THE BOOKS I RECOMMEND MOST
Often, when leading a workshop or event, I provide large resource lists of my favorite books, podcasts, videos, and articles. People often ask, "but which are your absolute favorites? What would be your top 5?" So, as difficult as this question is, I'm attempting to share my list of favorites. While I first started with five, I realized that it meant that I forgot two, so I'm landing on my Top 7.
Essentialism: I joke that I just keep reading this book over, and over, and over again. In fact, I just bought another copy last week. It makes so much sense - *and* can be difficult to implement in everyday life, especially for people who a) have a natural instinct toward saying yes (insert hand-raising emoji), or b) who like to do a lot of different things at once (insert hand-raising emoji again). When implemented, I believe that this book has the ability to be life-changing. I recommend reading it once, and then revisiting regularly to keep the philosophy alive in everyday life.
Better Than Before: many of you who work with me know that I'm a big Gretchen Rubin fan and that I reference her research often. Better Than Before is one of my favorite books on creating, maintaining, or changing habits. It's also where she first introduces the concept of The Four Tendencies - a framework I've found to be game changing for many (including myself).
Start with Why: I first read this book and watched the related TED Talk waaaaay back in the day in the corporate world. It's a concept I've regularly used, and loved, ever since. I believe that starting with Why is a concept that we can all apply to every area of our lives....and that if we don't know why we're doing something, it might be an opportunity to pause and tune inward before proceeding.
Peace is Every Step: this was one of the first books I read about mindfulness, many years ago, when I was still working in the corporate world. It is a beautiful, easily digested little book - great for reading a few pages at a time - and can serve as a helpful reminder to be more present in our everyday moments.
The Big Leap: this is probably the book that I lend to clients most often (in fact, it's out and about right now!). While there are many great things in this book, the two concepts that I find most powerful are: The Upper Limit Problem (again - this has the power to be life changing if we truly work with this concept) and Einstein Time (weird in a good way, interesting, and highly recommended for anyone who struggles with calendar-related stress and feeling like you never have enough time in the day).
The Four Agreements: Disclaimer - I don't love Don Miguel Ruiz's writing style. However, if you can move beyond the writing style, the content of this book is pure gold. I have watched countless clients and workshop participants find game-changing/life-changing impact by implementing some of the concepts in this book.
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: an oldie but oh-so-goodie. I find that many popular and wildly successful books of today are (either directly, or indirectly) based on the concepts that Covey lays out in this book. This is another book worth reading over and over again. I recommend buying a copy and revisiting chapter by chapter, concept by concept.
