Here are 100 books that The Adversity Hack fans have personally recommended if you like
The Adversity Hack.
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I have always been fascinated by psychology and the science behind why people are the way they are. This is probably why as a journalist, I’ve always been drawn to writing personal profiles of fascinating people, digging deeper into how they overcame various obstacles and setbacks. I have read so many leadership books that focus on success, but really found a gap when it came to those in-depth stories, which is why I wrote The Setback Cycle, a career advice book that focuses specifically on that messy middle part of leadership. My goal was to share the stories of people who overcame setbacks while offering an actionable framework that guides us through our own.
I loved Morra’s fresh take on reframing something previously perceived as a weakness and turning it into a superpower. She writes intelligently about how anxious people are equipped to lead and backs up her argument with rigorous research and quotes from credible experts.
I especially liked how she pointed out that anxious people are great at leading through crises because they spend so much energy preparing for the worst.
A timely and compelling guide to managing the anxiety that comes with succeeding and leading-from entrepreneur, mental health advocate, and top-rated podcaster Morra Aarons-Mele.
Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illnesses in the world. But in our workplaces, anxiety has been a hidden problem-there in plain sight but ignored. Until now.
The Anxious Achiever is a book with a mission: to normalize anxiety and leadership. As leadership expert and self-proclaimed anxious achiever Morra Aarons-Mele argues, anxiety is built into the very nature of leadership. It can-and should-be harnessed into a force for good.
The dragons of Yuro have been hunted to extinction.
On a small, isolated island, in a reclusive forest, lives bandit leader Marani and her brother Jacks. With their outlaw band they rob from the rich to feed themselves, raiding carriages and dodging the occasional vindictive…
On Jan 30, 2013, I was sacked for "insubordination." No notice, no severance. My bosses threatened the other employees with dismissal if they talked to me. I'd been at the company for decades, rising from entry level to the executive team; after years of striving, it was a devastating blow. Once I picked myself up, I realized I’d leaned in so far, I’d toppled over. So I set off on a new path. Today, I have a master’s degree in Eastern classics, four leadership books, and one historical novel, and I’m committed to helping high achievers—women, especially—find their own paths to happy success: paths beyond “lean in.”
If you want to be happy, the first thing you need to do is put happiness first.
“But what if I’m a type-A achiever who wants a big title and salary?” you ask. That’s great! People find happiness in all sorts of things, and maybe a corner office is your jam. The point, says Dr. Tal Leead, is to prioritize the purposes, activities, and relationships that bring joy to your life.
We can’t always avoid doing stuff we don’t enjoy, but we can make a mental shift to create our unique, soul-deep definition of happiness—and pursue it. This simple shift to a Happier Being mindset has helped me more than all the to-do lists, success seminars, and exhortations to “lean in.”
On Jan 30, 2013, I was sacked for "insubordination." No notice, no severance. My bosses threatened the other employees with dismissal if they talked to me. I'd been at the company for decades, rising from entry level to the executive team; after years of striving, it was a devastating blow. Once I picked myself up, I realized I’d leaned in so far, I’d toppled over. So I set off on a new path. Today, I have a master’s degree in Eastern classics, four leadership books, and one historical novel, and I’m committed to helping high achievers—women, especially—find their own paths to happy success: paths beyond “lean in.”
It may seem strange to include a jobseeker’s guide in a list of leadership books, but Agile Unemployment is the resource for anyone faced with the hardest leadership task of all: leading yourself through a time of trial.
Sabina Sulat has been there—on both sides of the HR desk for “that conversation”—and she offers her well-earned wisdom with deep candor, much-needed encouragement, and straight-shooting practicality. In my early career days, I always found the “What color is your parachute” genre pretty useless, not to mention incredibly depressing. I wish I’d had Sulat’s sound guidance back then; it would have helped me lean in, out, up, down, and sideways with far more grace and optimism.
Lost your job? Struggling to figure the future out?
Agile Unemployment is the book for you. Losing your job can be harrowing, but it is a temporary state and does not define you. Cast aside your doubts and develop a new mindset to carry you through those down moments and rebuild your life how YOU see fit. Agile Unemployment is your guide to working through the job searching process and learning how to pivot your mindset to build resilience as you develop confidence and find the job of your dreams.
Turn losing your job into a moment of opportunity. Agile…
Jake Sledge, a rugged ex-cop turned private eye, teams up with his colossal partner Bobo to navigate the gritty streets of River City.
