Clock versus Compass – Art of Positive Balance

This topical book of practical wisdom is a distillation of the author's thinking about life as a coach and practitioner of positive psychology. The content is arranged in seven sections: mind, self-awareness, relationships, work engagement, soul and meaning, play and motivation. Each entry consists of a contrasting or complementary principle with some basic definitions and exposition followed by a slightly more extensive commentary, an appropriate quotation and a practical suggestion for implementation. In some cases, like microscope and telescope or head and heart, it is a question of balancing as the title suggests, but in others such as judging and discerning, daydreaming and visualisation, the direction of travel is from the first towards the second. In still other cases, the second word provides a reframe, for instance from struggling to juggling, from controlling time to creating time, from being aggressive to being assertive, or from being self-conscious to being self-aware. I found a lifetime of good advice packed into the book, which I would recommend for regular review, even opening the book at random - I will be putting my copy in our guest bedroom.