Episode 112: Ask A Coach - A Single Action and Book Recommendations
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android Devices | RSS
Taking Action and The Inside Job When It Comes To Asking For Book Recommendations
We open with a question about momentum. A longtime client and friend finds herself ready for something totally different from a position she has held for a long time, knows the big picture and needs a little jumpstart to get going. This conversation delves into strategies for creating change and action.
We discuss the power of sharing and declaring your intention as an avenue for change. Sharing these thoughts with our cheerleaders and our fans gives us a means of talking through wants, motivations, and obstacles and ask for support.
Support can take a variety of forms:
We can ask for accountability.
We can ask for their insight into our strengths and abilities.
We can ask for an introduction.
But we must start...let's go!
Our second topic is an Inside Job favorite: Book recommendations.
What we’ve discovered is that sometimes the ‘ask’ for a book recommendation isn’t really about book recommendations. Sometimes it has more to do with looking for the shortcut to an answer, the search for a playbook someone else has written to solve our problem. Might that work? It depends! We offer a few ways to examine the pressure for just one more answer in one more book.
That said, we share a few of our favorite book recommendations that are built around powerful ideas and new ways to approach our personal and work lives. Let us know what you think.
In Our Conversation Today We’re Exploring:
How public declarations and reaching out for support can help us develop momentum when we’re not sure where to get started
Why it’s important to reflect on what we’re really looking for when we ask for a book recommendation
How Nayla and Eric approach book recommendations and what books they most often recommend
Resources mentioned in this episode:
This was a commencement speech David Foster Wallace gave to Kenyon College’s 2005 graduating class. It’s about recognizing that we get to decide how to make meaning out of our own experiences and to choose how we respond to things that happen in our lives.
Our Book Picks:
Nayla recommends The War of Art By Steven Pressfield
The concept from this book that struck Nayla most was how resistance can be what separates the life we’re living from the life we want to live.
Nayla recommends The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander
She notes that the book explores why imagining options for ourselves can be hard, and how we’ve been conditioned to think in a careful, structured way. The book also explores how we can be bolder in exploring and pursuing our options.
Nayla recommends Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott
The book describes the first year of Anne’s son’s life. It also explores the duality of experiences we’re supposed to love, like motherhood and falling in love. The humanness of the story and what it shares about life is what struck Nayla most in that book.
Nayla recommends The Tender Bar: A Memoir by J. R. Moehringer
This book is about family, aspirations, and pursuing something you love even if people think you’re out of your mind for doing so.
Eric recommends This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life By David Foster Wallace
Eric Recommends The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life By Mark Manson
This book is about recognizing that we only have so much energy to care about things and that we can be discerning when it comes to what we decide to care about.
Eric Recommends Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well By Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen
Our ability to receive feedback and understand our resistance to it allows us to develop as humans and allows us to become better leaders.
Eric Recommends A Walk in the woods and One Summer By Bill Bryson
Eric finds these books to be both funny and informative because they give us the chance to reflect on history and contemplate life in general.
Connect with us:
Love the Inside Job? Consider buying us a coffee!
Follow @insidejobpodcast on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook
Email us with your questions, thoughts, or ideas for future conversations at info@insidejobthepodcast.com.
Subscribe to the Inside Job newsletter to receive exciting updates about our community and get exclusive access to coaching, extra content, our hosts, and each other.
Getting something out of our conversations? Show our podcast some love.
Please subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app and tell your friends.