A murdered lawyer drags them into a web of political intrigue, neo-Nazi thugs, and bloody showdowns. With sharp wit and hard-hitting action, Jake tackles scumbags the only…
On Jan 30, 2013, I was sacked for "insubordination." No notice, no severance. My bosses threatened the other employees with dismissal if they talked to me. I'd been at the company for decades, rising from entry level to the executive team; after years of striving, it was a devastating blow. Once I picked myself up, I realized I’d leaned in so far, I’d toppled over. So I set off on a new path. Today, I have a master’s degree in Eastern classics, four leadership books, and one historical novel, and I’m committed to helping high achievers—women, especially—find their own paths to happy success: paths beyond “lean in.”
LaPora Lindsey's key message, that we can make a profound positive impact no matter how little formal authority we have, is the leadership message for our time.
And her key metaphor—"life at the bottom of the food chain," whence all energy originates—is a brilliant way to express it. I’ve come to realize that this perspective on careers isn’t just for entry-level youngsters; it’s also for us oldsters with top jobs and/or years of experience.
We imagine it’s our bird’s-eye strategies and top-down direction that count, but oftentimes, it’s our earth-bound energy and support that make the biggest difference. When we say, “Yes, good idea, I’ll get behind that. Here’s how I’ll help,” we gain more power than we know.
Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino is the founder of The Best Ever You Network and co-founder of Compliance4. Through these companies, she has helped individuals and organizations around the world be their best and achieve world-class excellence with gratitude-based behavior and belief systems. She is one of America's foremost personal and corporate development consultants specializing in mindset, change management, strategy, leadership, and taking action. Elizabeth is also the author of the award-winning personal development book PERCOLATE - Let Your Best Self Filter Through (Hay House) and multiple children’s books as a contributor and author. Elizabeth lives her daily life with life-threatening food allergies. Elizabeth and her husband live in Maine with their four sons and three rescued cats.
This is a very relatable book from everyday people who have created change for good. I firmly believe that the practice of change starts with us individually and this book supports that concept. I believe that to be our best and live our best lives, we must solidly and whole-heartedly look within.
John Maxwell and Rob Hoskins have invested their lives as champions of change. Maxwell's organizations EQUIP and the John Maxwell Leadership Foundation have transformed communities by training more than five million leaders from literally every country in the world. Hoskins's One Hope has transformed the lives of more than one billion children and youth in 120 countries around the globe.
Now, for the first time, these two leaders have partnered to write a book about how anyone, anywhere, can transform their world. Offering practical principles based on solid research and real-life experience, the authors teach how to recognize where and…
I started this book in 2007. It was a compilation of stories from my experience as a parent; there was no structure to it at all. When my second husband passed in 2017, an ad appeared in Facebook for Author Academy Elite (AAE). I knew it was my late husband giving me that one final push to get the book done. As a (non) perfect parent of three children, I felt my experience could benefit others as I am continuing my journey along my Path to Perfection. As a person who has struggled with depression for her entire life, I can honestly say that parenting is hard. We are all doing the best we can with what we have. And that’s why I think you’ll enjoy these books!
As a parent, we all struggle with self-care. The book is relatable. Real-life stories highlight the struggles many moms go through. The author talks about how we put so much on ourselves as moms and yet we still feel unworthy.
With the help of this book, moms can evoke self-care for themselves - in as little as 10 minutes a day. There is a course you can take along with it if you want.
That being a mother is much harder than they anticipated.
That they don’t feel good enough and are forgetting who they are or what they like because every waking moment is spent taking care of everyone but themselves.
It can be an overwhelming and underappreciated job...
Even if it's the best job title in the world.
It is common for moms to have a million tabs open in their mind at all times and to therefore feel burned out and overwhelmed.…
Caroline Herschel has always lived in the shadows. Beholden to her wildly popular older brother, William, who rescued her from servitude, she's worked hard to build a life for herself – one where she can go unnoticed and repay the debt she believes she owes him. But when her brother…
Matthew J. Van Natta is an author and podcaster who has been guiding people to Stoicism for over a decade. His focus is on the daily application of Stoic philosophy within the modern world. He writes fiction, drinks coffee, beer, and whiskey, and contemplates the human condition. His writings have been featured on SpiritualNaturalistSociety.org and Modern Stoicism.
Being Better is the best expression of the heart of Stoic philosophy that I have found in print. This is not a how-to book in the style of so many beginner’s manuals (including my own), but instead it is a meditation on the core principles of Stoicism. The authors challenge us to apply those principles in our own lives, so that we can join together in making the world a better place. Each chapter unveils a facet of the philosophy using the experiences of real people, both ancient and modern, as examples of how to apply Stoic thinking to hard problems such as the climate crisis, social justice issues, and economic excess. Being Better moves past simple life hacks to show us how Stoicism can function as a full philosophy of life.
