Beyond The Pages

One of my favourite parts of holidays is the time I have to dive into a good book. I love reading however I struggle a lot of the time to really engross myself into reading a book when I am not on holidays. And I much prefer picking up a physical book to read; no screen time for me! My go to for holiday reading is a good self development book or business book and these recent summer holidays I enjoyed two great reads that I’d really recommend. Both these books gave me takeaways that I have since been working on implementing some their ideas and strategies and in today’s blog I thought I’d share my reflections.

Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself – Dr Joe Dispenza

This book came recommended to me by a good friend and when I first picked it up in the book shop and read the synopsis on the back of the book I was hesitant. I found this book a hard read, in that it required a high level of focus and concentration for me, and I found myself re-reading paragraphs and sections to really get my head around the principles. It was worth persisting with, but if you are looking for a relaxing easy holiday read this might not be the book to choose.

I’ve always been a big believer in the impact of our mindset and this book explores how to make lasting change by breaking free from the patterns of behaviour, thought and emotion that define who we are. It’s about how you can re-program your brain to create change and explains this through a psychology, neuroscience and genetics lens.

My key takeaways were:

• How our brain works in terms of thinking the same thoughts; the thinking habits we fall in to and how we need to reprogram our brain to break habits. When we want to change something about ourselves, how integral our thoughts are in creating our reality. Changing how we think is the first step to changing who we are.
• The subconscious mind. Many of our behaviors, beliefs, and habits are driven by the subconscious mind. These patterns often develop very early on in our lives and become ingrained over time. The key to transformation is becoming aware of these subconscious patterns and consciously choosing new thoughts and behaviors.
• I’ve never been big on meditation, I feel like it’s something I’ve never been able to really master. The book explains meditation and provides meditation techniques to achieve deep relaxation and focus, helping connect with your inner self to then break old neural patterns and create new ones.
• How closely our emotions are tied to our thoughts and how changing our emotional responses is essential for lasting transformation. By practicing new emotions and connecting with positive feelings, we can change the energy we project and attract new experiences.
• The importance of being present and how focusing on the present moment can create new intentional actions instead of being driven by automatic responses.

I really liked the practical tools that you can take from this book, particularly the meditation exercises. I also liked the self-awareness and reflection it encourages and how we can really shape and influence our reality.

Legacy: What the All Blacks Can Teach Us About the Business of Life – James Kerr

This book is gold. I have so many pages folded over and sections underlined in this book and it’s one of those books that you can pick back up at anytime and re read a section or page on a particular element of culture and quickly take action. This book was recommended to me by my business coach and it’s a book I wish I had read a long time ago. It’s a book I know I’ll read many times over in the future.

The book explores leadership, team dynamics, and the principles that made the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team one of the most successful and respected teams in sports history. As someone who does not follow rugby at all (I know not a single thing about rugby) this book was still a great read, you don’t have to be a rugby or even a sports lover to get takeaways from this book. The book takes you through the lessons learned from the All Blacks’ culture, discipline, and approach to achieving excellence and provides actionable advice for both business and your personal life. It’s an easy read and so practical.

My key takeaways were:

• High Standards. How important it is to maintain high standards both in performance and personal conduct and how essential character and integrity are in achieving success.
• Leaving a Legacy. The book refers to it as Leave the Jersey in a Better Place and it’s about leaving the team or the business in a better place than when you found it. The premise is focusing on purpose, the long term success versus the quick wins, and team success over individual success.
• This one links in and crosses over with the book, Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself in terms of mindset. How having a focus on proactive, positive actions, pushing for improvement instead of being having a fear of failure is critical to success. I loved the concept: Train to Win, Not not to Lose.
• Embracing Pressure. I’ve seen so many individuals and teams crumble under pressure and the stress that pressure can create. The book talks about pressure being a privilege, how to embrace pressure and instilling that mindset in our teams.
• Resilience and Mental Toughness. Again, this one crosses over with Breaking the Habits of Being Yourself and how mental toughness and mindset impacts our ability individually and as a team to thrive under pressure, stay focused, overcome challenges and handle adversity which impacts our success.

Many of the concepts in terms of success, leadership and culture aren’t new, you’ll have heard of them before, you’ll be aware of them, however it’s the reminder of them and their importance; it’s how they have been applied in the context of the All Blacks that is motivating and inspiring. The actionable practical steps are great. It’s the reminder that culture isn’t achieved by doing one thing, it’s about lots of things that combine to make a great culture and help teams achieve success, both collectively and individually. This was a book I couldn’t put down and will likely read every holiday and I know I will take something away from it each time I read it. Bottom of Form

The Easter holidays are just around the corner and I’d love some book recommendations. What books have you read that you’d recommend or were a game changer for you?