I’ve come to think that, for many of us, the new year really starts at the beginning of February. The rash of Christmas, New Year and Australia Day holidays are behind us, the kids are back in school, and working life really begins again.
Now is the time of year when we really start thinking of how we can make a difference in the year ahead. And the first focus on making a difference is ourselves – how we can improve our own game to be more effective, more focused, better to live with and better to work with.
There are scores of excellent books that help us on this never-ending journey. I’d like to share with you my pick of titles that I have found to be game-changers, in some cases for me and in other cases from the experiences that customers have shared with me.
Poor time management is the bane of existence for many of us. The system Stephen Covey offers in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has been central to my existence for 25 years. If you’re floundering with your time management, I recommend this book to you. If you’re already on second base and you want a better understanding of this subject, then please read The Organised Mind : Thinking Straight in the Age of Information by Daniel Levitin.
We all have to negotiate in life – whether at home, or with friends, or at work. For some of us, it’s the hardest thing in the world. For others it’s a game they enjoy playing. I’m not a good negotiator. I’ve always known that I need advice and help in how to deal with other people. I’ve read numerous books over the years to try and help myself in this regard, with mixed results. This year I read a new book on the subject that has really affected how I think about and negotiation, and how I do it. I recommend it to you. It’s called Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as If Your Life Depended on it and it’s written by an ex-hostage negotiator for the FBI. It’s not just a gripping read, it’s a revelation. Most of us can make a difference to our lives by reading this book.
Learning is lifelong for me, as I that it is for most of Boffins Books customers. But with busy lives, we’re often hard-pressed to learn many of the new things we want. How We Learn by Carey Benedict, shakes up everything we thought we knew about how the brain absorbs and retains information. It’s a book that empowers us to learn faster and more effectively.
Finally, have a look at the books by Tim Ferris, particularly Tools of Titans. He’s been spending the last few years talking to incredibly successful people, and finding out what makes them so. The book presents this distilled wisdom of all his interviews, giving us the chance to stand on the shoulders of these giants. Neatly divided into sections that reflect the old adage “healthy, wealthy, and wise” it’s an inspirational book to dip into to reinvigorate for a new year.
I hope that you get the chance to read at least one of these books this year, and that you enjoy it as much as I have.
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