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 go regularly 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, James Clear

• Key Message – micro habits and small daily disciplines yield benefits that compound exponentially to improve your gains massively

Indistractable, Nir Eyal

• Key Message – 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, Stephen Covey

• Key Message – 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, Barbara Minto

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

The Leading Edge, Holly Ransom

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

Spark, 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, 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, Edward De Bono

• Key Message – provides a framework for being more intellectually attractive and approachable, including how to engage in conversations with general interest rather than have arguments.

Inspiration

Phosphorescence, 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 challenges.

The Resilience Project, 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, Ken A Verni

• 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, 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, 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, Kate Hefferon and 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, 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

Stress and Resilience – SMART, Amit Sood, MD

• Key message – is a 4 part stress management and resilience program that changed my life

Mindfulness

The Anxious Lawyer, Jeena Cho & Karen Gifford

• Key Message – provides an introduction to 3 accessible mindfulness and mediation approaches specifically to support lawyers in leading more joyful and satisfying lives

The Mayo Clinic Guide to Stress-free Living, Amit Sood

• Key message – a 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 Revised Edition Buy here

The first book that I wrote draws on my professional and academic expertise in the field of project management. Closely aligned to the key knowledge areas and project phases from the Project Management Body of Knowledge. It contains best practices and lots of practical examples to support anyone undertaking project-based work.

Legal Project Management, Lexis Nexis Buy here

One of the first (and the most comprehensive) books written on Legal Project Management. It combines expertise in project management with practical experience to provide a pared-back project management framework specifically tailored to legal practice, including real-world experience with practical applied tools and techniques that are equally applicable to in-house and external counsel, as well as all legal practice areas. Special features include checklists, tips from practice, templates, and examples developed with clients.

The POSITIVE Lawyer Mindset, Amazon Buy here

You are in one of the most stressful occupations and often face unreasonable expectations and high workloads. You are probably overwhelmed and dealing with competing priorities, or maybe you're so disillusioned that you're thinking about leaving the profession. That's where The POSITIVE Lawyer Mindset comes in...

The Legal profession desperately needs a huge dose of positivity! It is possible to do meaningful work in a positive environment and Live a beautiful Life. This book draws on the field of Positive Psychology and practical experience to provide a framework for better work-life balance, increased resilience, reduced stress, and happier life. It transforms the way lawyers think and the way they work.

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!