Books about Break through from Amazon.com

DO YOU:-+dream about writing the Great American Novel?-+regret not finishing your paintings, poems, or screenplays?-+want to start a business or charity?-+wish you could start dieting or exercising today?-+hope to run a marathon someday?If "yes," then you need#133;THE WAR OF ARTNow, in this powerful, straight-from-the-hip examination of the internal obstacles to success, bestselling author Steven Pressfield shows readers how to identify, defeat, and unlock the inner barriers to creativity. THE WAR OF ART is an inspirational, funny, well-aimed kick in the pants guaranteed to galvanize every would-be artist, visionary, or entrepreneur.Steven Pressfield enjoys great international success as a bestselling novelist.But in order to reach the top he had to do a lot of work to fight the inner demons that told him he couldn't make it.THE WAR OF ART is his challenge to creative block, and his succinct, straight-from-the-hip style will help every reader unleash their personal ambitions, be they literary, artistic, or business-minded.According to Pressfield, the internal obstacle to success is Resistance.Resistance is the difference between the life you lead and the life you want to lead, and can take many forms.Pressfield shows readers how to identify and defeat Resistance at every turn and challenges them to change their amateurish, unsuccessful habits into a professional attitude that can get the job done. Finally, Sun Tzu for the soul!Inspirational, funny, and a great kick in the pants, THE WAR OF ART is the perfect book for anybody who had a goal circumvented by life and circumstance:which is to say, you and everybody you've ever met..
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In the fall of 2004, two young environmentalists, Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus, triggered a firestorm of controversy with their essay, "The Death of Environmentalism " In it they argued that the politics that dealt with acid rain and smog can't deal with global warming. Society has changed, and our politics have not kept up. Environmentalism must die, they concluded, so that something new can be born. Now, three years later, Break Through delivers on the authors' promise to articulate a new politics for a new century, one focused on aspirations, not complaints, human possibility, not limits.

If environmentalists and progressives are to seize the moment offered by the collapse of the Bush presidency, they must break from the politics of limits, and grapple with some inconvenient truths of their own. The old pollution and conservation paradigms have failed. The nations that ratified the Kyoto protocol have seen their greenhouse gas emissions go up, not down. And tropical rain forest deforestation has accelerated.

What the new ecological crises demand is not that we constrain human power but unleash it. Overcoming global warming demands not pollution control but rather a new kind of economic development. We cannot tear down the old energy economy before building the new one. The invention of the Internet and microchips, the creation of the space program, the birth of the European Union--those breakthroughs were only made possible by big and bold investments in the future.

The era of small thinking is over, the authors claim. We must go beyond small-bore environmentalism and interest-group liberalism to create a politics focused as much on uncommon greatness as the common good.

Break Through offers more than policy prescriptions and demands more than casual consideration. With its challenge to conventional environmentalist, conservative, and progressive thought, and its proposal for a politics of possibility, Break Through will influence the political debate for years to come.

Questions for Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus

Amazon.com: Your book grew out of an essay you wrote, "The Death of Environmentalism," that had an impact on the environmental discussion beyond even your own expectations, I assume. What did you argue in the essay, and why do you think it struck a chord?

Shellenberger and Nordhaus: We wrote the essay thinking that it would generate discussion among grantmakers and environmental insiders. We really didn't expect it to go viral and to be read by environmentalists and liberals all over the world. The essay was mostly about the failure of the environmental movement to make much progress on its agenda over the previous decade, but we could just as well have written it about any of the other liberal interest groups over that period. In the months after George W. Bush's reelection, a lot of liberals and environmentalists were ready to take a hard look at their political agenda, the Democratic Party, and the interest groups they supported. For that reason, our essay really did strike a chord.

In the essay, we argued that the great successes of the modern environmental movement in the '60s and '70s had laid the seeds of their failure in the early years of the 21st century. That they had built institutions filled with lawyers and scientists well suited to lobby policy makers who basically shared their world view. This worked well when liberals controlled the Congress and much of the federal bureaucracy, and when the politics of the time were more supportive of active government efforts to regulate the economy and clean up the environment. But as social values shifted through the '80s and '90s, as modern conservatism rose to power, and as the electorate became a good deal more skeptical of both government and environmentalists, these strategies, and the institutions that were created to prosecute them, foundered.

