Hello, world! It is that most wonderful time of the year again…January…the time of year where we are either all aspirationally reinventing ourselves, or feeling slightly bad that we haven’t.
I am definitely guilty of falling into this trap. I love writing resolutions! I write them every year- I sometimes even go as far as writing the resolutions on post its and sticking them on my mirror (‘cos that’s a fool-proof strategy, right?!). But as we all know by now, New Year’s Resolutions are notoriously left behind once the second or third week of January rolls around, and you can be left feeling a little ‘lesser-than’ when by the time the following year rolls around and I’m not the piano-playing, Chinese-speaking, 110lb polymath that I had anticipated being that previous January!! Or (worse, in my opinion), you stop setting goals or resolutions for yourself, just assuming that you are just setting yourself up for failure. But we shouldn’t stop trying to be better versions of ourselves, right??
This year, I have been, as usual, scribbling down my goals and what I want to achieve this year. And as usual, it is pretty out there! The other yearly list I make, and this I add to all year long, is my Books-I-Want-To-Inhale-As-Fast-As-I-Possibly-Can list! And this year’s list, so far, really reflects my aspirational mindset. There are a lot of books on this list that show where my head is at this year- basically, I want to SORT MY LIFE OUT! I have two babies under two, trying to run a company with my two partners, keep my household ticking over, travel home to Ireland for weddings/christenings/etc, and many more life stressors- I need as much help from these awesome books as I can get!
I want to share them here and would love to hear your feedback- have you read them, are they on your to-read list, or do you have any others that I should be adding to mine?
- Best Year Ever: Michael Hyatt This book focuses entirely on examining the way you set goals and meet them in order to make the most out of your time. Hyatt says: a goal is not about what you accomplish, it is about who you become”. This book, and the accompanying Planner, were gifted to me by my good friend Ruth (Hey Ruth!), who clearly knows what makes me tick! I’m several chapters in, and super inspired so far.
- The Power of Habit: Charles Duhigg This book is a deep dive look at habit- how certain habits can change absolutely everything. This is a topic that fascinates me completely. Habits can come so easy…or so hard…and harnessing a habit for good can make your life soooo much better! I love Duhigg’s writing, I read Smarter Better Faster last year and his style is really easy to read. Looking forward to this one.
- Talking to Strangers-What we should know about the people we don’t know: Malcolm Gladwell Who doesn’t love a bit of Gladwell? Again, I have read everything else he has ever written, and cannot get enough!! I got this book for Christmas too. It purports to look at why and how miscommunications can happen in circumstances where we would think that everything should be crystal clear…the jacket mentions the Bernie Madoff scandal, Amanda Knox incarceration, and Sandra Bland wrongful arrest as examples of what is to be examined….very excited to dive in!!
- Flourishing: Maureen Gaffney This is a book that I have picked up and put down several times, and I think this is the year that I am definitely going to read it fully through! It is all about flourishing as a person despite adversity, flourishing in your personal relationships, and increasing happiness; written by psychologist Maureen Gaffney. My mother swears by this book, hence its perma-presence on my shelf- this is the year, baby!!
- The 4-hour work week: Tim Ferriss I’ve read and followed some of Tim Ferris’s writings, so I am intrigued to see his ideas about streamlining my work week! Most weeks it feels like I cannot even scrounge 4 hours a week to begin with 😀 So any tips will be very well received!
