Thought-Provoking Books

I just finished "Tuesdays with Morrie" for the second time - the last time I read it was probably when I was 13 or 14, so I don't remember too much of it. Also, I figured that having matured over the years and rereading it as an adult would give me a vastly different understanding of the book, what with all my experiences of love and loss and responsibility. I took screenshots of a few very interesting quotes that I saved in an album, talking about death, meaning in life, detaching from emotions, marriage, and overall mindset. I'm sharing them below (scroll all the way down) so you can let me know your thoughts on them.

The book made me cry (again)...guess I'm an emotional person on these things.

On Meaning in Life

On Emotions

On Detaching from Emotions

On Giving

On Marriage

I'm also reading "Playing Big" for our company's women's initiative network group, and we're reading a few chapters at a time and discussing it. The most recent chapters I read (Chapter 5 through 7) are about women developing a "good student" mindset and habits when we were younger. We were rewarded for following the rules and obeying authority, so we become afraid to think bold and go beyond our boundaries in our adult life. This holds us back from challenging authority and making real change in this world, especially since so many of the "rules" and "boundaries" were created by men, for men. It's something I agree with, and her thoughts on how we can develop other skills that help us become good leaders and play bigger, are all interesting for me.

As I read the book, it's prompted me to think about my long-term career move. I've distilled it down to the following "criteria":
- I want to do something that helps other people on an individual, relationship level
- I also want to have a flexible work schedule, where I can define my time and take care of my kids in the future, without being forced to stick to a 9-5 work schedule (or a boss, though I'm fine with a boss)
- Makes some money so I can support the family/kids I want to have in the future
- Perhaps I could move back to Singapore, or maybe stay in the US, or work from anywhere so I can be in Asia closer to home

So here are some thoughts, nothing concrete as yet - I'm jotting them down so you guys can give me some ideas. I am passionate about women and education, so perhaps something in that area (nonprofit?). I'm also passionate about teaching and helping others, but I don't want to be a teacher. I'm thinking of becoming a coach, or maybe counselor/mentor/therapist.

Coaching is the path I'm most inclined towards now, since it has lower barriers to entry and if I figure out I don't like it, I haven't wasted as much time/$$. It doesn't require as much training or education, and you can also make a living part-time (without sticking to a 9-5 workday). It also depends on the type of coach I want to be; an executive coach makes a lot more money compared to a personal coach or leadership coach. I'm also thinking I could run workshops on coaching, on being an ally to targets of oppression, on mindset/meaning in life, or other related workshops...

My boss introduced his friend who's an executive coach to me, so I'll be chatting with him more about this. Hopefully he can help me figure out if that's the right path for me, if it's a good fit for me.