26 Feb Spring Books to Motivate, Enlighten and Develop your Potential
Some new books to motivate you towards your goals, enlighten you with different ideas, and build those positive dendrites!
Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent by Sydney Finkelstein
A good boss hits his goals and leads his team. A Superboss blows her goals by building an army of leaders. Which would you rather be? Superbosses exist in nearly every industry, from the glamorous to the mundane. They are defined by consistent success in their fields and their approach to finding, nurturing and developing talent. If you study the top fifty leaders in any field, as many as one-third will have once worked for a Superboss. After ten years of research and more than 200 interviews with Superbosses including technology CEO Larry Ellison and fashion pioneer Ralph Lauren, Finkelstein explores this previously unidentified phenomenon – and shows how each of us can emulate their best tactics to create our own powerful networks of extraordinary talent.
The Wisdom of Groundhog Day: How to Improve Your Life One Day at a Time by Paul Hannam
Paul Hannam, screenwriter of Groundhog Day, has developed a programme based on the hidden, underlying roadmap to freedom found in the filmGroundhog Day. Using research-based techniques, you will learn how to take control of your day, remove the blinkers and actually see and experience the real world around you, which will in turn enable you to let go of the past and achieve new levels of success. You will learn how to focus on and appreciate the things that truly matter: time, security, mental health and authentic happiness, and discover a life of joy and fulfilment – rather than just going through the motions. This book is aimed at anyone who is sleepwalking through life, is trapped by routine and needs a major wake-up call. No more cruising on autopilot – make every day amazing.
Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges by Amy Cuddy
How can we be our strongest selves in life’s most challenging situations? We often approach these situations – job interviews, difficult conversations, speaking up for ourselves with anxiety, and leave them with regret. Moments that require us to be genuine and powerful instead cause us to feel false and powerless. Harvard professor Amy Cuddy shows us we need to stop worrying about the impression we’re making on others, and instead change the impression we’re making on ourselves. Cutting-edge science reveals that if we adopt behaviours reflecting power and strength, we liberate ourselves from the fears and doubts that obstruct us. By redirecting our thoughts, actions, and even physiology, we free ourselves to be our best. Amy Cuddy galvanised viewers around the world with her TED talk on ‘power poses’. Now she explains the science underlying these and many other fascinating body-mind effects, and teaches us how to use this science to become self-assured in high-pressure moments.
After suffering a brain injury, top flight game designer Jane McGonigal created a game to help aid her recovery and battle the ensuing depression she experienced. Half a million people have now played this game to astonishing results: depression gone in 6 weeks in some cases and even terminal cancer patients reporting that playing the game gives them a sense of control over their own health. The book shows readers how to use these techniques to find strength and create positivity: readers can look to their own ‘power-ups’ which are little things they can do to feel better and tackle the hurdles in their own lives. It provides simple step-by-step ideas that can help transform your life with a new flexible and reenergised mindset. McGonigal uses her own story and those of others to expertly demonstrate how simple changes can result in dramatic life-affirming effects.
Leonard: My Fifty-Year Friendship with A Remarkable Man by William Shatner
Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner first crossed paths as actors on the set of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Little did they know that their next roles, in a new science-fiction television series called Star Trek, would shape their lives in ways no one could have anticipated. In 79 television episodes and 6 feature films, they grew to know each other more than most friends could ever imagine. Over the course of half a century, Shatner and Nimoy saw each other through personal and professional highs and lows. In this powerfully emotional book, Shatner recounts anecdotes and untold stories of their lives on and off set, as well as gathering stories from others who knew Nimoy well. As much a biography of Nimoy as a story of their friendship, Leonard is a uniquely heartfelt book written by one legendary actor in celebration of another.