As we approach the end of the year, it’s a good time to reflect on your career goals and prepare for what’s ahead. The holiday season offers an opportunity to take a break from the usual routine and invest in your professional development. Curling up with a great book may be just what you need! To help you make the most of this time, we’ve compiled a holiday reading list filled with books designed to inspire your career.
Each title offers something different. Gain practical advice and goal setting strategies. Sharpen essential skills. Find clarity in your career path. As you unwind, consider adding these impactful reads to your list and equip yourself for success in the new year.
1. Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
This book uses design thinking to approach their career planning. It offers practical exercises to help you discover what you want from your career and how to create a life that reflects your values. Warning… you will likely want more when you finish reading. Fortunately there is a sequal: Designing Your Work Life: How to Thrive and Change and Find Happiness–and a New Freedom–at Work. Put both on your holiday reading list!
2. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
Ready to change? This much hyped book provides an in-depth and science-based understanding on how to remove bad habits and introduce good habits by integrating small, consistent changes into your life. His a framework for making small changes that lead to significant results helps make what seems overwhelming feel feasible.
3. Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs by John Doerr
Doerr clearly knows how to achieve explosive growth. Chairman of Kleiner Perkins, original investor and board member at Google and Amazon, and legendary venture capitalist, his experience speaks for itself. In Measure What Matters, Doerr takes the lessons he learned at Intel under Andy Grove and outlines how the goal-setting system of Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) has helped build wild success. The book includes many case studies and behind the scenes insights from companies you are familiar with and a tangible framework that will change how you approach your work.
4. The Worlds I See: Curiosity, Exploration, and Discovery at the Dawn of AI by Fei-Fei Lee
There are a lot of self professed experts in Artificial Intelligence sharing their opinions, but Fei-Fei Lee, Co-Director of Stanford’s Human-Centered AI Institute, is the real deal. Wrapped in a very personal story of a young immigrant girl, who has become on of the world’s leading AI researchers, The Worlds I See offers an intelligent and insigthful look at the emergence of artificial intelligence and will forever change your perceptions of the realities and possibilities of AI.
5. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen R. Covey
What? You haven’t read the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People yet? There’s a reason this book has become a classic in the personal development genre! Get it on your holiday list. It’s an easy but impactful read with a principle-centered approach to solving personal and professional problems. You’ll want to keep this one on your bookshelf.
6. Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth
Whether you are competing for grades, an internship, your first real job, or the next big promotion, it is easy to look around and feel inferior. But perhaps it is not simply talent or skills that drive success. Grit explores the concept of grit as a predictor of success. This book is particularly valuable for young professionals facing challenges in their career journey. Building up resilience is not easy, but being cognizant of the importance and impact of how you react to the struggles, failures etc, is essential and this book will offer you a new way to approach the path to “success”.
7. Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds by David Goggins
Another book recommendation highlighting the imporatance of resiliance. If you are at a low point and looking for some perspective and in need of motivation, David Goggins will inspire you with his story and offer you a way forward. Can’t Hurt Me demonstrates how to become the master of your mind and overcome pain, demolish fear, and reach your full potential.
8. The 5AM Club: Own Your Morning. Elevate Your Life by Robin Sharma
If you are a morning person, this is the book for you (and if you are not, it may convince you to become one). Unlike traditional self-help books, this is written as a novel, with clear messages and significant value in the messages and ideas. The fictional story can feel a bit cringy at times, but if you let yourself go with it, it can offer game-changing lessons.
9. Ada’s Algorithm: How Lord Byron’s Daughter Ada Lovelace Launched the Digital Age by James Essinger
You may be wondering how this book made the list! The power of imagination and the concept of “poetical science” have never been more relevant, especially in the current age of artificial intelligence. This inspiring narrative is especially important for anyone—particularly women—who have been overlooked or labeled throughout history. As a pioneer in computing, Lovelace’s journey serves as a powerful reminder of how one individual’s vision can shape the future of technology and innovation.
10.. Be Ready When the Luck Happens: A Memoir by Ina Garten
A warm and satisfying read when you want a break from more traditional career advice. While career advice is certainly one ingredient, it is combined with personal stories of family,food and travel. Perfect read to escape from your worries about finding a job or your workplace, while still offering some takeaways that will inspire you!
Relax and Enjoy the Holiday Season!
While it is important to use time off to relax and rejuventate, this holiday season, you can still take the opportunity to invest in your future. Reading these books can provide you with fresh ideas and perspectives as you prepare for the new year. Whether you seek inspiration, practical strategies, or simply a new way of thinking about your career, this holiday reading list has something for everyone. Happy reading and best wishes for a successful 2024!