Practical answers to the urgent moral questions of our time from the ancient philosophy of Stoicism
Twenty-three centuries ago, in a marketplace in Athens, Zeno of Citium, the founder of Stoicism, built his philosophy on powerful ideas that still resonate today: all human beings can become citizens of the world, regardless of their nationality, gender, or social class; happiness comes from living in harmony with nature; and, most important, humans always have the freedom to choose their attitude, even when they cannot control external circumstances. In our age of political polarization and environmental destruction, Stoicism’s empowering message has taken on…
I’ll admit it: I love the domestic arts. As a natural klutz, I knew sports would be out and I focused on organizing, cooking, gardening, cleaning, and decorating. My mother knew all the old-fashioned tricks and I collected the new ones. Today I have several thousand followers on my youtube channel, where I share life hacks, housekeeping hints, and even motherly advice as the Youtube Mom. One of my sons said that none of his buddies knew how to do laundry, cook, iron, etc., and suggested I have a channel to fill in the gaps for Millenials. Having hosted a TV talk show in Los Angeles, this appealed to me right away. And, you guessed it, lots of moms and grandmas write in as well, saying they never knew those tricks themselves. It’s truly gratifying to share these time-and-money-saving ideas.
This is a large, hardback coffee table book, unlike my other picks. Nice to browse through for the beautiful photos and the advice from a woman we’re all familiar with, who has elevated housekeeping to an art form. For example, for those with a “no shoes” policy, Martha advises putting pretty stones from a garden center in your mud room, so people can place their footwear on the stones to allow snow, etc. to drain through.
Inside these pages Martha shares all her best good things - the original life hacks for the home - to make your life easier, more fun, more delicious, and more efficient. These practical tricks cover all areas of Martha's domestic expertise, including cooking, crafting, gardening, organising, entertaining, and more. From clever ways to solve common problems (use lip balm to lubricate a stuck zipper) to time-saving tricks (label window screens to avoid confusion when they come down for cleaning) to stress reducers (colour-code kids' bathroom gear to make mornings less hectic), every one of these ideas will make you wonder,…
I’m a lifelong interiors obsessive, which I’ve managed to turn into a multi-stranded career: I style commercial photoshoots and set up events for brands, write about interiors trends for magazines and a trend forecasting agency, have authored several interiors books of my own, and recently I’ve begun teaching my own blend of authentic yet actionable interior design tips to others, through courses, workshops, and creative consultancy. I am always interested in the why behind what makes us feel a certain way when it comes to design, and believe that creating a home that reflects and supports our emotional needs will ultimately support us in all aspects of life.
Pippa has artfully woven her visual expertise as a stylist and art director, with her research and understanding of the role that designing for the senses plays within our overall wellbeing. Inspired in part by the needs of her autistic daughter (and in turn, others on the neurodivergent spectrum who may have sensory differences and sensitivities), there are lots of brilliant ideas in this book for everyone wanting to learn about the role of colour, texture, and material when it comes to helping soothe our often-frazzled nervous systems.
Embrace mindful decorating and create a comfortable home that is kind to your senses and improves your wellbeing.
The Sensory Home will help you to understand whether your home is working for or against you. Layout, colour, texture, scent, lighting and more can be used to create a calming or stimulating environment according to your family's unique needs, including for neurodiverse individuals. This book offers hints and tips as well as long-term solutions to bring your vision of a warm, inviting and harmonious home to life. Chapters covering each room of the house include sensory checklists to help you identify…
Rodney Bradford comes into Lindsay's restaurant, offers to buy her small house for double its value, eats her brownies, and drops dead on the sidewalk in front. Next, her almost-ex-husband offers to sign the divorce papers, but only if she'll give him her small,…
As a clinical psychologist I know how critical it is to have someone help you see beyond where you can see yourself. Authors have served that role for me at every stage of my development. It boils down to a pretty simple equation, how we think and feel determines how we behave. The path to different starts in your mind, and books are one of the most successful activators of your thoughts. My path of self-discovery led me to these books and the wisdom within them continue to expand my opportunities. I hope they serve as a launch pad for you.
This book brought me valuable mindset and skillset shifts as promised, but one of the unexpected jewels was the language that it gave me for valuing work.
I have never been good at negotiating the highest salary and therefore had to learn pretty early in my career not to equate my pay with my worth. I received from this book the language that I needed to represent that money is not the only form of payment in a job.
The reader learns that wages are the first paycheck and there are three more. I have learned along the way that my greatest earnings have come from the emotional rewards from my work in the nonprofit sector (2nd paycheck) and the added skills and professional growth gained (3rd paycheck).
It’s Time for a More Conscious Approach to Work. Every day, in offices around the world, people long for a fulfilling career that makes a positive difference. Purpose-driven professionals struggle to connect the dots between what they do every day and the larger impact they want to make in life. If that describes you, no matter the type of organization you work for or your role in it, you can begin growing toward that kind of influence. You can take charge of your day-to-day experiences and radically transform your life at work—all by learning to leverage daily opportunities to grow…
