The Boy Who Built a Windmill to Fight Famine

This story is amazing. William Kamkwamba was a guest on Jon Stewart's show. He is the author of the new book, "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind," which is an autobiographical story of William's mission to fight famine in his country of Malawi by building a windmill just from pictures in a book from a library.

Watch the video here.

You can visit William's blog here.

What an amazing story! Incredible. His book is available on Amazon.

Book Review: Harmonic Wealth

Harmonic Wealth: The Secret of Attracting the Life You Want

This book is absolutely amazing. I really liked how the author, James Ray, uses 5 pillars to divide up different aspects of your life to determine how "harmonic" our life is. When you hear the word "wealth," most people think of financial abundance, but true wealth is more than just having a lot of money in the bank. What good is a lot of money if the other aspects of your life are suffering? James Ray talks about how to achieve wealth in 5 different pillars:

1. Financial
2. Relational (Your Relationships)
3. Physical
4. Mental
5. Spiritual

By going through exercises and a series of questions in each of these pillars, I was able to look at my life from this perspective. It made me realize that I have been focusing on three of the pillars: Relational, Mental, and Spiritual, but my Financial and Physical had been quite lacking. And it's not that I'm not working on those, but because I had neglected them for so long and paid more attention to other areas of my life, I have a deeper mess to dig out of, which is fine, because now I'm clearly aware of it and am doing something about it.

This book takes a very holistic and spiritual perspective in taking a look at your life, a perspective I believe will sustain true wealth for people who are seeking a wealthy life. As you work on yourself and do the internal work necessary to become better, your external life will mirror what's on the inside. That's the true message of this book. It's a fabulous book that takes a look at life from a deeper level, one that will help you become a better person, and wealthy, not just on the financial front, but on all levels. I highly recommend it!

If you're interested in reading this book, you can find it here.

If you're interested in seeing what other books I recommend, you can see the list here.

Decluttering Your Books

If you're an avid book-buyer like me, chances are, you have tons and tons of books that are you have been collecting on your bookshelves, waiting for the opportunity to read them all. But, if you're like most people, you're busy working and taking care of the family, and have other more pressing matters at hand, which leaves you little time to kick back to relax and read. And maybe when you get to those moments, you just want to do something a little bit more relaxing and uses less brain-power after spending a long day at the office. So, you might opt to watch TV or browse websites instead.

So, why hold on to all of those books? Are you REALLY going to read them? Chances are, you will lug them from home to home as you move, or you will accumulate more books that you want to read first. And this is how clutter begets clutter.

Let's stop this process of accumulation and start purging what we don't need! For me, I had to start with my bookcases because it was what has been taking up the majority of space in my home. No room for picture frames, photo albums, or anything else. Just piles and piles of books. Books that are interesting, for sure, but to be very honest, with all the things going on in life, those were no longer pertinent for the direction I was headed. So, I am purging, and purging, and purging.

In the past I've been so fed up with having so much stuff that I just amassed a huge pile of belongings and lugged them to Salvation army for a donation drop-off. Then, I discovered that they do not accept books! Oh my. So, little by little I was either posting books on craigslist or giving them away for free...until recently.

In this economy, I want to bring in any extra income while purging. So, in the past few weeks I have decided to sell everything and anything that I can that no longer serves me or my future (even if I have yet to use it myself!). It will find a better home with someone who will put the book or object to use immediately.

Sell Your Books!

Amazon.com
I've been very happy with the response I have received from Amazon. I have been posting my books up there and have sold between 1-9 books per day. Pretty amazing. Just search for the books you have, and there's a link that says "Sell yours here" under the Used and New Books link.

The money I've made has already been disbursed to my account. You can disburse your funds at any time. I'm a huge fan now and will use Amazon as my first go-to source for selling books I've read. Just list your books for a penny lower than what others are selling it for.

However, recently I've discovered a little drop in the volume of sales. I think my most popular books have already gone, or people are just not buying the books I'm selling right this moment. And there are books that I have that are not really worth that much and people probably won't be looking for these titles any time soon.

So, I was very excited yesterday when I discovered that you can sell books online to some booksellers! Don't hold your breath on this one because you won't make a lot of money here. Amazon will give you much more for your books, but it also requires you to pack and ship each one individually. I found an easy way to do this. Package it in a yellow manila envelope with some padding around each book and voila. Ready to ship via Media Mail. And make sure you send all your books via Media Mail. You'll save yourself a lot of money on shipping costs!

