Inspiration and learning come from many sources. Here are some books that have inspired me to explore new ideas, make changes to how I approach difficult situations, or just escape into another world. 

TED Talks Storytelling, by Akash Karia - What do the most watched, highest rated TED talks have in common? Amazing storytelling. Whether you are preparing for a pitch, an interview, or just trying to influence someone, these tips are fantastic. 

Being Mortal, by Atul Gawande - This thoughtful and thought-provoking book provides a great perspective on approaching your own end of life, helping those close to you with theirs, and the creative and innovative ways that people and communities come together to solve these challenging issues. The topics might scare you to think about, and this book will make you cry, but it will also make you grateful that you have the power to make the whole of your life what you really want.

Think Tank, edited by David J. Linden - I'm an amateur student of the brain and how it works. This is a great collection of essays written by neuroscientists for people like me. Putting science into language I can understand in short, easy to read essays to help you discover our behavior and its physiological bases. Really good essays with insight into how a teenager's brain really works and how habits get built.

Strategy and the Fat Smoker, by David Maister - I've shared this with many of my strategy clients over the years, who, like all of us, struggle to fully make the needed changes their strategies dictate. It puts the challenges and solutions into an easy-to-understand framework that most people can relate to. It takes either consistent, intentional focus, or a crisis for most to change their organizational behavior. Don't wait until you have the proverbial heart attack people!

The Other Wes Moore, by Wes Moore - The author writes it so the reader draws his/her own conclusion for what the book means. For me, it served as an excellent reminder that sometimes we're good and sometimes we're lucky - mostly lucky to have people in our lives who don't give up on us when we make poor choices and continue to set high expectations for us to rise to.

Lost Horizon, by James Hilton - Origin story of Shangri-La, this book caught my attention as a teenager and I have read it many times since. Bit of a mystery, a great story to escape into when you need some escapism. Does immortality exist and if so, at what cost?

Man's Search for Meaning, by Victor Frankl - I'm not a spiritual person, so Frankl's approach to life's meaning resonates with me. Especially the idea how no matter how horrible the situation in which we find ourselves, we are free to choose our own destiny by choosing how to react to that situation. That even at our lowest, we have the dignity of choice. 

With Gratitude,

Barb