Lifeonaire


Book Description

Will becoming a Millionaire really set you free? How about the American Dream? If we, as a nation, declare freedom to be our number one priority, then why do so many of us, at a gut-level, feel less freedom than ever? Americans are working harder than ever to obtain financial success and material possessions based on the delusion that more will lead to a better life. The typical American is trading away the vast majority of their life in hopes that, someday, they will have enough to experience 'the good life.' Meanwhile, this tradeoff is the very thing that is robbing them of their freedom and the ability to enjoy an abundant life... right now. So, where do we find freedom? What should we pursue? In Lifeonaire: An Uncommon Approach to Wealth, Success, and Prosperity, Steve Cook answers these questions by challenging us to consider what it is that we really desire out of life. Through this fictional story, he shares how Americans blindly pursue financial wealth--thinking that money will reward them with what they want--and helping us to discover that our heart's desire is to become more than just a Millionaire... what we really desire is to become a Lifeonaire.




Creating Authenticity


Book Description

‘Authenticity’ and authentication is at the heart of museums’ concerns in displays, objects, and interaction with visitors. These notions have formed a central element in early thought on culture and collecting. Nineteenth century-explorers, commissioned museum collectors and pioneering ethnographers attempted to lay bare the essences of cultures through collecting and studying objects from distant communities. Comparably, historical archaeology departed from the idea that cultures were discrete bounded entities, subject to divergence but precisely therefore also to be traced back and linked to, a more complete original form in de (even) deeper past. Much of what we work with today in ethnographic museum collections testifies to that conviction. Post-structural thinking brought about a far-reaching deconstruction of the authentic. It came to be recognized that both far-away communities and the deep past can only be discussed when seen as desires, constructions and inventions. Notwithstanding this undressing of the ways in which people portray their cultural surroundings and past, claims of authenticity and quests for authentication remain omnipresent. This book explores the authentic in contemporary ethnographic museums, as it persists in dialogues with stakeholders, and how museums portray themselves. How do we interact with questions of authenticity and authentication when we curate, study artefacts, collect, repatriate, and make (re)presentations? The contributing authors illustrate the divergent nature in which the authentic is brought into play, deconstructed and operationalized. Authenticity, the book argues, is an expression of a desire that is equally troubled as it is resilient.




The Authenticity Principle


Book Description

In a society that pushes conformity, how can you be courageously authentic despite fear of judgment? Award-winning leadership and diversity expert Ritu Bhasin gives you the tools to make this happen. This is more than a call to "be yourself"-it's a rally to disrupt the status quo, bring your differences to the light, and help others do the same.




In Search of Authenticity


Book Description

Authenticity is a notion much debated, among discussants as diverse as cultural theorists and art dealers, music critics and tour operators. The desire to find and somehow capture or protect the “authentic” narrative, art object, or ceremonial dance is hardly new. In this masterful examination of German and American folklore studies from the eighteenth century to the present, Regina Bendix demonstrates that the longing for authenticity remains deeply implicated in scholarly approaches to cultural analysis. Searches for authenticity, Bendix contends, have been a constant companion to the feelings of loss inherent in modernization, forever upholding a belief in a pristine yet endangered cultural essence and fueling cultural nationalism worldwide. Beginning with precursors of Herder and Emerson and the “discovery” of the authentic in expressive culture and literature, she traces the different, albeit intertwined, histories of German Volkskunde and American folklore studies. A Swiss native educated in American folklore programs, Bendix moves effortlessly between the two traditions, demonstrating how the notion of authenticity was used not only to foster national causes, but also to lay the foundations for categories of documentation and analysis within the nascent field of folklore studies. Bendix shows that, in an increasingly transcultural world, where Zulu singers back up Paul Simon and where indigenous artists seek copyright for their traditional crafts, the politics of authenticity mingles with the forces of the market. Arguing against the dichotomies implied in the very idea of authenticity, she underscores the emptiness of efforts to distinguish between folklore and fakelore, between echt and ersatz.




The Romance of Authenticity


Book Description

To what extent has the demand for a vicarious experience of other cultures fuelled the expectation that the most important task for writers is to capture and convey authentic cultural material? This text argues that authenticity is in fact a restrictive category of literary judgment.




Brand Desire


Book Description

Desire is big business. If companies can create true desirability for their brands, customers will not only express preference and loyalty, they also show a willingness to act as brand champions, participate in online communities, co-create innovative ideas, and show the sort of commitment that is normally associated with fervent employees. However, desire doesn't just happen. Brands need to nurture it by offering both security and surprise. This isn't just about marketing, but rather a reflection of an organization-wide culture and perspective. Using international case studies, Brand Desire explains how companies can engage customers emotionally and create value for them. Managers can successfully build and maintain brand desire through specific strategies and tools, such as: · promoting a principles-driven organization that is grounded in its heritage and distinctive competences; · creating a supportive culture that encourages the active participation of people in brand development; · providing an opportunity for people to communicate more with each other and to encourage socialization through communities and events; and · offering outstanding experiences: being consistent in delivery, from first communications through to after-sales service and support. In a crowded sales environment, brand desire can elevate any product or service so that it stands out from the crowd – and stays there. Brand Desire demonstrates how desirable brands are about desirable experiences, and shows what companies can do to maximize those experiences for their customers.




