Now that the calendar has flipped to 2024, here are five handpicked transformative books to help you thrive in the new year. Let these pages be your guide, offering insights and lessons that will propel you toward a triumphant 2024.
- The Pivot Year, by Brianna Wiest
Amazon Synopsis: If you’re in a pivot period – if you’re still bridging the space between where you are and where you want to be – remember that the person you’re becoming is already within you. The journey is convincing your mind to act consistently on what your heart already knows it wants to do. - Read People Like a Book: How to Analyze, Understand, and Predict People’s Emotions, Thoughts, Intentions, and Behaviors, by Patrick King
Amazon Synopsis: Read People Like a Book isn’t a normal book on body language of facial expressions. Yes, it includes all of those things, as well as new techniques on how to truly detect lies in your everyday life, but this book is more about understanding human psychology and nature. We are who we are because of our experiences and pasts, and this guides our habits and behaviors more than anything else. Parts of this book read like the most interesting and applicable psychology textbook you’ve ever read. Take a look inside yourself and others! - Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life, by Héctor García
Amazon Synopsis: According to the Japanese, everyone has an ikigai—a reason for living. And according to the residents of the Japanese village with the world’s longest-living people, finding it is the key to a happier and longer life. Having a strong sense of ikigai—where what you love, what you’re good at, what you can get paid for, and what the world needs all overlap—means that each day is infused with meaning. It’s the reason we get up in the morning.It’s also the reason many Japanese never really retire (in fact there’s no word in Japanese that means retire in the sense it does in English): They remain active and work at what they enjoy, because they’ve found a real purpose in life—the happiness of always being busy.
In researching this book, the authors interviewed the residents of the Japanese village with the highest percentage of 100-year-olds—one of the world’s Blue Zones. Ikigai reveals the secrets to their longevity and happiness: how they eat, how they move, how they work, how they foster collaboration and community, and—their best-kept secret—how they find the ikigai that brings satisfaction to their lives. And it provides practical tools to help you discover your own ikigai. Because who doesn’t want to find happiness in every day?
- The Laws of Human Nature, by Robert Greene
Amazon Synopsis: We are social animals. Our very lives depend on our relationships with people. Knowing why people do what they do is the most important tool we can possess, without which our other talents can only take us so far.Drawing from the ideas and examples of Pericles, Queen Elizabeth I, Martin Luther King Jr, and many others, Greene teaches us how to detach ourselves from our own emotions and master self-control, how to develop the empathy that leads to insight, how to look behind people’s masks, and how to resist conformity to develop your singular sense of purpose.
Whether at work, in relationships, or in shaping the world around you, The Laws of Human Nature offers brilliant tactics for success, self-improvement, and self-defense.
- Your Next Five Moves: Master the Art of Business Strategy, by Patrick Bet-David and Greg Dinkin
Amazon Synopsis: Both successful entrepreneurs and chess grandmasters have the vision to look at the pieces in front of them and anticipate their next five moves. In this book, Patrick Bet-David “helps entrepreneurs understand exactly what they need to do next” (Brian Tracy, author of Eat That Frog!) by translating this skill into a valuable methodology. Whether you feel like you’ve hit a wall, lost your fire, or are looking for innovative strategies to take your business to the next level, Your Next Five Moves has the answers.You will gain:
- Clarity on what you want and who you want to be.
- Strategy to help you reason in the war room and the board room.
- Growth tactics for good times and bad.
- Skills for building the right team based on strong values.
- Insight on power plays and the art of applying leverage.
Combining these principles and revelations drawn from Patrick’s own rise to successful CEO, Your Next Five Moves is a must-read for any serious executive, strategist, or entrepreneur.
Author
The Mason Group is a leading recruitment agency that specializes in the recruitment and placement of accounting, finance and banking professionals in permanent or contract positions across the Greater Toronto and Vancouver Areas, for all levels from Financial Analyst to CFO.
Originally published by The Mason Group.
