Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve spent my life as a psychologist, first as a therapist and then as an executive coach and consultant.  My passion has been helping people get out of their own way and live the best lives they possibly can. I have a Ph.D. and an MBA, which provides me with a unique approach. I combine sports-influenced tactics of performance coaching with psychology-trained skills of empathy to help businesses, leaders, and employees perform at their best, with passion and joy. My book captures the essence of what I have learned from my clients and from living my own life.


I wrote

Curating Your Life: Ending the Struggle for Work-Life Balance

By Gail Golden,

Book cover of Curating Your Life: Ending the Struggle for Work-Life Balance

What is my book about?

Through decades working as a therapist and then as an executive coach, I recognized the concept of "work/life balance" was…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal

Gail Golden Why did I love this book?

This book changed my life. I learned how to maximize my energy, so I perform at my best and enjoy my life. The book focuses on four kinds of energy: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. It is full of practical suggestions – my favorite is, “Life is not a marathon, it is a series of sprints.”  

Book cover of A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future

Gail Golden Why did I love this book?

In our digital world, where computers can do many tasks faster and better than people can, we will thrive if we excel at skills that are uniquely human. Pink writes about the cognitive skills that will be most useful in today’s world: design, story, symphony, empathy, play, and meaning. The book is full of fun and fascinating exercises that helped me develop those skills.

By Daniel H. Pink,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked A Whole New Mind as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This is a book that you have to read. A Whole New Mind is a groundbreaking look at how we should live our lives in a world turned upside down by rising affluence, the outsourcing of good jobs abroad, and the computerization of our lives a world fast shifting from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age. Lawyers. Accountants. Radiologists. Software engineers. That's what our parents encouraged us to be when we grew up. But Mum and Dad were wrong. The future belongs to a very different kind of person - a person with a very different kind of mind.…


Book cover of Love + Work: How to Find What You Love, Love What You Do, and Do It for the Rest of Your Life

Gail Golden Why did I love this book?

This book is crucial for business leaders who want to build teams that are highly engaged and productive. Buckingham’s thesis is that you get excellence only from people who are doing what they love. Whether you’re trying to get the best out of yourself or others, this book provides very useful guidance. I find the book audacious in its use of the word “love.” Business books may talk about passion or focus or “flow,” but it is rare that authors talk about love, and yet that is the essence of doing great work.

By Marcus Buckingham,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Love + Work as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A Wall Street Journal bestseller

World-renowned researcher and New York Times bestselling author Marcus Buckingham helps us discover where we're at our best-both at work and in life.

You've long been told to "Do what you love." Sounds simple, but the real challenge is how to do this in a world not set up to help you. Most of us actually don't know the real truth of what we love-what engages us and makes us thrive-and our workplaces, jobs, schools, even our parents, are focused instead on making us conform. Sadly, no person or system is dedicated to discovering the…


Book cover of Yes, And: How Improvisation Reverses "No, But" Thinking and Improves Creativity and Collaboration--Lessons from The Second City

Gail Golden Why did I love this book?

Critical thinking is an essential leadership skill, and many business leaders are great at it. The problem is that this approach often intimidates people and stifles their creativity. This book taught me a new set of communication tactics, based on improvisational theater techniques, that reduce fear and drive innovation in the workplace. The best manager I ever worked for was a “Yes, And” manager.

By Kelly Leonard, Tom Yorton,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Yes, And as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Executives from The Second City-the world's premier comedy theater and school of improvisation-reveal improvisational techniques that can help any organization develop innovators, encourage adaptable leaders, and build transformational businesses. For more than fifty years, The Second City comedy theater in Chicago has been a training ground for some of the best comic minds in the industry-including John Belushi, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Mike Myers, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, and Tina Fey. But it also provides one-of-a-kind leadership training to cutting-edge companies, nonprofits, and public sector organizations-all aimed at increasing creativity, collaboration, and teamwork. The rules for leadership and teamwork have…


Book cover of Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

Gail Golden Why did I love this book?

I wish I had written this book. It is chock-full of great advice for women leaders. Sandberg’s writing style is personal and warm and she tackles many of women’s real-life challenges, both at home and in the workplace. She asks us, “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?” My favorite anecdote is when she admits that she put her children to bed at night in their school clothes so it was easier to get them up and out in the morning. This woman who looks as if she does everything perfectly cuts corners just like the rest of us.

By Sheryl Sandberg,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Lean In as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In is a massive cultural phenomenon and its title has become an instant catchphrase for empowering women. The book soared to the top of bestseller lists internationally, igniting global conversations about women and ambition. Sandberg packed theatres, dominated opinion pages, appeared on every major television show and on the cover of Time magazine, and sparked ferocious debate about women and leadership.

Ask most women whether they have the right to equality at work and the answer will be a resounding yes, but ask the same women whether they'd feel confident asking for a raise, a promotion, or…


Explore my book 😀

Curating Your Life: Ending the Struggle for Work-Life Balance

By Gail Golden,

Book cover of Curating Your Life: Ending the Struggle for Work-Life Balance

What is my book about?

Through decades working as a therapist and then as an executive coach, I recognized the concept of "work/life balance" was not helping people to live productive, fulfilling lives. There is a better way to manage yourself for peak performance. Much as a museum curator creates a beautiful and meaningful exhibit by selecting and arranging artifacts, you too can “curate” your commitments and energies. 

When your energy, passion, and happiness are maximized there is an immediate impact on your effectiveness at work. Curating Your Life details how to: deal with the negative voice in your head and others’ criticism; combat procrastination; leave your comfort zone; understand the connection between discipline and freedom; spend time in the “gray zone” being a little bit bad; and re-curate throughout your life.

Book cover of The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal
Book cover of A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future
Book cover of Love + Work: How to Find What You Love, Love What You Do, and Do It for the Rest of Your Life

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Empire's Daughter

By Marian L Thorpe,

Book cover of Empire's Daughter

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Marian L Thorpe Author Of Empress & Soldier

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Why am I passionate about this?

Author Birder Traveller Amateur landscape historian Reader

Marian's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

Lena thinks she knows her future: in her small village, nothing much has changed for two hundred years. Women farm and fish, plant and harvest: a cooperative, productive, peaceful life. Until the day a soldier rides in, to ask the unthinkable of the women: learn to fight. Invasion is imminent, and the men alone cannot defeat them.

Maya, Lena’s partner, refuses. Going against the collective decision of the village means banishment. Will Lena decide to defend her home, or go with her love?

Journey with Lena as she makes this terrible choice, setting her feet on a path towards a…

Empire's Daughter

By Marian L Thorpe,

What is this book about?

"Fans of Guy Gavriel Kay will love Thorpe's work." Anya Pavelle

A B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree; Eric Hoffer Finalist, 2021; BBNYA 2021 Semi-Finalist

An Emperor's request. A lover's refusal. And a young woman who must choose between them.

Many generations past, the great empire from the east left Lena's country to its own defences. Now invasion threatens...and to save their land, women must learn the skills of war. But in a world reminiscent of Britain after the fall of Rome, only men fight; women farm and fish. Lena's choice to answer her leader's call to arms separates her from her lover…


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