The Relationship Code
Book

The Relationship Code

Engage and Empower People with Purpose and Passion

Margaret McCraw
Career Press, 2010
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Editorial Rating

5

Qualities

  • For Beginners
  • Engaging

Recommendation

Are you happy? Regardless of your circumstances, the answer to this vital question rests within your mental state. As psychologist Carl Gustav Jung put it, “It all depends on how we look at things, and not how they are in themselves.” Thus, the theory goes, when you think joyfully, joy will fill your life. Psychotherapist and consultant Margaret McCraw discusses this and related topics, including ways to use positivity as the vital ingredient in building successful relationships. Her communication primer adds a new-age gloss to older, more familiar treatises on optimism and positive thinking, including Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People and Norman Vincent Peale’s The Power of Positive Thinking. If you are not a self-help fan, this think-happy-to-be-happy advice isn’t for you, so getAbstract suggests McCraw’s book to those who enjoy motivational reading. She offers a system for achieving happiness, creating strong relationships and getting on the right track to – in her encouraging words – a “lifetime of joy.”

Summary

Don’t Worry, Be Happy

How can unhappy people achieve joyful lives? Consider Grace – a composite personality developed from psychotherapy case files – and her distressing situation. A married mother of two, Grace earned a comfortable salary as a bank manager, but she could not enjoy life. Most days, she felt compelled to stay at work from early in the morning until late at night. Putting in so many hours left her physically and emotionally drained. She missed having fun. From sunup to sundown, her life was a numbing, weary slog. Grace saw herself as a soulless automaton and not as a happy person. She used to like her job and get along well with her colleagues and employees, but, over time, her stress made her short-tempered, and her staff resented her ill temper.

At Grace’s annual review, her boss told her that her employees routinely complained about her lack of leadership. Grace seethed with anger, thinking to herself, “How dare he criticize my work when I’ve logged...more than 70 hours a week!” But after some tough, honest reflection, Grace started to see things differently. She admitted that her boss and co-workers were right. She used to be happy, efficient and...

About the Author

Psychotherapist and business consultant Margaret McCraw is president of Behavioral Healthcare Consulting.

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