Top 7 Books I Loved (Recently)

Here are 7 books I’ve read that would highly recommend.

My list is not that eclectic this year. The common theme has been around habit development, high-performance ideas and changes in the world, both business and politically (New Power).

If you’re looking to keep busy over the the coming weeks, you can’t go wrong with one of these.

1. This is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn To See by Seth Godin. Seth is one of the thought leaders in marketing over the past 10 years. His new book will make most Top 10’s (I’d imagine). I never thought I’d continually need reminding of the importance of very simple but profound statements when it comes to sales & marketing. The key learning that’s stuck in my mind are these reminders when thinking of marketing a new solution: What change are you trying to make? Who are you seeking to change? What promise can you make to your potential customers? (Hint: your promise needs to connect to the change you want to make in the world.).

2. High Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard. A bunch of my friends recommended this one to me. Burchard has released several books in the past, most notably The Motivation Manifesto. The story follows a similar path to building habits of high motivation. What I loved about this one, is the practical application and nature of how you can implement ideas into your workflow. This book has everything from strategic theory through to clear process steps. You’ll be creating PQO’s before you know it (you’ll have to read to understand).

3. Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller. I’m a big fan of everything Miller has written, from his online presence to written form. While Godin provides a lot of theoretical (which is valuable) marketing ideas and techniques. Miller really helps you translate messaging/ purpose into meaningful sales materials that resonates with an audience. Many practical tips and actions to sharpen your message.

4. The Checklist Manifesto: How to get things right by Atul Gawande. Checklists aren’t aren’t exactly top of mind for most people, but if you invest time reading this one you’ll learn a new way to think about approaching day-to-day activities and outputs. The teachings of how using checklists to improve and standardise repeatable performance is actually ground-breaking. It will fundamentally shift your thought processes.

5. New Power: How Power Works in Our Hyperconnected World — And How to Make It Work for You by Jeremy Heimans. Two visionary thinkers take you on a whirlwind tour of the 21st century, revealing how “new power” is reshaping politics, business and society — and understanding how it works could change your life. The book flows and touches upon how political movements have shifted over the past 20 years, and the impact on leadership. The real takeaway here was understanding how the dynamics of group leadership, empowerment, conversation, contribution and engagement, is now flipped on its head.

6. The Messenger is the Message: How to Mobilise Customers and Unleash the Power of Advocate Marketing by Mark Organ. Messenger touches upon themes of Godin and Miller, but more with a lens to using advocate marketing to 10X growth. It’s probably the area always on the periphery of our go-to-market thoughts/ strategy, but this story makes you think how you can bring front and centre. Including practical ideas to get started.

7. Atomic Habits by James Clear. I know the 25-year-old me would love to have read this book 11 years ago as I have really gotten into the power of habits to drive performance. The book starts with Clear’s personal journey from being obsessed with habits to how he leverages multiple strategies consistently across both his work and personal life. If you’re thinking about upping the ante in 2019 around new keystone habits, this is the perfect introduction.Thanks for reading. Enjoy your Sunday. And if you like this content and want to support it, forward it to a friend, tweet me, or if you’re seeing this newsletter for the first time, you can subscribe here.

Thanks for reading. Enjoy your Sunday. And if you like this content and want to support it, forward it to a friend, tweet me, or if you’re seeing this newsletter for the first time, you can subscribe here.