Recommended Books

All books are recommended to clients and anyone wanting to learn:

The Talent Code

Author By: Daniel Coyle
A cutting-edge exploration of how talent works and how it can be created and honed.

'Talent. You've either got it or you haven't.' Not true, actually.

In The Talent Code, award-winning journalist Daniel Coyle draws on cutting-edge research to reveal that, far from being some abstract mystical power fixed at birth, ability really can be created and nurtured.

In the process, he considers talent at work in venues as diverse as a music school in Dallas and a tennis academy near Moscow to demonstrate how the wiring of our brains can be transformed by the way we approach particular tasks. He explains what is really going on when apparently unremarkable people suddenly make a major leap forward. He reveals why some teaching methods are so much more effective than others. Above all, he shows how all of us can achieve our full potential if we set about training our brains in the right way.

Hold on to Your Kids

Author By: Gabor Maté, Gordon Neufeld
Children take their lead from their friends: being ‘cool’ matters more than anything else. Shaping values, identity and codes of behaviour, peer groups are often far more influential than parents.

But this situation is far from natural, and it can be dangerous – it undermines family cohesion, interferes with healthy development, and fosters a hostile and sexualized youth culture. Children end up becoming conformist, anxious and alienated.

In Hold on to Your Kids, acclaimed physician and bestselling author Gabor Maté joins forces with Gordon Neufeld, a psychologist with a reputation for penetrating to the heart of complex parenting. Together they pinpoint the causes of this breakdown and offer practical advice on how to ‘reattach’ to sons and daughters, establish the hierarchy at home, make children feel safe and understood, and earn back your children's loyalty and love. This updated edition also addresses the unprecedented parenting challenges posed by the rise of digital devices and social media.

By helping to reawaken our instincts, Maté and Neufeld empower parents to be what nature intended: a true source of contact, security and warmth for their children.

Talent Is Overrated

Author By: Geoff Colvin
"Excellent."--The Wall Street Journal

Since its publication ten years ago, businesspeople, investors, doctors, parents, students, athletes, and musicians at every level have adopted the maxims of Talent Is Overrated to get better at what they're passionate about. Now this classic has been updated and revised with new research and takeaways to help anyone achieve even greater performance.

Why are certain people so incredibly great at what they do? Most of us think we know the answer--but we're almost always wrong. That's important, because if we're wrong on this crucial question, then we have zero chance of getting significantly better at anything we care about. Happily, the real source of great performance is no longer a mystery. Bringing together extensive scientific research, bestselling author Geoff Colvin shows where we go wrong and what actually makes world-class performers so remarkable. It isn't specific, innate talent, nor is it plain old hard work. It's a very specific type of work that anyone can do--but most people don't. What's more, the principles of great performance apply to virtually any activity that matters to you. Readers worldwide have been inspired by this book's liberating message: You don't need a one-in-a-million natural gift. Better performance, and maybe even world-class performance, is closer than you think.

Scattered Minds explodes the myth of attention deficit disorder as genetically based – and offers real hope and advice for children and adults who live with the condition.

Gabor Maté is a revered physician who specializes in neurology, psychiatry and psychology – and himself has ADD. With wisdom gained through years of medical practice and research, Scattered Minds is a must-read for parents – and for anyone interested how experiences in infancy shape the biology and psychology of the human brain.

Scattered Minds:

Demonstrates that ADD is not an inherited illness, but a reversible impairment and developmental delay

Explains that in ADD, circuits in the brain whose job is emotional self-regulation and attention control fail to develop in infancy – and why

Shows how ‘distractibility’ is the psychological product of life experience

Allows parents to understand what makes their ADD children tick, and adults with ADD to gain insights into their emotions and behaviours

Expresses optimism about neurological development even in adulthood

Presents a programme of how to promote this development in both children and adults

Proven Skills for Navigating the Real Challenges of Intimate Relationships

What does it take for couples to sustain love? How can you deepen your relationship even when you and your partner disagree, fight, or let each other down? Intimacy isn’t something you have. It’s something you do, teaches Terry Real. It’s a minute-by-minute practice of connecting to others through empathy, vulnerability, and accountability. With Fierce Intimacy, this renowned author offers a revolutionary way of living in connection–one that allows you to cherish your partner, yourself, and your relationship in equal measure.

A reminder of what truly matter, as told through the adventures of four beloved friends. Based on Charlie’s daily Instagram. For fans of Winnie-the-Pooh’s Little Book of Wisdom.

A book of hope for uncertain times.

