Here are 100 books that The Power of Focus fans have personally recommended if you like
The Power of Focus.
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As an artist, photographer, author, and workshop leader, my goal is to help others become more skilled with photographic techniques and more creative with their photographic and artistic practice. I like to tell workshop participants that to take better photographs, one should stand in front of more interesting things. But to become a really better photographer one needs to become a more interesting person. The books in the list have helped me grow as a person and photographer, and I hope they also enhance your technique and your passion as a photographer.
This book has been extremely influential and helpful to my journey as a creative photographer. This is a short book and covers material that is often not easy because it gets at some of the deep-seated reasons that many of us find it hard to consistently create art.
The underlying issue is “resistance”: a force that is the antithesis of creativity and serves to stymie us all to a greater or lesser degree. I have found the succinct discussion of resistance in the book, along with tools and techniques for overcoming resistance, one of the most valuable discussions I have encountered in my journey as a photographer and artist.
A succinct, engaging, and practical guide forsucceeding in any creative sphere, The War ofArt is nothing less than Sun-Tzu for the soul.
What keeps so many of us from doing what we long to do?
Why is there a naysayer within? How can we avoid theroadblocks of any creative endeavor—be it starting up a dreambusiness venture, writing a novel, or painting a masterpiece?
Bestselling novelist Steven Pressfield identifies the enemy thatevery one of us must face, outlines a battle plan to conquer thisinternal foe, then pinpoints just how to achieve the greatest success.
I love playing music and games, helping others in therapy, being a father and husband, among other things. It’s taken me some time to figure out how to not only stay on top of them all, but to enjoy myself along the way. The answer to doing so is about finding and guiding play in work. Picasso's statement rings true: "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." Mastery and feelings of success flow when work is imbued with play. As a psychoanalyst and now as a writer, I work with both clients and readers to help them find meaning and mastery in the day-to-day.
Mastery goes hand in hand with getting on top of work. Leonard gave me the long view. He does an excellent job of describing how mastery is better considered a process, a path you travel more so than a line you pass. Viewing one's craft as a series of peaks and plateaus and, more importantly, staying on the path is the work of mastery.
Drawing on Zen philosophy and his expertise in the martial art of aikido, bestselling author George Leonard shows how the process of mastery can help us attain a higher level of excellence and a deeper sense of satisfaction and fulfillment in our daily lives.
Whether you're seeking to improve your career or your intimate relationships, increase self-esteem or create harmony within yourself, this inspiring prescriptive guide will help you master anything you choose and achieve success in all areas of your life. In Mastery, you'll discover:
* The 5 Essential Keys to Mastery * Tools for Mastery * How to…
My main goal and purpose in life is to make a difference in people’s lives by helping you overcome obstacles that hold you back, so you can make more money, work less, and enjoy having even better work-life balance. Helping you realize how you can get around roadblocks that hold you back from achieving what you truly want in life gets me excited. I think many people make business and life so much harder than it needs to be and I like to share powerful books and resources that help you focus on how you can more easily realize your potential, accelerate your results, and fulfill what's truly important to you in life.
This
book is short and massively powerful. It gets you to think about all the
possibilities you have to reach your full potential and do more than you might
have thought possible. This 48-page, 2-word book just might change your life
forever. You will learn 3 simple, powerful tools you can use immediately to
access your unrealized potential. When you really start to think, What If?, around
any issues, goals, or challenges, your possibilities can be endless. This book can
inspire you to greatness, in my opinion. I bought hundreds of copies of this
book because I thought it was so powerful and wanted to share it with my
clients and prospective clients, so if you can’t find this book, I do have 5
more copies left.
"You will learn 3 simple, powerful tools you can use immediately and forever to access your gold mine of unrealized potential. You'll learn strategies to take you and your organization beyond what you ever imagined." A Very difficult to find book.
We all want peace. We all want a life of joy and meaning. We want to feel blissfully comfortable in our own skin, moving through the world with grace and ease. But how many of us are actively taking the steps to create such a life?
My main goal and purpose in life is to make a difference in people’s lives by helping you overcome obstacles that hold you back, so you can make more money, work less, and enjoy having even better work-life balance. Helping you realize how you can get around roadblocks that hold you back from achieving what you truly want in life gets me excited. I think many people make business and life so much harder than it needs to be and I like to share powerful books and resources that help you focus on how you can more easily realize your potential, accelerate your results, and fulfill what's truly important to you in life.
