Non-fiction books that changed my life…

This week’s newsletter is a recommended reading list of all the best non-fiction books that have changed my life. I have an extensive library and I am always reading or listening to books. The split is roughly 50/50 fiction and non-fiction.

I find time to listen when I am driving to and from town or the mountain (7 and 35 minutes respectively), driving to and from Canberra (our National Capital and 2 hours away), and driving to and from Sydney (around 5 hours away and where I regularly go for work and to catch up with friends and family.

Lots of people say to me they have no time for reading and that’s just not true. They could make time for reading or listening to books if it was a real priority.

Productivity

Atomic Habits, Penguin Random House, 2018.

• Author - James Clear
• Key Message - that micro habits and small daily disciplines yield benefits that compound exponentially to massively improve your gains

Indistractable, BenBella Books, 2019.

• Author - Nir Eyal
• Key Message – that multi-tasking doesn’t work as you just end up doing many things poorly. It is more effective and meaningful to fully engage with one thing at a time. For example when you work, when you spend time with your family then you don’t work 

Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Free Press, 2004.

• Author - Stephen Covey
• Key Message - that prioritisation is critical to ensure you put your energy in the place where it can be most effective. He introduced me to the personal prioritisation grid where you ensure that you focus on activities that are the most important

Clarity

The Minto Pyramid Principle, Minto Int., 1996.

• Author – Barbara Minto
• Key Message - that you greatly increase effective decision-making and support for proposals when you use a logical structure in your thinking, writing, presentations, and when you’re an expert you can even ensure it’s the way you organise your contribution to conversations

The Leading Edge, Penguin eBooks, 2021.

• Author – Holly Ransom
• Key Message - creates a new vision for leadership that comes down to three things – mindset, method and mastery

Spark, Little, Brown and Company, 2008.

• Author – John Ratey
• Key Message - proves the benefits of exercise and presents research that shows that exercise is not only good for the body, but it’s also good for the brain. Your physical health directly affects your mood, your attention, your decision making and your ability to learn

Inspiration

Choose Happiness, Tarcher, 2008.

• Author – Stephanie Dorwick
• Key Message - the message of this book is very simple: Right now, you can be happier! The focus is on the only place where real change can happen - in how you see yourself and relate to other people

How to Have a Beautiful Mind, Ebury Press, 2004.

• The Author - Edward De Bono
• Key Message - provides a framework for being more intellectually attractive and approachable, including hoe to engage in conversations with general interest rather than have arguments

Inspiration

Phosphorescence, Random House, 2021.

• Author – Julia Baird
• Key Message - advocates the search for awe, love and wonder, by looking upwards and outwards and continuing to move forward even through life’s most difficult challenge

The Resilience Project, Ebury Australia, 2019.

• Author – Hugh van Cuylenburg
• Key Message - is about finding happiness through gratitude, empathy, and mindfulness. Proves the amazing multiplier effects of acts of kindness and expressions of gratitude

Happiness

Happiness – The Mindful Way, DK, 2015.

• Author – Ken A. Verni Psy.D.
• Key Message - this is a practical guide to many simple tools to help you take responsibility for your own happiness

The Five Side Effects of Happiness, Hay House UK, 2017.

• Author – David R Hamilton
• Key Message – shares research into how kindness makes us happier, is good for the heart, slows ageing, improves relationships, and is contagious

The Happy Life, Plum, 2016.

• Author – Lola Berry
• Key Message - covers interesting approaches to how we live and what we eat to support the notion that happiness is not something we get, rather it is something we find within ourselves

Positive Psychology

Positive Psychology – Theory, Research and Applications, Open University Press, 2011.

• Authors - Kate Hefferon & Ilona Boniwell
• Key Message – introduction to Positive Psychology with lots of accessible tools and concepts to support human flourishing

Mindset – Changing the way you think to fulfil your potential, Little, Brown Book Group, 2017.

• Author – Carol S. Dweck
• Key Message - delves into the benefits and characteristics of a growth mindset and how this is a critical tool for achieving success in areas of your life

SMART, Global Center for Resiliency & Wellbeing, 2019.

• Author - Amit Sood, M.D.
• Key message - is a 4-part stress management and resilience program that changed my life

Mindfulness

The Anxious Lawyer, Ankerwycke, 2016.

• Author - Jeena Cho & Karen Gifford
• Key Message - provides an introduction to 3 accessible mindfulness and mediation approaches specifically to support lawyers lead more joyful and satisfying lives

The Mayo Clinic Guide to Stress-free Living, Audible Studios on Brilliance Audio, 2016.

• Author - Amit Sood, M.D.
• Key Message - simple approach to living more mindfully every day to reduce stress and anxiety, and increase happiness and fulfilment

Books I’ve written

Project Management Essentials, Cengage, 2014

Legal Project Management, LexisNexis Australia, 2009.

The POSITIVE Lawyer Mindset, Babysteps Publishing Limited, 2022. 

Find out more…

The key message from this newsletter is that we don’t know everything, and if you want to accelerate your progress then tap into global expertise. Never stop reading and never stop listening…

You can book me for a FREE 30-minute coaching call here

My aim is to inspire you to transform your working life and achieve great things and I look forward to joining you on your journey!