Motivating, Self-Development Books for 2022

Summary

In this post you'll find self-development book recommendations.

By Brenna Lofquist, Senior Marketing Consultant at Heinz Marketing

You might be wondering “Where is the next installment of The B2B Marketer’s Quick Start Guide?”. You might not be wondering that but either way I’ve decided to take a little break and write about something different. We’re in week two of 2022 and usually I’d be planning out my goals for the year. However, I’m currently reading Atomic Habits by James Clear and that got me thinking about goals. I’ve decided to take a different approach this year and while I still plan to set goals, I’m also going to include a plan for how I’m going to accomplish those goals as well as identifying new habits I want to incorporate into my daily life– including which bad habits I’d like to get rid of.

This post isn’t about goals though. I wanted to put together a list of books that can help put you in a great mindset for 2022. After the last two years we’ve had, I know everyone could use at least a little help. I really enjoy reading these types of books before my work day. I find I’m more motivated, feel more productive, and ready to take on the day. This might not be the case for everyone but either way, reading books like Atomic Habits helps us improve mentally and emotionally not only our personal lives but work as well. You can only go up from here! Maybe that should be the motto for 2022…

Let’s get on with it! Below is a list of books on my reading list with a brief synopsis.

2022 Reading List

Atomic Habits by James Clear

The most comprehensive and practical guide on how to create good habits, break bad ones, and get 1 percent better every day. James Clear, one of the world’s leading experts on habit formation, is known for his ability to distill complex topics into simple behaviors that can be easily applied to daily life and work. Here, he draws on the most proven ideas from biology, psychology, and neuroscience to create an easy-to-understand guide for making good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible.

I’m almost finished with this book and I’d highly recommend it. Here’s a recap and lessons learned from a former Heinz Marketing employee.

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport

Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It’s a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time. In Deep Work, author and professor Cal Newport flips the narrative on impact in a connected age. Instead of arguing distraction is bad, he instead celebrates the power of its opposite. Dividing this book into two parts, he first makes the case that in almost any profession, cultivating a deep work ethic will produce massive benefits. He then presents a rigorous training regimen, presented as a series of four “rules,” for transforming your mind and habits to support this skill.

Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know by Adam M. Grant

Organizational psychologist Adam Grant is an expert on opening other people’s minds–and our own. He makes it one of his guiding principles to argue like he’s right but listen like he’s wrong. With bold ideas and rigorous evidence, he investigates how we can embrace the joy of being wrong, bring nuance to charged conversations, and build schools, workplaces, and communities of lifelong learners. If knowledge is power, knowing what we don’t know is wisdom.

The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life by Hal Elrod

What if you could change any aspect of your life, just by changing the way you start your day? What would you change? This book will give you the simplest and most effective step-by-step process to wake up each day with more ENERGY, MOTIVATION, and FOCUS to take your life to the next level. It’s been right here in front of us all along, but this book has finally brought it to life.

Dare to Lead by Brené Brown

When we dare to lead, we don’t pretend to have the right answers; we stay curious and ask the right questions. We don’t see power as finite and hoard it; we know that power becomes infinite when we share it with others. We don’t avoid difficult conversations and situations; we lean into vulnerability when it’s necessary to do good work. But daring leadership in a culture defined by scarcity, fear, and uncertainty requires skill-building around traits that are deeply and uniquely human. The irony is that we’re choosing not to invest in developing the hearts and minds of leaders at the exact same time as we’re scrambling to figure out what we have to offer that machines and AI can’t do better and faster. What can we do better? Empathy, connection, and courage, to start.

Full Steam Ahead!: Unleash the Power of Vision in Your Work and Your Life by Kenneth H. Blanchard and Jesse Lyn Stoner

Through a beautifully written, engaging story about two people who are struggling to create visions–both for the company where they work and for their own lives–Blanchard and Stoner detail the essential elements of creating a successful vision. They offer numerous examples of effective visions and show exactly how to create an enduring vision that will guide you on a daily basis.

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck

After decades of research, world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., discovered a simple but groundbreaking idea: the power of mindset. In this brilliant book, she shows how success in school, work, sports, the arts, and almost every area of human endeavor can be dramatically influenced by how we think about our talents and abilities.

 

This should be a decent list to get you started, if you plan on reading any of of the books on my reading list. Last year I set a goal to read one self-development book per quarter so this year I’m going to increase that to one every two months. Hopefully this reading list provides you some motivation or even a starting point if you’re interested in reading books like these.

Are there any books you’ve read or are on your reading list that you’d add to this list? If so, let me know!