My 2021 book recommendations
There have been so many books that I have loved this year, far more than I have shared here today but these are the titles that have had the greatest impact on me. Across this year I have been focussed on developing a stronger mindset with even deeper resilience than I know I am currently capable of. Along that journey I become fascinated with understanding more about my shadow self, loving the ‘negative’ emotions we have and what they provide for us in our lives. In business I was consistently working to up my game (as always) but this time with a focus of less working time but greater impact so that I can maximise how I impact others while maintaining my health and wellbeing. One thing is for sure, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed lounging in the hammock or lying in the sunshine and soaking up the wisdom from these great authors and I look forward to doing it more with new books that hit the shelves (many of which I have on my great book purchasing list).
Take a read, see what you think you need and then when you are finished with that try something that you might feel isn’t quite your kind of book. You may just find that it provides exactly what you need for your personal development journey. That’s how I felt when I read Mark Ranson’s ‘Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck’ and was first confronted by all the language only to later fall in love with it and the message. Happy Reading!
My Top Personal Development Reads for 2021
Can’t hurt me- Goggins
This book dives into Goggins painful past and his deep desire to create something different for himself so that he could ensure history wouldn’t repeat. He talks about the necessity to harness his mindset at times when that was all he had on his side. His anecdotes of different memories across his life to date are utterly inspirational and leave you wondering, could I do that? For those that have already overcome trauma you find an affinity with Goggins because you know the transformative journey you have to go on to change your life and so in a wierd yet beautiful way you become connected to this man and his story. It’s certainly how I felt.
Mindset by Carol Dweck
Mindset isn’t so much a book about one person’s story and how they learnt about their mindset but rather about how to use your mindset for the greatest impact. It is Carol’s research over many years that helps you to learn about the corners of your thoughts, perceptions and internalisations in a different light. Could I reframe my experiences? Have I left stones unturned? You’ll be asking yourself these questions as you read Carol’s book. It is simple to read, insightful and makes you question whether you are helping or hindering yourself, inspiring you to increase your daily intention.
Presence by Amy Cuddy
How often do we do 2 things or more at once? Amy Cuddy’s book Presence talks about the importance and sheer need of being present in our lives. ‘Presence’ is something that is often talked about in the personal development space but rarely from the point of NEED, not in a deep way anyway. Amy delves into why presence brings about greater peace, removes our inner turmoil and allows us to make more time for it simply by understanding how significantly it can transform our lives. It’s a perfect book for the person who typically runs from A to B or the high performer who succeeds at something and then says ‘what next?’.
Think like a Monk by Jay Shetty
Jay Shetty- the motivational genius who is humble, honest and cuts through all the BS. This book, Think Like a Monk, shares how he lives by example and how he also failed to which is probably why I love it. The business and personal development world is fraught with people who hide their own journeys as if it would destroy their reputation, Jay embraces it to help his reader do the same. He provides tips for how to develop a greater relationship with yourself, how to have better health, better relationships and even find what your purpose is in life and consider how to make it profitable. All of these topics come from the core of all of his work- the idea of knowingness, wanting a deep relationship with yourself so you hear who you are, what you want and how you can impact the world in the way you were created to. It’s simply genius.
Grit by Angela Duckworth
I picked up this book for two reasons- being tired of seeing people stick things out and ironically because I myself had the same affliction. Some things in my life that are more difficult than others I would give up more easily on (like understanding bookkeeping forecasts in business) and others I would persist at sometimes even to my own detriment. I wanted to discover a way to have grit without losing self compassion whether that was by being kind and taking better action or being kind and pulling back from what I was doing and surrendering more. Grit talks about how to foster it on a regular basis, the importance for it and how we can develop a positive relationship with it. I personally think every teacher on the planet should be reading this book, especially as Angela Duckworth herself was an educator and was inspired partly by her students to write this book.
High Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard
Brendon Burchard is a High Performance Coach who has spent over 20 years researching habits that seperate high performers from the rest. His book outlines how we all have the capability to become high performers when we foster the habits that underpin our daily lives. His approach his very direct yet understanding, asking you the pointy ended questions and provoking a response without even verbally engaging with you. The book also comes with a quiz you can do regularly to test where your high performance habits lie, along with an explanation over how they impact your life. His book is easily one of my greatest ‘go to’ books I’ve ever read. When my performance is waning I come back to his habits and I know where I need to be again. I love this book so much that I invested in Brendon’s HPX planner to help keep the High Performance Habits front of mind every day.
Atomic Habits by James Clear
WHAT AN AHHMAZING BOOK! If you need a book as a gift for anyone this is IT! James Clear drops bomb after bomb of great knowledge making Atomic Habits impossible to put down. When I was reading I found myself gasping at the awesomeness of the content, then on the next page I’d be blown away again. For me Atomic Habits brings the knowledge of every habit book ever written and smashes it out of the ball park. This is why it is an amazing book. For everyday people and even high performers you get to understand the lifespan of your habits, then how to change them and why they make such a difference in your life. If this book doesn’t completely leave you spellbound no book on any shelf ever will. Just do yourself a favour and go and buy it NOW.
Self Compassion by Kristin Neff
Kristin Neff’s book was a necessity for me. One of my pitfalls as a high performer is that I am hard on myself. I have always expected a lot of myself and it is fuelled further by big goals- something that I’ve always had in my life. Friends have said to me before ‘you are hard on yourself’ and I knew they were right. I love myself but in the self worth equation performance was far too important. Self compassion was an easy read that helped me learn more about myself and develop greater kindness. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who finds themselves taking a bit longer to forgive themselves.
Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Joe Dispenza
I read this book after hearing that it really gives a different perspective on who you are and being intrigued at what it could deliver. Joe really did provide a different way to think about yourself that shines a light on who you are not who you say you are. This perspective is eye opening and to be honest sometimes a little confronting but its highly beneficial for driving accountability. I would recommend this book to anyone who has labelled themselves as a certain type of person and wants to change who they are or perhaps feels like they must. It’s a great read.
5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins
5-4-3-2-1 Take action. This really sums up Mel Robbins book in a nutshell. The 5 second rule is a book that teaches you how to get out of your head and start doing. It is simple, actionable and highly relatable. Working with high performers and business owners there are so many of us that want to achieve a certain standard that we do not start, we procrastinate, we leave things until they are exactly as we want them to be and then time takes us by or someone else with less experience, less confidence or less pizazz makes progress and we get annoyed. 5 Second Rule helps you look back on your day and say ‘I did everything I said I would do today’ by explaining how it works, why it works and making it so simple you’ll already be trying the strategy before you’ve finished the first section of the book.
80 20 Marketing and Sales: The Definitive Guide to Working Less and Making more by Perry Marshall
This book was something I wanted to read to help get my work life balance on track and to make a greater impact with sales but by spending less time on it, not because I don’t value Sales and Marketing but because I’d rather spend time serving people with coaching than hours and hours on end doing sales and marketing- something that isn’t my genius. 80 20 Marketing and Sales is super easy to read and follow, you can implement the strategies as you read it. It’s fantastic. You can also experience results with the tips they provide you which is awesome.
The Art of Surrender by Eiman Al Zaabi
Surrendering is really important in business and in life because you cannot control every outcome. Often when we try to control the outcomes we get increased stress, we stiffle our progress and we push away what we want most. Surrendering is hard though, its often considered by others as giving up. This book The Art of Surrender explains how to surrender, why it is vitally necessary in all areas of your life and how the need to control damages the potential of the things that can bring you the greatest levels of joy. Skip the intro but read the chapters, it’s fabulous.
