Showing results by publisher "Canongate Books" in Personal Success

It is a strange paradox that many of the clearest, most comforting life lessons are learned while we are at our lowest. But then we never think about food more than when we are hungry, and we never think about life rafts more than when we are thrown overboard. The Comfort Book is a collection of consolations learned in hard times and suggestions for making the bad days better.

Reuben, aged 38, was living in a home for adults with learning disabilities and struggling to accept that he had Down's syndrome. Depressed and in a fog of anti-depressants, he hadn't spoken for over a year. Increasingly isolated, cut off from everyone and everything he loved, Reuben sent a text message: 'brother. do. you. love. me.' When Manni received this desperate message from his youngest brother, he knew everything had to change. Together they began an extraordinary journey of repair, rediscovering the depths of their brotherhood, one gradual step at a time.

Big Feelings addresses anyone intimidated by oversized feelings they can't predict or control, offering the tools to understand what's really going on, find comfort and face the future with a sense of newfound agency.

Using the latest research from psychology and neuroscience and working in collaboration with the University of Sussex's world-leading Kindness Institute, Claudia Hammond takes us on a eye-opening tour of kindness: what constitutes kindness (it's not just one thing), effective strategies to build more of it into our lives and the benefits of being kind. The audiobook is structured around the seven keys of kindness.

This is a guide to a life well-lived. It is about the wonder of the everyday and the lessons that age brings. Wear stripes. Eat chocolate. Don't leave empty-handed. But also embrace change, let go of what doesn't matter and take care of something or someone other than yourself. The Swedish Art of Ageing Well is a gentle and welcome reminder that, no matter your age, there are always fresh discoveries ahead and pleasures to be enjoyed every day.

In the early 1960s scientists at the University of California, Berkeley set out to establish the key factors affecting health and longevity. Their results, known as the ‘Alameda 7’, you already know: don’t smoke, drink in moderation, sleep seven to eight hours a night, exercise, eat regular meals, maintain a moderate weight, eat breakfast. Years later, however, the same team discovered an eighth factor, one that proved more important than all the others: social connection.

In her long-awaited debut memoir, You Could Make This Place Beautiful, award-winning poet Maggie Smith explores in lyrical vignettes the end of her marriage and the beginning of a surprising new life. With the spirit of reflection and empathy she's known for, Smith interweaves snapshots of a life with meditations on secrets, anger, forgiveness and narrative itself.

Döstädning, or the art of death cleaning, is a Swedish phenomenon by which the elderly and their families set their affairs in order. Whether it's sorting the family heirlooms from the junk, downsizing to a smaller place, or setting up a system to help you stop misplacing your keys, death cleaning gives us the chance to make the later years of our lives as comfortable and stress-free as possible. Whatever your age, Swedish death cleaning can be used to help you de-clutter your life, and take stock of what's important.

'No regrets.' You've heard people proclaim it as a philosophy of life. That's nonsense, even dangerous, says Daniel H. Pink in his latest bold and inspiring work. Everybody has regrets. They're a fundamental part of our lives. And if we reckon with them in fresh and imaginative ways, we can enlist our regrets to make smarter decisions, perform better at work and school and deepen our sense of meaning and purpose.

Gina Miller came to prominence when she brought one of the most significant constitutional cases ever to be heard in the British Supreme Court. Gina successfully challenged the UK government's authority to trigger Article 50 - the formal notification to leave the European Union - without parliamentary approval. For standing up for what she believed was right, Miller became the target of not just racist and sexist verbal abuse but physical threats to her and her family.

The Bright Side makes a vital and transformative new argument: that optimism is not only the natural state of humanity, but an essential one. Without optimism we would never have survived the unpredictable – and often hostile – world we evolved into. Yet optimism is not reserved for times of extremity. Its benefits manifest throughout our everyday lives: our relationships, careers, bodies and minds. And it will play a critical role in overcoming the challenges of the twenty-first century.

When Kent Nerburn received a letter from Jennifer, a young woman questioning her calling to spend her life in the arts, the writer and artist was struck by how closely her questions mirrored the doubts and yearnings of his own youth. Nerburn resolved that he would write his own letter: a letter of welcome and encouragement to all young artists setting out on the same strange and magical journey, sharing the wisdom of a life spent working in the arts.