Positive thinking - Rated 
This book is great and makes you really think about your situation in perspective.
There are many stories which I am sure many of us can empathise with and apply to our own situations as well as those of others family, friends and colleagues.
I strongly recommend this book if you feel like you are stuck in a black hole in your career or job or are experiencing difficulties at work and don't know why.
Fantastic book full of tips, practical examples and exercises - Rated
Anita Houghton. Finding Square Holes. Carmarthen United Kingdom: Crownhouse Publishing, 2005. 238 pages.
The book is full of tips, practical examples and exercises to "clear your brain" from unnecessary and negative thoughts. But though it is a kind of "workbook" it is very entertaining and easy to read and it provides the reader with an excellent structure for self-reflection and helps him to set realistic goals.
In the introduction of the book Anita explains that she is not one of the "sun tanned writers of self-help books who started from nothing and finally came out as international stars" but admits that one of her qualifications is that she had "the odd problem with work" herself. That was the point when I thought "she knows what she is writing about". Great! I am going to read this book.
The book focuses on happiness and fulfilment at work and not on the western concept of success defined by status and money. "What is important to you in life?" and "What is important about you?" were my favourite chapters. They contain very useful exercises to facilitate structured thinking. After having done the exercises I knew my values and my strength very well and I could work with the knowledge about it. For me that was a fantastic improvement.
My favourite exercise in her book is "Casting yourself in a role". You choose one important thing you want to do in your life which would make you feel that your life has been worthwhile. You start to imagine yourself doing this in a set of situations by asking questions in order to find out what it really means to do it. Practising this exercise gives you a feeling to live "your dream or vision". I use this exercise regularly now to make decisions. It works great! The exercise gives you more confidence in your decisions because you spent time reflecting it and you felt, heard and saw what it will be like to do it.
I would recommend the book to everybody who needs ideas and advice how to improve his/her work-life-balance. Finally I would like to mention that I had the opportunity to work with Anita in six face-to-face coaching sessions from which I benefited very much. Both, the book and the coaching sessions with her changed my way of thinking completely.
Anita, thank you very much again for your support.
So now we know why it didn't work in the past. - Rated
Finding Square Holes is inspiring and thorough. It helps explain why past jobs have been the wrong jobs, maybe even disasters! It clarifies personal strengths and where an individual's personality and personal values and preferences influence the direction they should take. Well thought out and provides impetus for moving ahead, giving clear, concise advice for lost souls. At least now I know why I didn't fit with some jobs in the past. The book does as the title says. Thanks so much Anita.
Inside out is the right way round - Rated
This is an excellent book and I would recommend it to anyone who would like to feel more enthusiastic about getting up on a weekday morning.
It starts from the unusual but not unreasonable idea that to find a job that fits you properly you have to have a clear and realistic idea of what you are like, what you do (and don't) like, what it is you want from a job and what you are prepared to put up with - or do without - to find yourself a contented square peg in a square hole.
The book does this largely through exercises designed to help the reader form a conscious picture of their values, attitudes and priorities. It also uses the well-established idea of psychological type, where people are measured along scales which look at for example, how sociable and outgoing they are, whether they prefer concrete detail or a bigger picture, careful timetables or a last minute adrenalin rush, how much they need to take the human factor into account.
Finding Square Holes is thought provoking and sometimes quite challenging, but kindly written, with a light touch. I enjoyed reading it and found the exercises helpful. And at last I understand why I was such a disaster in what I thought was going to be a great job - and why I like the one I've got.
Definitely worth buying.
I can rule the world! - Rated
I've just finished this book and I now realise how amazing I am and what great skills and experience I have! I can rule the world!!
I loved the time-line work, so empowering. And I loved matching the MBTI personality preferences to past jobs. It really explained so much and made me much clearer about how I assess the jobs I go for in future. Really good stuff!
I'm now going to start looking seriously for work, and I do feel very confident that I will get what I want. This book has unleashed something within me.
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