.png){kind=small}
I'm going to talk about a number of different topics in this blog post. If you're just looking for the book list, scroll down to about 1/3 down the page.
Introduction
In late 2021 I decided I was tired of creating and never completing a year-long goal. I had made similar goals to this one in the past. Things like:
Complete a Spanish Duolingo course
Bench press 225 lbs
Run 10 miles every week
You get it. I'm sure you have had similar goals in the past as well.
There were many things that prevented me from completing these goals, and all of them were self-imposed:
I did not want it bad enough
I did not learn how to break bad habits
The goal was written poorly
I did not hold myself accountable
The list goes on, but at the end of the day, I was holding myself back.
How to Write Goals that Work for You
"If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time." –Zig Ziglar
Unless you are the luckiest person in the world, it is nearly impossible for you to get to where you want to go without a goal or plan.
There are a few goal setting systems out there that have proven themselves to be effective. Here is a short list:
I cannot tell you what goal creation framework is best for you.
I suggest you try each of them out and see which one resonates with you.
How I Created My Goal
I have tried the aforementioned frameworks at different points in my life with varying success on smaller goals.
This time, I decided to keep it simple:
Read 52 books in 2022.
The 52 book challenge is not new.
52 is not an arbitrary number. There are 52 weeks in the year.
This has been around for a while because there is a built-in sub goal that makes this daunting task easier to manage:
Read at least 1 book per week.
What I realized through my past failures is that I need sub goals.
I also realized that I needed the ability to catch up on the goal if I got behind.
What if the primary goal was, "Read 1 book per week?"
And then disaster struck and I could not finish the book in a week?
This did happen. More than once.
Before when this would happen I would give up as the streak was broken.
However, with the goal written as it was, I had the ability to read more and catch up as needed.
In order to make this goal realistic for my schedule, I set some ground rules:
Audiobooks were allowed
Digital books were allowed
These rules helped me develop a process for tackling this goal.
My Process for Reading
I figured that the average book I wanted to read was around 150 - 200 pages. Worst case, I would need to read about 30 pages per day (200/7 is about 30).
I did not want to let a "I'm too busy to read" excuse get in the way of completing this challenge.
I performed the following actions to increase the amount of time I could spend reading/listening to books that did not affect my work schedule:
I installed STAYFOCUSD on my phone that blocked Social Apps
I installed Libby and downloaded free audio and digital books
I replaced my social media time with reading
I listened to audiobooks while driving and gardening
I kept a book on my desk for reading during a break
How I Stayed Motivated
To stay motivated I tried to only read about interesting topics. If I started a book I did not like, I would put it down and find another.
Every month I wrote a short LinkedIn post where I talked about the books I read.
I was motivated by the conversations that these posts started. This kept me going.
How Did My Life Change?
I am writing this sentence on December 28th, 2022. These are the immediate benefits I have received from this challenge:
I spent far less time on Socials and learned more than I thought was possible
I feel energized and invigorated for 2023
I have many more tools in my pocket that I can use to achieve new goals
I have confidence that with the right steps and enough work, I can accomplish any reasonable goal
My knowledge of certain topics has greatly increased
Here is What I Read
Below is the list of books I read in 2022. I included links to Amazon in case you wanted to buy them, but note that many of them can be read for free with a library card and Libby.
If you want to change a habit, you must understand what your cues, responses, and rewards are with the action. You can then decide to eliminate the cue or change the response to the cue (among other actions). This book discusses methods for how to do this with plenty of examples.
Having an abundance mindset can lead to more opportunities in life and business. Avoiding negative thinking, expressing gratitude, and believing that the success you are looking for is possible can lead to a rich life. This book dives into these topics.
Our subconscious is incredibly powerful, and it can quickly find the correct solution to many problems most of the time. Our subconscious reactions can also get us into trouble under the worst circumstances. Blink explores the ways in which we can better understand our subconscious decision making.
40 years ago, product success was determined largely by how much the company spent on television advertising. Today, the advertising medium is not as important as the remarkability of the product. To find success in the information age, it is critical that the product itself is so remarkable that customers want to tell their friends about it. This book looks at examples of remarkable products and advertising to help build a system for increased chance of repeatability (which Seth admits is challenging).
