Kindness + Power = A Winning Combination
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Too many people mistake 'being kind' for 'being a pushover.' This valuable book demonstrates quite the opposite: namely, that kindness can produce results that are far more profound, far more dramatic, and far more sustainable. Your staff will thank you for reading it and following its counsel.
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Cats can teach us a lot of things, including how to make the world a better place. In Skinny the Cat and the Magic of Kindness, Donna Rawlins shares the story of a neighborhood cat who wins her heart.

If your heart  has been opened by the love of a cat, you won't find this story surprising, but you'll be thoroughly charmed by Rawlins' account of Skinny and the other cats in her life. At 60 pages, some of them gorgeous, full color photographs, this is a small book, but it packs a powerful punch. Through Skinny and the other cats in the book, the reader is reminded of the importance of compassion and kindness toward our fellow residents on this planet, be they human or furry. This little book just may bring some magic to your own life.
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Power Wishing provides the reader with gentle, empowering, proactive steps to positively transform his/ her life. Anne Louise Carricarte's generosity of spirit demonstrated by her passionate desire for each of us to live the life we desire is a blessing.
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Written by Shaunti Feldhahn, the Kindness Challenge dares its reader to find more kindness in each day.  Every day we're bombarded with negative news, mud slinging in politics, sarcastic comebacks, and "looking out for Number #1" attitudes.  But are we really happy?  More money, more toys, more vacations... and yet divorces, depression, and loneliness are all on the rise.  Can something as small as a little kindness really turn the tide?  Feldhahn asserts that it can.

The Kindness Challenge is laid out in three parts.  Part One lays the foundation for displaying kindness: the who, what, and why.  This section of the book presents the three main ingredients of the challenge: eliminating negativity, pouring praising, and small acts of kindness.  Part Two takes those three ingredients into account and explores each one in greater depth.  What does "eliminating negativity" look like in relationship to your co-workers?  How do you praise people in a genuine way?  And what are some unique acts of kindness that aren't cheesy?  Part Three contains three unique 30 Day plans for showing kindness to someone in your life.  Of the three 30 Day plans, one is for husbands, one for wives, and a third plan for showing kindness to anyone outside the first two categories.  I actually really like that because marriage represents its own special challenges and deserves its own road map.

So for 30 days, I've taken the challenge with two people in my life.  Unbeknownst to them, I've been working on the three prong approach in my relationships: nixing negativity, finding ways to praise, and serving simple acts of kindness.  I wanted to know if 30 days could really make that big of a difference.  And you know what I found out?  30 days didn't make a difference.

My relationships started to change within a week.

Less than a week and this challenge was already changing the relationships in my life.

I was shocked.  It's not that these relationships were bad.  They just needed a little attention.  And boy did they blossom with just a little bit of time.  I'm finding myself much happier, satisfied, and optimistic about what the future holds for me with these two individuals.  And it really took a minimal investment on my part.  The surprising thing was that the more I gave, the more I wanted to give because as I gave the relationship became more rewarding and fruitful.

When I first started Feldhahn's book, I thought I'd pick up a few tips.  Maybe complete a challenge or two.  But I never expected how life changing it would be.  Now I find myself looking for relationships and opportunities to practice kindness.  It's like my eyes have been opened to a world of possibilities.  It's what Feldhahn would call "Kindness Blindness."  I thought I was a kind person before this challenge, but now I see that kindness is so much deeper than I ever realized.

The Kindness Challenge has certainly changed my life and I'm sure to find myself reading this book over and over again.

