Best of 2019: books, podcasts, blog posts and more!

Updated: Dec 31, 2019

2019 — what a year! For me, it brought change, growth, heartache, loss, breakthroughs, new beginnings, and joy. It felt like an incredible roller coaster, and a little bit like the meme that’s been circling the internet lately…

To celebrate the ending of this year and the coming of 2020, I wanted to give you a gift. Today’s post includes a list of the juiciest, best books, podcasts, Instagram accounts, and blog posts that got me through this year and catalyzed everything I experienced in 2019. I hope they inspire you, dear reader, and help you ring in 2020 with presence, joy, and gratitude.

Books that upped my leadership game

Leading With Emotional Courage: How to Have Hard Conversations, Create Accountability, And Inspire Action On Your Most Important Work. This book should be mandatory reading for every people manager on Earth; it’s the best book I’ve read on how to be your best self and most effective leader. Read and re-read it annually (even if you think your emotional IQ is off-the-charts high!)

The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail (Management of Innovation and Change). Professor Christensen is one of the people from whom I’ve learned most – not just about innovation, as he dissects here, but also about how to live life, as he discusses in his subsequent book, How Will You Measure Your Life. This book powerful for entrepreneurs and general managers alike.

Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success. This book changed my perspective on “fitting in” in the workplace. Adam Grant shows readers – with anecdotes, scientific studies, hard data, and great writing – that it’s OK to be a giver, not a taker, at work. In fact, he argues, it actually makes leaders MORE successful. This encourages readers to unmask their true selves, and to ask the same of those they lead.

The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World. Melinda Gates’ book was inspiring and uplifting, while also shedding light on so many of the fundamental issues that plague the world that each of us can contribute to solving.
Building a Story Brand. A must-read for every marketing lead, CEO, entrepreneur, and anyone wanting to speak to customers more effectively.

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. One of the books I recommend most to clients and friends. Carol Dweck discusses in detail how our mindset — challenge-embracing or challenge-avoiding — can determine how successful we become. Another must-read.

Books that help with changing jobs/industries/careers

The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter, Updated and Expanded. This is a must-read each time you switch jobs; it details everything you need to know about onboarding the right way (proactively, instead of reactively).

Quitter: Closing the Gap Between Your Day Job & Your Dream Job. Filled with introspective AND practical guidance on closing the gap between your day job and your “dream” job.
Permission to Leap: The Six-Phase Journey to Bring Your Vision to Life. Great book for wannabe-entrepreneurs who feel paralyzed by the enormity of the leap ahead of them — the distance in between their current life and the life they’re dreaming of. This book helped me take my leap from the corporate executive world into launching my own executive coaching business!
Find Your Passion: 25 Questions You Must Ask Yourself. Fantastic workbook that details questions to ask yourself if you’re the type of person who feels a vague sense of unease and dissatisfaction with your current situation, but who doesn’t know what your dream/passion actually is!

Books that inspired me at work and in life

A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose. If you’re looking for truly magical, inspirational words that will change the way you see the world, look no further than Eckhart Tolle. His fourth book, A New Earth, helps readers focus on the beauty of the present moment. Presence – or mindfulness – is one of the most valuable assets at work and in life, Tolle shares, and will help bring humanity into a new era, a “new earth.”

Mindful Work: How Meditation Is Changing Business from the Inside Out. Written by a New York Times journalist, this book shows readers how mindfulness makes us better – and happier – at work. It focuses primarily on meditation as a mindfulness practice. I found it inspiring, thought-provoking and practical.

The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself. A practical but truly inspiring book about presence and how to find joy at work and in life.
Your True Home: The Everyday Wisdom of Thich Nhat Hanh: 365 days of practical, powerful teachings from the beloved Zen teacher. Challenge yourself to read one of these short teachings per day from this infamous, beloved Buddhist monk; you’ll soon find your way back to a sense of equanimity and peace.

You Are a Badass®: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life. This book is the ultimate amalgamation of inspiration, science, transformation, and applicability to work and life. This book also was the catalyst of one of my biggest leaps – leaving Amazon to start Haven Coaching!

Everything Is Figureoutable. This book is practical and funny, and stacked with productivity hacks and excuse busters that changed how I start my day. My favorite quote: “Create before you consume.” First thing in the AM, before you reach for your iPhone, TV remote, email inbox or any other form of media consumption, discipline yourself to create first!
Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence. A more holistic way to look at managing your financial health, which takes into account more than just top-line revenue; it also helps you think about your mental and physical health, your family, and other priorities in tandem.

Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges. Amy Cuddy’s book discusses many of the same themes of presence, mindfulness and the “power of now” referenced throughout this list. What’s unique about Presence is Cuddy’s super-practical and brilliant take on “power poses” – essentially, highlighting the mind-body connection, and how easy it is to use your body to ease stress in your mind.

Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype. This book cannot be described; it’s better to be experienced. I highly recommend this one as an Audible/audiobook purchase!

Podcasts I love

Ask Pat 2.0 and Smart Passive Income — two podcasts by the amazing Pat Flynn, who teaches entrepreneurs everything he knows. I have binged both shows and learned something during each episode!
Hurry Slowly — a podcast that explores how slowing down can bring the most success and fulfillment, even in a world of multitasking and expectations of hyper-productivity.
Self Care is Sexy — for the perfectionists and people-pleasers among us, a podcast that helps figure out why self-care is critical, what it actually entails, and how to include it in your daily life. Super useful for busy leaders.
The Armchair Expert — a podcast by comedian and actor Dax Shepard, who interviews some of the most interesting people in the world (e.g. Neil Degrasse Tyson, Malcolm Gladwell, Richard Dawkins).
Social Media Marketing — a podcast focused on becoming an expert marketer on social media; great for marketers and entrepreneurs alike.
Infinite Potential — an inspiring podcast led by Deepak Chopra. He also interviews lots of interesting people on the show. His main focus is to explore consciousness — infinitely fascinating!
Ten Percent Happier — Dan Harris interviews a host of experts on mindfulness and meditation on this show.
But, How? — Bri Seeley’s podcast for entrepreneurs, solopreneurs and “wantrepreneurs” who are looking to make the leap into starting their own businesses. She’s also the author of Permission to Leap (linked above).

Social media accounts that inspire

Blog posts of 2019

Happy New Year, beautiful friends. May you be surrounded by abundance in 2020 — an abundance of health, wealth, love and happiness.

Warmly,

Mariel