Reflect and Refocus

"Follow that little voice inside you of enthusiasm." -John Mayer

The fourth quarter provides an opportunity to reflect on the year now nearly past, and to set priorities for the year ahead. It’s also an opportunity to rediscover your why and reorient the internal compass. Here are recommendations to help with that process of introspection.

Managing Oneself by Peter Drucker (HBR January 2005)

Make Something Wonderful – Steve Jobs in His Own Words (free ebook)

The Second Mountain by David Brooks

Build the Life You Want, the Art and Science of Getting Happier by Arthur Brooks (with Oprah Winfrey)

How Will You Measure Your Life? By Clayton M. Christensen

Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience by Brené Brown

Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance by Atul Gawande

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

Mindset by Carol S. Dweck

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink

Necessary Endings by Henry Cloud

Never Enough: From Barista to Billionaire by Andrew Wilkinson

Hangry: A Startup Journey by Mike Evans

Hit Refresh – the Quest to Rediscover Microsoft’s Soul by Satya Nadella

The Pearl by John Steinbeck

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

What else belongs on this list?

“People think that you’ve made it when you’ve gotten to the end of the rainbow and got the pot of gold. But they’re wrong. The reward is in the crossing the rainbow. That’s easy for me to say—I got the pot of gold (literally). But if you get to the pot of gold, you already know that’s not the reward, and you go looking for another rainbow to cross. Think of your life as a rainbow arcing across the horizon of this world. You appear, have a chance to blaze in the sky, then you disappear… to know my arc will fall makes me want to blaze while I am in the sky.” –Steve Jobs

“Better is possible. It does not take genius. It takes diligence. It takes moral clarity. It takes ingenuity. And above all, it takes a willingness to try.” –Atul Gawande?