Somebody asked me recently (and I apologize because I forget who it was now) to share more of the information and resources that have influenced me as a Life Coach.
So today I am going to share with you the 15 books/audios that have had the most impact on me as a Life Coach and also prior to becoming a Life Coach full time in 2005.
These may not necessarily be the best 15 non-fiction books I’ve ever read, nor am I saying they are must reads for everybody,.
But I am saying they all in some way influenced me positively and helped me get to be where I am today.
And unlike my 20 Of The Greatest Self Development Posts Ever Written, this time I will order them and give you the book that has had the most dramatic effect on me and why.
All links are Amazon affiliate links by the way, so please make me rich by buying multiple copies of all of them.
15. Learned Optimism – Martin Seligman
I only read this book about 4 or 5 years ago, but immediately realized why it was such a classic.
I was familiar with the field of positive psychology prior to reading Learned Optimism, but I have to confess I didn’t fully understand the difference between optimism and positive thinking, and more importantly, why the former is far more powerful.
The bad news is people learn how to be helpless and pessimistic.
Tthe good news is they can largely unlearn that behavior by adopting Seligman’s approach.
14. Selling The Invisible – Harry Beckwith
Probably the first book I ever read on marketing the better part of 15 years ago.
I love Beckwith’s simple and logical approach to creating win/win situations and the easy style in which the information is delivered in bite sized chunks.
if you’re a Life Coach or even an entrepreneur and have no real experience with marketing, read this book and then implement the advice.
Then read it again.
13. The Four Agreements – Don Miguel Ruiz
I was given the audio version of this book by a client shortly after moving to the US in 2006 and was stunned by its simplicity and its brilliance.
There is no rocket science in this book, but there is a shit load of wisdom and I have returned to it again and again to use with clients.
Just in case you’re wondering the four agreements are:
- Always do your best
- Be impeccable with your word
- Don’t make assumptions
- Don’t take anything personally
But don’t let knowing what the agreements are stop you from reading the book because it’s awesome!
12. The Power To Influence – Tony Robbins
I have read a lot of book on sales and nothing comes close this Tony Robbins CD series on the topic.
And I mean nothing!
He nails every aspect of sales from initial rapport building to understanding your customers needs and creating win/win solutions.
It’s nothing short of genius for anybody that wants to be a better sales person, or just better at selling their ideas more successfully (and that’s mots people by the way).
The version I have is now deleted, but there’s an updated version. It’s expensive, but worth every single penny.
11. Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff – Richard Carlson
Simply put, this delightful book inspired me to write my first book, Don’t Ask Stupid Questions – There Are no Stupid Questions.
Whilst reading Carlson’s collection of 100 short stories designed to help people put life in perspective, I suddenly realized that I didn’t need to be overwhelmed at the thought of writing a self development book as half the material was already written in blog form.
By the way, the name for the book came after Carlson’s publishers ‘accidentally’ used a Wayne Dyer testimonial for one of Carlson’s previous book on a new publication.
Carlson was mortified and wrote and apologized to Wayne Dyer who responded in his usually dignified manner by saying:
“Don’t sweat the small stuff Richard. And it’s all small stuff”
10. The Structure Of Magic Vol 1 – John Grinder and Richard Bandler
This was the first book ever written on NLP and it’s not for everybody. However it is a brilliant introduction the the language element of NLP and in particular something called the Meta Model of Language.
Bandler and Grinder spent hundreds of hours studying the three leading therapists of the time, Fritz Perls, Virginia Satir and Milton Erickson and noticed that one of the things that separated these greats from the also-rans was their use of language.
Not a book I’d recommend to a casual self development reader, but a must read for Life Coaches and therapists looking to maximize their skills and help their clients.
9. Awaken The Giant Within – Tony Robbins
This was the book that first had me thinking, “Hmm, I wonder if I could do that?” after it was recommended to me by a client when I was still in sales.
Although I had no idea at the time, on reflection I think this book sowed the seeds of change for me and for that I’ll always be grateful to Tony Robbins.
It’s also a great introduction to the power of NLP.
8. Blink – Malcolm Gladwell
This was another book I purchased before becoming a Life Coach. I bought it in San Francisco back in 2004 as and audio program and then inflicted it upon my wife again and again for the next two week as we drove down to San Diego and then out to Phoenix and back to San Francisco.