We argued that environmentalists needed to rethink the entire project, that these problems would not be solved simply with better PR and spin. Most especially, we argued that environmentalists needed to stop imagining that they were representing a thing called Nature or the Environment, separate from us (e.g. humans) in politics. It was for this reason that we argued that environmentalism had become a special interest, incapable of addressing large, complex, and global problems such as global warming.

Amazon.com: You wrote the essay three years ago. What have you learned from the response it got?

Shellenberger and Nordhaus: First and foremost, we learned that there was a generational component to the debate that we really hadn't been conscious of when we wrote the essay. Those who came of age in the '60s and '70s, when the environmental movement, along with the larger liberal political agenda, was ascendant, were most defensive and critical of the essay. Their identities as environmentalists, and their identification with the environmental politics and strategies of that era, were most resistant to the idea that environmentalism needed to die so that a larger, more expansive politics might be born. Younger generations were much more open to our thesis and excited to get to work creating a post environmental movement. This remains the case. As we travel the country speaking to audiences about Break Through, it is younger audience members who are most inspired by our message and most committed to building a movement and a politics that not only saves us from global warming apocalypse but is also equitable, free, and prosperous.

Amazon.com: On one hand, you argue that global warming is a "monumental" crisis that demands a response beyond the more limited (and limiting) environmental policies of the past. On the other, you acknowledge that, despite a great deal of press attention, "global warming" still ranks at the very bottom of voters' concerns. How do you confront a crisis that voters don't care about?

Shellenberger and Nordhaus: By getting it out of the global warming/environmental ghetto. We know that things like energy independence, getting off oil, getting out of the Middle East, and creating jobs and economic development in the new clean energy industries of the future are much higher priorities for most voters than capping carbon emissions or taxing dirty energy sources. So why not redefine our agenda as the solution to those problems? We can still cap carbon, but that needn't be at the top of the agenda that we communicate to voters. Making big investments to get off oil, making clean energy alternatives widely available and cheap, and creating millions of new jobs in clean energy industries is a winner with American voters and can carry the whole suite of policies that we need to address global warming.

Amazon.com: It seems that in the 2008 election, the possible candidates who have most identified themselves with environmental issues, like Al Gore and even Newt Gingrich, are sitting this one out, and it hasn't yet become a central issue among the declared candidates. Barack Obama did just give a major speech on the environment that has gotten some attention, though--do you think, despite voter apathy on the subject, that the issue could move the needle for a candidate?

Shellenberger and Nordhaus: We don't think that environmental issues, traditionally defined, including global warming, are likely to be make or break issues politically in this election. Voters simply have too many other pressing concerns, from health care, to energy prices, to the war in Iraq. The key, as noted above, is to reorient our agenda around those higher priority concerns. The good news is that all three leading Democratic candidates have made big commitment to large public investments to build the clean energy economy. Hilary Clinton has announced plans to invest $50 billion dollars, John Edwards recently announced a commitment to invest $13 billion annually, and just last week Barack Obama announced a $150 billion investment plan. The candidates read the same surveys we do. They know that there is extraordinary opportunity politically when we redefine our agenda around clean energy investment.

Amazon.com: I was fascinated by the section in your book in which you look favorably on Rick Warren's small-group evangelical movement [see The Purpose-Driven Life] as a possible model for providing belonging in our bowling-alone society, but you don't provide many specifics about what a similar environmental movement would look like. Do you have some ideas? Birdwatching? Boy Scouts?

Shellenberger and Nordhaus: We don't provide a lot of answers because we really don't have them. We wrote Break Through not to tell our readers what to do but rather as an invitation to join us in asking the right questions and experimenting with answers. For secular, liberal environmentalists, maybe we will find those "strong ties," through health clubs, or internet chat rooms, or mom's groups, or public service projects. What is key is that we understand that in a highly mobile and autonomous post-industrial society, we need to find easy ways for people to find connection and relationship with other people whom they may never have met, the literal equivalent of the evangelical service that is conducted several times every day, where people can come and go as they want, with child care and dry cleaning and whatever else liberals need to integrate that kind of regular activity into their everyday lives, and then we need to find ways to deepen those ties and connections, in ways that support and affirm secular values and personal autonomy. That is the starting point for creating a powerful secular political movement that is grounded in something more personal than direct mail campaigns, telephone appeals, and email alerts.

Amazon.com: Some skeptics of your technological optimism argue that the kinds of breakthroughs you expect as a result from massive investment just don't come easily in the energy sector. Solar power, nuclear energy, hydrogen fuel cells: they have all been around for decades without weaning us from oil and coal. What makes you think that the next decades will be different?

