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Cover image for Life balance : how to convert professional success into personal happiness : powerful techniques for the successful practitioner
Title:
Life balance : how to convert professional success into personal happiness : powerful techniques for the successful practitioner
Personal Author:
Series:
The ultimate consultant series
Publication Information:
San Francisco, CA : Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, 2003
ISBN:
9780787955090

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30000010144573 HF5548.8 W444 2003 Open Access Book Book
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Summary

Summary

A popular aphorism suggests that in the end, no one ever regretted not spending more time in the office. Yet during our lives and careers we often seem to confuse our priorities, shifting our focus so that we end up with clients whom we know extremely well and families who are de facto strangers. In this book, widely renowned consultant Alan Weiss-cited as "a worldwide expert in executive education" in Success Magazine --tells how to blend life, work, and relationships in a way that will help anyone to work smarter and live better.

Weiss draws on scores of interviews and vignettes with highly successful consultants to offer nontheoretical, pragmatic advice on living a balanced life, including how to:

Work smart and not hard Have time to fulfill your passions Build on success, not on correcting weakness Give yourself short- and long-term personal rewards Take risks and reinvent yourself (again and again) Play to win-- but ignore the score and reward the effort Influence others while surrendering the need to control Visualize the future


Author Notes

Alan Weiss, Ph.D., is president of Summit Consulting Group, former vice president of the international training firm Kepner-Tregoe, and a star on the speakers circuit. He is the author of more than 400 articles and ten books, which include Best Laid Plans, Money Talks, Our Emperors Have No Clothes, and Million-Dollar Consulting. Dr. Weiss resides in East Greenwich, Rhode Island.

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Table of Contents

Introductionp. xiii
Acknowledgmentsp. xv
Part 1 Balance at Work
Chapter 1 Identify with Contribution Not Task: It's Not Where You Start, but Where You Finishp. 3
The Input/Output Rulep. 5
We Build Our Houses; They Shouldn't Build Usp. 9
Prisoners of "Deliverables"p. 13
The Strategic vs. the Tacticalp. 20
Alan's Ultimate Lessonsp. 24
Chapter 2 Leverage--Archimedes Was Right: There's a Reason Why the "Big Eight" Have Slimmed Downp. 25
Reducing Work to Occam's Razorp. 26
Working Smart and Not Hardp. 30
Beyond Perfectionp. 32
How to Have More Time than You Needp. 36
Four Choices for Actionp. 42
Alan's Ultimate Lessonsp. 45
Chapter 3 Innovation and Risk: We're Here to Make Waves, Not to Stick Our Toes in the Waterp. 47
The Willingness, Not Merely the Freedom, to Failp. 48
Testing the Envelopep. 53
Mid-Flight Testp. 55
Reinventing Yourself (Repeatedly)p. 58
Building on Success, Not Correcting Weaknessp. 62
Alan's Ultimate Lessonsp. 66
Part 2 Balance at Rest
Chapter 4 There Is Nothing Wrong with Playing to Win: If Winning Doesn't Matter, Why Does Anyone Bother to Keep Score?p. 71
How You Play the Game May Not Be Enoughp. 72
Creating Personal Challengesp. 77
The Rational Child Within Us All (Even the Big Shots)p. 82
Freeing the Rational Childp. 85
How to Ignore the Score and Reward the Effortp. 86
Alan's Ultimate Lessonsp. 90
Chapter 5 If You Don't Reward Yourself, You Reward No One: It's Hard to Lead from the Rearp. 91
Tithe to Yourselfp. 92
Short-Term and Long-Term Personal Rewardsp. 98
Instantiating Your Dreamsp. 101
When You Wish upon a Star (Making Dreams Come True)p. 104
Daily, Small Victoriesp. 106
Alan's Ultimate Lessonsp. 112
Chapter 6 How Stress Can Help You: No One Moves at All Without a Sense of Urgencyp. 113
Constructively Piling It Onp. 114
Working It Offp. 119
Alan's Formula for Working Off Stressp. 121
"Anchor" Positions (Your Stake in the Ground)p. 122
Changing Tomorrowp. 128
Alan's Ultimate Lessonsp. 133
Part 3 Balance in Relationships
Chapter 7 The Other Person's Self-Interest: May I Please See Your Vacation Slides?p. 137
Influencing Others Is an Art Formp. 138
Intelligent Tradeoffsp. 142
Avoiding Generalizing Specificsp. 148
Surrendering the Need to Controlp. 152
Alan's Ultimate Lessonsp. 157
Chapter 8 Communicating in the Light of Day: I Don't Believe You Might Have Heard What I Perceived I Thought I Meantp. 159
Honesty and Authenticityp. 160
Meta-Talkp. 163
Cause vs. Blamep. 168
Selective Openness and Receptivityp. 173
Alan's Ultimate Lessonsp. 179
Part 4 Synthesis
Chapter 9 Self-Possession and Control of One's Fate: Was Maslow Wrong All Along?p. 183
The Invidious Nature of Guiltp. 185
The Courage to Stand Alonep. 189
The Fallacy of Perception (It's Not Reality)p. 192
The Platinum Asset: Intellectual Breadthp. 198
Alan's Ultimate Lessonsp. 202
Chapter 10 Essays on Life Balance: Periodic Refreshment and Reinforcement for a Better Lifep. 203
Guiltp. 203
Zestp. 204
Fear of Ambiguityp. 206
Zealotryp. 207
Irrationalityp. 208
Egocentricityp. 210
Self-Effacementp. 211
Contextp. 212
Solitudep. 213
Culpabilityp. 215
Freedom from Failurep. 216
Conspiraciesp. 218
Trustp. 219
Not Giving Upp. 221
Bad Days and Goodp. 223
Appendix 150 Techniques for Balancep. 225
Indexp. 247
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