If you have any interest in rapid cognition or gut instincts (and you definitely should if you’re a Life Coach) and want to hear great stories of it in action, then this is the book for you.
I must have listened to this book in it’s entirety at least 6 or 7 times and I regularly recite some of the examples when I’m talking about gut instincts and their value with clients.
7. The Primal Blueprint – Mark Sisson
The Primal Blueprint is sometimes called the Caveman Diet and is very similar to the Paleo Diet.
Mark Sissons and a growing band of medical doctors and researchers believe that our body has not evolved at the same speed as technology and agriculture and as such we are putting things in our body that it just cannot deal with healthily or even efficiently.
In short, the human body is not equipped to deal with gluten, lactose, highly refined foods and crap like high fructose corn syrup.
I really don’t want to go into detail here because I have already run numerous posts on the Primal lifestyle, but needless to say it’s definitely something I believe in wholeheartedly.
If you want to know more check out my post “What if Everything You Know About Nutrition is Wrong” an interview with Mark Sisson.
6. How To Be Brilliant – Michael Heppell
I didn’t know it at the time, but I’d already started on my path to becoming a Life Coach when I bought the audio version of How To Be Brilliant in late 2004.
Along with a friend we immediately implemented Michael’s idea to respond to every “How are you doing?” question from colleagues” with “I’m doing brilliant!” and then smiling broadly.
We had so much fun with this. Some people were highly suspicious of our motives, others used it as an excuse to be brilliant themselves, whereas others just shock their heads and wondered off muttering to themselves about our sanity.
Do we live in such cynical times that telling people you’re feeling brilliant can generate so many negative responses?
Apparently, but it’s really worth doing for the big smiles you also get!
5. The Maverick Mindset – John Eliot
I bought this audio program when I was doing my NLP Practitioner training in 2005.
Every day involved a 2 hour drive each way and I was looking for anything to keep me awake and stop me dying of boredom.
The Maverick Mindset certainly did that and a whole lot more.
Eliot’s take on confidence is somewhat unusual (he believes that confidence comes before competence), but as the former Director of Sport Management and Performance Enhancement at Rice University he obviously knows what he’s talking about.
One of the really great things about this audio is the sheer amount of brilliant stories (many first hand accounts) Eliot calls on to make his point.
A word of warning, if you hates sports, it probably won’t be for you although the dancing toll booth attendant story is worth the cost alone.
4. Buddha’s Brain – Rick Hanson
Holy crap, if you haven’t heard me going on about this book for the last 2 or 3 months, then you are either new around here or you’re not paying attention.
I don’t think Buddha’s Brain has made me change my approach to coaching, but it has done something a lot more than that.
It has helped me explain the benefits of meditation to clients by using hard science which can be huge when I’m dealing with more academic left brained people.
It’s a truly brilliant book!
3. Your Brain At Work – David Rock
If I was awarding a prize for the book that has given me more blog post ideas than any other, it would be a toss up between this and The Maverick Mindset.
Your Brain At Work had the bigger effect on me though because all of a sudden I was able to explain processes that I knew worked such as reframing, scientifically.
Prior to that I had loads of anecdotal evidence, but not a fat lot else. Awesome, awesome, awesome, book.
2. Guided Meditations For Calmness, Awareness and Love – Bodhipaksa
I bought this CD about 3 years ago and in the intervening time I am privileged to say Bodhipaksa has become a friend and is also my meditation teacher.
I’ve no idea how many times I’ve used the meditations on this CD, but it’s comfortably in the hundreds and I still use it at least 2 or 3 times a week.
Guided meditations are very much about finding what is right for you and I lucked out with this CD.
At the time I was struggling to find anything that I could connect with and was getting dispirited.
I think it’s fair to say I may have quit meditation altogether if it hadn’t been for Bodhipaksa.
If you are remotely interested in trying out meditation rather than just reading about the theory, then I suggest you check out this first.
1. The Life Coaching Handbook – Curly Martin
This was the first book I ever read on Life Coaching and as such was the catalyst not just for me wanting to become a Life Coach, but also for me wanting to train with Curly Martin.
Looking back and realizing with hindsight how many crap training companies there are out there, I’m very glad I stumbled upon this book and then Curly herself.
It’s not the best self development book I have ever read. It’s not even the best book on Life Coaching I’ve ever read (that would probably be Coaching With The Brain In mind by David Rock), but it’s the book that quite literally changed my life.
It doesn’t get much better than that, does it?
