Stumbling into Success Is Good


Book Description

Navigating the complexities of professional services careers is hard and often riddled with frustration and disappointment. No doubt the lucrative compensation is not to be ignored, and of course the distinguished opportunity to serve and lead at the highest ranks of your chosen profession. While the glimpses of what success looks like are all around, it can sometimes feel beyond the realm of imagination for someone to realize such gains for themselves. Many people stumble into successful career outcomes after humble beginnings with little or no plan. Sadly, there are large groups of talented and ambitious people who continue to struggle to align interests to opportunities that will yield their desired outcomes. These people represent a kaleidoscope of backgrounds and experiences for which there are no established criteria. This book captures my journey as an immigrant from Jamaica to the leader I am today, highlighting key principles that helped me endure many challenges and lead a successful business. Based on countless mentoring conversations I’ve had throughout my career, I know my story will resonate with many professionals who had or are having similar experiences. My hope for the reader is to be inspired, encouraged, and most importantly be able to extract tactical actions that can be applied along their journey to help them achieve their desired career aspiration.




Stumbling on Happiness


Book Description

A smart and funny book by a prominent Harvard psychologist, which uses groundbreaking research and (often hilarious) anecdotes to show us why we’re so lousy at predicting what will make us happy – and what we can do about it. Most of us spend our lives steering ourselves toward the best of all possible futures, only to find that tomorrow rarely turns out as we had expected. Why? As Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert explains, when people try to imagine what the future will hold, they make some basic and consistent mistakes. Just as memory plays tricks on us when we try to look backward in time, so does imagination play tricks when we try to look forward. Using cutting-edge research, much of it original, Gilbert shakes, cajoles, persuades, tricks and jokes us into accepting the fact that happiness is not really what or where we thought it was. Among the unexpected questions he poses: Why are conjoined twins no less happy than the general population? When you go out to eat, is it better to order your favourite dish every time, or to try something new? If Ingrid Bergman hadn’t gotten on the plane at the end of Casablanca, would she and Bogey have been better off? Smart, witty, accessible and laugh-out-loud funny, Stumbling on Happiness brilliantly describes all that science has to tell us about the uniquely human ability to envision the future, and how likely we are to enjoy it when we get there.




Stumbling Giant


Book Description

“A thoughtful reconsideration of China’s actual place in the new world order, based on reality rather than fanciful speculation.” —Kirkus Reviews Can anything prevent China surpassing the United States and becoming the world’s top superpower? While predictions that China’s rise to global supremacy is a near-certainty have resulted in this belief becoming almost conventional wisdom, this book boldly counters such widely held assumptions. Investment strategist Timothy Beardson brings to light the daunting array of challenges that today confront China, as well as the inadequacy of the policy responses. Threats to China come on many fronts, Beardson shows, and by their number and sheer weight these problems will thwart any ambition to become the world’s “Number One power.” Drawing on extensive research and experience living and working in Asia over the last 35 years, the author spells out China’s situation: an inexorable demographic future of a shrinking labor force, relentless aging, extreme gender disparity, and even a falling population. Also, the nation faces social instability, a devastated environment, a predominantly low-tech economy with inadequate innovation, the absence of an effective welfare safety net, an ossified governance structure, and radical Islam lurking at the borders. Beardson’s nuanced, firsthand look at China acknowledges its historic achievements while tempering predictions of its imminent hegemony with a no-nonsense dose of reality.




Second Place


Book Description

A haunting fable of art, family, and fate from the author of the Outline trilogy. A woman invites a famous artist to use her guesthouse in the remote coastal landscape where she lives with her family. Powerfully drawn to his paintings, she believes his vision might penetrate the mystery at the center of her life. But as a long, dry summer sets in, his provocative presence itself becomes an enigma—and disrupts the calm of her secluded household. Second Place, Rachel Cusk’s electrifying new novel, is a study of female fate and male privilege, the geometries of human relationships, and the moral questions that animate our lives. It reminds us of art’s capacity to uplift—and to destroy.




Stumbling Into Infinity


Book Description

The intimate and sometime startling account of Fischman's spiritual journey and the encounter that changed his life forever.




Working On My Novel


Book Description

What does it feel like to try and create something new? How is it possible to find a space for the demands of writing a novel in a world of instant communication? Working on My Novel is about the act of creation and the gap between the different ways we express ourselves today. Exploring the extremes of making art, from satisfaction and even euphoria to those days or nights when nothing will come, it's the story of what it means to be a creative person, and why we keep on trying.




Stumbling Into Sobriety


Book Description

Stumbling into Sobriety is a memoir by media personality Tracy "Dot Com" Collins. From daily binge drinking to her spiritual warfare aimed at smashing stigmas and stomping shame associated with alcoholism. Tracy Dot Com was a lovable morning show and multi-media personality in Jacksonville, Fla. Dedicated to providing awareness for non-profits and promotion for local business owners. She earned the title Official Funologist for her zany entertainment TV live shots and reminded viewers, "If you're bored in Jacksonville, it's your own fault." Always with a smile. Always a positive message. What the audience didn't know is Tracy hid a dark secret. Daily binge drinking behind closed doors. Which only worsened when she left the fast-paced media world behind to pursue a more stable career. The free time and expendable income worked against her. Isolation intensifying the disease to near death. Tracy shares intimate details from her final weeks of drinking. The spiraling out of control. How she masterfully kept the decades-long secret. What it took to finally ask for help. All the things she learned on her way back up. This book is for anyone who struggles with or has overcome alcoholism. It's relatable to readers new to sobriety or those curious or fearful of what it looks like on the other side. It is also a good resource for anyone who loves an alcoholic and yearns for a better understanding of what that person is thinking. Experiencing. Grappling. Stumbling into Sobriety is raw. Its brutal honesty is, at times, hard to read. But the memoir is balanced with humor, and the end result is a message of hope.




Stumbling into Life's Lessons


Book Description

Interested in integrating spirituality into your busy, professional life? This collection of brief reflections will be worth stumbling upon. Stumbling into Lifes Lessons is a collection of essay written by Louis F. Kavar as he moved from a fast-paced life in administration to a life characterized by more focused spiritual practices. Themes explored in Stumbling into Lifes Lessons include: Role of spirituality in personal growth Spiritual understanding of ecology and environment Integration of spiritual practices in rhythm with a professional life Challenges from slowing the pace of life. After traveling two-thirds of each month working in international development and holding a series of demanding administrative positions, Dr. Lou Kavar realized that his life needed to change. Following twelve years of fast-paced professional life, Dr. Kavar moved to the Southwest to live a more intentional and mindful life marked by spiritual practice and reflection. Stumbling into Lifes Lessons invites you to integrate spirituality into your daily life and create positive changes enhancing your quality of living.




The New Casket


Book Description




Stumbling into Paradise


Book Description

In 1989 just as tourism was beginning in Costa Rica, the author moved to the tropics with his wife and two young daughters. This is the saga of their often humorous adventures in their new found paradise. The Costa Rican saying pura vida "pure life" summed up their hopes, but they soon learned that there's no such thing as heaven on earth. This is a must read for those contemplating dropping out to live on a tropical beach. Steve and Mary Lou now live in Montana and maintain their home in Manuel Antonio as a vacation rental, visiting as tourists when they can.