Shellenberger and Nordhaus: They are right in part; energy is a sector of the economy that has been particularly resistant to innovation. This is precisely the problem. It is why we are still dependant on energy sources that are 100 to 150 years old while virtually every other sector of the economy has transformed itself. This is why we believe that the faith that many environmentalists still hold that carbon regulations and taxes will drive sufficient private sector investment into energy markets to create the kind of innovation we need is unfounded. It is worth noting that virtually every alternative energy source we have--solar, wind, nuclear, and battery and fuel cell technologies for storage--resulted from public innovation and R&D, not private. The problem is that we haven't done enough of it, and we have done it inconsistently. After a brief couple of years in the late '70s, public funding for clean energy technologies dried up and has been on the decline ever since. The levels of technology investment in the energy sciences pales compared to the kinds of investment we make in the computer and bio-sciences. Skepticism about the potential to achieve the kinds of breakthroughs we need has been a self fulfilling prophecy. We don't make the investments we need to make, the sector fails to innovate, and then we conclude that it can't innovate. All of the barriers to innovation in the energy sector are arguments for a big commitment to public investment. Only the public sector can make the kind of long-term, common investments that we need to overcome those barriers to innovation.

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The "meantime," according to best-selling author and inspirational speaker Iyanla Vanzant, is that in-between stage of life when you're gathering up strength, evaluating past mishaps, and preparing for the next chapter. Using the metaphor of psyche as house, Vanzant believes that the meantime offers a perfect opportunity for tackling a rigorous cleaning. "We are going to go through every inch of your emotional and spiritual house and clean up the mess, clear out the debris, fix the leaks, stop the squeaks, and reveal and repair any damage we can find," she promises in this workbook. Readers who felt soothed and inspired by Vanzant's In the Meantime will probably appreciate this floor-by-floor companion workbook. Every chapter of Living Through the Meantime contains an assortment of "Caring Exercises," ranging from affirmations, such as "I now place my faith in the power and presence of God's love" to quasi-therapeutic fill-in-the-blanks statements. (For example, "My earliest experience of feeling betrayed was ___.") Vanzant is not the most eloquent or sophisticated of writers, but she does seem to touch people's hearts and crack them open. Her main agendas are self-reflection and trust in God. Fans who are ready to tackle a hefty self-improvement project will not be disappointed with this workbook. Newcomers should check out her earlier book before committing to this one. -- Gail Hudson.
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How many times have you gone on a diet and lost a few pounds, only to hit, once again, that dreaded plateau? Many people manage to lose the first 10, 15, or 20 pounds of the weight they want to shed. Then, no matter how hard they work, they can't seem to nudge the number on the scale farther down, and often they end up gaining back the weight they lost. Finally, there is a healthy, permanent weight-loss solution that will get you off the frustrating yo-yo that often accompanies most fad diets.

Dr. George L. Blackburn is the associate director of the Division of Nutrition at Harvard Medical School and directs the Center for the Study of Nutrition Medicine, which investigates complex issues in nutrition and health. Based on three decades of his research and clinical practice, Break Through Your Set Point offers an exciting and effective program that will give you specific tools to help you get out of your rut and prevent those extra pounds from coming back.

Your set point, or typical body weight, is determined by your genes and your environment. Many modern lifestyle habits—including getting too little sleep and eating on the run—have conspired to raise many people's set points to unhealthily high levels. According to Dr. Blackburn's theory, if you set a reasonable goal to lose about 10 percent of your initial body weight, then hold steady at your new weight without regaining any pounds for at least six months, you can reset your body's set point. And once you've reset your set point, you can repeat the cycle to lose even more weight.

The body's innate tendency to protect itself against starvation explains why the body resists losing weight after a certain point. Dr. Blackburn explains the science behind the set-point theory and helps you devise a plan that works for you. With his unique, multi-faceted approach, Dr. Blackburn shows that hitting your set point is not a dead end but the first step in losing weight the right way. This book will help you overcome your weight-loss plateau once and for all.

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Thirty-five years after his death in Paris at age twenty-seven, Jim Morrison's iconic legend remains as powerful as ever, swathed in the mists of mystery There have been numerous biographies about the self-proclaimed "Lizard King's" life and career. But none have examined his roots and childhood, the intellectual foundations of his music, his wild days with the Doors, and his enigmatic early death as completely and insightfully as Break On Through.