So I’m interested to know, what book has changed your life?
I’m not necessarily interested in what is the best book you’ve read, but the one that provoked most change.
Reading books really a big help to acquire knowledge. It is also gives inspiration to many people.
Yeh, but what inspired you Lynne?
I have read many awesome books… but, the book that really changed my life is “Witch of Portobello” ….. The lead character is a great seeker trying to understand the mystery of life ….. the character is really strong and inspiring and teaches how to be true to your purpose.
Never heard of it but thanks for the heads up Renuka
I LOVED the Witch of Portobello. She seemed so “strange”, yet she was the only one that made sense. She was brilliantly strategic and purposeful about everything even though she “seemed” ignorant in moments to others.
Wow, I’m going to have to check this witch out!
For me it was Buddha’s Brain and then a related online course Rick did on the Enlightened Brain. (Are we allowed to post links here? I did an the Enlightened Brain review at my blog, and in emailing Rick about it came to think even more highly of him). He’s so smart, warm, and knowledgeable that he has somehow managed to change my lifelong grouchy pessimism into something almost resembling a sunny cheerful personality. It’s really weird.
I don’t know whether to thank you or curse you for pointing me to so many new resources; my reading list is now huge since discovering your blog, damn it.
Damn you woman, you sucked my down a vortex of meditation goodness and I’m now thinking “Should I sign up to do that course!”
Should I?
PS Always curse me first and ask questions later, that’s my motto anyway.
Hey Tim,
So you’ve probably been exposed to most of the ideas in the Enlightened Brain course already, and it sounds like you are far more disciplined about meditation than I am. So I’m not sure if it would be as revelatory to you as it was to me.
But there’s something about Rick’s geeky charm that, at least for me, worked some sort of mysterious magic at the subconscious level. He seemed so approachable and human that I found myself embracing new positive ways of thinking that I’d formerly fought tooth and nail. Personally, I found it tremendously worthwhile.
Hmmm, I think you may be giving me too much credit ;-)
I think I’m getting out of working with Bodhipaksa, what you did from that. Sometimes a helping hand is cool.
Just bought the Bodhipaksa meditations on your suggestion, looking forward to trying them! Thanks for all the great recommendations.
Mind Power by John Kehoe. I read it while I was still at school and began believing I could manifest a red porsche just by visualizing it every day! I’m still waiting for the porsche and Ive never read any of his other books but it was life changing. Its a book I will always remember as the one that started me working on being more mindful of my thoughts and developing optimism….Also the one book that I read over and over again, insisted my non-interested friends read it and I can still recall a few of the more useful analogies.
Never heard of it or the guy Kirri, and maybe the Porsche just hasn’t had time to get there yet? ;-)
Now I’m more interested in a winebago that can comfortably fit a family of five, to travel round Australia!
I want to do that round the US.
Not with your family though, just the wife and the hounds ;-)
As cliche as this book seems to have become, The Power Of Now literally completely changed my whole life.
I read this book, knowing nothing about it, in an extremely difficult time of my life. It made me realise (in somewhat of a lightbulb moment) that I had complete control over all of the misery I was feeling. I could decide how to feel, how to think, what to focus on and my world was completely cracked open from that moment. My true life started that day and EVERYTHING that had gone before changed for me in terms of perspective and everything ahead of me no longer seemed to big to handle.
There is, of course, a much longer version of this but ultimately, this book really did turn the key to the door of my true life and into it I walked….
It’s not a cliche if it had that kind of profound effect Rachael. Thanks.
The Power of Now is one of my favorites too. I must say, it had a profound effect on me just as you’ve described. Eckhart Tolle makes it so clear that all we have to do is wake up in this world where nearly everyone is “asleep.”
Serious question here ladies.
How profound is profound?
I have read some spiritual books such as The Untethered Soul and thought “OMG that is amazing” but the reality is I’m not sure any long-term change has happened.
Do you think your lives have actually changed after reading TPON? I had the audio version and his voice sent me to sleep and I’ve been considering buying the physical version.
Nice list. I particularly enjoyed Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins.
I’d also have to add my own choices:
Switch by Chip & Dan Heath – Excellent for inspiring change.
The Art of Happiness in a Troubled World by The Dalai Lama – Probably the wisest man in the world!
Read both of those and agree both are excellent.