The conversations between the four characters in this book – the boy, the mole, the fox and the horse – have been shared thousands of times online, recreated in school art classes, turned into tattoos, they inspire parents and grandparents, comfort children, cheer people who feel lonely, are grieving, need courage, or a reminder that they are not alone and to keep going when life is hard.

Enter the world of Charlie Mackesy’s creations, these four unlikely friends, discover their story and their most poignant and universal life lessons. The book includes Charlie’s most loved illustrations and new ones too.

A “thought-provoking and powerful” study that goes beyond simplistic self-help remedies to reframe everything you’ve been taught about addiction and recovery-from the New York Times-bestselling author of The Myth of Normal (Bruce Perry, author of The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog).

An addiction specialist combines real-life stories with cutting-edge research to offer a holistic approach to understanding addiction-its origins, its place in society, and the importance of self-compassion in recovery.

Based on Gabor Mate’s two decades of experience as a medical doctor and his groundbreaking work with the severely addicted on Vancouver’s skid row, this #1 international bestseller radically re-envisions this much misunderstood field by taking a holistic approach to substance abuse and addiction recovery.

In the same vein as Bessel van der Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts traces the root causes of addiction to childhood trauma and examines the pervasiveness of addiction in society. Dr. Mate presents addiction not as a discrete phenomenon confined to an unfortunate or weak-willed few, but as a continuum that runs throughout-and perhaps underpins-our society. It is not a medical “condition” distinct from the lives it affects but rather the result of a complex interplay among personal history, emotional and neurological development, brain chemistry, and the drugs and behaviors of addiction. Simplifying a wide array of brain and addiction research findings from around the globe, the book avoids glib self-help remedies, instead promoting a thorough and compassionate self-understanding as the first key to healing and wellness.

Dr. Mate argues persuasively against contemporary health, social, and criminal justice policies toward addiction and how they perpetuate the War on Drugs. The mix of personal stories-including the author’s candid discussion of his own “high-status” addictive tendencies-and science with positive solutions makes the book equally useful for lay readers and professionals.

Thanks to the exciting new field of neuroscience, we can chart the workings of the brain and the rest of the nervous system in remarkable detail to explain how neurons, synapses, neurotransmitters, and other biological processes produce all the experiences of everyday life. Open your eyes to how neural processes produce the familiar features of human existence with these 36 richly detailed lectures. You’ll explore the brain under stress and in love, learning, sleeping, thinking, hallucinating, and just looking around.

It’s always a risk to play with memories, when you can’t help but sink into a sea of others’ wishes, hopes, and dreams … but if losing myself means saving my mother, isn’t it worth it.

In the city of Craewick, memories reign. The power-obsessed ruler of the city, Madame, has cultivated a society in which memories are currency, citizens are divided by ability, and Gifted individuals can take memories from others through touch as they please.

Seventeen-year-old Etta Lark is desperate to live outside of the corrupt culture, but she grapples with the guilt of an accident that has left her mother bedridden in the city’s asylum. When Madame threatens to put her mother up for auction, a Craewick practice in which a “criminal’s” memories are sold to the highest bidder before being killed, Etta will do whatever it takes to save her. Even if it means rejoining the Shadows, the rebel group she swore off in the wake of the accident years earlier.

To rescue her mother, Etta must prove her allegiance to the Shadows by stealing a memorized map of the Maze, a formidable prison created by the bloodthirsty ruler of a neighboring Realm. Etta faces startling attacks, unexpected romance, and above all, her own past as she uncovers a conspiracy that challenges everything she knew about herself and the world around her.

In a place where nothing is what it seems, can Etta ever become more than a memory thief.

The Memory Thief:

Is perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Victoria Aveyard.
Brings readers on an unforgettable journey during which Etta must learn-often the hard way-just what it will take to save her city and her mother.
Is a clean, coming of age YA fantasy by up-and-coming author Lauren Mansy.

Could psychedelic drugs change our worldview? One of America’s most revered writers takes us on a mind-altering journey to the frontiers of human consciousness.

‘It’s as if we made entering gothic cathedrals illegal, or museums, or sunsets!’

When LSD was first discovered in the 1940s, it seemed to researchers, scientists and doctors as if the world might be on the cusp of psychological revolution. It promised to shed light on the deep mysteries of consciousness, as well as offer relief to addicts and the mentally ill. But in the 1960s, with the vicious backlash against the counter-culture, all further research was banned.

In recent years, however, work has quietly begun again on the amazing potential of LSD, psilocybin and DMT. Could these drugs in fact improve the lives of many people? Diving deep into this extraordinary world and putting himself forward as a guinea-pig, Michael Pollan has written a remarkable history of psychedelics and a compelling portrait of the new generation of scientists fascinated by the implications of these drugs. How to Change Your Mind is a report from what could very well be the future of human consciousness.

