Here are 100 books that The Zigzag Principle fans have personally recommended if you like
The Zigzag Principle.
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I’m a TedX and keynote speaker, leadership expert, and corporate facilitator. I’m also a repeat software founder and CEO. I work extensively with Fortune 1000 and hyperscale organizations to connect leadership and culture directly to organizational outcomes, as well as diversifying C-suites and corporate boardrooms. I’m passionate about guiding leaders to measurable outcomes and helping others learn from failure (yes, it happens to all of us!) Over the years, I’ve learned the key is understanding and embodying your own values so you can build resilience for yourself as an individual, your team, and your organization as a whole. I hope my list of recommended books helps you do just that!
For many entrepreneurs, Marie Forleo is practically a household name – for over a decade, she’s been coaching those souls brave enough to take the leap into business ownership.
As entrepreneurs will tell you, a huge part of success has to do with your mindset. In this book, Marie outlines a key strategy for training your brain to overcome uncertainty and actionable tips to overcome everyday challenges, both big and small.
"This book will change lives." --Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love
From the host of the award-winning MarieTV and The Marie Forleo Podcast, an indispensable handbook for becoming the creative force of your own life.
While most self-help books offer quick fixes, Everything is Figureoutable will retrain your brain to think more creatively and positively in the face of setbacks. In the words of Cheryl Strayed, it's "a must-read for anyone who wants to face their fears, fulfill their dreams, and find a better way forward."
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…
For over a decade, I’ve helped women shift from feeling uncertain or ashamed about money to building real wealth. As a first-generation immigrant who didn’t inherit wealth or insider knowledge, I had to confront my own excuses, fears, and limiting beliefs. The books on this list challenged me to think bigger, act bolder, and stay disciplined. I know firsthand that wealth-building isn’t just about numbers; it’s about belief and consistent action. As a Certified Financial Education Instructor (CFEI) and founder of Clever Girl Finance (recognized by the National Financial Educators Council), I’ve built my work around helping women turn that mindset into measurable financial results.
First of all, Jen Sincero’s voice is hilarious, down-to-earth, and completely refreshing.
She basically grabs you by the shoulders and tells you to stop messing around. I remember laughing out loud while reading this. What I love most is that she shares her own journey in an honest, testimony-style way, so it doesn't feel preachy. Instead, it feels relatable.
Her writing style is great in that it makes you see the small ways you may be downplaying your ambition or talking yourself out of bigger goals. It’s the perfect reality check when you need to stop doubting yourself and start confidently going after what you want.
YOU ARE A BADASS IS THE self-help BOOK FOR PEOPLE WHO DESPERATELY WANT TO IMPROVE THEIR LIVES BUT DON'T WANT TO GET BUSTED DOING IT. In this refreshingly entertaining how-to guide, bestselling author and world-traveling success coach, Jen Sincero, serves up 27 bitesized chapters full of hilariously inspiring stories, sage advice, easy exercises, and the occasional swear word, helping you to: Identify and change the self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviours that stop you from getting what you want, Create a life you totally love. And create it NOW, Make some damn money already. The kind you've never made before. By the…
I’ve spent my career helping leaders elevate the human experience for customers, employees, and shareholders. Along the way, I’ve written 13 bestselling books about clients like Starbucks and Mercedes-Benz and advised leaders across industries, from hospitality to healthcare. But beyond the C-suite, I’ve always been a student of leadership. I read widely and constantly to challenge my thinking and deepen my understanding. These five books have shaped how I lead, teach, and live. Each one offers something unexpected, timeless, or transformational—and I’m excited to share them with those who share a passion for what it means to lead well.
I was captivated by Indra Nooyi’s blend of fierce intellect and deep humanity. I couldn’t stop reflecting on how she navigated leadership without compromising authenticity or family.
Her story reminded me that grace and grit must coexist and that decisive leadership doesn’t require shedding your values at the boardroom door.