Soul Without Shame by Byron Brown helped me change my life. It presented options for engaging with the ego that I hadn’t considered before, it’s poetically written (which seems to seep into my cells more easily), it took “right and wrong” (re: defenses) and created a new paradigm for how to use my mind and own shadow traits. After people have been on their journey for awhile and are conscious of the voice in their head, this book is “the next level” in my mind and I usually recommend it when that time comes. Not before. It doesn’t go over well. :)
Sounds fascinating Sabrina, thanks a lot for thatI’ve never heard of it.
I just finished reading Blink and I loved it. I don’t know what took me so long to check that one out. I’ll definitely have to read some of the others on this list. As for the books that changed my life…
1) Conversations With God by Neale Donald Walsch. Many would call it pure blaspheme but it resonated with me quite deeply.
2)Ask and It Is Given by Esther and Jerry Hicks. This helped me to understand Law of Attraction [go ahead and throw something at me Tim...lol] and the practical exercises helped me through a tough time.
An honorable mention for me is Keith Ferazzi’s Never Eat Alone. This opened my introverted eyes to a new way of looking at business networking.
Cool, glad you liked Blink.
I feel a good mocking coming on.
So the lady who uses classic cold reading and artfully vague language techniques and who quite reasonably claims to be channeling another Being, explained to you what no scientist has ever managed to do eh?
Ok, seems reasonable ;-)
The book that inspired me the most, (I was 16) was Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo. I was a pacifict by then, but since I read this book until today (I am 50 now) the understanding of using force only as a last resort or that in wars we only have losers not winner, this understanding grows each year, and life surely proves how much we should avoid wars and conflicts, but a pacifist way is harder.
I agree Dorit. I’m really on the fence with that one. I feel like I’m a pacifist, but I’m not sure I could remain one if I lived in a country that was invaded by a foreign power and innocent people were being abused and murdered.
A very tough call.
Impressive list, Tim.
I just finished The Four Agreements last week. I enjoyed it.
I just started Your Brain At Work. It’s interesting. I like the metaphor of our mind being a stage with actors and an audience. I’m only on Chapter 5, but I’m enjoying it.
I have Buddha’s Brain on my reading stack. I’m sure it’s great. I’ve been reading Hanson’s newsletter for a long time. He always delivers great information.
A book in recent history I would recommend is Linchpin by Seth Godin. It puts the current world in proper perspective while bitch slapping the current education system.
I’m also glad to know I’m not alone in showing public love to Tony Robbins. That dude is my hero.
I am the only person in the western hemisphere that was ‘meh’ about Linchpin. And I love Godin, but I thought Linchpin was too self developmenty and that’s not what he’s brilliant at. I thought Poke The Box and tribes were better as were a lot of his earlier books.
Robbins gets a bad rap a lot of the time because I genuinely believe his heart is in the right place. A lot of people, especially in the NLP world, are jealous of him imho.
I always start my day with inspirational stuff! . Either I’m feeling good or bad. It always makes my day better….or at least it pushes me to make it better:)
The Five Love Languages by Dr. Gary Chapman – hands down, this is a book that EVERYONE should read, study and learn. Trust me.
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle – This book (I prefer the audio: his words, his voice) and it COMPLETELY changed the way that I relate to my mind and how I relate to others. I can’t say enough good things about his message. IMHO, everything else that he has done since this relates back to this beginning.
Great list,I am going to use it to find(hopefully)some of these babies in the libraries of the universities near me.I have to say,though,I read some pretty good reviews of Napoleon’s Hill ”Think and Grow Rich” and I am hunting for that one :D
Have a great day Tim :D
Without a doubt for me it would be “Your Money or Your Life” by Joe Dominguez & Vicki Robin – which I never lose an opportunity to promote. :) I’ve recommended it to many people, and it’s interesting to see their reaction. The thing about this book is it only works if YOU DO THE STEPS. Most people won’t make the commitment to doing the steps. I did the steps and have been reaping the benefits daily for the last 8 years. Changed my life in so many positive ways, especially with respect to my financial situation, but also in my outlook on work, life and happiness.
Hi there Tim
A kindred spirit send me the link to your blog. I have read 5 on your list so will be fun to chase up the others.The book that changed my life would have to be the classic Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill – a man before his time. Other all time favourites Maximum Achievement by Brian Tracy, Success Principles by Jack Canfield and Rich Dad Poor Dad by Richard Kiyosaki.
Thank you for the inspiration
Jo