Your work matters. You matter more.
You know you make a difference. Your talent and expertise come together in your work to make an important contribution to the world. But your dedication shouldn't mean sacrificing all the other parts of yourself. Inspired by principles from Montessori classrooms, educator and researcher Dr. Katie Keller Wood offers an alternative approach to thinking about your work and life-one that embraces you as a whole person rather than splitting you in two.
Drawing on decades of experience teaching Montessori students and adults, Keller Wood rejects the concept of work-life balance in favor of a more holistic alliance between you and your work. Your life is not a balancing act but a constantly evolving mosaic, and when the pieces are all aligned, thriving follows. There can be space enough for all the things that matter.
With real-world examples, exercises, and activities, this transformative, research-informed book will help you catch the first signs of misalignment and then show you how to move through a realignment process, so that you can find joy and value in all parts of your life, including your meaningful work. It's time to ditch the balancing act and get yourself into Alignment.
Dr. Katie Keller Wood grew up in the world of education, and she delights in helping people find new ways of thinking about the world. Discovering Montessori education, both as a pedagogy and a philosophy, was pivotal for her, and she is on a mission to bring a Montessori perspective of work to everyone.
Katie has had the great honor of working with hundreds of middle and high school Montessori teachers from all over the world through the training program she runs called CMStep. She is recognized as a leader in Montessori programming for adolescents and adults, and she is active in the Montessori research and teacher education communities.
Katie lives in Richmond, Virginia, and any given semester might find her teaching undergraduates at the University of Virginia (where she earned both her bachelor's and her doctorate), master's students at Xavier University, and/or doctoral students at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. Katie is a TEDx and keynote speaker and a sought-after presenter for workshops and conferences.
Katie does her work because she believes that a more peaceful, just, equitable, and sustainable world is possible, and that it takes all of us leading our aligned lives to bring this world forward.
"a bold new take on work-life balance" -Booklife
"Coaching people toward fulfilling, purpose-driven lives based on Montessori models, Alignment is an encouraging self-help text." -Foreword Clarion Reviews
"A warm, valuable, and empathetic guide to forging personal alignments that will rejuvenate lives." -Kirkus Reviews
