100 Books Like The Journey Beyond Fear

It wasn’t until reading this book that I realized how important it was to focus on the fast, instinctive part of our mind. Getting that initial judgment and reaction right makes everything else easier. Too often, I found myself wanting to understand things logically and rationally, assuming that my instincts and emotions were simply wrong.

This book helped me understand how useful both systems were and how to leverage them to achieve my goals faster and more effectively.

US economist Frank Knight is credited with distinguishing uncertainty from risk back in 1921. Yet the two are often conflated.

Kay (an eminent economist) and King (a former Governor of the Bank of England) argue powerfully that the distinction does matter. They range widely across macroeconomics, politics, and consumer choices to show why reducing the future to a set of numbers (probabilities) creates a false – and often disastrous – illusion of power over future outcomes.

They argue that instead we should aim to make decisions that stand a reasonable chance of being robust against unknowable, as well as forecastable, paths that the future might take. That’s very much the ethos of my own books: building in resilience is a key part of successful personal financial planning.

What will the future of work look like, and how can we prepare to navigate it successfully? This book is at the top of the list for understanding the profound shift that we are living through. The authors follow up their excellent Capitalism without Capital by continuing to describe a workplace based on intangibles. The economy today is driven by forces that place a premium on innovation, knowledge, ideas, and brand, and these intangibles are increasingly vital for growth and success. An outstanding book that provides a framework for the future of work.

I met Peter at a conference years ago and will never forget the experience. His vision of the future was unique and compelling.

I found the book, his thinking completely out of the box, and his insight into major forces changing our world without peers. Peter ties money, politics, social change, and trends together, offering a peek into the challenges and direction of the future.

Jon Acuff is one of my favorite authors. His book Soundtracks is about the stories we tell ourselves. More precisely, it’s about how to challenge the repetitive negative self-talk so many of us are plagued by—talk he refers to as “soundtracks” playing over and over in our heads—with new soundtracks, aka positive talk. If you don’t believe that you deserve superfans, it’s going to be very hard to create them. Jon proposes this simple framework for over- coming negative thoughts: “Retire. Replace. Repeat.” As someone who became a keynote speaker kind of accidentally, I’ve experienced a lot of self-doubt. Jon’s book has truly helped me manage my overthinking and regain confidence. I’ve probably ordered close to 30 copies of Soundtracks off Amazon to give to people because I love it so much!

Easily the book I gift most often (besides my own!) to people starting out on the spiritual path because Gabby has a way of making you think anything is possible when you trust the Universe. Her personal stories are compelling without being cliche, her voice is no-nonsense, and the guidance she offers is both practical and immediate. You will underline and dog ear the sh*t out of this book, and return to those passages again and again when you need a reminder that you are not alone and the Universe does, indeed, have your back.

Many of us are looking for the secrets to a happy life, so I was delighted to discover Shawn Achor’s book, Big Potential, include a bundle of them.

Combining ample scientific research and compelling narrative, this book is packed with memorable stories and strategies to immediately apply to work environments. I often return to its dog-eared pages to get inspired and isolate the behaviors that lead to greater connection.

For readers who aim to develop talent in others or are looking to tap into their own potential, this is a thoughtful and generous read.  

When life brings lemons make lemonade, when life dumps a load of garbage sell it on eBay. I can relate to protagonist Sophia, as a former eBay seller and a San Francisco native lost in her own existence. This book reads like a fairy tale; a girl given every opportunity in one of the most expensive cities in the world, but she’s stuck in a filthy apartment filled with thrifted clothes and day-old pizza. Then one day she discovers her passion. Slowly the pieces fall into place allowing her to create the brand, Nasty Gal. 

This book is a must-read for anyone trapped in a daydream; the finish line is out there just waiting for you to find it.

Sometimes life doesn’t go as we’d hoped or expected; sometimes it’s filled with layers of difficulty and struggle, and sometimes it’s flipped upside down with tragedy. And I’ve experienced all three. Out of nowhere, death, illness, job loss, etc, can change our lives and challenge our view of God, ourselves, and the world. But despite all the pain, confusion, and disappointment, we have hope.

Paul David Tripp wrote with personal experience about how we can learn to trust God in the midst of suffering. He’s helped me cling to God's promises in my trials, face my pain with honesty, and persevere with the hope of the gospel.

I’m a creature of habit. So is Scaredy Squirrel. We both know the comforts of feeling safe in perfect routines where nothing is left to chance, where nothing can go wrong…right?  

Scaredy writes lists of his emergency procedures, draws grids of his safety equipment, diagrams his secret exit strategies. I feel this poor squirrel’s pain. How many nights have I lain awake before a school visit mulling over my presentations? No plan is fool proof. So when Scaredy accidentally falls from his tree, he does what he must: thinks quickly and improvises. And discovers a secret ability he never knew he had. 

In the end, Melanie Watt gives Scaredy most of his old routine back, but now it’s balanced with a healthy dose of adventure. Perfectly balanced, I’d say.