While I’m still an old fashioned gal, preferring the smell of fresh books over a sleek Kindle, I have to admit that listening to Audible books whilst stuck in the modern purgatory that is traffic has become my favorite pastime. I listen to anything and everything – from biographies, to fiction, to self-help – I love how they just help me learn so much while waiting out the daily commute. With 2017 about to come to a close, here are eight fantastic must-read books I recommend to help you transform your 2018 by inspiring, moving, elating and motivating you toward a happier, more successful and exciting new year. Happy reading!
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
One of the first books I got through this year was Elizabeth Gilbert’s, and this beloved author digs deep into her own generative process to share her wisdom and unique perspective about creativity. With profound empathy and radiant generosity, she offers potent insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration. She asks us to embrace our curiosity and let go of needless suffering, showing us how to tackle what we most love, and how to face down what we most fear. She discusses the attitudes, approaches, and habits we need in order to live our most creative lives. Balancing between soulful spirituality and cheerful pragmatism, Elizabeth encourages us to uncover the “strange jewels” that are hidden within each of us. Whether we are looking to write a book, make art, find new ways to address challenges in our work, embark on a dream long deferred, or simply infuse our everyday lives with more mindfulness and passion, Big Magic cracks open a world of wonder and joy. I recommend to savor each page from beginning to end, and putting everything into actionable plan via her Creativity Workshop on plusacumen.org.
Barking Up The Wrong Tree by Eric Baker
Legendary viral blogger Eric Barker, whose blog has 300,000 followers, has finally written an epic book in his usual highly entertaining and well-researched style. Eric stands traditional views of success (think “Winners never quit, and quitters never win,” and, “Good guys finish last,”) and turns them on their head. Funny, witty and highly informative, this book gives you concrete how-to’s for reaching your maximum potential while also living a happy and fulfilled life. By looking at what separates the extremely successful from the rest of us, we learn what we can do to be more like them—and find out in some cases why it’s good that we aren’t. Barking Up the Wrong Tree draws on startling statistics and surprising anecdotes to help you understand what works and what doesn’t so you can stop guessing at success and start living the life you want. Put your seat belt on and get ready to be inspired!
The Compassionate Achiever by Dr. Christopher Kukk
We often hear that it’s a sink-or-swim dog-eat-dog kind of a world. You need to elbow your colleague out of the way, after all it’s survival of the fittest out there. But what does the research say? It says we’re plain wrong. If we operate with compassion and kindness, we actually get ahead better and farther – but we do so while also staying happy and fulfilled, not to mention that we improve our health and increase our longevity. In this new book by Dr. Kukk, who successfully turned his university into one of the first compassionate universities, gives us very pragmatic how-to’s for how to live a life that has compassion at its core. This is a powerful, practical guide for cultivating compassion – the scientifically proven foundation for personal achievement and success at work, at home, and in the community.
REAL LOVE by Sharon Salzberg
Acclaimed meditation teacher, Sharon, has spent decades teaching meditation across the United States and the world. In particular, she introduced the practice of loving-kindness meditation in the West, revolutionizing the way we relate to each other and ourselves. Research showed that even 7 minutes of practice makes you feel happier and more connected to others, and that these changes are also reflected in the brain. Now Sharon has finally written an epic book on love. It is a moving account of how the quality of our relationship with ourselves – self-love – can deeply impact our relationships with all others. A must-read for anyone who has ever felt that they are hard on themselves and would like to open their hearts even wider – encompassing not just others, but also themselves.
Into the Magic Shop by James R. Doty, M.D.
This moving NY Times bestseller by a Stanford neurosurgeon that just came out in paperback will leave you deeply inspired (no Audible available for this yet, sorry). Doty was born into dire poverty, neglected as a child by an alcoholic father and invalid mother. Yet a shopkeeper – of a Magic shop, of all places – took him under her wing for a summer and taught him to meditate. For the first time in his life, he felt hope. From those impoverished circumstances, Doty has become one of the nation’s top neurosurgeons and founder of Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education. Dr. Doty’s stories and insights are always deeply moving and insightful. His entertaining and practical explorations of compassion and kindness touch and inspire.
The Power of Meaning by Emily Esfahani Smith
In this gorgeous book, Smith explores one of the most fundamentally profound aspects of our lives: What gives us meaning? In a world focused on materialism, achievement and status, we’ve all at times felt lost from the lack of purpose of it all, and searching for meaning seems like an esoteric pursuit, like Coelho’s alchemist. Emily provides us with a powerful antidote. Using a combination of stories and research, her moving account delves into what makes us come alive. What makes us feel not only happy, but fulfilled? You’ll be inspired by Smiths’ accounts of extraordinary people living a life on purpose. Smith shows us the way to living a more vibrant, fulfilling and inspired life. And if you want to learn more about building more meaningful connections, strengthening your purpose, and pursuing a life that matters, you may want to enroll in her Building a Meaningful Life masterclass on plusacumen.org.
Option B by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant
While I loved Sheryl’s last book, Lean In, his powerful new book by her and NY Times bestselling author, Adam Grant, explores something fundamental to all of our lives: What happens when we are faced with sudden grief and pain, and how can we gain strength through these experiences. How do we handle our feelings? How do we reconnect with others? We’ve all been in a situation where either we ourselves have been going through a hard time or someone else has – and yet we don’t know what to do, and neither do those around us. Using research-backed tools and inspirational stories, Sheryl and Adam provide us with the fundamentals of what it means to be resilient and to grow from our difficulties and how we can support others and help them thrive in the face of life’s challenges. A moving and must-read manifesto on how to live life bravely – because like it or not, it comes with its ups and downs.
Awakening Compassion at Work by Jane Dutton and Monica Worline
For people who work in the corporate world or run a business, this book is a must. Jane and Monica explain how living human values at work – compassion, caring and affection – can actually enhance our professional potential. With decades of research and examples under their belt, the authors show us that we can be successful and retain our values – in fact, we’ll be more successful because of it. Organizations that care about their employees see greater retention, loyalty, customer service and productivity – not to mention a better bottom line. Flying in the face of current views that the only way to retain good employees is to give them material perks, Dutton and Worline demonstrate that authentic human connection goes much farther. Inspiring, practical and a must-read for everyone who wants to be happier at work and become a more powerful and impactful leader.