930,963
File size:	921 KB

About the Author

Caroline Adams Miller, MAPP, is one of the world’s leading experts on the science behind successful goal setting. A Harvard graduate with a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and TEDx speaker, Miller has authored six books, including Getting Grit. She teaches at Wharton Business School’s Executive Education program and has worked with clients around the world, including Morgan Stanley, Lululemon, The Wharton School/UPENN, RE/MAX, Booz Allen, Young Presidents’ Organization, Harvard Law School, and American Bankers Association. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, BBC, NPR, and CNN. To learn more about Caroline Adams Miller, visit carolinemiller.com.
 
Dr. Michael B. Frisch has been a professor, positive psychology coach, and clinical psychologist in Baylor University's Department of Psychology and Neuroscience for more than 20 years. He developed the Quality of Life Inventory or QOLI®, a well-validated measure of life satisfaction.

Table of Contents

Foreword Gary Latham vii

Introduction ix

Part 1 Why Life Lists Matter 1

1 The Royal Road to Happiness and Success 3

2 What's All the Fuss about Happiness, Anyway? 18

3 How Happy Are You? 35

Part 2 Creating Your Best Possible Life List 59

4 Life-Changing Goals 61

5 Creating the List That Works for You 76

6 Willpower: Why You Must Say No Sometimes 96

7 Risks That Pay Off 113

8 The Company You Keep 130

9 Tattoos, License Plates, and Citrusy Scents 149

10 You Gotta Have Grit 174

Part 3 Personalizing Your Goals in Sixteen Life Spheres 187

11 Mission Statements and Morals 189

12 The Holy Grail of Happiness 196

13 Your Body, Mind, and Soul Goals 206

14 Live, Laugh, Love! 215

15 Can Money Buy Happiness? 227

16 The Surroundings That Shape You 238

Part 4 Savoring the Wins 247

17 Celebrating the Wins 249

18 Hitting Speed Bumps 265

Part 5 Life List Exercises and Worksheets 281

Notes 313

Resources 329

Acknowledgments 332

Index 334

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Creating Your Best Life
 
“A classic in goal setting.” —Mehmet C. Oz, MD
 
“Caroline Miller brings together positive psychology research and hands-on exercises into a unique mix, a manual for defining one’s life goals and making strides toward achieving them." —Deepak Chopra
 
“This powerful book brings together the latest scientific research on goal setting and well-being and presents it in an engaging way anyone can follow to create a better life.”—James Pawelski, PhD, Director of Education and Senior Scholar, Positive Psychology Center, University of Pennsylvania

From the Publisher

Miller (psychology, Univ. of Texas, Dallas) and clinical psychologist Frisch pull from psychological theories on goal setting, social cognitive theory, and learned optimism to help readers achieve goals contributing to their quality of life. The authors emphasize the necessity of creating a life list, which sets goals as to where an individual wants to go in life and what he or she wants to leave behind as a legacy. They provide ideas for happiness boosters (e.g., engaging in physical exercise and volunteer work) and willpower boosters (e.g., hiding temptations and getting rid of clutter) as well as numerous life list exercises and work sheets. A particularly realistic chapter covers overcoming hurdles and failures. A+ for the authors' ability to integrate science with a practical application for the general public. One of the best of its kind.

Library Journal