Top 3 reads for Small biz OWNERS
BOOKCLUB
MY TOP SELF-DEVELOPMENT READS
Now being totally transparent with you, I am more of an Audible gal.
But these books are ones that have dramatically transformed my approach to life & business.
I don’t know about you, but becoming a business owner has propelled my self-development like nothing else - being 100% responsible for yourself takes a lot of inner work.
As part of this wild business journey and being a natural knowledge seeker, i’ve sought out much wisdom from great minds - a lot of books have been consumed.
However, I am consciously trying to consume less these days.
“Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?” — T.S. Eliot
Knowledge is not wisdom. Consuming more and more is not making us any wiser. It’s in the implementation that real change happens and all 3 of these books are ones I haven’t just consumed but absorbed and implemented into my life as a business owner.
1 - Essentialism - Greg Mckewen.
The disciplined pursuit of less.
I’ve been into minimalism for years and reading through these concepts was a hell yes.
This book champions only doing the things that are truly important. THE priority, not the ‘doing it all’ compulsion to be busy. After this read, you’ll rarely catch me saying, I don’t have time… rather, it’s not a priority right now.
We always have the power of choice. “A non-essentialist thinks I have to, an essentialist thinks I choose to” they question everything. As service providers, this is an important one to remember.
There’s a great section on the importance of play and actually, it’s had me reframing play as not only about rejuvenation, but being key to germinating new ideas and fuelling creativity. So I now genuinely prioritise play (by singing in a pop choir every Tuesday)
I see it as totally necessary to my productivity and ability to show up for my clients with creative ideas. Speaking of creativity…
2 - The Artists Way - Julia Cameron.
The cult classic book is the first I actually ‘implemented’ in my real life.
It reframed my view of ‘creativity’ and how actually if you are a business owner, you are inherently creative. An out-of-the-box thinker, an ideas generator. That creativity needs careful nurturing or it fizzles out.
After committing to ‘morning pages’ for a week, which is free writing for 3 pages a day - literally, my first words were ‘I don’t want to do this, WTF am I doing, shit shit bla bla meh’ something like this. Suddenly real thoughts came pouring out.
Well, I don’t really know what I wrote. The whole point of morning pages is writing without an audience in mind - even that audience being future you. You are never meant to read it back. I realised only after 7 days, I had been curating my words for a lifetime! I had never been ‘creative’ for the sake it, always with an outcome in mind.
This process categorically helped me find my voice in business.
I come back to morning pages whenever I feel in a creative funk.
3 - Elastic Habits - Stephen Guise
I feel like Guise takes everything about habit forming and creates this fun framework that just works! Many folk with ADHD rave about elastic habits.
It really challenged my ‘sprinting and crashing’ approach to habits (and well everything) and for the first time, I was able to be consistent and form habits that serve me. How?
In this book, it’s all about creating habits that meet us where we are at that day, tuning into our mood & emotions and picking the level of habit that we feel is doable that day.
You plan for the real you, not the ideal pretending consistent version of you - who is she?
You set a pick and mix of ‘mini, plus & elite’ versions of habits, the mini being what is the absolute bare minimum, least effort you could towards this goal?
So if my goal was I want to move my body more, so I can feel stronger and healthier. A mini version would be dance to 1 song round the kitchen or do 5 squats. If I feel super energised, I might pick an elite version - 30 minutes of swimming.
A month of mini habits has me making progress, instead of sacking it off because I couldn’t ‘be consistent’
Give it a whirl!