I had an "ah-ha" moment the other day when I found Hannah Keely's book Hannah's Art of Home: Managing Your Home Around Your Personality    I realized - That's it!  Some of my favorite solutions for busy moms are  based on finding the right answer for YOUR PERSONALITY.  I am drawn to those type of solutions because, as I have found with my coaching clients - ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL. What helps one woman, will not help another woman with the exact same problem because we are all different. What motivates one, will not motivate another!

My Favorite example of a great personality based solution is Janet Penley's book MotherStyles: Using Personality Types to Learn to Parent from Your Strengths. As you'll see in my review, this book was instrumental in giving me the confidence to stop comparing myself to other Mothers.  It was so comforting to find my mothering "type" in that book.  I realized "Oh my gosh - THAT'S ME! And if this is a 'type' there must be OTHERS like me." It also helped me appreciate other mother's mothering style.  

Personality-Based Solutions aren't only for moms -- they can also help us understand our children. Raising Your Spirited Child: A Guide for Parents Whose Child Is More Intense, Sensitive, Perceptive, Persistent, Energetic was a *huge* help to me in understanding my son.  My beloved Yosef has always been a bit of a challenge for me. He's doesn't have any diagnosable problems like ADD (Thank G-d) but...as Mary Sheedy Kurcinka says...he is just *MORE*.  More everything! More Sensitive, More intense, More Needy, More Persistent etc.   Raising Your Spirited child really helped me in so many ways.  In addition to giving great advice on how improve our relationship, it helped me realize that Yosef intensity was not necessarily a result of something I was  doing wrong. It helped me learn that many of his more challenging qualities would be an asset later on on life. And it helped me feel that I was not alone.

Another great example of a personality based solution is Julie Morganstern's Organizing From the Inside Out. Julie's Video is so great because it's not just a bunch of organizing tips or storage solutions, but a personality-based organizing system!  In my experience, where there are several different solutions for several different personalities, you're sure to find the right solutions FOR You.

I'm waiting to get my copy of Hannah's Art of Home: Managing Your Home Around Your Personality in the mail...but I can't wait!  You see ladies, when I grew up, we had a housekeeper and I didn't do any housework (Yes, I was spoiled!). So consequently, I never learned how to clean a house.  I tried watching Miss Laurie's Smart Guide to House Cleaning, reading cleaning books , and I even tried Flylady (several times) but nothing seems work for me. I still feel totally overwhelmed by housework (and I can't wait till the day when we can afford some cleaning help!)  After I read this article about different personalities and took this brief personality test, I found my  type & I am hopeful that this book will have some good advice for me. I'll let you know if it really helps!

Another great personality-based book is The Busy Mom's Ultimate Fitness Guide.  I just love how Cathy Moxley helps you figure, accept & find solutions for your personal your workout style (even if you are an exercise avoider!) This book is a great motivator because of it's personality based solutions! (You can see my review at Amazon.com)

Well, I've blabbed on about my favorite solutions long enough...I'm curious - do YOU have any great personality-based solutions that you recommend to your friends? I'd love to find more. Please share!