Top 9 Must Read Books
After a keynote I’m frequently asked what books I recommend. And there are many. I don’t have a standard list, so to speak, because I’ve found different people and groups are dealing with different issues, and to address individuals’ unique needs, I have a variety of different books I recommend for those circumstances
That said, here are the top 9 books that I have found most helpful because they have made a huge difference for me in my life and business through it all. And, I bet they’ll have a positive impact on you, too.
Check them out here and let me know what you think. In no particular order…
The Presence Process
Author: Michael Brown
Takeaway value: 10/10
This book is for: Anyone that is interested in taking responsibility for how they are, who they are and where they want to go next.
I’ve been through this book at least 7 times now and it has profoundly changed me. Not just the information within it, but the mindfulness exercises included in later chapters, as well. I’ve taken thousands of hours of courses, training, and coaching across a variety of disciplines and this book is the best amalgamation of all of those teachings in one that I have ever read. The way it captures a pathway to understanding and reprogramming ineffective behaviors, patterns and beliefs is second to none. Parts of the book are dense and can take some time, but it’s time well spent to step into fulling embracing our ultimate selves.
2. Die Wise
Author: Stephen Jenkinson
Takeaway value: 10/10
This book is for: Those that want to consider what’s most important in the end and make it most important now.
I read this book on a retreat a few years ago and it is still vividly with me. The author has spent decades in the “death trades” being with those moving beyond the veil, and what he has found is the essence of what matters to us as human beings. There aren’t 10 steps or suggestions to ease confronting the end. But rather a sobering look at death in all it’s painful beauty as a pathway to orient our own selves in the face of the ultimate unknown.
3. The War of Art
Author: Stephen Pressfield
Takeaway value: 10/10
This book is for: If you’re struggling with procrastination, delaying things you know you need to do, or not sure what you need to do to begin with.
A short simple read that punches far above its class, it’s not just a message for artists, but anyone. I first bought this book about 15 years ago and didn’t read it until the last 5 years and I wonder how my life would have been different if I read it sooner. It’s that powerful. Pressfield identifies an inner creative that is held hostage by “resistance”. By naming it, understanding it’s impact and looking for ways to overcome it, to me, it’s a book that can unleash more of what you authentically want to bring forward in your work and in your life.
4. Thick Face, Black Heart
Author: Chin-Ning Chu
Takeaway value: 8/10
This book is for: Anyone that wants to connect with their inner warrior in the spirit of service.
We all contend with darkness within ourselves and the world. This book doesn’t hide from the dark, but illuminates a pathway to use it for good. Drawing from both Eastern and Western tradition, it has helped me fuse together some ideas that I originally saw as potentially conflicting. The idea of protecting our true essence, by “thickening” the face and blackening the heart to protect it from harm not only resonates, but I think is the only way we can give rise to an authentic self. It doesn’t mean don’t feel the darkness, but rather breakthrough it.
5. Crossing the Unknown Sea
Author: David Whyte
Takeaway value: 9/10
This book is for: Bringing back inquiry, imagination and awe into our lives to return to meaning and clarify direction.
David Whyte is hands down my favorite modern poet. The way he fuses together elegant language with profound meaning is always moving to me and seems to connect me with something that’s ultimately true for all of us. This work in particular is special to me as it’s about not just working, but connecting to your life’s work. Not separating what’s needed to nurture our souls. Instead, infusing it into everything to manifest potential, growth and meaning beyond what we thought was possible.
6. Turning Pro
Author: Stephen Pressfield
Takeaway value: 9/10
This book is for: If you’re ready to set the excuses aside, quell the resistance within and take your performance to the next level.
As a follow up to “The War of Art”, this book shares a pathway to defeat resistance. When I was writing my first book a few years ago, this book was a big part of getting it done. As a writer himself, Pressfield has a unique ability to back into a perspective about his perspective that I think will resonate with most anyone. The most powerful part? Sometimes, even without “inspiration” or wanting to, we simply must do.
7. The Body Keeps Score
Author: Bessel van der Kolk
Takeaway value: 9/10
This book is for: Anyone with a body. And especially for those that have had to cope with difficult life experiences.
As one of the world’s foremost experts on trauma, this book pulls from the latest brain and body research to show how trauma (broadly interpreted) can shape who we are and how we act. That shaping keeps us safe, and may very well be the reason why we’ve made it through difficult things, but when the situations change those very same things may be holding us back. Having been through some dark times myself, both professionally and as a child, this book not only shares a background of how this all works, we’re offered innovative and accessible ways to remedy it.
8. Thinking Fast and Slow
Author: Daniel Kahneman
Takeaway value: 10/10
This book is for: If you have a brain and want to optimize how it’s working
There are many summary versions of this book as it can be slow and dense reading. The summaries are better than nothing, but I suggest taking the long road here. Khaneman, world-famous psychologist and Nobel Prize winner, has unique insights into how and why our brains work the way they do – and how to optimize its performance. I’ve taken a lot of this work to heart and now make choices having some sense of what aspects of my brain I’m engaged with and what its best used for. It can be super heady reading, but in my view, necessary.
9. Power vs. Force
Author: David Hawkins
Takeaway value: 9/10
This book is for: If you want to delve into the realms of your own consciousness to align with what’s true.
This book blurs the line between motivation, self help and spirituality; or better said, articulates the natural connection through all of it. The insights seem to make timeless wisdom into something that’s accessible for all of us to start working with. It moves us from a world of force: pushing, convincing and contriving…into seeing a world governed by real power that we can all start to work with. It has given me, and I think many readers, access to trusting something beyond ourselves that influences our results, those around us and ourselves.
This list of books has been massively impactful for me and for those I’ve recommended them to. While a lot of my work is built standing on the shoulders of these giants, my book, too, has been hugely impactful for me. Not only the process of writing it, but the process of sharing it.
In a way I wrote it for myself – it was medicine I needed. And in another way, I wrote it for anyone that’s tired of living with unaddressed discomfort. If you’re tired of rationalizing, placating and putting up with things the way they are – and you’re ready to instigate an inflection point of change, this could potentially be the first step.