*Disclaimer: I received this book free of charge from the publisher.  All opinions are my own.
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As a personal success and effectiveness coach, my commitment is to empower people to possess the fundamental success principles that will support them to be most effective in their communications and relationships while being most productive and abundant in their business and lives. I wrote The Magic Lantern to give people an easy to understand access to being happy and successful while realizing their magnificence. The principles highlighted in the book are the same ones we support people to fully understand and manifest in their lives through our 3-day Conversations for Success Courses, which have been described by many as life-changing and responsible for countless business breakthroughs.
Though an interesting fable about dwarves, elves, goblins, trolls, dragons and wizards, the book shows people how they can be the best they can be and take on a leadership role in their own life, work and with their family and friends. The book's message is simple. If we live our lives from a decision to create empowering interpretations about all of life's events, strive for excellence and contribute to others with a firm belief that we can impact people and the world around us, we will step into leadership and make a difference. The book also provides the secrets to achieving business success, impacting people effectively with our communication,  increasing our charisma and leading ourselves and others to achieve a life of harmony and happiness. The Magic Lantern  shows how putting yourself in the other person's world while attaching meaning to words and events so that they empower you and your relationships instead of making you angry, sad or afraid can cause your relationships and business success to skyrocket.
The Magic Lantern is a book about the art of leadership.  Leadership stems from a decision to lead and contribute first of all. It is an act of courage.  No prior evidence is required to give one the right to lead. Leaders are always self-appointed. Leadership means acting from your values and honoring your commitments at every moment that requires a decision. It is about standing at a fork in the road and choosing between actions that honor your excellence and your decision to contribute to others, to risk and do the right thing as opposed to doing what is convenient at the time, acting in a self-serving way, taking the easy way out, playing it safe or selling yourself and others out because of weakness.
When readers decide to take on the lessons and success principles outlined in The Magic Lantern, their lives and businesses will transform. Life will work as they will possess the skills necessary to bring about the rich relationships and material abundance that naturally comes about as a result of living in harmony with these proven principles.
--Dr. Joe Rubino CEO
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I have been meaning for some time to write a review of this magical book.  Story after story, chapter after chapter, Suzie helps the reader to explore what it means to offer kindnesses to others.  The risk, as in Action 5/Horizons, so worth the reward; the nominal cost, if any, insignificant compared to the impact of these kindnesses. This small yet powerful book is very impactful and has motivated me to find the opportunities in my life to perform acts of kindness for others.
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Jim is homeless, but he's not about to gripe or complain about his lot in life. In fact, all he really wants is to help people. The one shining spot in his dreary existence is Sandra, a shelter volunteer who is always kind and seems to find him genuinely interesting. The only problem is, Jim has a bit of an attitude. And nowhere is his attitude more of a problem than when he encounters hypocrites like the reverend who preaches at the local shelter where Sandra works.

Life takes an unexpected turn when two angels give Jim the power and compulsion to heal people with his hands. Unlike others who have been chosen, he seems truly selfless in his need to heal, unlike the reverend who only wants to use him for his own gain and does everything within his power, including coercion and blackmail to turn Jim's gift into an unholy spectacle. Jim is forced to battle both the reverend and his inner demons  to keep his gift from becoming sullied by greed. In the end, he must chose between love, life and his principles if he wants to survive.

Saint Jim is an oddly powerful narrative about the battle between good and evil within the human soul. It chronicles the very real battle between good and evil and man's place in the universe. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in a truly insightful book about faith.
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Holly Fox Vellekoop does a great job showing the positive power of "encouragers" and the negativity of "defeaters" in the lives of the famous and the not-so-famous. This book provides motivation and a spiritual lift not only for those who were fortunate to have "encouragers", but to demonstrate how each of us can and do encourage others with a smile, a kind word, or understanding - many times unbeknownst to us. This book demonstrates the inner strength we each have to overcome and rise above those "defeaters" who try to hold us back.
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I use this book in a guidance lesson about the power of kindness.  The first graders loved it last year.  I am going to do it with 2nd grade this year.
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How kindness and sincere caring feeling can change and be a good influence on other people lifes.
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What a joy to read!  The thread throughout the book reminds all to seize the day and perform random acts of kindness.  Such as

soul renewal. Don't miss this!  I intend to give several copies as gifts.

Ima Bean
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Read THE ART OF INFLUENCE by Chris Widener . . . it is a short
but powerful parable about a recent college graduate who learns valuable
lessons from one of the country's wealthiest men.

What made it so good was the fact that I really cared about the
characters . . . they were believable, and their stories were
interesting too.

I also liked how the author revealed each of the four key principles via
discussions that seemed as if they actually happened . . . such as this
one, involving a successful baseball manager, who advises:

* Don't forget the power we have to influence ourselves. When you make
a mistake you should never start telling yourself negative things.
Those negative words produce negative thoughts and actions. For us, it
is a player who strikes out and then tells himself he can't hit in the clutch.
Guess what happens? From that point on, he can't hit in the clutch. For your
situation it may be a person who botches a presentation and then tells herself
that she can't speak in front of others. She'll never move up because she
can't lead from the front of the room. Negative words produce results. So
I teach people how to take control of their minds and thoughts and the words
they say to themselves."

