About picking yourself up and starting again

I have found these books extremely useful when confronting some of life's various professional and personal challenges.

Atomic Habits by James Clear. In case you are not a natural reader, I have put this first on the list. I rarely watch TV, so I read a lot, so it's not a habit I have to form. This book is useful for getting yourself into positive routines and out of negative ones. It also explains the power of how small incremental improvements build up over time.

?I was extremely ill with Covid in January 2021 due to it triggering a severe cytokine reaction. It has taken a long time to recover from it and I found following the principles in this book very helpful.

The Luck Factor by Professor Richard Wiseman. Some people are born lucky, right? Wrong, says Professor Wiseman. Your luck can be improved by following his tested framework.

This is one of the more useful books on the list, and I often refer back to it. As an aside, one of the factors he includes is regular meditation. In his book, 'Tribe of Mentors, ' a very high percentage of the highly successful guests that Tim Ferriss interviews also cite the importance of meditation. 'Om'......

?

Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life by Arnold Schwarzenegger. He is back (sorry, I couldn’t resist). As he explains in the book Arnie is now in his fourth incarnation, like musclebound Doctor Who, but this time it is as a self-help guru. He explains the seven key principles that took a teenager from rural Austria through 3 successful careers (Bodybuilder, Hollywood star and Politician).

Unsurprisingly, The Terminator doesn't meditate but focuses on the hard work and lessons he took from the gym.

If you get the audiobook, Arnold narrates it himself. What could be finer?

?

The Rebuilders by Sara Tate and Anna Vogt. It is a relatively easy book to read on strategies to overcome setbacks in business and personal contexts.

?

Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter by Curtis Jackson (aka 50 Cent). Yes, it's 50 Cent! It's a really interesting book that is part biography and part self-help. There are some great chapters on entrepreneurship, how he had to reinvent himself and why it is inevitable that you probably will have to.

?

The Rise and Fall….and Rise Again by Gerald Ratner. You will know who Gerald Ratner is if you are of a certain age. He was a brilliant businessman who literally wrecked his career in one night. What very few people know was that after seven years of deep depression, he turned himself around and rebuilt his career.

?

An easier-to-access version of key messages is Reinventing Yourself by Ratner and Moore.

?

Three Simple Steps by Trevor Blake – There are a lot of interesting perspectives in the book. However, it veers into some ‘new agey’ type thinking in places which is odd given his military and medical background. I strongly recommend reading the Wiseman book before this one. Blake believes in Cosmic Karma (don't ask), but as Wiseman explains, confidence and optimism make a huge difference to outcomes. Blake recommends the same but suggests the universe has your back, so don't stress too much about it.

More 'Hmmm' than 'Om', but other than that, it is a useful read.

Finally, “How will you measure your life?” by Clayton Christensen is an interesting article to put things in context.