My 18 for '18 Survival Guide

2018 has been intense.

At the start of the year, I left the security of big tech for the craziness of entrepreneurship. I was deeply inspired by the vision of allowing anyone, anywhere to build the leadership skills they needed to hit their professional goals. I had a founding team I felt was up to the challenge, and I welcomed the growth I knew was inevitable when I threw myself outside my comfort zone.

And I got thrown very far.

It's been a wild adventure, filled with unparalleled moments of professional excitement and pride: watching a user interact with a beta product that a few weeks prior was just scribbles on a whiteboard; learning that a senior analyst achieve used our tool to achieve her dream of becoming a published author; hearing from a data scientist who turned around a tough performance review using our product. These moments are rewarding in a way I couldn't have imagined before.

But they didn't come for free.

There have also been some lows. Really low lows: the stress of trying to meet impossible deadlines with a lean team; the disappointment of launching products I thought would game changing, but landed with a dud; or heading home at the end of a tough metrics review meeting, knowing our usage statistics mean I missed the mark... again.

2018 has been intense.

Through these ups and downs, I've found surprising encouragement and inspiration from books. The intensity of 2018 meant grit, productivity and happiness went from nice-to-have self-improvement projects, to essential survival tactics. Being diligent about investing in personal development is always important, but intense seasons have a way of making it abundantly (and embarrassingly!) clear to me that I'm doomed to fail when I don't. As I've prioritized my growth, I've become indebted to the experts who've analyzed the science of putting our best selves forward, and synthesized the learnings into easy-to-read hardbacks. Brené Brown, Ray Dalio, Carol Dweck... for me, these aren't just thought leaders anymore, they're life coaches. I wouldn't still be doing this if I hadn't started to practice their wisdom, day to day.

In the headline image, I included my 18 for '18 survival guide: the eighteen books whose ideas have had the most impact on me in 2018. Some were new, some I was returning too, all had a measurable impact on my mindset and day-to-day habits (because like the nerd I am, these are two things I measure daily!). I hope that you'll make a commitment to investing in yourself in the New Year; especially if you're expecting the rigor of intense professional or personal growth in 2019. And if you do, I hope at least a few of these books are helpful to you.

Got any books whose ideas were game changing for you in 2018? Let me know in the comments. I'm building my 19 for '19 professional survival guide as we speak.