The iconic bestseller. The world’s benchmark business and personal development book. This book will help you solve one of the biggest problems you face: how to get along with and influence people in your daily business and social contacts. Since it was first published in 1936, Dale Carnegie’s all-time classic has been translated into almost every known language and continues to help millions of readers around the world.

How to Win Friends & Influence People can help you achieve these important goals: Get out of a mental rut, think new thoughts, acquire new visions, discover new ambitions; Make friends easily and quickly; Increase your popularity; Win people to your way of thinking; Increase your influence, your prestige, your ability to get things done; Handle complaints, avoid arguments; Become a better speaker and more entertaining conversationalist

Think and Grow Rich has been called the “Granddaddy of All Motivational Literature.” It was the first book to boldly ask, “What makes a winner?” The man who asked and listened for the answer, Napoleon Hill, is now counted in the top ranks of the world’s winners himself.

The most famous of all teachers of success spent “a fortune and the better part of a lifetime of effort” to produce the “Law of Success” philosophy that forms the basis of his books and that is so powerfully summarized in this one.

In the original Think and Grow Rich, published in 1937, Hill draws on stories of Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and other millionaires of his generation to illustrate his principles. In the updated version, Arthur R. Pell, Ph.D., a nationally known author, lecturer, and consultant in human resources management and an expert in applying Hill’s thought, deftly interweaves anecdotes of how contemporary millionaires and billionaires, such as Bill Gates, Mary Kay Ash, Dave Thomas, and Sir John Templeton, achieved their wealth. Outmoded or arcane terminology and examples are faithfully refreshed to preclude any stumbling blocks to a new generation of readers.

Zig Ziglar may be the master motivator, MarkVictor Hansen of Chicken Soup For the Soul, the master storyteller; Anthony Robbins may be the guru of personal development, but Bob Proctor is the master
thinker. When it comes to systematizing life, no one else can touch him. He is simply the best. Bob Proctor
collects thoughts like Imelda Marcos used to collect shoes. He strings them together in exquisite arrays;
one thought leading logically to the next until a whole method has been constructed.
In this volume, You Were Born Rich, Bob Proctor has done it again, this time taking you step by step to
the surprising discovery that success is not always reaching out for something that you don’t have but
rather only reaching over and rearranging the pieces already there. I read with fascination as Bob carefully
built his case and then found myself instantly applying his conclusions to ongoing projects and relationships.
Therein lies the great value of this book. You can instantly apply the conclusions to your own life. It
will begin to impact you long before you reach the last chapter.

Ever stopped to think about your brain? We mean, really think.

Is your brain – or any brain, for that matter – better than others? Is there something in your brain that makes you you, as opposed to someone else? Certainly, what makes your brain any different from the brain of a mouse? Or a whale?

As you can imagine, there’s a lot going on inside our heads that we’re not aware of. Thankfully, we have neuroscientists out there whose entire mission is to better understand the perplexing nature of how the human brain works. And what they’ve discovered about the diversity of our brains could revolutionize not just science but also your own everyday life.

*** Instant New York Times bestseller ***

*** USA Today bestseller ***

*** Wall Street Journal bestseller ***

From legendary Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and MMA master Rickson Gracie comes a riveting, insightful memoir that weaves together the story of Gracie’s stunning career with the larger history of the Gracie family dynasty and the founding of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, showing how the connection between mind and body can be harnessed for success both inside and outside the ring.

Undefeated from the late 1970s through his final fight in the Tokyo Dome in 2000, Rickson Gracie amassed hundreds of victories in the street, on the mat, at the beach, and in the ring. He has joined the pantheon that includes Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, and Jackie Chan as one of the most famous martial artists of the twentieth century. Jiu-Jitsu, the fighting style developed and pioneered by his family, has become one of the world’s most prominent martial arts, and Vale Tudo, the “anything goes” style of Brazilian street fighting over which the Gracies had a monopoly, was an early precursor to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Simply put, without the Gracie family, there would be no sport of “MMA,” no 4-billion-dollar UFC empire, and no “Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu” at strip malls all across America.

The definitive playbook for any negotiation situation, by the FBI’s former lead hostage negotiator.
THE HUGE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
A former FBI hostage negotiator offers a new, field-tested approach to negotiating – effective in any situation.
‘Riveting‘ Adam Grant
‘Stupendous‘ The Week
‘Brilliant’ Guardian
____________________________
After a stint policing the rough streets of Kansas City, Missouri, Chris Voss joined the FBI, where his career as a kidnapping negotiator brought him face-to-face with bank robbers, gang leaders and terrorists. Never Split the Difference takes you inside his world of high-stakes negotiations, revealing the nine key principles that helped Voss and his colleagues succeed when it mattered the most – when people’s lives were at stake.