An intimate and powerful memoir by the trailblazing former CEO of PepsiCo
For a dozen years as one of the world’s most admired CEOs, Indra Nooyi redefined what it means to be an exceptional leader. The first woman of color and immigrant to run a Fortune 50 company — and one of the foremost strategic thinkers of our time — she transformed PepsiCo with a unique vision, a vigorous pursuit of excellence, and a deep sense of purpose. Now, in a rich memoir brimming with grace, grit, and good humor, My Life in Full offers…
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…
I’m a TedX and keynote speaker, leadership expert, and corporate facilitator. I’m also a repeat software founder and CEO. I work extensively with Fortune 1000 and hyperscale organizations to connect leadership and culture directly to organizational outcomes, as well as diversifying C-suites and corporate boardrooms. I’m passionate about guiding leaders to measurable outcomes and helping others learn from failure (yes, it happens to all of us!) Over the years, I’ve learned the key is understanding and embodying your own values so you can build resilience for yourself as an individual, your team, and your organization as a whole. I hope my list of recommended books helps you do just that!
I love a book you can actually take action on and Tales of Potential delivers!
Joanna Bloor makes the case that most decisions about your career happen in a room you’re not in – which means you have to rely on someone else to tell your story and be your advocate. This book outlines exactly how to distill your story down to the most important elements, so it’s easy for others to tell effectively.
You’ll learn how to clearly communicate your potential and capabilities in a way that will have a lasting impact on your life.
At the very beginning of my studies, I asked myself a question that still accompanies me today: “Why are some people successful and others not?” I've always been interested in people who are successful through their own efforts instead of building on the success of previous generations through their heritage. In my search for what distinguishes successful from less successful people, I began to read a variety of relevant books and attend seminars. These books and seminars dealt with the topics of success, personality development, marketing and sales, rhetoric, psychology, and management as well as self-management and personal productivity. To date, I've read several hundred books on these topics and attended a number of seminars.
Brian Tracy stands for professional and personal success.
I have read many of his books and listened to his lectures. In his book Goals, he shows you how to set goals and achieve them. Goal clarity is a prerequisite for all success.
In this book you will learn everything about goal setting and how to achieve goals.
Based on more than 20 years of experience and 40 years of research, this book presents a practical, proven strategy for creating and meeting goals that has been used by more than 1 million people to achieve extraordinary things in life. Author Brian Tracy explains the seven key elements of goal setting and the 12 steps necessary to set and accomplish goals of any size. Using simple language and real-life examples, Tracy shows how to do the crucial work of determining one's strengths, values, and true goals. He explains how to build the self-esteem and confidence necessary for achievement; how…
I have been interested in motivation, productivity, and growth my whole life. I find it fascinating how we all have 24 hours; however, some people can maximize that time to create success while others let it go to waste. It all comes down to mindset. As an entrepreneur, I’ve consumed countless books, courses, and coaching programs to create what I call the “Rockstar Mind.” It has helped me tour the world opening for bands like KISS, write two best-selling books and 3 hit songs, and run two online businesses while supporting my young family during a global pandemic. I’m always looking for the edge to create more impact in my day.
Tim’s stories about Michael Jordan are worth the price of admission alone. What I really love about this book is how Tim breaks down the mindset of a champion – what it takes to overcome the daily challenges that come your way and thrive when the odds are working against you. The audiobook version also has great chapter intros by Tim.
'Tim Grover's teachings completely changed how I approached my professional career, helping me navigate the constant ups and downs that sport at the highest level brings.' Marcus Rashford, MBE From the elite performance coach for Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and many others - and the author of the powerful bestseller Relentless - a no-holds-barred formula for winning that is ideal for business people, athletes and anybody wanting to achieve success.
In Relentless, Tim Grover showed that you need to be tough and ruthless - towards others and yourself - to achieve your goals. Now, in Winning he takes…
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…
Games and playing have always played a part of my life. I have created games and businesses and been fortunate enough to have worked with both at various levels as a mentor and guide. For me, this is the gift that keeps giving. The tee-shirt wearing creatives and the suit folk with their business acumen we seek to help scale our ideas. I have worked for years at the nexus of these tribes, and still find it a thrill to learn about the visions people have for the wonderful world of games and play and the oblique outcomes we couldn’t have predicted.
When we put our ideas out there in the real world, we take a risk.
It is an element of being entrepreneurial. But sometimes we can do something in service to others that creates value way beyond what we imagined. Something that has a good impact for those we serve. But this something may have been unpredicted, unseen in the planning stages.
Obliquity teaches us we can focus on the features or the benefits of what we do. This may not result in wealth for the founder, it may not mean a mega exit for the company in a few years. But equally, it may mean a bigger impact for the communities we serve and greater cohesion among those people than we had predicted when writing our business plans.