Temporarily Yours


Book Description

Generations of social thinkers have assumed that access to legitimate paid employment and a decline in the ‘double standard’ would eliminate the reasons behind women’s participation in prostitution. Yet in both the developing world and in postindustrial cities of the West, sexual commerce has continued to flourish, diversifying along technological, spatial, and social lines. In this deeply engaging and theoretically provocative study, Elizabeth Bernstein examines the social features that undergird the expansion and diversification of commercialized sex, demonstrating the ways that postindustrial economic and cultural formations have spawned rapid and unforeseen changes in the forms, meanings, and spatial organization of sexual labor. Drawing upon dynamic and innovative research with sex workers, their clients, and state actors, Bernstein argues that in cities such as San Francisco, Stockholm, and Amstersdam, the nature of what is purchased in commercial sexual encounters is also new. Rather than the expedient exchange of cash for sexual relations, what sex workers are increasingly paid to offer their clients is an erotic experience premised upon the performance of authentic interpersonal connection. As such, contemporary sex markets are emblematic of a cultural moment in which the boundaries between intimacy and commerce—and between public life and private—have been radically redrawn. Not simply a compelling exploration of the changing landscape of sex-work, Temporarily Yours ultimately lays bare the intimate intersections of political economy, desire, and culture.




The Authenticity Code


Book Description

Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestseller In Life and Work, You Can’t Fake It to Make It. The Authenticity Code™ combines the best of a page-turner parable and a practical tool business book to deliver encouragement and proven tools for cracking the code to becoming a more authentic professional or leader. When you become more authentic, you do what you came here to do and be who you came here to be. You communicate more effectively, and the success you desire in your life and career becomes achievable. Dr. Sharon teaches in a fun, engaging, and honest parable style, and at the end of each chapter, you apply her proven practical tools to your own life and career. The effectiveness of these tools is proven from the over 20 years that Dr. Sharon’s company, Inside-Out Learning, has been teaching them to their Fortune 500, mid-, and small-size business clients. Results across thousands of clients include getting promoted, landing a dream job, significantly increasing sales and revenue, developing confidence and loyalty, greatly enhancing professional, leadership, and communication skills, and improving your personal life. The promotion rate for individuals is 50-80% within a year of completing one of Inside Out Learning’s 3- to 5-day programs. Now you have the opportunity to achieve these exceptional results in an easy-to-read book format. The Authenticity Code™ tells the story of a fictional corporate vice president choosing a sales director from two talented protégés. After they present their cases, he realizes that neither of them is impressive enough to qualify. Instead of giving up, the leader sets out to teach his candidates what they need to know via The Authenticity Code™ Program. Like the candidates in the book, you, the reader, will learn to look within yourself and decide who you truly are and what you really want from life and work—and how to go about getting it. Now Dr. Sharon encourages you to enjoy the parable, apply the tools, develop your own authentic brand statement, and achieve the success you desire.




Fulfilled


Book Description

Are you living the life you thought you always wanted but feel that something is still missing? Do you think you should be happier than you are, considering all that you have? Have you achieved your professional or personal goals but still feel racked with insecurities, anxiety, or depression . . . and can't figure out why? Psychiatrist Anna Yusim knows just how you feel. Not only has she struggled with these feelings herself, but she has also worked with patients upon patients who have expressed the same bewildering concern: they have everything they've always wanted, and yet deep down they don't feel fulfilled. Determined to help herself and her patients, Dr. Yusim spent more than fifteen years studying and conducting research and came to a startling conclusion: this lingering feeling of dissatisfaction coincides with spiritual neglect. Once she helped her patients address their spiritual and psychological needs, she saw radical improvements in their happiness levels and quality of life. Now science is catching up with her innovative approach to therapy as groundbreaking medical research and studies substantiate what Dr. Yusim and many others have suspected for years: spirituality is a powerful path to healing. Drawing from the best in Western medicine, as well as teachings from Kabbalah, Buddhism, and shamanistic traditions, Dr. Yusim has developed a program that marries empirical science and spirituality to help you: Discover your life's true purpose Eliminate self-defeating patterns and roadblocks that are keeping you from living your most authentic life Understand the scientific underpinnings behind "answered prayers" and "random coincidences"-and why having faith in them can change your outlook for the better Appreciate how consciousness shapes your reality and how to harness this understanding to live a life of abundance. Filled with exercises, guided meditations, fascinating scientific research, and inspiring success stories, Fulfilled integrates the best of Western medicine with universal spiritual principles to help you find more meaning, more joy, and more fulfillment in your life.




Authenticity


Book Description

Getting real is the next big thing in Western living - the determined rejection of the fake, the virtual, the spun and the mass-produced, in the search for authenticity. There's a revolution going on and (however unconsciously) we're all already part of it. Welcome to the New Realism. The charms of the global and virtual future we were all brought up to expect, where meals would be eaten in the form of pills and machines would do all our work, have worn rather thin. It's not that we don't want all the advantages of progress - we do - we just want a future that manages to be local and real too. Tracking the struggle for reality from Japanese theme parks to mock-Tudor villas and from Byron to Big Brother, this book explains where our reactions against spin and fakeness come from - and where they are going. The current revival of real food, real business, real culture flies in the face of expert opinion from politicians, economists, advertisers and big business - and they're having to run to keep up as our hype attention-span gets ever shorter.