Other Booksellers Online Seeing as I am eager to get rid of the books that no longer serve me so that I can move on to decluttering the rest of my home, I discovered some websites online that will offer you some money for your books and will allow you to ship the books to them for free. This allows you to get rid of books in bulk. They do not accept all books, so you will have to list your ISBN numbers on various sites to see which ones that accept.

I've been able to package four boxes of books this way, and all from just one night's work. Amazing. And some of those books I did not think would sell anyhow, so better to sell them for something than keeping them in your bookcases forever.

Here are the websites I've used and had success with:

• Cash4Books.net
• Powell's Books
• AbeBooks.com

Here is another one that I ended up not using, but looks like it offers something similar:

• MyBookBuyer.com

If you live in the UK, I received a recommendation for websites there that are working for others in the UK:

• Green Metropolis (for books)
• Music Magpie (for CDs)
  

It's often hard to let go of things we've hung onto for so long, but once you decide you can live without it, it is quite liberating to see your life become lighter and lighter. I love it and now I'm searching for more things that I can live without. Instead of being burdened by the stuff I own, I want to be free to experience more of life. And I can always just go to the library and borrow books if I ever need any of these books again! And if I can't find them at the library, I can buy books one at a time that I will read right away. No more stock piling books to read for a future day.

There's a decluttering book that I've been meaning to go through (that I currently own and have not given up for sale yet). I think I might try and go through it step by step and really focus on making this next year a time to only surround myself with the things I absolutely love, need, and find useful. I know my life will be more rich because of it. Decluttering is like a diet. You've spent time accumulating and amassing stuff, much like what happens when you gain weight, and it takes effort, commitment, and a burning desire to let it all go to come out victorious in the end. But it's all worth it. Come join me! Let's simplify our lives and lead a more fulfilling life, filled with ideas, experiences, and dreams rather than stuff!

Here's the book I mentioned, called One Year to an Organized Life: From Your Closets to Your Finances, a Week by Week Guide to Getting Completely Organized.


Great title, isn't it? Maybe I'll blog about my progress with it here. Use the "Decluttering" label on the right to find all my blog posts about this topic. Good luck with your decluttering project!

Embracing Uncertainty in Search of Your Life Purpose

In Eckhart Tolle's book, A New Earth, he says on page 274, "When you become comfortable with uncertainty, infinite possibilities open up in your life."

Listen to the webcast that answers a question from someone that asks about finding a career path that merges her inner purpose with her outer purpose.



Reading this book has created a profound shift in my thinking. At first, it was a little bit too academic for me, but after giving it a second try, I was able to read the book and find some profound wisdom in the book that completely shifted the way I approached certain aspects of my life. It helped me to let go of the perfectionist tendencies I have--the ones that were detrimental to my happiness--and become more comfortable with where I am and being happy with the present moment.

Eckhart Tolle asks, "Can you be at ease with not knowing?"

This is a difficult task for most of us, and it takes practice to get to a point when you can be comfortable with where you are at, not knowing what lies before you. I was in this position for almost all of last year. I didn't know what the future held, and during the process I tried several different career paths to learn that these were not the ones that would fulfill me over the long run, but rather things I would like to incorporate into my life. After each step, I felt as if I was starting all over again, but looking back, I realize now that all of those experiences were necessary for me to learn more about myself. Each one of those experiences brought me closer to finding my true purpose and career path.

I am not completely out of the woods yet. I am still a bit uncertain where this path will lead me. The journey I have begun is nothing I would have imagined a year ago. I am just taking it day by day and learning to be comfortable with not knowing, embracing each moment as it comes. I have a general idea of where I am headed, but know that the experiences that will come into my life will be better than what I could have planned for myself.

"When you become comfortable with uncertainty, infinite possibilities open up in your life. It means fear is no longer a dominant factor in what you do and no longer prevents you from taking action to initiate change." (p. 274, A New Earth)

I really believe this is true. The fear that used to be rampant in my mind has subsided and I am now ready and willing to pursue the things that make me happy. I am using my emotions as my barometer to guide me to do the things that make me feel fulfilled. I encourage you to do so too. Gravitate towards the things that bring you the most joy and separate yourself from the things that do not leave you feeling fulfilled.

