Gunn's Golden Rules

"Life's Little Lessons for Making It Work"
by Tim Gunn
4 Stars
Nonfiction: Memoir/Self Help
258 pages
Published 2010

Ellie's Review

In full disclosure, I love Project Runway and have adored Tim Gunn as the designers’ mentor.  His famous line “Make it work!” is often quoted in my house.  Gunn’s Golden Rules includes his lessons for life (part manners, part inspiration) with plenty of his personal stories that kept me hooked and laughing out loud.  Tim dishes on some PR designers along with some of the divas of fashion (for example, he suggests the devil really does wear Prada).  Some of the personal stories don’t necessarily relate to his rule for the chapter, but I didn’t mind that.  Tim’s advice is wonderful, and I loved that a New Yorker talked about being nicer to others.  All of us have something in life we can complain about, but we need to just “Make it work!” and do the best we can with whatever circumstances surround us. 

I want to be adopted as Tim's niece.  I’m only two degrees away from him, so maybe I’ll be introduced to him one of these days…. 

Book Summary
On the runway of life, Tim Gunn is the perfect life coach.  You've watched him mentor talented designers on the hit television show Project Runway.  Now the inimitable Tim Gunn shares his personal secrets for "making it work" - in your career, relationships, and life.  Filled with delightfully dishy stories of fashion's greatest divas, behind-the-scenes glimpses of Runway's biggest drama queens, and never-before-revealed insights into Tim's private life, Gunn's Golden Rules is like no other how-to book you've ever read.

The Art of Loving Life

by Sandra Thebaud
4 Stars
Nonfiction: Self Help
78 pages
Published 2011

Ellie's Review
I am someone who is constantly stressed out.  Though I purposefully keep a very busy life, I hate the anguish and sore shoulders caused by stress.  I have read another stress management book that was good to learn about techniques such as deep breathing and visualization.  I felt better while I read it but was soon caught up in my life, forgetting about using my diaphragm to inhale.  The Art of Loving Life crossed my path, and I decided to give stress management a try again to see how it could improve my sore muscles and help me enjoy life a bit more.

While this book did discuss several stress management techniques, it started out by teaching us that to better manage the stress in our lives, we first have to understand what stress is, what causes our personal stress, and how we react to stress.  I had a notepad I used to write down my own definitions of ideas and different types stress in my personal life, as I was instructed.  Then Thebaud helped me understand things differently than before.  

One example is while I focus on the major stressors in my life, my energy is used up in small stressors that I ignore and fail to manage/decrease.  She told of being frustrated at all the laundry she did every day when potty training her son; it was a small thing, but when she purchased more pairs of pants and underwear, her stress level greatly decreased.  I had similar little things in my life I was ignoring even though they caused me anguish.    

Thebaud realizes that most of us do not have extra hours we can daily dedicate to meditation, etc.  She has reasonable suggestions such as practicing deep breathing every time we are stopped at a red light - I can do that!  

I was not a fan of the writing style, but I have noticed a big difference in how relaxed I am and how much I'm enjoying my daily life.  The message is realistic enough for me that I'll keep this book on hand as a reference.  

Book Summary

Life can be difficult and unpredictable.  Sometimes you feel like no one understands what you're going through.  You want a life that you love, but stress can make that seem impossible.

Unlike other stress management books that talk about techniques out of the context of real life, this book approaches life from an emotional standpoint and uses proven techniques to show you how to improve your life, not just deal with stress.  Tried and true techniques have been tweaked to make them easy to practice and more effective.

Change Your Thoughts - Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao

by Wayne W. Dyer
5 Stars
Nonfiction: Self Help
416 pages
Published 2007

Ellie's Review
This is an amazing book! Split into sections for every verse in the Tao Te Ching, Wayne Dyer gives his interpretation of the verse and suggests how to apply it to your daily life. I read one verse a day so the meaning could sink in. I can honestly say this book has changed my life and helped me be more at peace. Regardless of your religious beliefs, I think you could benefit from this book. The world would be a much better place if everyone read this!

Book Summary
Five hundred years before the birth of Jesus, a God-realized being named Lao-tzu in ancient China dictated 81 verses, which are regarded by many as the ultimate commentary on the nature of our existence. The classic text of these 81 verses, called the Tao Te Ching or the Great Way, offers advice and guidance that is balanced, moral, spiritual, and always concerned with working for the good.In this book, Dr. Wayne W. Dyer has reviewed hundreds of translations of the Tao Te Ching and has written 81 distinct essays on how to apply the ancient wisdom of Lao-tzu to today’s modern world. This work contains the entire 81 verses of the Tao, compiled from Wayne’s researching of 12 of the most well-respected translations of text that have survived for more than 25 centuries. Each chapter is designed for actually living the Tao or the Great Way today. Some of the chapter titles are “Living with Flexibility,” “Living Without Enemies,” and “Living by Letting Go.” Each of the 81 brief chapters focuses on living the Tao and concludes with a section called “Doing the Tao Now.”Wayne spent one entire year reading, researching, and meditating on Lao-tzu’s messages, practicing them each day and ultimately writing down these essays as he felt Lao-tzu wanted you to know them.This is a work to be read slowly, one essay a day. As Wayne says, “This is a book that will forever change the way you look at your life, and the result will be that you’ll live in a new world aligned with nature. Writing this book changed me forever, too. I now live in accord with the natural world and feel the greatest sense of peace I’ve ever experienced. I’m so proud to present this interpretation of the Tao Te Ching, and offer the same opportunity for change that it has brought me.”