5 (+1) Unexpected Personal Development Books

The +1 Will Help You Practice Taking Your Time


If you are an avid reader of personal development books, the titles in this list of books might be rather unexpected. 

But a book doesn't have to be labeled as self improvement book in order to deliver the best advice on how to tackle the challenges in your life, right?

As pesonal development is such a wide subject, when selecting the books in this list we focused on a very narrow subject.

TIME. How we use it, abuse it, and what happens when we feel we don't have enough of it, how our reasoning is impacted (hint: Daniel Kahneman says it's negatively impacted beyond your wildest imagination. And he proves it. He must be right. He's not a Nobel Prize for nothing.)

So the books in this list will show you WHY you need to slow down, WHAT you can do about it, and some practical advice on HOW to do it.

And the last one book in our short self development book list, the +1, has been selected for you to practice how it feels when you're taking your time and enjoying the moment.

5 (+1) Books to Help You Grow

Personal development books - Alain de Botton - The Busy Lifestyle

How Proust Can Change Your Life

by Alain de Botton

Alain de Botton combines two unlikely genres--literary biography and self-help manual--in the hilarious and unexpectedly practical How Proust Can Change Your Life.

Personal development books - Yuval Noah Harari - The Busy Lifestyle

A Brief History of Human Kind

by Yuval Noah Harari

From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity’s creation and evolution—a #1 international bestseller—that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be “human”.

Personal development books - Daniel Kahneman - The Busy Lifestyle

Thinking Fast and Slow

by Daniel Kahneman

The winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics takes us on a tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think: System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical.

Personal development books - Daniel J Levitin - The Busy Lifestyle

The Organized Mind

by Daniel J. Levitin

The information age is drowning us with an unprecedented deluge of data. At the same time, we’re expected to make more—and faster—decisions about our lives than ever before.

Personal development books - Full Engagement - The Busy Lifestyle

The Power of Full Engagement

by Jim Loehr, Tony Schwartz

We live in digital time. Our pace is rushed, rapid-fire, and relentless. Facing crushing workloads, we try to cram as much as possible into every day. We're wired up, but we're melting down. Time management is no longer a viable solution.

And the +1

Personal development books - Jonas Jonasson - The Busy Lifestyle

The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed the Window and Disappeared

by Jonas Jonasson

A reluctant centenarian much like Forrest Gump (if Gump were an explosives expert with a fondness for vodka) decides it's not too late to start over . . .

They might not be the best self improvement books ever written (and for the majority of them, that's ok, as it wasn't the initial intention), but they will surely make you stop an think. And if you start questioning your assumptions, it means we reached our objective.

What would you add to the list? What was the one book that left a lasting mark on you, on the way you see the world?

 

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10 Things Only Frequent Business Travellers Understand

When Was the Last Time You Googled "Business Trip Packing List"?

A business trip is a trip undertaken for work or business purposes, as opposed to other types of travel, such as for leisure purposes or regularly commuting between one's home and workplace, says Wikipedia.

When you start travelling for work, the first business trip can be quite intimidating. And so is the seconf, the third, and the next. If you don't travel for business on a regular basis, the whole thing can be a source of stress (what to pack for the business trip, what is best suited to wear for the culture of the country I'm visiting, and the season? between the travel time, the meetings and the jet lag, will I be able to get enough sleep during my business trip? and what about the food? meals on business trip can be sometimes tricky). The business trip can also be something to look forward to (a change of scenery can be invigorating, the chance to meet new colleagues, to discuss interesting issues, etc).

However, those who are frequent business travellers understand this differently. And the 10 things that only they understand were written to elicit a smile from their side and also give them material to show their less frequent business traveller friends and family who still think that the phrase "He is on business trip" (or she is on business trip) sounds glamorous.

 

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  • 1. You can pack a one week suitcase in 15 minutes max without a business trip packing list.
  • 2. It can happen that you will eat your three main meals of the day in three different countries.
  • 3. You have visited the top 10 tourist destinations for city travel but you only know the airport, the hotel and the office.
  • 4. You sometimes have a panic moment when you wake up in the morning because you can't remember where you are (and that not because of too much to drink at the business meal the night before).
  • 5. For holidays, instead of travelling you are happy to stay home.
  • 6. When you travel for leisure you are at first happy because how light you feel, than you start worrying thinking that you have lost your notebook.
  • 7. Your work week really begins on Sunday afternoon when you start stressing about getting ready for leaving and worrying about making it on time to the airport the next morning (very early usually).
  • 8. You don't know if you should be happy or sad about the fact that you are a VIP member of the major airlines and hotel chains fidelity programs.
  • 9. You plan to catch up on sleep during the weekend but the admin stuff you left at home catches up on you instead.
  • 10. You gave up explaining your family and friends that business travel is not at all that glamorous as they think (it won't change their minds anyway, so why bother).

QUIZ

What Type of Business Traveller Are You?

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4 Week LIVE BETTER Challenge

Learn to Work Smarter, Go Further and Stress Less

Quick, easy, and effective stress relief techniques taught in a way that keeps you motivated to continue throughout the 4 weeks of the challenge. 10 minutes of your time invested in self-development.
You will learn how to relax your body, focus your mind and optimize your energy so you can accomplish more in less time. And have enough energy to enjoy quality time with those who matter in your life.
 
 
4 Week Stress Relief Challenge Cover

Are you a frequent business traveller?

How many of these points made you smile? Or frown?

What would you add to the list? What is the thing that you think only frequent business traveller understand and we missed it from the list above? Let us know in the comments. As former frequent business travellers we are all happy to read a good funny business trip story!

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5 (+1) PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT BOOKS

The +1 will help you practice taking your time

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CARE TO SHARE?