Coaching Success · Reading with purpose
Mindset & Personal Growth Books
← Joel’s Business Library
For people examining their habits of thought, confidence and direction. These books offer perspectives and reflection prompts; choose what helps you act with greater clarity.
10 selections · Reading notes from Coaching Success · Updated September 2026
Start with one book. Choose the situation closest to your own, try the suggested action and review what you learn. The exercises are original application prompts from Coaching Success, rather than quotations from the books.
Three places to start
01
The Earned Life
Marshall Goldsmith & Mark Reiter
Best for: High achievers reassessing what makes effort worthwhile.
Reading notes & one action to try
Why it belongs on this shelf
This invites reflection on the relationship between achievement and a life that feels meaningful. It is useful when another milestone is unlikely to answer the question of how you want to spend your time and attention.
Try this
Name one value you want your week to express. Put one concrete action in the calendar that would make that value visible.
Keep in mind
Reflection is personal; another person’s definition of a worthwhile life need not become yours.
02
The Happiness Advantage
Shawn Achor
Best for: Readers exploring the relationship between outlook and performance.
Reading notes & one action to try
Why it belongs on this shelf
The book encourages attention to habits of interpretation and to conditions that make useful action easier. Read it as a way to notice what you repeatedly focus on, rather than an instruction to be cheerful about everything.
Try this
At the end of each workday, record one thing that went well and the action that contributed to it. Look for a practice worth repeating.
Keep in mind
A constructive outlook does not require denying difficulties or treating wellbeing problems as a failure of attitude.
03
The Confident Mind
Nate Zinsser
Best for: People preparing to perform under pressure.
Reading notes & one action to try
Why it belongs on this shelf
Confidence can be approached as something you practise rather than something you either possess or lack. This is useful before presentations, negotiations or other moments where attention easily drifts toward imagined failure.
Try this
Before your next demanding event, recall two specific examples of preparation or progress. Write the next controllable action you will focus on.
Keep in mind
Confidence works alongside preparation and feedback; it should not mean ignoring real limits or uncertainty.
Explore the rest of the shelf
04
Wishcraft
Barbara Sher & Annie Gottlieb
Best for: Readers turning a vague wish into a direction worth exploring.
Reading notes & one action to try
Why it belongs on this shelf
This gives space to recognise interests and possibilities that everyday obligations can crowd out. The useful move is from an appealing idea toward a small step that reveals what pursuing it would actually involve.
Try this
Choose one interest you keep postponing. Identify a person, resource or short experiment that would help you learn more this month.
Keep in mind
Exploration need not require an abrupt career or financial commitment. Start with an affordable next step.
05
Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends on It
Kamal Ravikant
Best for: Readers reflecting on how they speak to themselves.
Reading notes & one action to try
Why it belongs on this shelf
This personal perspective invites attention to an inner dialogue that can become harsh and automatic. It may be useful when you want to notice the difference between learning from an error and using it to attack yourself.
Try this
Write down a recurring self-critical sentence. Replace it with a fair description of what happened and one constructive action you can take.
Keep in mind
This is personal reflection, not a substitute for mental-health support when that is needed.
06
On Becoming a Person
Carl R. Rogers
Best for: Readers interested in listening, understanding and personal change.
Reading notes & one action to try
Why it belongs on this shelf
Rogers offers a humane perspective on how people experience themselves and relate to others. For a leader, it can invite more careful listening before assuming that your interpretation is the only useful one.
Try this
In one conversation, summarise what you think the other person means and ask whether you understood before offering your view.
Keep in mind
A management conversation is not therapy; respect the boundaries of your role and the other person’s privacy.
07
A Way of Being
Carl R. Rogers
Best for: People seeking a more attentive and authentic way of relating.
Reading notes & one action to try
Why it belongs on this shelf
This reflective selection moves beyond a technique for conversation toward the quality of presence within it. It can help you consider how curiosity and openness influence what another person feels able to say.
Try this
Notice one conversation in which you are preparing your reply rather than listening. Pause and ask a genuine follow-up question.
Keep in mind
Openness does not remove the need for clear expectations, decisions and appropriate boundaries.
08
The NLP Coach
Ian McDermott & Wendy Jago
Best for: Readers exploring questions, language and patterns of thinking.
Reading notes & one action to try
Why it belongs on this shelf
Use this as a collection of coaching perspectives to examine how a goal or difficulty is being described. A change in wording can help reveal an assumption or an option that was easy to miss.
Try this
Rewrite a stuck goal as a specific action within your influence. Identify what you would see or hear if progress were happening.
Keep in mind
Evaluate techniques critically; useful reflection is different from proof of broad psychological or therapeutic claims.
09
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
Mark Manson
Best for: Readers reconsidering what deserves their limited attention.
Reading notes & one action to try
Why it belongs on this shelf
The direct style challenges the idea that a good life means avoiding every difficulty. Its value is in considering which commitments and problems are worth taking seriously, rather than trying to care equally about everything.
Try this
List three things consuming your attention. Ask which serves a value you chose and which is mainly a response to other people’s expectations.
Keep in mind
The tone will not suit every reader. Selectivity should not become indifference to responsibilities or other people.
10
The Answer
Allan & Barbara Pease
Best for: Readers clarifying goals and the attention they give them.
Reading notes & one action to try
Why it belongs on this shelf
This can serve as a prompt to make an intended direction more explicit and notice the choices that support it. Pair the aspirational material with practical steps, feedback and an honest view of constraints.
Try this
Write one goal in observable terms. Identify a first action, a deadline and a person who can give you useful feedback.
Keep in mind
Treat claims about how the mind works critically; clear goals do not guarantee a particular outcome.
These notes help you choose and apply a book; they are not substitutes for the complete work. You can borrow or buy the edition that suits you. Choose the ideas that fit your circumstances and test them thoughtfully.
Browse all six reading sections