books for your career and personal growth

Your successful career is going to involve way more skills and knowledge than your exam syllabii. Thankfully, not all of this knowledge requires exams. That’s good news, right?

There’s SO much information out there, so I’ll start you off with a few topics and fields of interest that I’ve found really valuable for my career and growth. You can take a browse through them, and find something that interests you to explore a little more.

my recommended reading list

Relax, there are more ways to explore these than just reading! These are just the books that best represent the topics I’m going to mention in this article. (Click on the item to go straight to the topic)

• 
  Give and Take – Adam Grant
  
• 
  Mindset – Carol Dweck
  
• 
  Originals – Adam Grant
  
• 
  5 Second Rule – Mel Robbins
  
• 
  The Game Changer – Tim Goodenough
  

The following are books that I love, but haven’t gone into detail here. (Simply because the post would be too long!)

• Atomic Habits – James Clear
• Trillion Dollar Coach – Eric Schmidt
• Lean in: Women, Work and the Will to Lead
• Confidence Code – Katty Kay & Claire Shipman

You’ll notice that NONE of those have anything to do with any technical syllabus. That’s a good thing! So, why do I feel that these can add value for your career?

Give and take – adam grant

I LOVE this book! The basic idea is to discuss whether being a ‘giver’ or a ‘taker’ at work will make you more successful?

We’re generally pretty cynical, and whether we like the idea or not, we probably feel that the corporate world is a ‘dog-eat-dog’ place, and that you have to be careful not to be a doormat, or else you’ll be crushed.

Is this really true?

Here are links to a bunch of videos and sites related to this book / topic / author if you want to explore this more:

• 
  Book summary
  
• 
  Ted Talk
  
• 
  Givitas (Reciprocity Ring)
  
• 
  Adam’s Instagram Account
  
• 
  Adam’s website
  

(The last link to Adam’s site will give you the option to sign up to ‘Granted’, his newsletter. I suggest signing up for it!)

Mindset – Carol dweck

Possibly the ‘textbook’ for my personal and professional growth. You’ll recognise some of the concepts if you’ve done any study coaching with me, or gone through some of my videos.

The basic idea is that we either have a ‘Growth’ or a ‘Fixed’ mindset. This difference impacts our lives, studies, careers and pretty much EVERYTHING we do. (I can definitely personally vouch for that!)

Understanding the mindsets, what affect they have on us, means we can really look at the way we live and make decisions. Are they really the best decisions for us? Or are they based on our mindsets and personalities.

Here are links to a bunch of videos and sites related to this book / topic / author if you want to explore this more:

• 
  Ted Talk
  
• 
  Fixed vs Growth Mindset and studying (My video)
  
• 
  Fixed Mindset (My video)
  
• 
  MY Fixed Mindset experience (My video)
  

This concept will benefit all aspects of your life. I promise!

Originals – adam grant

Yup, same guy from ‘Give and Take’!

Most of my students don’t want to be ‘boring’ accountants. They want to change the world! Be entrepreneurs, leaders, innovators. This sounds fabulous in theory. BUT, these things involve a lot of risk, uncertainty, and putting an awful lot on the line.

Do you need to be a special kind of person to be the next great entrepreneur?

Here are links to a bunch of videos and sites related to this book / topic / author if you want to explore this more:

• 
  Book summary (Video)
  
• 
  How non-conformists move the world (Video)
  

Creative accountants are the future!

5 Second Rule – mel robbins

She’s my new BFF that I’ve never met!

Simple, but not easy. This is something I tell my students all the time. Mel (Yeah, we’re on first name terms. lol) says the same thing.

Don’t imagine that simple and easy are the same thing. We need a strategy to get us to DO stuff that may be simple, but aren’t easy.

Here are links to a bunch of videos and sites related to this book / topic / author if you want to explore this more:

• 
  Simple but not easy (Video)
  
• 
  Motivation is garbage (Video)
  
• 
  Blog
  

If you’ve spent any time with me, a lot of this stuff will sound familiar. There are so many concepts that I use with my Study Coaching students that are incorporated in this book / movement.

Note: I’m not actually on first name terms with Mel Robbins. Also, I promise I haven’t ‘stolen’ her ideas for my study coaching! The stuff is genuinely mine and has been for years,  but she just says it so WELL!

Game Changer Protocol – Tim Goodenough

I was lucky enough to have Tim as my performance coach a few years ago. It was life-changing for me. Challenging, and so worthwhile. This was also the start of the Study Coaching that I do now. The underlying issues that affect performance that we don’t think about.

Tim’s book ‘Game Changer Protocol, is a great read if you’re looking to change things in your life. When situations aren’t ideal, or if you feel that the world is against you, or you’re not ‘meant’ to be more than you are today. A great read for you!

Here are links to a bunch of videos and sites related to this book / topic / author if you want to explore this more:

• 
  Book (Amazon)
  
• 
  High Performance Learning – Online Course
  
• 
  Interview: Yvonne and Tim
  

Tim’s approach to stuff is really grounded and practical. I know so many experts who focus on more philosophical discussions, when in reality, I need hard and fast, practical advice and tools to help.

He’s great at providing tools to help change.