If you enjoy playing casual poker with your friends or even dabble at tables in Vegas once a year, this is the perfect book for you. It is short and covers the absolute basics of Hold’em strategy.
James says that Atomic Habits feels like a continuation of the Power of Habit that I read last month. I tend to agree. The book goes into detail on how to remove a habit, and how to find more success with building a new one. He gives step by step instructions with examples.
I wish I read this book before I started my business, but I am very grateful that I have read it now. This book helped me tackle the “Monster under my bed.” Which for me is understanding taxes and profits in business. The book is concise and easy to understand. I will reference this one many times over the coming years.
If you are in sales or you are a business owner, how much of your business comes from referrals? Do you have a referral system in place? This book answers questions like this and helps you develop an action plan to build a referral system.
If you enjoyed the HBO Series, A Game of Thrones, Season 1, then you will like this book. Martin does an incredible job building the scenes and characters. I listened to this as an audio book (about 36 hours) and thoroughly enjoyed it.
This is my favorite book I have read on Scrum and Agile so far. It is full of inspiring examples and stories about how Scrum transformed teams and companies. I found an important note on every single page.
I heard people reference this book in podcasts over the past 10 years. I finally decided to read it. To be honest it did not resonate with me that much, but I did find some of the topics interesting. I don’t think I would add it to a list of recommended books to read but I’m sure others might disagree.
This was a fascinating book that covered the mathematics, statistics, and game theory behind decision making in poker. I will need to re-read this many times as some of the topics were confusing given my basic understanding of intermediate poker topics. I would recommend this to anyone that plays poker regularly.
This was an incredibly insightful book about how food (or what we call food) has changed over the past 100 years. It made me think about the types of foods that I eat and what steps I can take to focus on eating more whole foods.
If you struggle with improving your golf game, please read this book. It talks about the importance of the mental side of the game. This book has helped me more than any golf lesson has. I cannot recommend it enough.
This is an amazing book. The author, Bess Kalb, writes a compelling story through the voice of her recently deceased grandmother. I have never heard a story told from this point of view and I loved every page of it.
This was a great book just like the first in the series. Martin does a wonderful job building the scenes and storytelling. If you enjoyed season 2 of the HBO Series, you will like this book. Even though this audiobook was 37 hours long, I enjoyed every second of it.
This book outlines how to get past the “Wall” in your creative work, business venture, or anything that pushes you outside of your comfort zone. He takes you into the “Belly of the Beast” and shows you what you can do to come out stronger on the other side. I loved this quick read.
This is an incredible book that talks about addiction in detail. I learned a substantial amount about the human brain and how our exposure to indulgence can affect us.
The 3rd book that the 3rd season of A Game of Thrones was based on. Like the ones before it, I enjoyed it greatly. The audio book was 48 hours long, but the narrator did an incredible job that kept me interested. I never felt bored while listening and would recommend this series to anyone.
If you watched her series on Netflix, you would enjoy this book. She covers her story and why she loves doing what she does. She gives examples of her clients who have struggled with tidying up. She also covers other cleaning and organizing strategies that do not give lasting success and explains why there are better ways to keep a tidy home.
What I enjoyed most about this book was Chris’ attempts to relate to as many future dads as possible. Everyone is different, and many future fathers struggle with coming to terms with being a father in their own way. Chris uses his own struggles as examples and gives ideas for how to overcome these challenges. I did not agree or relate to everything he said, but I enjoyed his opinion and learned some new things along the way.
This book talks about our inner voice. Through excellent personal examples, Ethan finds a way to relate to the reader regarding how harmful our inner voice can be. He talks about ways to tame our inner voice so it doesn't wreak havoc on our lives.
This audiobook was read by Tom Hanks, and he did a phenomenal job of bringing the story to life. The novel covers the story of a brother and sister who lose their father when they are young, and what they did to overcome this hardship.
This is an incredible book that talks about creativity. What I love about this book the most is Elizabeth’s commentary on how creative ideas come to be, and how she views ideas as not belonging to any one person.
This one is in my Top 3 for books I’ve read this year (so far). This is an amazing book that gives a step-by-step guide on personal branding. I will re-read this book many times, I am sure.
Cait writes about a year of her life where she attempted to spend as little money as possible. The book covers other challenges she faced in life as well.
