You’ll find that reading just a chapter (or 20 pages) of a personal development book every morning, before work, will empower you and put you in the right mindset for the day.
I’m always drawn to self-improvement books and usually learn loads of new things from them. These are the personal development books that I’ve read recently and I think all of them will find their way onto my permanent bookshelf.
The Everyday Hero Manifesto: Activate Your Positivity, Maximize Your Productivity, Serve The World, Robin Sharma
I’ve read almost all of Robin Sharma’s books since The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari and, for the most part, enjoy his style and brand of self-help.
For over twenty-five years, this trail blazer has mentored billionaires, business titans, professional-sports superstars and entertainment royalty, so it’s worth taking note of what he has to say. In his latest book, The Everyday Hero Manifesto, readers learn about the transformational system he teaches his clients for undefeatable positivity, monumental productivity, deep spiritual freedom and a life of helping others.
He covers topics such as the hidden habits that many of the world’s most creative and successful people use to realise their visionary ambitions; techniques to turn fear into fuel and problems into power; adopting world-class routines so you become the most disciplined person you know; and shares a breakthrough blueprint to battle-proof yourself against procrastination and distraction so you produce the magic to dominate your domain.
The book is part memoir, part instruction manual to upgrade your life and performance, and part handbook for spiritual freedom in today’s high-paced life.
This is a great book with plenty of tips, examples and insight to living your best life.
Get It Done: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation, Ayelet Fishbach
If you’re the person that needs motivating, Ayelet Fishbach’s book provides invaluable strategies for pulling yourself in the direction you want to go so that you can achieve your goals whilst staying healthy, clearheaded and happy.
The author addresses topics such as:
How do you carry on when faced with challenges and distractions?
How do you battle temptations and decide which tasks to prioritise?
Can others around you help?
And then she covers how to fix, or work around, these challenges or problems.
This is a great book on how to build intrinsic motivation to reach your personal goals. The ‘Questions to Ask Yourself’ at the end of each chapter get you thinking more deeply about how the advice in the chapter applies to your individual situation and are well worth the time answering them.
A great self-help/personal development book to read and take action on.
Mental Fitness: 15 Rules to Strengthen Your Body and Mind, Ant Middleton
I reviewed Ant Middleton’s book The Fear Bubble a while back and was keen to see what new material he had to offer.
Ant Middleton is a former soldier and marine, a British adventurer, writer, television personality and best known as the former Chief Instructor on the television series
SAS: Who Dares Wins, so he’s certainly been in extreme spots and faced a number of challenges in his life.
In his latest book, Middleton explains the principles that he lives by to keep his mindset and body as strong as they can possibly be. He reminds us that the mind and body are often talked about as separate entities, but it’s only when they work in harmony with one another that you can truly push yourself to the highest heights. His counsel is straight talking, ‘kick up the bum’ advice and his extreme stories from his life in the forces are translated into relatable stories for his readers. Be warned, he does use some colourful language in the book.
His 15 rules are straight to the point and are aimed at helping you move forward and stay focused on your end goal. They make you stop and think.
Some of the key points for me were:
. To push yourself to your limits you have to work hard to develop harmony between your mind and body
. Discover what your authentic, true self is and protect it fiercely
. Turn setbacks into opportunities and make failure the engine for your success
. Bad things will happen but you get to choose how you react to them
. Don’t let people infect you with their drama and misery
10 Rules for Resilience: Mental Toughness for Families, Joe De Sena (with co-author, Dr Lara Pence)
Joe De Sena is a bestselling author and CEO and founder of Spartan Races, the world’s leading endurance sports brand. He’s in the business of transformation. Not unexpectedly, his book is about discipline and building mental resilience through physical endurance, failure and grit.
Right now, parents are drowning. The pacifying, pandering, and policing of children has left many parents desperate for better strategies and their children are unprepared for the trials of life.
In his latest book, De Sena outlines his 10 principles for building true resilience in order to approach overwhelming situations with calm and confidence, to not get rattled, anxious or angry, and even to embrace failure, setbacks and redirection and use them for growth.
“You have to zig when others zag… otherwise you risk sliding into the sick, sedentary and solitary life that so many struggle with.”
Joe De Sena
De Sena recommends letting children struggle rather than doing everything for them and letting them persevere when they are afraid rather than allowing them to quit when things get tough. Teach children delayed gratification and hard work. Children watch what you do so make sure you’re a positive role model. He also says that children need discipline and boundaries.
This book isn’t just for parents. So many of the stories he tells reminds me of my upbringing and where my parents may have cautioned me because of their fears and uncertainty.
Each chapter ends with questions that are definitely worth thinking about and can be confronting and enlightening at the same time.
Burnout to Brilliance, Jess Stuart
Early on in Jess Stuart’s new book, Burnout to Brilliance: Redefining Peak Performance, we’re introduced to a time when she was working flat out. It was while she was at a gym session that she heard a pop in her knee. Whilst bedridden, Jess realised her life needed to change. This led her across the world to train with Buddhist monks and nuns and a decade later, after writing five books and running her own successful business she shares what she knows about mindset, resilience and self-belief to help high achievers perform at their peak.
Jess writes about the signs of burnout and provides strategies to refuel the tank but, more importantly, the book is about redefining peak performance and your roadmap for getting there. Slow down to speed up, understand the power of the mind and how to use it to stay focused, calm and effective. Go from tired, overwhelmed and burned out with little energy for your family, to performing at your peak and unlocking your potential. Your brilliance.
“When we’re at our best we have more energy and like a light bulb we always shine brighter when we have more energy. Brightness is also synonymous with intelligence and of course when we’re being brilliant our intellect is at its sharpest and our brains are functioning at their full capability.”
Two of Jess Stuart’s books have already made their way onto my permanent bookshelf – I LOVE MONDAYS: A GUIDE TO FINDING JOY IN YOUR WORK and THE SUPER WOMAN SURVIVAL GUIDE.