There is so much great content in this book, it is hard to only
have a few words to talk about the huge benefits of reading it. The first
chapter, "Believe in Yourself", starts the book with powerful and
thought-provoking content. Sometimes the older books can have the biggest
impact on us as we go through our life – both for our career and in our
personal life. This book has been and will continue to be one of the most
recommended books in history, I believe. If you haven’t read it yet or if it
has been a while, I strongly recommend you read it for the first time or read
it again. The power of positive thinking can have a huge impact on your
business and your life.
'you do not need to be defeated by anything, ... you can have peace of mind, improved health, and a never-ceasing flow of energy.'
The Power of Positive Thinking is a practical, direct-action application of spiritual techniques to overcome defeat and win confidence, success and joy. Norman Vincent Peale, the father of positive thinking and one of the most widely read inspirational writers of all time, shares his famous formula of faith and optimism which he developed himself by trial and error whilst searching for a way of life.
Millions of people have taken Peale's teachings as their own simple…
I studied economics and environmental policy but landed in entrepreneurship. I wrote The Parallel Entrepreneur after I sold my first company and continued to work on Rbucks, my blog, after I joined the next company. Outside of work I volunteer frequently in my community. I’m an Associate Professor in the Business Department at Diablo Valley College, where I teach marketing and sit on the advisory boards for both the Business and Computer Science departments. I also lead the Diablo Valley Tech Initiative (DVTI), an economic development organization incubated at DVC. Related to DVTI, I run Lamorinda Entrepreneurs, a community group that promotes and supports local entrepreneurship. I have a Master’s in Public Policy from theHarvard Kennedy School and a MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
This book came by recommendation from Jonathan Siegel, the brains and brawn behind Xenon Partners, a private equity firm that I joined in 2018. This book summarizes several profit models presented by a fictional mentor coaching a business executive. It’s clever, poignant, and was helpful to me in thinking about other profitable business models. For example, in my side-hustle life, I use the Profit-Multiplier Model: running multiple small SaaS businesses in parallel using the same tech stack (make money off the same good or skill in different markets).
Presented in 23 compact lessons, THE ART OF PROFITABILITY features an ongoing tutorial between two fictitious individuals: the old and wise teacher, David Shao, the business master, and his pupil, Steve Gardner, a young and ambitious manager. Along the way, Zhao goes through a number of business models and pushes his student to examine how a variety of businesses go about making money. Through Zhao's teachings, Steve begins to see how profits can be improved simply by taking a step back and gaining a new perspective.
My family moved to Italy when I was six, and I attended Italian first grade in a fishing village where I had to rely on reading body language as I didn’t grasp the language for a bit. Fortunately for me, Italians have lots of body language to read so I could navigate the inevitable cliques and power dynamics evident even at the elementary school level. From that experience to being taken to view the Dachau concentration camp a year later, I’ve always been sensitive to how “the other” gets treated—often unfairly—and the role leaders can play for good or evil.
Trust is, indeed, the emotion of business but it’s also just a starting point. The endpoint is by contrast to be delayed as long as possible, as retaining workers is best achieved by making them feel appreciated and given respect and a fair degree of autonomy. Great leaders can follow this recipe whether in business, the non-profit sector, or beyond.
Emmy Award-winning speaker Clint Pulver-aka the Undercover Millennial-shares insights gleaned from more than ten thousand undercover interviews with employees across the country, revealing the best methods for identifying talent, building a sense of ownership, and developing a successful workplace culture that employees will love. You'll also learn the number one driver of employee turnover (spoiler: it has everything to do with you!), what you can do to stop an exodus, and how to build a team that really works. Soon, you'll be recognizing possibilities where others see problems, and capturing the power…
My book is a collection of monthly Editor-in-Chief letters to the readership of World Neurosurgery, a journal that I edit. Each essay is short and sweet. The letters were written for neurosurgeons but have been re-edited so that they apply to all human beings. They cover topics such as leadership,…
For the last 25 years, I have been a coach to business founders, leaders, and leadership teams. My work has taken me to every continent from my base in London. A lot of my work is done behind closed doors, but I have been instrumental in building two unicorns in the last decade. I’m a founder myself and have always been fascinated by what it takes to succeed as a founder. I have a powerful conviction that learning to lead is the heart of it. The books I love are either based on real-world research or deeply practical and based on hands-on experience. Practice trumps theory every time in my world!
I have listened to Steven Bartlett’s podcast for years. He has interviewed an impressive and eclectic range of people, especially founders, and has pulled together much of what he has learned, both from his own business success and that of his guests.
I like the practicality of the “33 laws” in the book. I don’t agree with all of them. For example, I take issue with “Create a cult mentality,” but many of these laws are very sound indeed, including “Ask who not how” and “You must out-fail the competition.”
