Explore Your Enthusiasm

Monthly reading updates are back!

I’m going to start sharing, every month, the books I am reading and loving and the ones that are most impacting my business, mindset and decision-making!

Last year I read 70+ books and in 2015 and 2016, I read over 100 each year.

And for those 3 years I have reported in on my reading every month, in a blog post. But I kinda accidentally stopped, in July of 2017. There was no real reason, I just kept forgetting to do the blog post! I polled y’all on Instagram (are you following me on Instagram? If not, go do it - you get to vote on everything from I talk about on the podcast to watch on my Netflix queue!) - and you said you wanted me to go back to sharing my weekly list and you preferred me to do in an audio/video format. So that’s what we’ll do - 1 podcast a month on BOOKS. You can find allllll of my other reading posts and what I’ve been reading for the last 3 years right here.

So today I’m not going to cover January’s books, I’m actually going to go back and catch up on my favorite books since July, the last time I wrote about it!

• The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson - I talk more about applying this to your business in episode 174
• How Emotions are Made, by Lisa Feldman Berrett - I go into this one in more detail in episode 183
• The Last Best Cure: My Quest to Awaken the Healing Parts of My Brain and Get Back My Body, My Joy, and My Life, by Donna Nakazawa
• The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino
• The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, by Mark Manson

All of these books are under $20 and I highly recommend each one.

Do you have a book suggestions you think I should read? Come tell me on Facebook!

Do you like episodes like this where I cover a lot of books, or would you prefer me to go deeper into one book per episode, like I have with Slight Edge and How Emotions are Made? I’ll put up a poll on Instagram, so be sure you’re watching my Stories!

Listen in and get your free transcript at TaraSwiger.com/podcast192

Did you set a stretch goal this year? How do you know what the right amount of stretch IS? How much is too much? What is ridiculous and what is a good kind of challenging?

Listen in and get your free transcript at TaraSwiger.com/podcast191

What if last year was a total fluke?
What if it all goes away?
What if it *seems* like your business is going well, but it’s all going to fall apart?

Yeah, have you been thinking that, when you have a business success? A good launch, a good year, a new client?

You are not alone.

• The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks

Listen in and get your free transcript at TaraSwiger.com/podcast190

Here’s a dichotomy: You want to listen to your customers and your audience, to give them what they want, to create an awesome business. But yet, needing their approval has you frozen or afraid or feeling kinda needy. How do you balance this?

• My 2017 year-end review

Listen in and get your free transcript at TaraSwiger.com/podcast189.

Welcome to the new year!
This is the time of year when everyone is thinking about their plans and goals and what they want to create...and with that comes a big dose of self-doubt.
"Well I've never done that before."
"I failed to hit a goal last time."
"I have never set such a big goal!"
Today - how to start FRESH - how to move forward on your goal no matter what happened last year.

• Why you're afraid of setting a goal
• Why your goal failed
• Map Your Business
• How to get back to work after a break

Listen in and get your free goal setting worksheet at TaraSwiger.com/podcast188

New Years resolutions are always tricky, so in this episode we'll be talking about how to plan for what you really (like, REALLY, REALLY) want out of the new year.

• 7 Principles to have your best year ever
• The one resolution you should make (and how to do it)
• The importance of planning for the new year (and how I do it)

Listen in and get access to a whole library of podcast transcripts at TaraSwiger.com/podcast187

What was the best part of 2017? What amazing things did I discover and do and experience this year? It's time for my yearly round-up of my favorite things of the last year!

• Essential Enthusiasm Episode 8: Life Long Vitality with Dave Eaton and Tara Swiger
• Between Grace & Chaos Podcast
• Overtone
• The Starship
• Take Care of Yourself Facebook Group

Listen in and get your free transcript at TaraSwiger.com/podcast186

You are your business's number 1 asset. You are the producer, packager, marketer, seller and face of your biz. You know what that means? It doesn't survive without you!

Now, some of you use this as a reason you can NOT take time off, but I am telling you this is why you NEED to take time off!

• Take a Break without Breaking Your Biz
• Episode 33: Permission to Take Time Off
• Episode 130: Permission
• The Starship
• #ExploreYourEnthusiasm

Listen in and get your free transcript at TaraSwiger.com/podcast185

Welcome to your busiest, and potentially your most profitable time of year! And...also potentially the LEAST sane time of year. If you are dreading the holiday season and busyness and scramble, I wanna help you get you ready to have a killer season and fantastic good time.

As we leap into Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas, I hope this collection saves a bit of your own sanity.

• How to deal with your family and maintain Holiday Sanity {Video}
• How to Enjoy the Holidays as a Maker
• How to Enjoy the Holidays as a Vegan
• How to Stay Sane with too much to do
• How to Survive Funerals, Travel, and the Holidays
• The Sick + Tired Holiday Survival Guide
• Confession: I Love Christmas
• How I plan my own holidays
• Plan for money
• Just take one step

On CraftyPod:

• How to Maximize Joy

On Karina Dressess:

• How to balance work + life during the holidays

I gather all my favorite sanity-saving posts on this Pinterest board (new articles are added all the time!).

Listen in and get access to the Holiday Sanity Guide at TaraSwiger.com/podcast184

Think about all the decisions that are impacted by your emotions:
Doing a scary thing, you feel fear - is this a sign you shouldn't do it? Getting a grumpy email from a customer - do you react with anger? Or with shame? How does that impact the email you send in response?

Emotions are part of a healthy life, and I'm a big believer in FEELING your feelings, not just shoving them down or ignoring them. They can shine a light on what's going on and what you need to do or stop doing.

Because when they're ignored, or when you act on them unthinkingly, you can really mess up your business! You can lash out or hide or give up entirely, depending on what your emotions tell you.

• How Emotions are Made, by Lisa Feldman Barrett
• My essential oil workshop
• Episode 115: Reframe it: Turn obstacles into action

Listen in and get your free episode transcript at TaraSwiger.com/podcast183