Along with meditation ( I use Headspace) and exercise (see below) reading has a huge correlation with personal success.
Since getting my phone and kindle I’ve been reading so many books and in the spirit of the “What shall I read next?” question that I always find myself in, I’m sharing some of the my top recommendations here:
Ninja Tip: I tend to read business books in the miracle morning and novels to switch off at night.
What I’m reading right now:
Only just started this!
Really great story, bit of bad language at the beginning.
Books on Teaching
To be honest I get most of my inspiration from non-teaching books and most books on teaching can be sooooo boring. But here are some really great ones.
Just read 20 mins a day and you’ll come away with a dozen new ideas each time.
Inspirational Education Books
As you know my main passion is helping kids in developing countries and there are numerous stories that inspire me.
Personal Development
In order to improve the world we first need to improve ourselves. I read tons of books on this topic, but these two are the classics and where you have to start.
Basically Genki English for adults!
Business Development
If you want to start your own school you’re going to need everything by Seth Godin.
If you’re hiring teachers you need this.
Children’s Picture Books
Here’s my favourite “picture book” of the moment!
The best kids’ book ever! 🙂
What should I read next? Do let me know your recommendations in the comments!
P.S. Exercise programs
If you’re looking for some exercise programs (not that you’d really need it with Genki English!) here are my top two:
Got my shoulders bigger than my belly for the first time in my life!
I did the original Insanity which was great but too long (an hour per day!) Then T25 which is much easier and now use the much harder Insanity Max 30 when I don’t have weights.
I really need to get my phone set up correctly to use the Kindle App on it. I started reading the E-Myth book on small businesses. I love to read, but it has been much harder to do it in China since I can’t just go to the library and grab some book off the shelf and go…and I don’t want physical books (though I prefer an actual book) to worry about lugging to where ever I’m going.
Hi Richard- thank you for the suggestions! It would be great to hear from you regularly on this topic! I love books and reading challenges and reading lists ! I’m starting a book club for my students next year: books for kids in english of course! Anyhow, I have a couple of favorite time management authors, they both happen to be women. Laura Vanderkam “168 Hours”and ” I know how she does it” and Gretchen Rubin ” The Happiness project”. I find these books ( as well as the blogs of both authors helpful as I manage my craft, my personal time, my family….) I highly recommend ” The creative habit” by Twyla Tharp – she is a big believer in the power of habit and ” miracle morning”- and it’ s a great book on creativity ! Another one I’ve found quite useful is Doug Lemov’s ” Practice Perfect”- not an easy read however. Finally, one of the books that the most moved me this year was ” All the Light we cannot see ” . I’m also a big believer in Audible app that allows me to listen to a book while doing something exciting like folding laundry ( see “Time management of a working mom😉”). Right now I’m getting through the Complete ” Wizard of Oz”! I’ll be posting my summer reading list on my FB page soon! Have a great day!
@Dacha: Fantastic, great stuff! (And as soon as I hit “send” I was thinking my recommendations were all a bit blokey!)
@Martin: 5 minutes to set up kindle on your phone – well worth it!
The Life Ki-Do book is fantastic for parents and teachers, great recommendation. I’m a bit of a skeptic of some of the Personal Development type books, maybe some people who read them benefit from them, I guess they are like diets, they might work if you stick to the plan. I often get more out of novels, or Biographies such as Nelson Mandella’s “Long walk to freedom”. Think you just had bit of a rough class? Try spending 27 years in jail. To add another female author to the list Lynda Gratton’s “The Shift – The future of work is already here” had some things to make you think.
Finally getting my phone more setup. Amazon apps tend to be easier to get than Google since Google is not only blocked but also completely block from working on my phone….ugh… China.
Anyway, downloaded headspace and just finished e-myth. Need to get some more books and try the business in the morning and novel at night approach. Also, need to snag one of those workouts…though I have no space in my apartment…so chaotic bike riding is the usual form of exercise, though I end up quite stressed.