Making Life Better

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Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. once said, "A mind stretched by a new idea can never go back to its original dimensions." For a control freak like myself, this is no small matter. Making Life Better is an invitation to own our part of our making and embrace our unique opportunities to make our lives better. It's about making routine and daily choices of action, reaction, thought and feeling more profoundly connected to who we are, what we desire and what's most important to us. It's an invitation to turn off our auto-pilot setting and allow our sense of purpose, identity and direction to break into our lives with greater wisdom, clarity and intention. It's a recognition that a meaningful, fulfilling and happy life is really nothing more, though certainly nothing less, than a very long series of meaningful, fulfilling and happy moments. How we experience each of those moments is always completely within us.

It's been said that a journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step. For young Mae, that first step is huge. Mae was born on a farm under the yoke of an oppressive father who wished she was a boy. Mae cannot read or write and has no friends. Often, she daydreams about what it might be like away from the farm and live in an exciting big city. Eventually, her dream comes true when Father sends her to live with Aunt Wilma - a retired school teacher she has never met. Notwithstanding their age differences, they get along famously. Exposed to another way of life, Mae learns to read and write. She even finds time for romance, and soon, her son, Ronnie, is born. Despite objections from cruel people in hostile places, Mae is determined to make good on her promise to provide Ronnie with a better life.

Making Life Better is an inspiring story of character, integrity, ingenuity, and faith-values which form the foundation of an enterprise that has become one of the world's leading recreational boat builders. By holding true to its founder's mission of "Building Boats to the Glory of God" through times of adversity and prosperity, Correct Craft's leadership has provided customers with the industry's best products and used the proceeds of those sales to make the world better for almost 100 years. In this book, CEO Bill Yeargin shares the account of Correct Craft's amazing history, culture, and journey to becoming an industry leader. You'll read about stories such as: - Correct Craft's World War II boat building feat that was recorded by the U.S. government as "The Miracle Production" - The Meloon family's decision to risk bankruptcy rather than compromise their Christian- based business ethic, and their successful efforts to track down and repay every creditor over the following two decades - Correct Craft's transition from family to professional management after having five different CEOs over five years, and an astounding recovery rarely seen in business today - The company's transformation built upon its Identity Pyramid, which sets forth the "Why" of "Making Life Better" through the 3 P's-People, Performance and Philanthropy - Its very impressive track record of helping sellers of companies protect their legacy and employees through acquisitions that empower brands to meet their true potential - Correct Craft's leadership role within the marine industry through advocacy, public service, and the creation of the first ever Marine-Industry Culture Summit

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • At last, a book that shows you how to build—design—a life you can thrive in, at any age or stage • “Life has questions. They have answers.” —The New York Times Designers create worlds and solve problems using design thinking. Look around your office or home—at the tablet or smartphone you may be holding or the chair you are sitting in. Everything in our lives was designed by someone. And every design starts with a problem that a designer or team of designers seeks to solve. In this book, Bill Burnett and Dave Evans show us how design thinking can help us create a life that is both meaningful and fulfilling, regardless of who or where we are, what we do or have done for a living, or how young or old we are. The same design thinking responsible for amazing technology, products, and spaces can be used to design and build your career and your life, a life of fulfillment and joy, constantly creative and productive, one that always holds the possibility of surprise.

For anyone who strives to make life the best it can be, this book introduces fun and effective ways to help you reach your best possible outcome. Throughout the book, the author shares personal stories of road trips she has taken with her sister, Heather, and explains how you can use what she learned on these trips to: *Experience synchronicity *Find passion in your life *Achieve your big dreams *Increase your gratitude *Reduce your fear *Become more flexible *Improve your personal relationships *Learn how to listen *Find the right pace for your life *Live your best possible life The book includes workbook quizzes and exercises to help you improve your life.

The four principles that can help us to overcome our brains' natural biases to make better, more informed decisions--in our lives, careers, families and organizations. In Decisive, Chip Heath and Dan Heath, the bestselling authors of Made to Stick and Switch, tackle the thorny problem of how to overcome our natural biases and irrational thinking to make better decisions, about our work, lives, companies and careers. When it comes to decision making, our brains are flawed instruments. But given that we are biologically hard-wired to act foolishly and behave irrationally at times, how can we do better? A number of recent bestsellers have identified how irrational our decision making can be. But being aware of a bias doesn't correct it, just as knowing that you are nearsighted doesn't help you to see better. In Decisive, the Heath brothers, drawing on extensive studies, stories and research, offer specific, practical tools that can help us to think more clearly about our options, and get out of our heads, to improve our decision making, at work and at home.