A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose

Book Review: Leaving Microsoft to Change the World

I've been reading a book called Leaving Microsoft to Change the World. It's been such an inspiring book that I feel moved to do something to make a big difference in this world.


Perhaps for me it will be setting up the new non-profit that I was asked to undertake to help feed the homeless and to help them get back on their feet. Helping the homeless is one of those things I've felt called and compelled to do for many years, but was not sure what I can do other than go to soup kitchens and donate some money. Last year, however, an idea came to me that perhaps I can build shelters for the homeless, designed with their well-being in mind, to really support their transition from homelessness to independence. I thought this might be something that I might begin to think about 5 or 10 years down the road. That would give me enough time to pay off my student loans and have enough capital saved up to do something really impactful.

What I'm finding, though, is that when you decide to do something, the resources somehow start to appear to make it all happen. It's the decision to do it that gets the ball rolling. After feeling inspired by the idea that came to me last year, I made a decision that someday I would help the homeless and start a non-profit organization. I didn't know how, I didn't know when, but I knew I would do it. And I knew that I would need some experience in the non-profit world first for me to even think of undertaking this task, but I didn't necessarily want a job in the non-profit sector. I enjoyed my working in the business community, but still wanted the experience. Maybe I could sit on a board of a non-profit someday?

The break came to me last year. My mom asked me to attend a benefit dinner for a charity, and that my attendance was specifically requested. I had no idea why someone would want me there, and my ticket was already paid for. Why not? So I went. I was seated next to the president of the organization who talked to me all night. I wasn't sure why the president would be so interested in talking to me, but I was flattered.

A few weeks later, I received an email from the president to meet up for coffee. I wondered what she might want from me? I agreed, and we met at a Starbucks downtown. She told me a lot about the organization, which helps the Korean immigrant community by providing home care for senior citizens, health screening, legal help, feeding programs, children programs. They did a lot.

Then, the reason for her inviting me for coffee finally came up. She asked me if I would consider being a member of the board. They were interested in getting the younger generation involved and needed some board members to be the voice of the younger generation. Wow, I didn't expect that one. Hmm...maybe this was the experience I was asking for. I was just about to turn 30. Maybe it was the right time for me to get involved after all.

So now I have a good understanding of what happens at non-profit board meetings. There's a lot more to it than I had initially expected. I was grateful for the experience. A few months later, I was approached by another person whose organization I had just started to get involved with to help construct a mission statement for the organization. Due to a busy schedule, I wasn't able to get to this until a few months later, but eventually created one and sent it along.

A few weeks ago, I was asked by this organization to help create a 501(c)(3) for the organization. I was surprised that they wanted my help with this organization, and to my surprise, they even wanted me put myself in the role of President (if I was okay with having that title). Wow, interesting. I had asked to create a non-profit organization a year ago, and all the pieces fell into place to make this happen within 1 year. Amazing. The people and finances are already prepared, and all I need to do is put in the work to do all the legal paperwork and help set up the organization. I'm sure there will be much more work to do once we get the non-profit status, but I've been given a task I can help out with.

Reading this book by John Wood is now reigniting my passion to take this role seriously, and that maybe I could make a big difference in this world. I have a bunch of other projects still on my plate, but I'm going to set up some time for this one once I can get my printer set up in my new home.

If you haven't read the book, I highly recommend it. I haven't finished it yet, but I couldn't wait until I was done reading it to start writing about it. It's that inspirational. You can hear John Wood talking about his experience in the video below.



You can buy the book on Amazon: Leaving Microsoft to Change the World

Books, books, and more books!

I'm an avid reader, or shall I say, an avid collector of books? Whenever I come across a topic that interests me, I go to Amazon and start adding tons and tons of books to my wishlist to keep track of all the book recommendations that I have received and would like to read one day. And of course, once on Amazon, there are the recommended books that I just can't seem to resist. I end up adding all of those to my wishlist too. It's really a smart way for Amazon to get people to buy more books! In reality, if I actually purchased all of those books, I might end up needing a separate office just to house all the books. And who knows if I'd actually have the time to read them all. I do appreciate the feature, however, because it allows me to learn and explore a topic just by reading the titles of books available on the subject.