More than simply a fascinating look at a rock legend whose cult following never stops growing, here is the definitive Morrison biography: his angry relationship with his father; the early tragedies and terrible events responsible for the darkness of his artistic vision; his private life and legal trials, including his infamous Miami obscenity bust; and the truth about his final hours. Based on extensive research and featuring dozens of rarely published photographs, this is the authoritative portrait of the poet, the grim visionary, the haunted man, and his haunting music.

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Mike Linderman is a teen therapist unlike any other. A real-life cowboy, he wakes up at the crack of dawn, works the cattle on his ranch, and then counsels some of the country's most troubled teens, approaching them with a unique blend of down-home honesty, straight-talk discipline, and pure intention that is rarely found in a therapist's office. Most of the teens Mike treats are angry, abused, violent, and dangerous—they are children without hope. Yet despite their difficult pasts, he has achieved extraordinary success with them, helping to turn their lives around and earning him the nickname the "Teen Whisperer."

Now he shares the secrets behind his success with parents everywhere, demonstrating how his regimen of hard work, integrity, and effective communication has turned seriously at-risk kids into loving, well-balanced, and productive teens. Beginning with the foundation that a teen acts out inappropriately when one or more of the Five Primary Needs—Survival, Fun, Freedom, Power, and Belonging—isn't being met by his or her family, Mike uses stories that range from teen substance abuse to sexual promiscuity to violence, to discuss how and why negative behavior begins. With these stories of real kids, he explains what you can do to help your child make better choices while avoiding the unproductive power struggles that mar so many attempts at reconciliation.

In addition, Mike offers a concrete plan to help you address your teen's needs, amend your words (not just your rules), and rebuild your relationship, as you

• Create the right approach to positive change
• Use appropriate praise to establish pure intention
• Communicate effectively
• Outline the right set of rules for your child

More than just a plan to rein in bad behavior, The Teen Whisperer deconstructs the emotional barriers that adolescence has placed between you and your child, helping you to work with teens on their level—instead of simply treating them as subordinates. With this straightforward and open perspective, both you and your teen will learn to offer each other mutual respect and kindness, as you work together to heal the troubled hearts of your family.

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As the title suggests, Breakthrough! The Bible for Young Catholics highlights what happens throughout salvation history between God and humanity God breaks through and connects with human history, thereby establishing a relationship with humanity.

Using the Good News translation, Breakthrough! The Bible for Young Catholics was created for young people leaving childhood and entering adolescence. Its ten special features were created to help make the Bible easier for young people to read and understand.

They will learn about the great people of the Bible, and will see how God has been breaking through in human history and connecting with humanity for thousands of years. Most important, they will discover, in the Bible, how God's messages to key people of faith have meaning for life today..
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Break through the 10 big diet myths!

In this book, renowned expert Dr. James Rippe and Weight Watchers give you the scientific knowledge you need to break through the myths, get off the dieting roller coaster, and shed those pounds for keeps.

Believers Beware!

MYTH #1 You can't lose weight and keep it off

MYTH #2 A few extra pounds don't matter

MYTH #3 Willpower is the key to successful weight loss

MYTH #4 You can lose weight with exercise alone

MYTH #5 Calories don't matter—avoid fats or carbs to lose weight successfully

MYTH #6 You can't lose weight if you have the wrong metabolism or genes

MYTH #7 You can boost your metabolism by what, how, and when you eat

MYTH #8 It doesn't matter how you take the weight off; you can think about keeping it off later

MYTH #9There is only one right approach to losing weight

MYTH #10 Your weight is your problem, and you need to solve it on your own

"Incisive and refreshing. James Rippe and Weight Watchers expose a series of ten myths pervasive in the weight-loss industry, revealing both the kernels of truth they contain and how they have been misinterpreted and distorted."
—Claude Bouchard, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University.
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Break Through Difficult Emotions
By Shinzen Young

Difficult Emotions? Try These Meditations -
For the first time, Shinzen Young teaches specific meditation practices for transforming anger, grief, resentment - any emotion that makes your life difficult. In four easy-to-follow exercises, you will learn how to: Deconstruct any emotion into its harmless components • Identify the location, shape, and flow of your emotions • "Melt" frozen emotions into their natural, fluid state • Contact body sensations - the gateway to emotional liberation • Untangle mental confusion by "watching" your thoughts; and much more. The first meditation system for gaining freedom from harmful emotions - by escaping into them..
Price: $11.60 [Notify me when price goes down.]