The books everyone should read

Last year we received a £200 Awesomeness voucher to spend on something to make us (even) more awesome. I spent mine on an awesome stack of books themed around work, innovation, creativity and females in the workplace. I set the CF team a challenge of recommending a book they loved and, hey presto, here’s our banging booklist.

No matter who you are, I can vouch that each of these books will enhance your career and your day-to-day life. I’ve spent the last few months working my way through them and I’m happy to share some key lessons from my favourites.

Make a Living Living by Nina Karnikowski

USEFUL IF: You’re looking to discover your passion/purpose, or, how to use your passion to make a living, living.

Insights from 26 creatives around the globe (a chocolatier, a woodcarver, a creative-network founder among them) on how they’ve found their purpose and are making a living doing what they love. Their stories have inspired me to think about the tools and skills I already have and how to use them to craft my own creatively fulfilling life. For me, this means using my passions to allow my job and personal life to work together, instead of treating them separately (to achieve that sought-after work/life balance!).

Rise and Shine by Kate Oliver & Toby Oliver

USEFUL IF: You’re seeking a healthier morning practice and trying to create some space and time to focus on self-care in a busy day.

During lockdown I, like millions of others, had a more relaxed approach to the start of my day: rolling out of bed and heading to my WFH desk at a leisurely pace. This book couldn’t have come at a better time. It helped me focus on how to make the best of my mornings using the 5 principles of SHINE:

Silence: Bringing peace and calm into your day - i.e. no checking your mobile as soon as your alarm goes off, instead freewriting your thoughts or doing a meditation exercise.
Happiness: Bringing a little bit of sunshine into your day - i.e. doing something that brings you joy or repeating a positive affirmation. For me, this was reading a chapter of a book with a mug of hot chocolate to inject some calm to the start of my day.
Intention: Not letting the day dictate to you - i.e. goal-setting and getting up when the alarm goes off instead of hitting that snooze button (tricky but worth it!).
Nourishment: Taking care of your mind, body and soul - i.e. getting out into nature at lunchtime (or as we call it at CF, ‘Golden Hour’) or nourishing the body with a healthy, mindful breakfast (not shovelling it down in front of my screen as I’m browsing emails).
Exercise: Getting your body moving and away from your desk, and when WFH, out of the house.

Manifest by Roxie Nafousi

USEFUL IF: You’re interested in getting to the bones of what manifesting really is, beyond the social media buzzword.

The CF team is not surprised that this book is on my list. They’ve all heard me ‘manifesting’ in group calls and Google Chats ALL.THE.TIME. It wasn’t until reading this book, however, that I discovered that just saying the words and thinking about what I wanted to manifest isn’t what ‘manifesting’ is actually about. This is why I loved this book.

This book charts the 7 steps of science and wisdom to help reach your goals. This includes being clear in your vision, getting rid of fear and doubt, ignoring what others have or haven’t got going on in their lives (aka scrolling less on Instagram) and most importantly, taking steps towards the goal you want to manifest. Thinking of an idea, sitting back and waiting for the universe to offer it up is not effective manifesting. We have to do the work.

Creative Confidence by Tom Kelley & David Kelley

USEFUL IF: You need an inspiration injection to be more creative and take risks, no matter what role or job you do.

This was recommended by a few colleagues. One said that it actually made them cry - and my interest was piqued.

As a Project Manager at CreateFuture, I tend to see creativity within the strategy, creative and design team members. But this book, wow - it made me realise that everyone can be creative in their roles and lives.

What stood out for me was the chapter on failure. I actually turned a few page corners down, which honestly as a book fan, I never do, but I couldn’t help it.

This is one of the quotes I love: ‘...”strokes of genius” don’t come about because they succeed more often than other people - they just do more, period. They take more shots at the goal. That is the surprising, compelling mathematics of innovation: if you want more success, you have to be prepared to shrug off more failure’ (p. 40-41).

Four Thousand Weeks and How to Use Them by Oliver Burkeman

USEFUL IF: You find time management difficult and need help to shift the focus onto your perspective on life and what is important. It’s about finding the why (big fans of that at CreateFuture!).

This book was a revelation, bursting with tips I know I’ll use in the future. It shifts the focus from how we can cram more into our days efficiently, to questioning why we need to and focusing on what really matters - in work and in life. It’s somewhat provocative and really challenges you to think against the norm in terms of how we think of and use our time.

If you’re a massive bookworm like me with lots of recommendations up your sleeve, I’d love to hear from you. Find me on LinkedIn and let’s chat books!