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My 2023 TBR List
What’s on your to-be-read list for 2023?
I love how looking at someone’s TBR stack can tell you a lot about the person. For instance, one look at my stack reveals that I’m fully leaning into my businesswoman era.
Right now I’m really interested in learning more from founders, scholars, and psychologists. My mom, best friend and I have decided to start what we’re calling a “self-development book club” and I have a big stack of books ready to go.
Yes, an actual stack of books. I’ve also totally rediscovered the beauty of picking up a physical book and giving my eyes a break from so much screen time.
Here’s a look at the books I plan to read this year to become a better entrepreneur and a better person.
No, this book isn’t on my list simply because everyone else in the world seems to have read it. The book’s promise of “Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results” is definitely something I’m here for!
Atomic Habits offers a practical and proven framework for achieving any goal and improving your everyday life. In the book, James Clear teaches you how to form good habits and break bad ones and how to adopt behaviors that will help you create the life you want. The book even addresses what to do when you’re not feeling motivated and what to do when you fall off track.
Sign me up for that!
Clear uses concepts from biology, psychology, and neuroscience but in a relatable way that’s easy to understand and apply. The book also features true stories from Olympic gold medalists, award-winning artists, business leaders, life-saving physicians, and star comedians who have used the science of small habits to master their craft and skyrocket to the top of their field.
If you’ve ever wondered why some people always seem to make their dreams come true while others can’t, this book is for you.
In The Slight Edge, Olson explores a way of thinking and processing information that enables you to make better day-to-day choices that will lead you to more happiness and success. Olson believes the tools you need to succeed are already inside you. You just need to unlock them. And The Slight Edge is the key.
The Slight Edge will show you how to make the things you’re reading in other self-development books actually work.
If you’re an emerging entrepreneur too, you may already listen to Reid Hoffman’s podcast Masters of Scale, where he sits down with highly successful founders and leaders to dig into the surprising strategies that power their company’s growth. In this book, he draws on the most riveting and revealing stories from the podcast and weaves in his own experience as a co-founder of LinkedIn and investor at Greylock.
The book includes a wealth of wisdom from more than a hundred interviews and features new material never aired on the podcast. Consider this your insider’s guide on how to do business today in the most innovative way.
We often use a mountain as a metaphor for the challenges we face. But what happens when we realize we’re our own greatest obstacle? We’ve all had those moments when we must take an honest look in the mirror and say, “Get out of your own way!”
It’s called self-sabotage and that’s what this book is all about. Brianna West helps you figure out why we do it, when we do it, and how to stop doing it.
Like so many other reads on this list, this book is also about examining your habits. But West’s book also urges you to do the hard work of addressing and healing from trauma, building resilience and emotional intelligence, and adjusting how we show up for the hard things in life.
As the subtitle reveals, this book is about “the timeless art of turning trials into triumph.”
The book draws its inspiration from stoicism, the ancient Greek philosophy of enduring pain or adversity with perseverance and resilience. How do you do this? You focus on the things you can control and let go of everything else. And you strive to turn every new obstacle into an opportunity to get better and strong.
Ryan Holiday shows us how some of the most successful people in history—such as John D. Rockefeller, Amelia Earhart, and Steve Jobs—applied stoicism to overcome situations that initially seemed impossible to navigate.
Also, hip hop legend LL Cool J is a fan of this book which made me even more eager to add it to my list.
Matthieu Ricard says that happiness is life’s most important skill and I couldn’t agree more. Yes, I want to be at the top of my tennis game. Yes, I want to be a successful businesswoman. But at the end of the day, I want what you want: I just want to be happy.
In this book, Ricard draws from works of fiction and poetry, Western philosophy, Buddhist beliefs, scientific research, and personal experience, to help us rethink our approach to life in a fast-moving modern world. With inspiring lessons and practical exercises, Happiness shows us how to spark joy in everyday life.
This book served as the basis for one of the most popular TED Talks of all time and over a decade later it’s still making waves – even captivating millions on TikTok. If you’ve ever wondered how great leaders inspire others to take action – read this book. People like Martin Luther King Jr. and Steve Jobs had little in common, but they both started with WHY. To get people to buy into a product or support a movement you must help them to understand WHY they should.
This book promises to transform your relationship with yourself and the world around you. If your inner critic is holding you back, The Untethered Soul could help you put an end to limiting beliefs and behaviors. Through mindfulness and meditation, you can learn how to be fully present and how to soar beyond your boundaries.
Perfectionism, jealousy, self-criticism, harsh judgment. Renowned sports psychologist and culture coach Dr. Pippa Grange believes all of these things are rooted in fear. And in this book, she explores how to “turn down the volume” on our fears of inadequacy.
Fear Less gives you the tools you need to practice your responses to fear in the same way elite athletes train for and perform at a big game.
Dr. Grange wants to help you replace your fears with acceptance, purpose, and passion. She believes that we can all move beyond fear to a place of joy, fulfillment, and meaning.
We’ve all probably been told once or twice to “think outside the box.” But acclaimed science writer Annie Murphy Paul has a different challenge for you. She wants you to think outside the brain!
Drawing from a growing body of research, Paul argues that “extra-neural” resources—the feelings and movements of our bodies, the physical spaces in which we learn and work, and the minds of those around us— can help us better focus, comprehend, and create.
Have you ever heard the quote, “Crazy just might work.” This is that quote in book form. Loonshots is all about how to nurture so-called “crazy” ideas because these are the ideas that cure diseases and transform industries. In this book physicist and entrepreneur Safi Bahcall examines how the same science used to understand how birds flock, fish swim, and diseases erupt can be applied to the spread of innovative ideas. Bahcall takes this science and breaks it down into practical lessons for creatives and entrepreneurs eager to change the world.
What books do you plan to read this year?