Jeff Benedict has seen both good and bad in his career as a journalist. Some of the best are the extraordinary people he has met who have made deliberate choices to live happier lives despite the extreme hardship that each of them have faced. Although life will knock us down from time to time, this book is an important reminder that we all can make a choice to get back up, brush ourselves off, and keep pressing forward. Replace anger with forgiveness through studying the real-life examples of seven inspiring mentors. Avoid discouragement by purposefully recognizing God's hand in your life. Diminish the heartache from tragedy through the concentrated act of serving others. Gain insights from parents who were deliberate in safeguarding their children against harmful influences. Stand strong through life's adversity through the examples of powerful prayer.

A New York Times Bestseller! An extraordinary look at what it means to grow old and a heartening guide to well-being, Happiness Is a Choice You Make weaves together the stories and wisdom of six New Yorkers who number among the “oldest old”— those eighty-five and up. In 2015, when the award-winning journalist John Leland set out on behalf of The New York Times to meet members of America’s fastest-growing age group, he anticipated learning of challenges, of loneliness, and of the deterioration of body, mind, and quality of life. But the elders he met took him in an entirely different direction. Despite disparate backgrounds and circumstances, they each lived with a surprising lightness and contentment. The reality Leland encountered upended contemporary notions of aging, revealing the late stages of life as unexpectedly rich and the elderly as incomparably wise. Happiness Is a Choice You Make is an enduring collection of lessons that emphasizes, above all, the extraordinary influence we wield over the quality of our lives. With humility, heart, and wit, Leland has crafted a sophisticated and necessary reflection on how to “live better”—informed by those who have mastered the art.

Whether we're buying a pair of jeans, ordering a cup of coffee, selecting a long-distance carrier, applying to college, choosing a doctor, or setting up a 401(k), everyday decisions—both big and small—have become increasingly complex due to the overwhelming abundance of choice with which we are presented. As Americans, we assume that more choice means better options and greater satisfaction. But beware of excessive choice: choice overload can make you question the decisions you make before you even make them, it can set you up for unrealistically high expectations, and it can make you blame yourself for any and all failures. In the long run, this can lead to decision-making paralysis, anxiety, and perpetual stress. And, in a culture that tells us that there is no excuse for falling short of perfection when your options are limitless, too much choice can lead to clinical depression. In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz explains at what point choice—the hallmark of individual freedom and self-determination that we so cherish—becomes detrimental to our psychological and emotional well-being. In accessible, engaging, and anecdotal prose, Schwartz shows how the dramatic explosion in choice—from the mundane to the profound challenges of balancing career, family, and individual needs—has paradoxically become a problem instead of a solution. Schwartz also shows how our obsession with choice encourages us to seek that which makes us feel worse. By synthesizing current research in the social sciences, Schwartz makes the counter intuitive case that eliminating choices can greatly reduce the stress, anxiety, and busyness of our lives. He offers eleven practical steps on how to limit choices to a manageable number, have the discipline to focus on those that are important and ignore the rest, and ultimately derive greater satisfaction from the choices you have to make.

Praise for Make The Right Choice "Enjoying what you do is a must if one is to be truly successful in life. This book details with humor and ingenuity the essential elements of building an enjoyable and productive career." -Nido Qubein, President High Point University and Chairman, Great Harvest Bread Co. "Make the Right Choice is a combination of fun, passion, and happiness-a group of honest suggestions that all will find interesting and valuable. In his book and presentations, Zeff provides 'ta-da!' moments that bring smiles and laughter to all. By choosing Make the Right Choice you will reinvigorate your style and work teams." -Michael Perry, President Sonic Restaurants Inc. "Zeff is the first person we call when we need a presenter that will motivate and energize a meeting while delivering significant business-minded messages. He always comes up with the most creative and fun ideas to bond everyone in the room. In Make the Right Choice, he uses that same fun and creativity to give us valuable lessons which apply to our professional and personal lives." -Kimberly Cutchall, Executive Vice President Clear Channel Radio "Zeff is one of the funniest people I know. In this refreshing book, he reminds us of the importance of making the right choice in both business and in life." -Vince Poscente, author The Age of Speed "It's fun, it's smart, and it's honest. Zeff gives us a peek at who we really are, and what we can accomplish with a little creativity." -Neil B. Riemer, President Armstrong McCall Professional Beauty Supply

Move Beyond Trade-Off Thinking When it comes to our hardest choices, it can seem as though making trade-offs is inevitable. But what about those crucial times when accepting the obvious trade-off just isn't good enough? What do we do when the choices in front of us don't get us what we need? In those cases, rather than choosing the least worst option, we can use the models in front of us to create a new and superior answer. This is integrative thinking. First introduced by world-renowned strategic thinker Roger Martin in The Opposable Mind, integrative thinking is an approach to problem solving that uses opposing ideas as the basis for innovation. Now, in Creating Great Choices, Martin and his longtime thinking partner Jennifer Riel vividly illustrate how integrative thinking works, and how to do it. The book includes fresh stories of successful integrative thinkers that will demystify the process of creative problem solving, as well as practical tools and exercises to help readers engage with the ideas. And it lays out the authors' four-step methodology for creating great choices, which can be applied in virtually any context. The result is a replicable, thoughtful approach to finding a "third and better way" to make important choices in the face of unacceptable trade‐offs. Insightful and instructive, Creating Great Choices blends storytelling, theory, and hands-on advice to help any leader or manager facing a tough choice.

Are you tired of not reaching your full potential? Do you feel you have the talent to succeed but are unappreciated and trapped? Learn how to unlock your potential for success! Abridged from his New York Times bestselling book,?Beyond Talent, leadership expert and author Dr. John C. Maxwell states that if the above describes you, this book can help you learn the right choices that lead to success from the go-to-guru for business professionals across the globe. In Success Is a Choice, Maxwell shows you how to take the next steps that successful people chose, including: Believing in themselves Firing up their passion Initiating action Focusing their energy Cultivating good relationships Embracing practice The choices you make in addition to your talent make the greatest difference. With authentic examples and time-tested wisdom, Success Is a Choice shares fourteen choices you need to make to live the life of your dreams. It’s time to go beyond talent by making right choices that will help you really stand out.

The four principles that can help us to overcome our brains' natural biases to make better, more informed decisions--in our lives, careers, families and organizations. In Decisive, Chip Heath and Dan Heath, the bestselling authors of Made to Stick and Switch, tackle the thorny problem of how to overcome our natural biases and irrational thinking to make better decisions, about our work, lives, companies and careers. When it comes to decision making, our brains are flawed instruments. But given that we are biologically hard-wired to act foolishly and behave irrationally at times, how can we do better? A number of recent bestsellers have identified how irrational our decision making can be. But being aware of a bias doesn't correct it, just as knowing that you are nearsighted doesn't help you to see better. In Decisive, the Heath brothers, drawing on extensive studies, stories and research, offer specific, practical tools that can help us to think more clearly about our options, and get out of our heads, to improve our decision making, at work and at home.