Will’s ToolKit
ALL | Business Skills | Relationship | Health and Wellness | Inspiration | Travel | Violin
Barbara Stanny completely transforms your mindsets and experiences with money into action, if you put in the work. And the action creates phenomenal results….for those of us who like money ;)
“In order to be who you are, you must be willing to let go of who you think you are.” Michael Singer
Breathe. We all need to do it and yet sometimes it’s the last thing we come to in moments where we need it most. A basic, simple, exercise that impacts everyone - from a four-year old to a Navy SEAL. Exercise within!
“Bird by bird buddy. Just take it bird by bird” is the quote from where Anne draws the title, and once you read the accompanying story you’ll smile, chuckle and take it deep into your heart. Anne creates such an intimate space and conversations with you the reader,
Prepare to have your mind blown! This is a book that I love to share, for me some of Brené’s best work and pivotal in how we can all engage leadership in ourselves, our lives, and also inspire the leaders around us. I challenge everyone who I recommend this book to read it from two mindsets, first with the mindset of leading others and being part of a team.
I find this article key in helping to change your mindset and goals around social media and marketing. How to establish your own space and define measurables that make you proud of your online presence. A must read!
The concepts in this book are all around us and it’s time to use these tools for good - getting you what you are looking for out of your career and life!
YES! READ THIS!
“Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It’s a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time.”
This book will change the way that you navigate relationships in all areas of your life and as I find myself re-reading and returning to this book, I continue to discover new golden nuggets every time.
“What is truth? Truth is that which does not contaminate you, but empowers you.”
“Clarity allows you to see the world of physical matter for what it is, a learning environment that is created jointly by the intentions of the souls that share it.”
“Your life is yours to live, no matter how you choose to live it. When you do not think about how you intend to live it, it lives you. When you occupy it, step into it consciously, you live it.”
This was my introduction to Brené Brown and I recommend it as a read for any and all friends, colleagues, students, and clients as a starting point into the exploration that so many of us need to take to step through our expectations of perfection and into authenticity. NEW 10th Anniversary Edition!
Knowing your values is essential to navigating and creating a path that is authentic and genuine to you. This level of understanding adds clarity to your decisions and helps you to cultivate what you are inspired and passionate about and link to all that you dream to create. Click here for a starter exercise that I use with students and clients to get them started in beginning to identify their values which is always transformational in three days and under 30 minutes. Enjoy!
This book will change the way that you navigate relationships in all areas of your life and as I find myself re-reading and returning to this book, I continue to discover new golden nuggets every time.
I still remember the first time conductor Larry Rachleff spoke to me about his diet and how he approached eating leading up to and including concert day - this was 1995. I was at the height of my eating prowess, downing burgers, pizza, and wings with the deftness of a giant, and here was a mentor discussing how careful he was in planning his eating. My curiosity piqued, I’ve been hunting information and exploring this ever since.
This podcast uses divorce as the starting point to dig into a treasure trove about how we approach all of the relationships in our lives - loved ones, family, colleagues, friends, and ourself. I find it transformative in how it has helped shift my own mindset as well as the people I’ve already shared this with. With self-forgiveness as the core they include many concepts in the discussion that explore how each of us can continue to engage in the foundational tenants of patience, clarity, respect, peace and forgiveness as we move through our daily adventures.
Meditation is an absolute MUST for any toolkit. and Headspace is the go-to app that I use with everyone as a starting place. Free for the first 10 days/session (more on fees later – fair warning: you’re going to wish you qualify for the STUDENT plan) - Headspace is a game changer in helping people find their space and place with meditation.
TWO GIANTS who have impacted my life in ways that I don’t have words to truly express. This is the second part of a two part series that Brené and Oprah did for Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations and it is one I keep coming back to for myself and for people that I work for and with. Brené is always at the top of her game when she is with Oprah and this is one of my all-time favorites.
This book is the perfect starter to up your game with your time management and put yourself in charge of making choices on how you use your time. The more choices you make the more you will accomplish that fulfills your greatest goals and inspirations. This is a quick read (and cheap!) that introduces key fundamental concepts that you can start trying immediately. IMMEDIATELY. I love that he outlines several accessible and doable techniques in short form that gives the reader the chance to take it or leave it, try it or move on. I have found that each of us combines elements from numerous different modes of time management that fit our unique lifestyles and combination of priorities in our life. This book gives perfect clear coverage so that you can start somewhere simple and build from there.
Read it. Enough said.
Okay...I’ll say more. Also read The Four Agreements by Ruiz.
Famous first for The Coffee Challenge, where Noah Kagan challenges people to get out of their comfort zone and negotiate the price on a cup of coffee (there is a link in the article for a video of this particular challenge). This is a short and sweet article about how we can experiment in our daily lives to get more comfortable with the uncomfortable. How to increase our ability to accept and breathe through challenge by sitting in the wrong seat on an airplane….
I started learning about Tsabary through podcasts and her voice and reasoning was so compelling that I purchased her book and read it cover to cover. It has changed my life and the lives of all who I’ve recommended it to.
Never have I ever read a book which is so articulate, cultivated and planned on business structure for the entrepreneur as this. It is a haul to get through it if you are dedicated to truly completing and going deep on the exercises and outlines within and you will never be the same, nor will your business if you do.
Another monster delivery by Brené Brown, the TED Talk that brought her into the force that she is today. This is something I bring into sharing with ensembles, individuals, myself - when I’m needing a reminder of what my intents truly are in all of the relationships in my life - professional and personal.
I run a book club in my studio at the Butler School of Music and we most often choose the book together as a team to find what current themes are running through each of our lives. The Confidence Gap was a book that my student, Shruthi, kept bringing up and so we finally gave in to her insistence (Shruthi, btw, is now the most likely to succeed with her book recommendations).