Maximise Potential

Happy Holidays to everyone. As the year ends I wanted to share some of the books I enjoyed reading this year. I would say this year has been one of the best in terms of terrific books. I love reading and it is one of my favorite hobbies. Please check out my favorite books of 2018 below. Most of them are business books which is my preferred genre and I have also reviewed some of them so if you are interested you can check it out by clicking the related links. This is Marketing by Seth Godin  – The master is back with a book. He does make writing look easy. The main point is you need to produce work that matters for people you care about. Marketing is about asking questions and initiating change. We are all marketers of course whether we are pitching for a promotion or anything else. You must know the smallest viable market and cater to that need. Overall a breezy read. Marketing is all about earning the trust of the customer and having a strong product to sell. If the tru...

There is an old story where a traveler asks Socrates how to get to Mount Olympus and he says if you want to get to Mount Olympus just make sure every step is in that direction. This is such a simple thing, but it is life changing advice. For example, if you want to lose weight then make sure every action you take is in that direction. If you want to get a promotion, then make sure every action is in that direction. I think this is great news which means we can change our direction to change the results. I have expanded the word direction to drive home the point. Desire  – First step is to really know what your destination is or metaphorically what your Mount Olympus is. Taking the time to write where you want to be 1 year from now, 5 years from now actually increases your happiness levels. Psychologists also call this The Better Selves exercise. The very act of imagining a great future promotes your happiness. Setting a clear goal with a strong purpose really puts us fi...

We are living in the digital age where face to face interactions have reduced considerably. However, a lot of innovation does come through collaboration. Back to Human by Dan Schawbel is a good book for leaders looking to get the most of themselves and their team. There was a particular chapter on productivity that I liked. Here are the ideas with my take on each. Optimize your work environment:  I take this to mean that you should make sure your workplace reflects your priorities. It should also be designed in such a way that it gets the best out of you and your team. So build an environment which fosters collaboration and reflects beauty if that is a value you believe in. Optimize your workload:  You can do anything but you can’t do everything. The key is to be absolutely clear on what needs to be achieved and only focus on those activities. Ensure you and your boss are singing of the same hymn book. Optimize your flow time:  Flow is the state where you are total...

The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky is one of the most scientific studies done on the subject. The thesis is only 50% of happiness is due to your genetics, 10% is due to circumstances and 40% is totally in our control due to the activities engage in. The last 40% is the key and exhaustive research shows that if we do focus on that 40% we can be much happier. So here are the lessons I gleaned from this wonderful book. Gratitude  – We all know this at a visceral level but engaging in deliberate gratitude is the key. Gratitude is the antidote to depression and envy. Some of the best ways are to maintain a journal and record everything you are grateful. You can also write every day what you are thankful for. It doesn’t have to be elaborate just five minutes in a day. You can dive deeper into my article on gratitude. Gratitude is the key to Happiness Optimism  – Optimism is the key to happiness. How positive are you about the future and that will determine how much...

There have been some good books in November. Here are the books I liked reading recently. This is Marketing by Seth Godin  – The master is back with a book. He does make writing look easy. The main point is you need to produce work that matters for people you care about. Marketing is about asking questions and initiating change. We are all marketers of course whether we are pitching for a promotion or anything else. You must know the smallest viable market and cater to that need. Overall a breezy read. Back to Human by Dan Schawbel  – This is an informative book for our times in a technology driven world. There is a good chapter on how to be more productive. Some of the ways optimize your work environment, optimize your work load, optimize your time, and optimize your flow. There are also some solid leadership insights here on how to lead a team. The Book of Beautiful Questions by Warren Berger  – This is all about the importance of great questions. Some of th...

Nov 22nd is Thanksgiving in the United States and it is a wonderful time to give thanks for everything we have in our lives. We can give thanks daily of course. All of us have reasons to be unhappy with certain events in our lives but as a lot of science has proven gratitude promotes happiness instantly. Gratitude is the cornerstone of a healthy personality. If we make this a daily practice, we will have lesser stress in our lives. Here are some simple ways to develop our gratitude muscles daily which is the key to Thanksgiving. Practice generosity:  This is a simple suggestion but not easy. We can show our generosity in the way we treat our colleagues or anyone else we meet. If we are waiting in line for example, we can do it without trying to rush it. We can also be generous in our appreciation of others in our team. Especially as leaders we need to appreciate our teams more which will increase their work performance as well. Have an abundance mentality:  There is pl...