Book Reviews

The 5 Best Personal Development Books of 2018

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You can get tremendous value from a book that has great ideas, offers a new perspective, or allows you to gain new knowledge. In that way, all books provide personal development opportunities. This list is from my reading of new books released in 2018 where I found particularly valuable insights for personal and professional development. Here we go. In no particular order (and with affiliate links). 1) Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear. I’m finishing this one up right now and maybe because it’s so fresh in my mind … Read more

Leaders are Readers | July Reading List

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Leaders are readers book recommendations

Here are three great books to read about timing (which really is everything), personal branding (which is also everything), and the secret to long-term success (also everything, kind of most of all). You want new ideas. Good ideas. Things to ponder. And specifics to back it all up. Well, that’s exactly what you are going to get from this group of book recommendations. Two of these books are hot off the press and one is a classic (which I now know why is a classic). Maybe one, two, or three of these will make good additions to your summer reading … Read more

Recommended Reading (and video, podcasts) – January 2018

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I’ve come across a lot of great stuff to start the new year. By constantly learning new ideas and pushing our boundaries of understanding, we grow. And all of that helps us in our practical day to day lives, to meet our challenges more directly and deliberately than if we just muddle through. All that learning is a great shortcut for how to stay motivated at work. It’s great to be able to learn so much from so many just by dedicating a little time and energy to learning. Here are some books, articles, videos and podcasts you might find … Read more

Recommended Reading and Stuff – December 2017

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recommended reading december 2017

Here is some great material for your year end wind-down and new year wind-up. I’m recommending a couple of good fiction books – the kind that get you thinking. Also, a nonfiction book to do the same. There are some other goodies in here too. I’m hoping that you have some time to relax and recuperate toward the end of the year. These may help you find an escape. And also to plan your re-entry for a grand and prosperous new year. Here goes… Books Ready Player One: A Novel. I hadn’t heard of this one until the dust kicked up … Read more

Recommended Reading and Stuff – November 2017

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Last month’s post of recommendations was very popular. So I thought I’d share some more ideas this month. It’s important that we keep learning. Keep taking in new information. Keep considering new ideas. It’s crucial that we keep thinking. Following are some things I found particularly thought-provoking, insightful, and fun. Books Bitcoin for the Befuddled was a great exploration of this new, potentially game-changing technology. I found this book a great way to get a handle on the fundamentals of the cryptocurrency. I loved learning about the underlying technology, blockchain, and how it works. The implications could be tremendous–and don’t … Read more

Making a Plan for Success in Your Life

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Living Forward

When you think about the future, what do you see for yourself? If you’re like me, there are probably lots of things that you want to do. Things you want to accomplish. Ways you want to make an impact. These things might relate to your work. Maybe some are more personal, like climbing a mountain or going on a family adventure or helping a friend (or stranger) in some important way. You probably want to do lots of these sorts of things. But you might not find it easy to get to everything. The urgent matters of the day likely … Read more

Quick, Easy, and Aweseomely Helpful Thought Experiments for the Summer

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What if you could experience being a completely different person? And then come back to being yourself again. Would that be a worthwhile learning experience? I bet it would. You would have a chance to see things from a completely different perspective. Which is maybe one of the best ways to expand your thinking. And to improve your empathy. Not to mention that you would likely need to face a whole set of challenges that you have never faced before. Maybe things you never even contemplated facing. Probably things that you are completely unprepared to face. Another great learning opportunity, … Read more

What’s On Your Summer Reading List?

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3 nonfiction books for summer reading

Let’s start with nonfiction. You might read nonfiction to learn about something new. Or maybe you want to dig deeper into an area you already know about. Perhaps you want to grab some tips and techniques to help you achieve more. But you definitely read nonfiction books to get smarter. New knowledge, deeper knowledge. Maybe even radical knowledge. Of course, there’s more to it than that. Reading a book is a way to do some deep thinking. If you spend some hours going through a couple hundred pages on a single topic, you will be changed by the experience. Whether you … Read more

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, by Scott Adams

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In humor there is truth. I think that’s why I enjoy studying the work of comedians so much. They tend to point out something obvious and make you rethink it. That’s just the sort of perspective that Scott Adams brings to your professional life in his book, How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life. In the book, Adams takes you behind the scenes of his success, which is based largely on failure. And it’s all written in a very clever and witty tone, as you might expect from the author … Read more

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