I’ve been in the digital space for 30 years and my breakthrough book was Socialnomics. In this book, I encouraged individuals and organizations to lean into social media and digital, both personally and professionally; emphasizing that this shift wasn’t just for teenagers, that it would change the world more than anything in our lifetime. That it would become a powerful force around business, politics, gaming, and beyond. And, unfortunately, it did. It was even more powerful than I could have imagined. What I didn’t comprehend was that we would lean in too much. I realized I needed to give the anti-venom to Socialnomics. We needed as a society to return to focusing on what matters most.
I wrote
The Focus Project: The Not So Simple Art of Doing Less
One of the greatest days of my professional career was when a media outlet called me a “Digital Dale Carnegie.” They had no idea what a fan I am of Carnegie's work. Carnegie passed away (1955) long before I was born but he continues to have a profound impact on my life. My grandfather, and father have both taken Dale Carnegie Courses. While Carnegie’s book How to Win Friends and Influence People is wonderful and is one of the best-selling books of all time, my favorite is How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.
In our modern world, worry is almost a certainty. We worry as parents, business owners, employees— we never seem to run out of things to worry about. Dale Carnegie’s How to Stop Worrying and Start Living reframed my perspective on the cost of worrying. Eliminating the fear of the unknown is often the first step to achieving our goals and Carnegie’s book was an instrumental reminder of the importance of building good habits and prioritizing mental wellness to eliminate worry. This perspective is critical to the preservation of my own time, energy, and happiness. This is a book I read annually to help me reset when I feel the walls of worrying closing in on me.
The first trade paperback edition of the classic guide to conquering the fears and worries that prevent individuals from living full and happy lives offers practical advice on how to eliminate business and financial anxieties, turn criticism into an advantage, avoid fatigue, and more. Reprint. 25,00
Full disclosure that I sit on some company advisory boards along with Grant. However, long before that became a reality I was a huge Adam Grant fan. Both as a fellow professor and writer. In particular, Grant’s breakthrough book Give and Take. Grant reminds us that if you look at life as a dog-eat-dog world then you will remain a dog. This book reminds us of what we know intrinsically but we so often forget in our quest to get ahead.
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. Give and Take highlights the difference between those who go fast (takers), those who go far (givers), and those who fall somewhere in between (matchers). By showcasing the strengths and weaknesses of givers, takers, and matchers, Grant proves that those who are most successful in life are often those that volunteer their time and energy with little expectation of anything in return. This book perfectly highlights the importance of networking as a tool for success— a must for this digital decade.
A groundbreaking look at why our interactions with others hold the key to success, from the bestselling author of Think Again and Originals
For generations, we have focused on the individual drivers of success: passion, hard work, talent, and luck. But in today's dramatically reconfigured world, success is increasingly dependent on how we interact with others. In Give and Take, Adam Grant, an award-winning researcher and Wharton's highest-rated professor, examines the surprising forces that shape why some people rise to the top of the success ladder while others sink to the bottom. Praised by social scientists, business theorists, and corporate…
A few years ago, I had just come off stage after delivering a keynote and was grabbing my luggage to rush to the airport to catch my flight. Well, I missed my flight, and it was worth it. The moment I heard the speaker after me, I was riveted. I’d never heard of her, but I had to stay. I had to listen. I had to meet her backstage in the greenroom. The speaker? Brené Brown.
Brené Brown’s Daring Greatly perfectly defines the shift we have seen in recent generations. Where vulnerability was once perceived as weakness, Brown portrays how she and others have transformed their own shame and guilt into strength. Daring Greatly reaffirms my own experience of stepping into discomfort and owning my story. By embracing fear, discomfort, and vulnerability, I discovered how self-acceptance can lead to helping others do the same.
'She's so good, Brene Brown, at finding the language to articulate collective feeling' Dolly Alderton
Every time we are faced with change, no matter how great or small, we also face risk. We feel uncertain and exposed. We feel vulnerable. Most of us try to fight those feelings - or feel guilt for feeling them in the first place.
In a powerful new vision Dr Brene Brown challenges everything we think we know about vulnerability, and dispels the widely accepted myth that it's a weakness. She argues that, in truth, vulnerability is…
When preparing for a keynote with a corporation I will ask their executive team who was their speaker last year? More times than not the answer is Simon Sinek.
So often when I speak with companies, they can easily articulate what they do and how they plan to execute their goals. But as Simon Sinek points out in Start with Why, many companies overlook the why. Sinek showcases a multitude of examples to highlight, not only why it’s important to know and understand your purpose but, to begin with your purpose. Today’s most successful and influential companies are not marketing their products, but their purpose. This is a concept I revisit daily in my own business; goal setting and project planning always begin with our Why.
We all grapple with “not enough time” or “not enough energy” to accomplish all that we want to get done in our day. James Clear’s Atomic Habits challenges us to reflect on how we approach our goals. Instead of simply setting a goal and making a plan, Clear encourages us to consider how our current habits contribute to or derail our success. Many of these concepts were incredibly influential in my own personal project to improve my health, relationships, and business. I often referenced this book when writing my own.
The #1 New York Times bestseller. Over 4 million copies sold!
Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results
No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving--every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results.
If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the…
Whether you’re a programmer, mother, executive, teacher, or entrepreneur, this book is for you if… 1. You feel like you need 5 more hours in your day. 2. You are being pulled in a million directions with no end in sight. 3. Your life is busy instead of big.
Welcome to The Focus Project, a book designed to provide answers and solutions to the challenges of focusing in an unfocused world. Combining street science and institutional research alongside his own personal focus project, Qualman delivers practical advice on thinking big versus busy. The following is a guide to doing less, better. This enables us to achieve more–both personally and professionally.
I’m an OB/GYN, passionate about adventuring beyond what’s expected. This has led me to pivot multiple times in my career, now focusing on writing. I’ve written a play, The Post-Roe Monologues, to elevate women’s stories. I cherish the curiosity that drives outer and inner exploration, and I love memoirs that skillfully weave the two. The books on this list feature extraordinary women who took risks, left comfort and safety, and battled vulnerability to step into the unknown. These authors moved beyond the stories they’d believed about themselves–or that others told about them. They invite you to think about living fuller and bigger lives.
Tap Dancing on Everest, part coming-of-age memoir, part true-survival adventure story, is about a young medical student, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor raised in N.Y.C., who battles self-doubt to serve as the doctor—and only woman—on a remote Everest climb in Tibet.
The team attempts a new route up the East Face without the use of supplemental oxygen, Sherpa support, or chance for rescue. When three climbers disappear during their summit attempt, Zieman reaches the knife edge of her limits and digs deeply to fight for the climbers’ lives and to find her voice.
The plan was outrageous: A small team of four climbers would attempt a new route on the East Face of Mt. Everest, considered the most remote and dangerous side of the mountain, which had only been successfully climbed once before. Unlike the first large team, Mimi Zieman and her team would climb without using supplemental oxygen or porter support. While the unpredictable weather and high altitude of 29,035 feet make climbing Everest perilous in any condition, attempting a new route, with no idea of what obstacles lay ahead, was especially audacious. Team members were expected to push themselves to their…
