How to Get the Most out of Your Personal Development Books
Having a growth mindset is SO important to furthering your professional development.
One of the things you should always focus on is growing, learning, and improving so that you can find greater joy in the work you do… and what you do to make this happen can vary widely.
For me, I like to read each day to constantly learn and expose myself to new ideas and different perspectives. In order to maintain a growth mindset, I read for 15-20 minutes each day. I know it does not sound like that much, but in 2019, I was able to read 28 books just because I set this intention!
So let’s talk about why you should add a few personal development books to your 2020 reading list.
Why Are Personal Development Books Important?
Once we finish with school, our opportunities to learn and further our education are much more limited.
When you add personal development books into your reading list, you are investing in improving yourself. While you may think that you have a great mindset and workflow, these books may show you something even better!
Personal development books are written by authors who have specialized and studied the topic they are writing for. They are the experts, so you can pick up some fantastic tips and tricks just based off of their experiences. Without reading the book, though, those strategies would be totally off your radar.
How to Get the Most From Personal Development Books:
After spending the past few years soaking in wisdom and theories from dozens of self-help and personal development books, here are my tips for making the most of this practice:
Carve out the space and time to read. Turn your phone on silent, & minimize distractions, invest this time to yourself.
Take a lot of notes inside the book. Pull out a highlighter, a pen, and get ready to take notes! Writing down the things you read solidifies that you will remember, and can quickly allow you to turn back to your reflections while you were actively reading
Commit to reading for 15 minutes each day. Seriously, reading for 15 mins/day = 5,475 minutes in ONE year! That is a lot of reading!
Join a book club. Not only will you get in some fun social time, but a book club can also help you gain different perspectives and to maintain accountability. Makes reading way more fun too!
Bring the book with you everywhere! I get the majority of my reading done while my daughter is at a swim lesson or if I am trying to run errands during the day. If I have a little bit of down time while I wait for a meeting, I can always pull the book out.
Save money and get free books. There are SO many book apps that you can use to expand your reading list without needing to spend money on each book. While apps like Audible are popular, they’re also pricey. Your local library will have access to apps like OverDrive. With those, you can get free eBooks to read on your phone, computer, or tablet. Best of all? You can also get free audio books through your library too
Develop your skimming skill. A lot of books have extra fluff in them to bulk up stories. If this isn’t your thing, work on developing your skills at skimming! That way, you’ll be able to identify fluff and move past it without sacrificing information.
Read just for fun too! Not every book has to be so intense and educational. Pick up a fun fiction book or autobiography every once in a while. You can learn something from every writer and every story!
And, to hold myself accountable, here is my 2020 book list. Let’s see if I can get through all of them this year! :)
Atomic Habits – James Clear
Stillness is the Key – Ryan Holiday
Everything is Figureoutable – Marie Forleo
Where the Crawdads Sing – Delia Owens
The Nightingale – Kristin Hannah
Can’t Hurt Me – David Goggins
The Book of Delights – Ross Gay
City of Girls – Elizabeth Gilbert
Secrets to Six Figure Women – Barbara Stanny
Overcoming Underearning – Barbara Stanny
The Body Keeps the Score – Bessel van der Kolk M.D
The Power of NOW – Eckhart Tolle
The Dutch House – Ann Patchett
Hillbilly Elegy – J.D Vance
The History of Everybody – Adam Rutherford
The Untethered Soul – Michael Alan Singer
Leadership and Self Deception – Arbinger Institute
Traction – Gino Wickman
Educated – Tara Westover
Trailblzer - Mark Benioff
Want to read along with me? I post about all of my notes & readings on my Instagram! Make sure to follow me @CareerByDesign!
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