Welcome to Friday 411, issue #094. In 4 minutes, with 1 insight and 1 action, you’ll have a list of our 2024 favorite books to kick off your 2025 reading list.
1 Insight
“Not every reader is a leader. But every leader must be a reader.” ~ Garland’s 4th grade teacher (who was also his mom)
Well, folks, it’s that time again – when we share our favorite books of the year! (Between the two of us, we read close to 100.) Whether you’re looking to level up your leadership game, boost your personal growth, or just need a good story to get lost in, we’ve got you covered. Here’s what kept us turning pages (and occasionally sacrificing sleep for) in 2024.
Favorite Productivity Book:
1. All It Takes Is a Goal: The 3-Step Plan to Ditch Regret and Tap into Your Massive Potential by Jon Acuff
Over the years, we’ve read a lot about goal setting and accomplishment. Jon Acuff’s book has become one of Garland’s all-time favorites. I (Garland) liked it so much, in fact, that I listened to it twice and read it a third time. The book is both humorous and deeply insightful.
Most goal-setting books encourage you to focus on really big goals. Start with a vision of what you want to accomplish, then break it down into monthly, weekly, and daily tasks. But this type of massive goal setting disrupts your life and usually leads to failure — as evidenced by 80% of New Years’ resolutions failing.
Enter Jon Acuff’s encouragement to “audition” goals. Start by setting easy goals that take less than 1 week, are simple to do, are not expensive, and can fit into your current schedule.
If you can do that easy goal for a week, then turn it into a medium goal. These goals last for 30-90 days, require you to tweak your schedule a bit, and give you a variety of ways to accomplish the goal.
Finally, if you’re consistent with a medium goal, it’s time to move to a guaranteed goal. These goals last 90 days to a year and force you to be more deliberate in the changes you’re going to make.
Here’s what makes these goals guaranteed: you have 100% control over whether this goal happens. For example, you don’t have 100% control over whether you lose weight last year, but you do have complete control over how many times you exercise. Instead of making a goal to “lose 10 pounds,” a guaranteed goal would be: “complete 150 workouts in 2025.”
Favorite Personal Development Books
1&2. The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy and The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson
Neither of these books are new, but they are both considered classics in the productivity and personal development arenas. They both focus on the power of habits that, when compounded over time, add up to big results.
As I mentioned in a previous post, this has been an especially challenging year for us. I (Garland) gave in to stress and stopped practicing many of my Life-Giving Habits for several months. A Life-Giving Habit is any consistent practice that enhances your energy, health, and quality of life, making you a better version of yourself when maintained and causing noticeable decline when neglected. They aren’t always fun, but they give you more energy and make you a better version of yourself.
These two books came at the perfect time. They reminded me that, when it comes to habits, the goal is consistency, not perfection.
Alongside these two books, I’ve used two apps that have helped me develop consistency in these Life-Giving Habits:
- Strides: This app tracks your disciplines and provides you with a scorecard of your most important habits. (All It Takes Is a Goal has a whole chapter on the importance of scorecards.)
- Routinery: This app helps you design and execute your ideal routines. For example, I have a Start of Day routine that helps me get going in the morning. I’ve entered the ritual into the app and assigned times for each activity. Routinery shows a countdown timer for each activity and let’s you check off the item. It’s been great to help me focus on the routine rather than remembering everything I need to do.
3. The Youth Formula by Naveen Jain and Ray Kurzweil
Dorothy and I are creeping up on 50 in a couple years and want to continue living healthy as we get older. The Youth Formula gives insights into how A.I. can personalize your health. For example, spinach is good for most people, but it can be detrimental to others due to its high oxalates (which can contribute to kidney stones). A.I. can help you understand the best foods for you in the near future.
The book is written by the CEO of Viome, a health company that helps you personalize your health. He is trying to convince you to do a Viome test (which I did) and purchase their supplements. This test requires you to submit samples of your blood, saliva, and stools (one of the grossest things I’ve ever done.) The test identifies the vitamins, minerals, foods, and probiotics that your body needs most right now.
I’m doing a six-month experiment with Viome supplements to see if it helps with my health. I’m not endorsing the test or supplements as I only recently took the test and am awaiting my results. Even if these supplements don’t help me, I found this book deeply insightful to the emerging trends of personalized preventative healthcare.
4. The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer
We wrote about this book in Newsletter 077. Everyone has an inner voice that provides constant, often critical feedback about themselves and their actions. This book reveals that this voice isn’t actually you – it’s just your perception of yourself, constantly providing unsolicited advice.
Singer suggests treating this voice like a consultant rather than a boss, giving you the freedom to accept or reject its advice. During challenging times, this voice becomes louder and more cruel, but you have the power to choose whether or not to listen to it.
Favorite Leadership Books
1. Culture Rules: The Leader’s Guide to Creating the Ultimate Competitive Advantage by Mark Miller
Mark has worked with Chick-fil-A for multiple decades in many capacities. He has a long trail of leaders who he has coached and mentored in addition to hundreds of organizations he’s consulted with. Mark even mentored me occasionally for several years.
Culture Rules has great insights on how to intentionally create a healthy, thriving culture in your business. He does not propose a one-size-fits-all strategy. Rather, he shares ideas from across multiple organizations, helping you determine the best practices for your company. (Mark also has an awesome Georgia accent, so the audio book is fun to listen to.)
2. The Journey of Leadership: How CEOs Learn to Lead from the Inside Out by Maor, Kaas, Strovink, and Srinivasan.
This book contains leadership insights from McKenzie & Company. It focuses on the internal work that leaders need to develop — the skills that often make or break your success.
At AdVance Leadership, we talk a lot about the 7 Leadership Traits that Cause 95% of Company Problems. McKenzie’s research solidified our belief that these traits are absolutely critical for leaders to learn, practice, and continually hone.
3. The Loves of Theodore Roosevelt: The Women Who Created a President by Edward O’Keefe
Though not technically marketed as a leadership book, I (Dorothy) gleaned many insights from the women who surrounded Teddy Roosevelt. During a time when opportunities were limited for ambitious women, they instead poured their energies into elevating the men they loved. Theodore Roosevelt’s success is a result of the fascinating women who uplifted him.
Favorite Novels
1. The Arc of a Scythe Trilogy by Neal Shusterman
Our 14-year-old describes this book as a “utopian dystopian” series, and when he insisted we’d like it, we both flew through this YA trilogy.
2. West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge
Based on actual events, a depression-era wanderer transports two giraffes across the country to the San Diego Zoo.
3. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
This novel explores the relationship between a brother and sister as they wrestle with the aftershocks of the challenges of their childhood. The audiobook made this experience exceptionally delightful as it is narrated by Tom Hanks. While listening, I (Dorothy) couldn’t wait for my daily walks with Tom’s comforting, familiar voice accompanying me.
4. Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn
A Hawaiian family navigates life and relationships through the ordinary and supernatural.
5. Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
A scientist gets lost in his own invention, a corridor through the multiverse. Should he explore lives where his regrets are reconciled or return to the life he left behind?
6. The One by John Mars
A DNA test can match you with your perfect life partner. Are this innovation’s consequences worth it?
1 Action
Pick one of these books to read in 2025. Enjoy!