"John Kay tells a fast-paced detective story as he searches for the surprising secret to success...Brilliant." -Tim Harford, author of The Logic of Life
In this revolutionary book, economist John Kay proves a notion that feels at once paradoxical and deeply commonsensical: the best way to achieve any complex or broadly defined goal, from happiness to preventing forest fires, is the indirect way. We can learn how to achieve our objectives only through a gradual process of risk taking and discovery-what Kay calls obliquity. The author traces this seemingly counterintuitive path to success as it manifests itself in nearly every…
I have spent most of my adult life using entrepreneurial business practices and principles to redesign and transform nonprofits. From my very first nonprofit organizational acceleration, I was hooked. The wealth one receives from helping other people is so much richer and more satisfying than money–altruism is truly life's greatest pleasure. You know the movie The Sixth Sense where the little kid sees dead people everywhere? I am the same way, except everywhere I look, I see uncaptured opportunities for social impact. I live and breathe social impact strategy, governance, financing, evaluation, and change management. Because by fixing problems in those areas, organizations are able to do more to make the world a better place.
Planning is easy, but execution is hard. Nonprofit leaders can gain a clear, practical understanding of how to measure and execute an organization's progress toward social impact goals with the clear, simple, and compelling four disciplines of execution.
It is simply terrific for putting strategy into practice. You will learn the key concepts from 4DX. We found reading it like getting a new set of glasses that brings the world of management into focus and allows us to see a pathway to success.
Fully revised and updated, the definitive guide for leaders on how to create lasting organisational change.
Do you remember the last major initiative you watched die in your organisation? Did it go down with a loud crash? Or was it slowly and quietly suffocated by other competing priorities? By the time it finally disappeared, it's quite likely noone even noticed.
Almost every company struggles with making change happen. The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Revised and Updated is meant to help you reach the goals you've always dreamed of with a simple, repeatable, and proven formula. In this updated edition of…
I live and work in Santa Cruz, CA (close to Silicon Valley). I’ve been extremely fortunate to be a multi-time start-up founder, executive coach and consultant, and key contributor or operational leader at world-class brands like Apple, DreamWorks, Google, and SGI. In 2015, I had an epiphany that changed the direction of my life: that prioritization was the most important verb in business, but nobody had written a book that successfully demystified how individuals, teams, and organizations should do it. My book became a pandemic project. I sincerely hope it will help improve the world and make it a better place.
I recommend this book more than almost any other one because it simplifies personal prioritization–prioritizing by yourself and for yourself–to its core. It helped me evaluate my life through the sharp lens of what I might regret most when I eventually reach the "end of the line," so to speak. Helping me develop a plan to prevent myself from ever having to experience that regret shed a blinding but compassionate light on what ultimately will matter most to me, at the point I can no longer go back and change anything.
This short and lovely book held the key to identifying my number one priority and how to develop a practical plan for getting to a place where I would be at peace with myself.
You never know when it is going to happen — when you will experience a moment that dramatically transforms your life.
When you look back, often years later, you may see how a brief conversation or an insight you read in a book changed the entire course of your life.
Gay Hendricks had an extraordinary, life-altering experience during a conversation at a party. The gift he received in that meeting became his touchstone for creating the life of his dreams. Now, in this wonderful gem of a book, he passes on to all of us the pivotal insight he gained…
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,…
Do you know you will spend 80,000 hours at work in your lifetime? And yet we get so little guidance on how to make choices about the work we do. I am fascinated by the world of work and how we navigate it, and thrive in it. I’ve always wondered how people made decisions about how to live and how to approach finding the right kind of livelihood that fits their skills and interests. I’ve made it my job to design a method to help people get specific and clear and help them not only find the work that best utilises their skills and passions but also identifies the environment that works best for us.
If you are anything like me and struggle to decide on one career or one path then this is the book for you. If by working through your passions, skills, etc. you find that there isn’t just one area you want to work in but in fact, you are interested in loads of stuff, then this book will help you manage this challenge and create the life that you want not the one everyone else says you should have.
Don't know what to do with your life? Drawn to so many things that you can't choose just one? New York Times best-selling author Barbara Sher has the answer-do EVERYTHING!
"Designed to help you enjoy your many interests without feeling overwhelmed and unfocused" - Metro New York
Author of Wishcraft and I Could Do Anything If Only I Knew What It Was..., Barbara Sher has become famous for her extraordinary ability to help people define and achieve their goals. What Sher has discovered is that some individuals simply cannot, and should not, decide on a single path; they are genetically…