I was not a huge fan of this book, but I’m sure others would love it. The book covers a series of conversations between a student and a professor as the student attempts to learn about Adlerian Psychology from the professor.
This book is about coping with loss. Sheryl Sandberg presented some incredibly enlightening words on this topic that I had never even considered before. I was moved by this book and would recommend it to anyone.
I read this book during my last year of college. It was crucial for my early successes after graduating. Reading it now, it has made me realize that I have changed. Not in a good way or bad way, but my values have changed. This is a good book for anyone who feels ‘stuck’ and is seeking success, especially those early in a career.
Into the Wild is one of my favorite movies of all time. This book has been on my list for a while so I’m glad I finally got to read it. It is a really well written and I enjoyed every page. It is a sad story but one that I learned a lot of life-lessons from. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys adventure novels, hiking, or nature in general.
If you know me, you know I have found a recent obsession playing tournament poker. This book was incredibly insightful into tournament strategy. While new developments in strategy differ from ones displayed in this book, this book creates a solid foundation to learn from. I loved it and would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about tournament poker.
This is a beautiful book where Bowler discusses her thoughts on the “best life now” industry while she is battling cancer at age 35.
This was another enjoyable book by Martin in the “Game of Thrones” series. Highly recommend the series if you are looking for new fiction to read.
If you have ever consider starting your own business, I recommend starting with this book. It shows you how to start a microbusiness without breaking the bank.
An incredible book outlining the history of checklists in professional settings. Checklists save lives in medicine, aviation, and more. Is your company preventing loss with a checklist? If not, why not?
Being able to work deeply on a task, project, document, etc. can be the difference between you finishing what you set out to or not. This book was incredibly helpful, and I will read it again next year.
37. Grounded by Liz Zorab
This was a fun read where Liz Zorab documented her journey to creating a homestead. I have no interest in homesteading, but I learned a lot about it in this book and enjoyed it.
A great book that offers guidance on dealing with burnout. I appreciated Price’s fresh perspectives on the subject.
A book that details the lives of the stoics and stoicism in general. The book was interesting, but not enough to read it again.
This book had a profound impact on my life, and I would recommend it to anyone. Frankl describes his experience as a prisoner in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany, as well as his ideas on meaning and his theory called Logotherapy.
A very similar book to Marie Kondo’s, where Rubin describes the benefits of removing clutter from your life.
In this book, Kay talks about common mistakes candidates make in the job application process and offers solutions to avoid these mistakes.
In my opinion, this is the best book on how to sell effectively, followed closely by The Challenger Sale.
Thank you Robert for the recommendation! This was a fantastic book that talked about longevity, specifically going into detail regarding Ikigai, “The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life.”
Tracey wrote one of my favorite books on procrastination, “Eat that Frog.” In Get Smart, he goes into detail about how successful people in business think and act when it comes to overcoming challenges.
The more I read about poker theory, the more I realize this is an incredibly difficult game to master. This book touches on a variety of topics including value bets, semi-bluffs, reading hands, and more. I will need to read it a few more times to fully understand these concepts.
This was a fun read that talked about the importance of companies helping their people discover purpose in their work. My biggest take-away was that individuals have unique goals, and that companies that spend time learning what those are and building work around them will find success.
Quindlen talks about the importance of writing by hand. Both what it can do for you individually, but also what it can do for your friends and family. Journaling and writing in general are not as common as they used to be, but it is something we are all capable of doing that has unlimited benefits.
This was a sad but heartwarming story about Jaku’s life, where he faced horrific challenges surviving the Holocaust. I am forever grateful to Eddie for sharing his life’s story, and I would recommend this book to anyone.
A great book that offers guidance on getting into the right mindset to accomplish your goals. I appreciated Bishop’s candid attitude about what holds most people back and how to turn it around.
There are a lot of interesting ideas in here about the future of digital work. Topics include flexible work, remote work, workplace culture, and more. This was a very interesting read and I will likely read it again.
This is my favorite small business book. It is a no-nonesense book that teaches you how to effectively run a small business. I will read this again and again.
This was an informative book that gives 100 ad-agency psychology secrets for selling anything to anyone. It was interesting and is one of those books that is better referenced as opposed to read-through.
Want to Learn More?
Feel free to join our mailing list to get updates on future articles.
You can also head over to our Client Resources page for more information.