I believe it would be helpful to create this resource page that you can always come to for all your self development needs, for yourself, or for your team, or even family and friends. The resources mentioned here, have been part of my personal learning curve, I have selected them to recommend here the helpful resources, hoping they will be as useful to you as they have been for me. I will add more elements to it as I continue to learn more myself. Some of the resources I highlight in my posts. Enjoy browsing!
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links that will provide me a commission. There is no additional cost to you at all. I am an affiliate only for products that I have used and that I believe will help you realize your personal and professional goals in general as well as some specific terms. Where possible the links lead to a book or course in your native language.
Apps
Goal setting & Tracking progress
- This relatively app, called Lift, from end of last year is a very easy and user friendly free app, which allows you to plan your goals, track them, share them and get support even by total strangers to help you to not break the chain! I love it!
Audio (including Podcasts)
Business & Personal Success
- Eventual Millionaire: Jaime Tardy interviews millionaires to share with us what successful people do to become and stay successful.
Decision making
- If you like Daniel Kahneman, have a listen to his discussion with Nassim Taleb (Author of Antifragile) at the NY Public Library on February 5, 2013. You can download it here.
Life lessons
- The British Podcast Maximise Potential provides very inspiring interviews by a variety of well-known people, but also by individuals who faced adversity in their lives.
Productivity & Daily Business Tools
- The podcast from Manager Tools, like this episode on managing your emails three times a day, Managing Email Three Times A Day, as I h
Skill Development
- Pete Williams (the host of Preneurcast) interviews Robert Greene on his new book ‘Mastery’ which guides people to master any skills.
Books (paperback and e-books)
Self Development Books
- ”The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
” by Timothy Ferriss: the guide that is helping me to adapt my lifestyle. Plenty of tips for about every angle if our lives. Great stuff!
- ”The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything
: this book triggered me quite a few years ago to investigate on my passions in life. Ken Robinson is also a talented speaker on creativity, if you are interested.
- “How to win friends and influence people
- “Stumbling on Happiness
- The “The Leader Who Had No Title
- “Thinking, Fast and Slow
- “Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt into Fuel for Brilliance
Leadership
- “Leadership Engine: Building Leaders at Every Level” by Noel M. Tichy: a perfect resource if you are aiming at becoming a better leader for yourself and your company by developing other leaders.
- “The Leader Who Had No Title: A Modern Fable on Real Success in Business and in Life” by Robin Sharma: a successful book on success which makes you change your angle. You have to like this style of writing, though.
- “The One Minute Manager” by Kenneth H. Blanchard and Spencer Johnson: for me a must-read for all leaders out there, even if you are ‘just’ leading yourself.
Hardware
- If you are like me and still prefer physical paper sometime, I can recommend using this action book from Behance
Online courses
- If you are fond of online learning, take a look at Udemy.com, a platform for all kinds of affordable online courses.
- TED course on understanding happiness which is basically a series of TED talks on the topic of happiness with icons like Chip Conley, Dan Gilbert or the Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard.
Tests & Questionnaires
- Strengths Finder 2.0 is a solid test to increase awareness of your strengths, for once not your weaknesses. Which is great to build self confidence.
- Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is one of the classical tests on different personality types. It is a good tool to remind us that we all have different personality traits, and some of those make people more confident than others.
Videos
- Body Language: If you want to understand how you can become more self-confident by changing your postures, watch this video with the researcher Amy Cuddy.
- “How Verbs Are Useful When Setting Measurable Goals”, a two-minute interview with Simon Sinek on how to improve your goal setting by using verbs. If you would like to receive more input on how to make your goals even smarter, read this post.
- Jonathan Fields: “Turning Fear Into Fuel”: an amazing story teller, I do not understand why this talk has so few views!
- “Step Outside Your Comfort Zone and Study Yourself Failing”, a talk given by Joshua Foer at a 99 u Conference: an insightful 17 minute speech on encouraging us to attempt and fail.
- Simon Sinek: How Great Leaders Inspire Action: a 18min TED talk shown also in training sessions to explain the importance of why we do things, the purpose we have to drive our actions.
- Sir Ken Robinson: “Do School Kill Creativity?”: This talk helped me to launch my personal quest to find my “element”. What is yours?
- Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement Address: If you have not watched this 15 min video, do so, right away, if you can. It is worth it!
- Tony Robbins: Why we do what we do: 22 minutes later you want to watch it again, at least me. One of the few talks I have watched many times”
- “Why You Will Fail to Have a Great Career” is a provocative talk by professor Larry Smith who nails key points on why people can fail. Stop thinking about failing!
- “You really havn’t changed, you have just become more of yourself.” – Oprah’s key statement (in my view) at Stanford in 2008, a must watch!
Webinars
- 9 Things Successful Managers Will Do Differently in 2013 by HBR with Heidi Grant Halvorson. Even though it is more an speech with questions than a webinar, but it is worthwhile and touches three of the nine things successful people do differently!
