Archives: Books

A New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, and USA Today bestseller

“Newport is making a bid to be the Marie Kondo of technology: someone with an actual plan for helping you realize the digital pursuits that do, and don’t, bring value to your life.”–Ezra Klein, Vox

Minimalism is the art of knowing how much is just enough. Digital Minimalism applies this idea to our personal technology. It’s the key to living a focused life in an increasingly noisy world.

In this timely and enlightening book, the bestselling author of Deep Work introduces a philosophy for technology use that has already improved countless lives.

Digital minimalists are all around us. They’re the calm, happy people who can hold long conversations without furtive glances at their phones. They can get lost in a good book, a woodworking project, or a leisurely morning run. They can have fun with friends and family without the obsessive urge to document the experience. They stay informed about the news of the day, but don’t feel overwhelmed by it. They don’t experience “fear of missing out” because they already know which activities provide them meaning and satisfaction.

Now, Newport gives us a name for this quiet movement, and makes a persuasive case for its urgency in our tech-saturated world. Common sense tips, like turning off notifications, or occasional rituals like observing a digital sabbath, don’t go far enough in helping us take back control of our technological lives, and attempts to unplug completely are complicated by the demands of family, friends and work. What we need instead is a thoughtful method to decide what tools to use, for what purposes, and under what conditions.

Drawing on a diverse array of real-life examples, from Amish farmers to harried parents to Silicon Valley programmers, Newport identifies the common practices of digital minimalists and the ideas that underpin them. He shows how digital minimalists are rethinking their relationship to social media, rediscovering the pleasures of the offline world, and reconnecting with their inner selves through regular periods of solitude. He then shares strategies for integrating these practices into your life, starting with a thirty-day “digital declutter” process that has already helped thousands feel less overwhelmed and more in control.

Technology is intrinsically neither good nor bad. The key is using it to support your goals and values, rather than letting it use you. This book shows the way.

“Take a break and read Rest: you’ll make smarter decisions, have better relationships, and be happier and more creative” James Wallman, author of Stuffocation

*TEN PROVEN METHODS FOR RESTING THAT WILL RADICALLY IMPROVE YOUR LIFE*

Do you regularly find yourself too tired after a long day at your desk to do anything other than binge TV, or scroll mindlessly through social media? Do you go on holiday and still compulsively check your email? Do you work through your lunch-break, often not even leaving your desk to get some fresh air?

For most of us, overwork is the new norm, and we never truly take the time to rest and recharge. But as Silicon Valley consultant Alex Soojung-Kim Pang explains in this groundbreaking book, rest needs to be taken seriously and to be done properly, because when you rest better you work better.

Drawing on emerging neuroscience, Rest is packed with easy practical tips for incorporating rest into our everyday:

– Go for a long walk to stimulate and sustain creativity
– Schedule deliberate active rest periods into your diary to try out new activities like painting or learning a language
– Stop working on a task when you know what the next step will be, this will make it easier to get started the next day
– Establish clear boundaries between work and rest time
– Take a nap during the day to increase alertness, boost your concentration and decrease fatigue
– Get good quality sleep at night to stay healthy, solidify memories and generate new ideas

When you rest better you’ll find that it won’t just be your work which improves – you’ll have more time for hobbies, stronger relationships and you’ll sleep better, too.

“An incredibly timely read for my own increasingly rest-starved life. This might be the book to finally persuade us that downtime isn’t in conflict with good work; rather, it’s an essential ingredient of it” Oliver Burkeman, Guardian

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER | OVER 250,000 COPIES SOLDLEARN AN ENTIRE TWO-YEAR MBA PROGRAMME IN A FEW SHORT HOURS WITH THIS QUICK AND EASY-TO-READ ILLUSTRATED GUIDEJason Barron spent 516 hours in class, completed mountains of homework, and shelled out tens of thousands of dollars to complete his MBA at the BYU Marriott School of Business. Along the way, rather than taking boring notes that he would never read (nor use) again, Jason created sketch notes for each class—visually capturing the essential points of his education—and providing an engaging and invaluable resource.Once finished with his MBA, Jason launched a widely successful Kickstarter campaign distilling these same notes into a self-published book to help aspiring business leaders of all backgrounds and income levels understand the critical concepts one learns in business school.Whether you are thinking about applying to business school, are currently in college studying business, or have always wondered what is taught in an MBA program, this highly entertaining and visual book is for you.The Visual MBA is your shortcut to understanding the vital course principles including:– Marketing- Leadership and Management Skills- Accounting- Finance- Strategy- and much more.Skip the fees and save yourself countless hours, this is two years of business school packed into one indispensable, illustrated guide.

AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A must-have guide to optimizing your life for wealth and success, from bestselling author, NYU professor, and cohost of the Pivot podcast Scott Galloway.

Today’s workers have more opportunities and mobility than any generation before. They also face unprecedented challenges, including inflation, labor and housing shortages, and climate volatility. Even the notion of retirement is undergoing a profound rethink, as our lifespans extend and our relationship with work evolves. In this environment, the tried-and-true financial advice our parents followed is no longer enough. It’s time for a new playbook.

In The Algebra of Wealth, Scott Galloway lays bare the rules of financial success in today’s economy. In his characteristic unvarnished, no-BS style, he explains what you need to know in order to better your chances for economic security no matter what. You’ll learn:

– How to find and follow your talent, not your passion, when making career decisions
– How to ride and optimize big economic waves (hard truth: market dynamics always trump individual achievement)
– What small steps you can take that pay big returns later, including diversification and tax planning
– How stoicism can help you minimize spending and develop better financial habits

Brimming with wise, game-changing advice from one of the world’s most popular business school professors, The Algebra of Wealth offers a powerful framework for making the most of what opportunities come your way.

NEW YORK TIMES AND WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER 
• Winner of CMI Management Book of the Year 2019 • 
Based on an in-depth analysis of over 2,600 leaders drawn from a database of more than 17,000 CEOs and C-suite executives, as well 13,000 hours of interviews, and two decades of experience advising CEOs and executive boards, Elena L. Botelho and Kim R. Powell overturn the myths about what it takes to get to the top and succeed.
Their groundbreaking research was the featured cover story in the May-June 2017 issue of Harvard Business Review. It reveals the common attributes and counterintuitive choices that set apart successful CEOs—lessons that we can apply to our own careers. Much of what we hear about who gets to the top, and how, is wrong. Those who become chief executives set their sights on the C-suite at an early age. In fact, over 70 percent of the CEOs didn’t have designs on the corner office until later in their careers. You must graduate from an elite college. In fact, only 7 percent of CEOs in the dataset are Ivy League graduates–and 8 percent didn’t graduate from college at all. To become a CEO you need a flawless résumé. The reality: 45 percent of CEO candidates had at least one major career blowup. What those who reach the top do share are four key behaviors that anyone can master: they are decisive; they are reliable, delivering what they promised when the promise it, without exception; they adapt boldly, and they engage with stakeholders without shying away from conflict. Based on this breakthrough study of the most successful people in business, Botelho and Powell offer career advice for everyone who aspires to get ahead. 
Based on research insights illustrated by real life stories from CEOs and boardrooms, they tell us how to:   – Fast-track our career by deploying the career catapults used by those who get to the top quickly- Overcome the hidden handicaps to getting the job we want.

Do you have what it takes to succeed in any situation? According to a retired commander who ran training for Navy SEALs, true optimal performance goes beyond just skill. It’s all about THE ATTRIBUTES.
“Diviney’s incredible book explains why some people thrive—even when things get hard.”—Charles Duhigg, New York Times bestselling author of The Power of Habit
During his twenty years as a Navy officer and SEAL, Rich Diviney was intimately involved in a specialized SEAL selection process, which whittled a group of hundreds of extraordinary candidates down to a handful of the most elite performers. Diviney was often surprised by which candidates washed out and which succeeded. Some could have all the right skills and still fail, while others he might have initially dismissed would prove to be top performers. The seemingly objective criteria weren’t telling him what he most needed to know: Who would succeed in one of the world’s toughest military assignments?
It is similarly hard to predict success in the real world.
It happens often enough that underdog students accomplish exceptional achievements while highly skilled, motivated employees fail to meet expectations. Dark-horse companies pull away from the pack while dream teams flush with talent and capital go under. In working with and selecting top special operators for decades, Diviney saw that beneath obvious skills are hidden drivers of performance, surprising core attributes—including cunning, adaptability, courage, even narcissism—that determine how resilient or perseverant we are, how situationally aware and how conscientious. These attributes explain how we perform as individuals and as part of a team. The same methodology that Diviney used in the military can be applied by anyone in their personal and professional lives, and understanding these attributes can allow readers and their teams to perform optimally, at any time, in any situation.