I like Steven’s persuasive and punchy style and the fact that he came from humble beginnings and has achieved so much.
I have researched human origins professionally for almost decades by studying the trail of fossils that have survived millions of years. But, before then, and since I can remember, I’ve been a lover of adventure and science fiction stories in all formats: action movies (Indiana Jones, Back to the Future), TV shows (The X Files), novels (Jack London!), or anime and manga (Ghost in the Shell, Akira, Alita). So, I guess my mind constantly travels from the past to the future. I think this list will also work as a time machine for others.
I loved this book because it contains real-life, usable bits of wisdom from a curated list of 100+ writers (Neil Gaiman), athletes (Tony Hawk), entrepreneurs (Gary Vaynerchuck), and artists of all kinds (Mike D).
All these top performers provide their thoughtful answers to the author's seemingly superficial questions. Paraphrasing from the original list: “Which little purchase made a positive change in your life?” “Which book have you gifted the most?” “What little habit do you love?”. Does this format sound familiar?
We All Need Mentors. Here Are More than 100 of the World's Best. When facing life's questions, who do you turn to for advice? We all need mentors, particularly when the odds seem stacked against us. For this book, best-selling author Tim Ferriss tracked down more than 100 eclectic mentors to help him, and you, navigate life. Through short, action-packed profiles, he shares their secrets for success, happiness, meaning, and more. No matter the challenge or opportunity, something in these pages can help. You will learn: The three books legendary investor Ray Dalio recommends most often Lessons and tips from…
Throughout my journey, I’ve had to endure many challenges coming from humble beginnings so I wrote my book based on my experiences of being the 1st generational college graduate to overcoming many obstacles that affected my self-esteem while running a multimillion-dollar branch in the banking industry. Writing My Broken Stiletto allowed me to showcase that being resilient is a mindset that can be challenging but worth the reward when you get out of your own way.
I was introduced to this book by a business mastermind which we all read together and discussed chapters on video.
Imagine twenty women from different countries trying to not only understand each other and implement at the same time. I’m not sure what was more entertaining our language barrier or our interpretations. Nevertheless, I was blown away by the amount of structure and stretches that this book presents.
We all agreed to do the stretches as they relate to our lives. One of the many to-do’s was making a list of things that are unfinished and getting to it no matter how big or small. Now I must warn you this is a pretty thick book and I use it as a reference whenever I need a pick-me-up when life seems chaotic.
Mostly I reference the chapters that I feel are in alignment with where I am struggling in day-to-day…
In celebration of its 10th anniversary, a revised and updated edition of Jack Canfield’s classic bestseller with a brand new foreword and an afterword for succeeding in the digital age.
Since its publication a decade ago, Jack Canfield’s practical and inspiring guide has helped thousands of people transform themselves for success. Now, he has revised and updated his essential guidebook to reflect our changing times.
In The Success Principles, the cocreator of the phenomenal bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul series, helps you get from where you are to where you want to be, teaching you how to increase your…
The plan was insane. The trap seemed to snap shut on Bruce and Maggie Tate, an isolation forced on them by the pandemic and America's growing political factionalism. Something had to change.
Maggie's surprising answer: buy a boat, learn to pilot it, and embark on the Great Loop. With no…
Many degree holders experience career and financial challenges they aren't prepared to handle. I know this first hand because after completing my Ph.D., I faced joblessness and massive student loan debt, and after becoming a professor, I saw my students encounter similar situations.
This prompted me to write, Dump Your Degree: How to Repurpose Your Education, Control Your Career, and Gain Financial Freedom. My mission is to provide tangible solutions to students and early career professionals so that they stop solely relying on their degrees but instead learn how to use the sum of their knowledge, skills, and talents in unique ways to create meaningful, viable careers.
If you want to create a career that is entirely in your hands, then Own Your Career Own Your Life is an excellent resource in helping you have complete control. I like how this book enables readers to develop a career vision that positions them for success in any industry. It causes you to reflect on the challenges holding you back, how you make decisions, and discover your purpose. Readers will come out on the other side feeling more confident about having a career that makes sense for their life and knowing how to evolve it when necessary.
Are you searching for a fulfilling career and a life that feels meaningful?
Do you want to wake up every morning feeling excited to start the day and confident that you are truly reaching your potential?
Own Your Career Own Your Life was written for you.
Andy Storch spent years stuck in the wrong career and drifting aimlessly through life. Now, he is a professional coach, consultant, speaker, and author whose life mission is to equip others to live intentionally, love the life they live, and fulfill their true potential.
In his eagerly-anticipated book Own Your Career Own Your Life,…