Then there was this equally significant tidbit about how one of the character's
daughters increased her income by just applying another of the principles:

* "For the first few weeks she was bringing home about twenty-five dollars
a day in tips. But then all of a sudden her tips jumped significantly, up
to nearly seventy-five dollars on many days. Obviously, I wanted to know
what was going on. She said, 'I finally figured people out.' Well, I wanted to
know what the new insight was. 'Dad,' she said, 'people love to talk about
themselves! I used to just make their coffee and not say much. Now I ask
them all kinds of questions about themselves.' That was it. By getting
people to talk to her about their lives she was subconsciously influencing
them to tip her more."

And, lastly, I liked this bit of advice that was given that all employees
should take to heart:

* "Excellence is something we practice in even the smallest details.
You know, when I am walking through one of my properties, if I see
a small scrap of paper on the floor, I personally stop and pick it up.
I don't go to the manager and have him or her get someone to do it.
I do it myself. And do you know what happens?"

"What?"

"My staff sees that even the small details matters to me. They get it. They
see that I lead by example. It inspires them to pay attention to even the
smallest details too. Excellence in everything we do is what makes guys
like Bobby and me so influential."

As you can see, none of the above is particularly profound . . . but it
all makes sense--a lot of sense.

By the way, in case you're wondering, here are the four principles
to increase influence:

Live a life of undivided integrity.

Always demonstrate a positive attitude.

Consider other people's interests as more important than your own.

Don't settle for anything less than excellence.

Read the book, and you'll find a lot more about each one . . . you'll
be glad that you did.
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Random Acts of Kindness is a wonderfully uplifting book. I don't have much time to read so I was glad it was a quick read. The touching stories from everyone, including the author Rosalyn Kahn were filled with warmth and loving kindness. Truly an inspiring book that could be read by any age. I would love to see this book turned into a children's book. Because of it's loving inspiration.
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i really enjoyed this book.  it shows how one person can make a big difference, and seemingly small actions can have a ripple affect on those around you.  well written, and interesting events and characters.
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One of the many things I like about these books, is how the author shows how much one small act of kindness can impact another person ! And how good it can make you feel !! And that a little bit can make a huge difference, one way or the other.
 Another thing I like is the way she will take on some serious issues and get it out there and talk about what happened and what needs to be done today, not tomorrow, face it now, don't put it off!! I guess it's that take charge attitude towards life that is so appealing about these books!!
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Love it or hate it, social media is a large part of our daily digital communication, and its social media platforms such as Twitter that are often at the forefront of breaking news. How we share information has changed rapidly over the past few years, so it is with this in mind that I looked forward to delving into Things a Little Bird Told Me.

In this book, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone not only shares how Twitter came about, but he touches on creativity and, most importantly, how he finds ways to turn his limitations into advantages.

This slim volume is simply jam packed with inspiration and, though much of what Stone shares can be deemed common sense, it certainly helps having these thoughts offered within a context.

Far from presenting the public with a cold, corporate face, Stone recognises the power of connecting with other people through his social media platform  in essence what lies at the heart of social media.

Not only does Stone propose looking beyond the obvious for solutions, but he is an advocate for empathy, and the power that small acts of kindness can have for creating change in the world around you.

Stone writes: Technology is the connective tissue of humanity. Designed right it can bring out the good in people. It can connect us into one giant, emergent, superintelligent life form. That is what I saw happening with Twitter.

What I take away from Stones book is to be a little less passive from here on in, to find ways to create my own opportunities, and to embrace whatever constraint I experience, because great ideas are born out of limitations.

This little book serves as suitable encouragement for anyone who might feel a little worn down by effort, and it also serves as a reminder to encourage and cherish the value in feeling empathy for your fellow humans. Together we can do so much more if we just reach out.
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I really enjoyed this book. It is packed full of stories of others, things they have done to help others, to make the world a better place. We sometimes think, oh that wa just a small thing I did, to to others it may change their lives, remind them that the world is nt all bad. The book is a eye opener that we can help to make this world better with just one small kindness. I love this book and think everyone should take the time to read it and have their  hearts refreshed to understanding the power of caring, giving, and loving. I highly recommend it to you