Once I've culled through all the book titles on Amazon and added them to my wishlist, I add the ones that I actually think I'll have time to read to my shopping cart and purchase them. I think I've actually read only 5% of the books I own. Tsk tsk, I know. You don't need to remind me that this is one of the reasons moving is such a chore and why there is so much baggage I carry to every new place I move into. I haven't had time to read the books I own yet because of the insane number of hours I used to work and all the travel I had to do in consulting. I think it was even worse during grad school. I had purchased the books to read later. Going forward, I am only going to buy things when I actually need it.

Now, the window of opportunity awaits. I am here in my new home in New York with no "job" at the moment, cleaning and organizing all of our belongings and writing on my blog. This is the perfect year to commit to reading these books! Sorting and putting away all of these books only reminds me of how much I've longed to find time to read these books over the years. No more excuses! I'm doing the things that make me happy this year, and reading books is definitely on the list. This is the year to read.

It's been 6 years since I started collecting all of these books. The books are of all different topics that I'm not even sure I should share with all of you (I tend to be a private person with interests that I do not announce to the world)...but I will, since one of my intentions I made while creating this blog was to be open and share more about myself and what I have learned with others. Why hide? I've decided to live out loud. This is why after much hesitation, I decided to use my name as my website and blog name. I can't hide if I use my name. If people judge me or think I'm strange because of the content I write about, it's really their business. I know who I am and think others may be able to benefit from the things I've learned in my journey over the years. In particular, I've been hiding more of the spiritual aspect of my life as I've transitioned from a devout Catholic to someone who has become very open to every and all religions, spiritual lifestyles, beliefs, and even new age concepts. I've decided to share this journey as well (this is a bold move for me to share this one) in another blog for those interested in spirituality: Seeking a Spiritual Life.

In order to reduce the clutter in my home, I've resolved to read the books, then donate, give away or sell the books once read. Once I get through these books, I plan to use the public library this year (wow, what a concept! fortunately, it is located relavitely close to my new home) and purchase ebooks for my Kindle instead of buying another book to stuff into one of my overstuffed bookcases. You will be surprised to hear that we had to leave our TV at our old place because we knew there would be no space in our new place for one. Instead of a media cabinet and TV, we have several bookcases in its place. We had to choose, and we chose the books over the TV. How nerdy are we? It was definitely a difficult choice to give up all of my recorded shows on my DVR, though.

If you don't have a kindle and love to read, I would definitely suggest buying a kindle! One book, yet thousands of books, all in one device. I have the original one, and I love it. I like the ability to highlight and bookmark certain pages to go back to later. It's like sticking those little post-its without all the visual clutter. The battery lasts quite a while, so it's great for travel too.

Amazon Kindle (Latest Generation)

If you're interested in books I recommend, you can visit my store:

Christine's Book Store

Or, if you're just interested in looking at what books I'm reading, what I've read, and what I'm planning on reading, you can take a look at the books I own on shelfari.com.


If you have any good books that you've read that you recommend, please leave a comment. Happy reading!

Book Review: I Lost My Job and I Liked It

I just finished reading a book called I Lost My Job and I Liked It by Lilou Mace this past weekend. Wow, it was so interesting to see how many parallels I saw between her life and mine! We're both in the process of making a career transition, and I've been watching her videos through the 100 Day Reality Challenge on Co-Creating Our Reality (CCOR). I have also been posting videos of my journey, which you can see on my profile.

Her honesty and openness in sharing her journey with her readers really blew me away. I find that most people want to edit everything they present to the public by trying to act like an authority figure on a subject matter, when in fact we are all constantly learning and expanding all the time. Lilou takes a very different approach compared to other books I've read by sharing her journey---trials, tribulations, triumphs, and all---with the intent of empowering millions of people to pursue their dreams.

Her open and honest approach has inspired me to do the same. I've been a bit hesitant in the past to share my journey online, only posting things that were positive in nature and wouldn't divulge my inner most thoughts. After reading her book, I've changed my mind. I'm going to come out, as Lilou did, and share my journey with the world, with the hope that in truly inspires people to go after their dreams and their passions, like I am doing now. Thanks Lilou!

Read Lilou's book or join CCOR to start your journey today! You can also add me as a friend or follow me on twitter. Wishing you the best of luck on your journey!