It’s that time again! Time to share my top reading (and watching or listening) suggestions for summer 2023. We do this every year in anticipation of summer vacations and your much-deserved downtime.
Whatever you do, wherever you go, remember that your vacation is about finding time to focus on Family (and friends), Fitness and Fun—three of our 7 F’s of True Success. It’s also about prioritizing yourself—recharging your energy and imagination and potential.
We believe you can—and should—combine education with entertainment, so Corsini’s Top Read, Watch or Listen List iscurated to help you do what you do better.
Suggestions here are listed by topic:
- Perseverance. Rejection Proof: How I Beat Fear and Became Invincible Through 100 Days of Rejection by Jai Jiang. This book has been on our list before, and I just read it again. The author set up his own social experiments to seek daily rejection. Then he complied what he learned in a humorous, inspiring book about the power of asking, negotiating and persevering.
- Bravery. Courage Is Calling: Fortune Favors the Brave (part of the Stoic Virtues series) by Ryan Holiday. “There is nothing worth doing that is not scary,” writes Holiday. This book draws on ancient stories as well as modern-day examples to show the way to everyday bravery. It’s a handbook for creating a life of purpose.
- Improved performance. Relentless Solution Focus: Train Your Mind to Conquer Stress, Pressure, and Underperformance by Dr. Jason Selk. One of the nation’s top performance coaches, Dr. Selk has worked with business leaders and sports superstars. His approach to mental toughness can help you learn to reframe problems into opportunities.
- Overcoming fear. Victory Favors the Fearless: How to Defeat the 7 Fears That Hold You Back (part of the Sports for the Soul series) by Darrin Donnelly. I mentioned this book a few blog posts ago. There are a handful of common fears—including fear of change and fear of what others think—that we all must overcome to live a happy and successful life. This book uses an inspirational fable to show how to defeat the fears that stand between you and your goals.
- Emotional wellness. The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward by Daniel H. Pink. Everyone has regrets. They are part of being human. The author documented regrets from more than 15,000 people in 105 countries to show that understanding regrets can help us make smarter decisions, perform better, and live more meaningful lives.
- Time management. Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman. Assuming you live to be 80, you will have lived for about 4,000 weeks. I don’t need to tell you that’s not enough time. Yet, the way we manage our time is often unproductive—resulting in more stress and feelings of inadequacy. Forget “getting it all done.” Instead, manage your 4,000 weeks in a way that leads to a more rewarding life.
- Self-awareness. Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone by Brené Brown. This wildly successful social scientist looks at what it means to truly belong in our communities and organizations and culture. “True belonging,” she writes, “doesn’t require that we change who we are; it requires that we be who we are.” In our polarized society, this matters now more than ever and requires authenticity, integrity, and courage. If you get the audiobook, Brown is the excellent narrator. (I love all of her books and podcasts! She’s always authentic and wise and engaging.)
- Positivity. The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work and Team with Positive Energy by Jon Gordon. This international bestseller takes readers on an enlightening and inspiring ride and reveals 10 secrets for approaching life and work with positive, forward thinking—the kind of thinking that leads to true success at work and at home. Learn how to build positive energy with vision, trust, optimism, enthusiasm, and purpose and how to bring out the best in you and your team.
- Negotiating. Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss. Voss is a former international hostage negotiator for the FBI, and he shares nine game-changing principles—that are often counterintuitive—on how to be more persuasive both in and out of the office. Here’s his TEDx Talk, too: https://bit.ly/3lxn1up
- Leadership. Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek. This book is the basis for one of the most popular TED Talks of all time—with more than 56 million views and counting. Here’s a link: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action/comments People like Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs and the Wright Brothers have little in common except that they all started with WHY. They realized that people won’t truly buy into a product, service, movement or idea until they understand the WHY behind it. What is your WHY? Understand that, and you’ll know how to be more successful.
Bonus: Here’s a book on authenticity because that’s a huge part of what CCG is all about. The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown. This book has sold more than two million copies in 35 different languages across the world. The hardcover edition has a new foreword and new tools for wholehearted living that makes the world a better place for your loved ones, your colleagues and you. “It is in the process of embracing our imperfections,” Brown writes, “that we find our truest gifts: courage, compassion and connection.”