AKA Life Coaching Book Club
Hey there, you’re Phenomenal !!
My name is Michelle Alexander and I am the founder and Managing Director of AKA Life Coaching which is a Transformational Life Coaching, Family support and Early intervention Service for Women. As a child that experience the trauma of my father dying at a young age reading helped me escape my reality and helped me dream of the future. I often dreamt of going to prom , learning to drive during drivers ed classes and spent many evenings dreaming that i lived in the town sweet valley high. Reading is not only comforting but can help us to destress after a long busy day looking after children, love ones and work duties. When was the last time you red a book? If you’re one of countless people who don’t make a habit of reading regularly, you might be missing out. Reading has a significant number of benefits, and here are a few good reads to get you in the mood to start reading again. As many people know one of my favorite things to do is to read. “A reader lives a thousand lives” as the quote goes . Below are some of our book club recommendations. #letsdo this
Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know :
Malcolm Gladwell
Talking to strangers starts by exploring the death of Sandra Bland. A young black woman allegedly hanged herself in a jail cell days after being taken into custody for a minor traffic violation in rural Texas,US.
“Talking to Strangers” made me look at the way we can often do harm by failing to try to understand one another. Malcolm explores the problems we have in society, and the events that led to historic child-abuse scandal’s involving football coach Jerry Sandusky. Malcome also talks about the implication of Mismatching of facial expressions and Biases that we can often have. Which was evident during the trial of Amanda Knox, the suicide of Sylvia Plath, the deceptions of financier Bernie Madoff. Malcolm highlights that we often make a judgement we know how a person is feeling and or thinking by reflecting on their facial expression or there appearance which is not always the case.
Malcolm Gladwell examines pop culture to deconstruct human behaviour ie misinterpretation and the implications of failing to communicate with one another. Malcom explores the human blind spots at the root of tragedies and failures in history. Malcom reports that most human beings “default to truth” ie defaulting to taking strangers word’s for it . Malcom list people like Ana Montes, who was considered one of the CIA’s renowned members before being discovered as a double agent, Larry Nasser, the doctor convicted of sexually abusing young athletes in the U.S Women’s Gymnastics team behind a curtain when there parents where in the room . Talking to Strangers also highlights that strangers often misunderstand each other but this is heightened when it comes to race with often devastating costs.
Read more about Talking to strangers
Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ.
Rebel Ideas :The Power of Diverse Thinking
Matthew Syed :
101 Essays that will change the way you think : Brianna Wiest
The body keeps the score : Mind, brain and Body in the transformation of trauma.
Unlearn : 101 Simple Truths for a better Life
Think and grow rich: Napoleon Hill
Time to think : Listening to ignite the human mind.
Principles :Ray Dalio.
5 Benefits of reading every day
1 : Mental Stimulation :Studies have shown that staying mentally stimulated can slow the progress of (or possibly even prevent) Alzheimer’s and Dementia, since reading keeps your brain active and engaged which prevents it from losing power. 2 : Stress Reduction : No matter how much stress you have at work, in your personal relationships, or countless other issues faced in daily life, it all just slips away when you lose yourself in a great book.
3 : Knowledge : The more knowledge you have, the better-equipped you are to tackle any challenge you’ll ever face.
4 : Improved Focus, Memory and Concentration : Every 5-minutes, the average person will divide their time between work, email’s, zoom, twitter, phone and having conversations this causes our stress levels to increase , and lowers productivity.
5 : Vocabulary and Stronger Analytical Thinking Skills : That ability to analyse details is important when at work and in your personal life. The more you read, the more words you gain exposure to, and they’ll inevitably make their way into your everyday vocabulary.