Rooted in the real-life experiences of an intelligence professional at the top of his game, Never Split the Difference will give you the competitive edge in any discussion.

Over 3 million copies sold.

Over 800 positive reviews.

Adapted from the New York Times bestseller The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens is the ultimate teenage success guide–now updated for the digital age.

Imagine you had a roadmap–a step-by-step guide to help you get from where you are now, to where you want to be in the future. Your goals, your dreams, your plans…they’re all within reach. You just need the tools to help you get there.

That’s what Sean Covey’s landmark book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, has been to millions of teens: a handbook to self-esteem and success. Now updated for the digital age, this classic book applies the timeless principles of 7 Habits to the tough issues and life-changing decisions teens face. Covey provides a simple approach to help teens improve self-image, build friendships, resist peer pressure, achieve their goals, and appreciate their parents, as well as tackle the new challenges of our time, like cyberbullying and social media. In addition, this book is stuffed with cartoons, clever ideas, great quotes, and incredible stories about real teens from all over the world.

Endorsed by high-achievers such as former 49ers quarterback Steve Young and 28-time Olympic medalist Michael Phelps, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens has become the last word on surviving and thriving as a teen.

Do you want success? More success than you have now? And even more success than you ever imagined possible? That is what this book is about. Achieving it. No gimmicks. No hyperbole. Finally, just the truth on what it takes to earn success As the central curator of the success media industry for over 25 years, author Darren Hardy has heard it all, seen it all, and tried most of it. This book reveals the core principles that drive success. The Compound Effect contains the essence of what every superachiever needs to know, practice, and master to obtain extraordinary success. Inside you will find strategies on:

How to win-every time! The No. 1 strategy to achieve any goal and triumph over any competitor, even if they’re smarter, more talented or more experienced.
Eradicating your bad habits (some you might be unaware of!) that are derailing your progress.
Painlessly installing the few key disciplines required for major breakthroughs.
The real, lasting keys to motivation-how to get yourself to do things you don’t feel like doing.
Capturing the elusive, awesome force of momentum. Catch this, and you’ll be unstoppable.
The acceleration secrets of superachievers. Do they have an unfair advantage? Yes, they do, and now you can too!

If you’re serious about living an extraordinary life, use the power of The Compound Effect to create the success you desire. Begin your journey today!

A book that changes everything – from the legendary Dr Gabor Mate
‘It all starts with waking up… to what our bodies are expressing and our minds are suppressing’
Western countries invest billions in healthcare, yet mental illness and chronic diseases are on a seemingly unstoppable rise. Nearly 70% of Americans are now on prescription drugs. So what is ‘normal’ when it comes to health?

Over four decades of clinical experience, renowned physician and addiction expert Dr Gabor Mate has seen how health systems neglect the role that trauma exerts on our bodies and our minds. Medicine often fails to treat the whole person, ignoring how today’s culture stresses our bodies, burdens our immune systems and undermines emotional balance.

Now, in his most ambitious and urgent book yet, Dr Mate connects the dots between our personal suffering and the pressures of modern-day living – with disease as a natural reflection of a life spent growing further and further apart from our true selves. But, with deep compassion, he also shows us a pathway to health and healing.

Filled with stories of people in the grip of illness or in the triumphant wake of recovery, this life-affirming book, co-written with his son Daniel, proves true health is possible – if we are willing to reconnect with each other and our authentic selves.

Experience one of the greatest adventure stories of the modern age: The harrowing tale of British explorer Ernest Shackleton’s 1914 attempt to reach the South Pole.

In August 1914, polar explorer Ernest Shackleton boarded the Endurance and set sail for Antarctica, where he planned to cross the last uncharted continent on foot. In January 1915, after battling its way through a thousand miles of pack ice and only a day’s sail short of its destination, the Endurance became locked in an island of ice. Thus began the legendary ordeal of Shackleton and his crew of twenty-seven men. When their ship was finally crushed between two ice floes, they attempted a near-impossible journey over 850 miles of the South Atlantic’s heaviest seas to the closest outpost of civilization.

In Endurance, the definitive account of Ernest Shackleton’s fateful trip, Alfred Lansing brilliantly narrates the harrowing and miraculous voyage that has defined heroism for the modern age.

A book for finding purpose and strength in times of great despair, the international best-seller is still just as relevant today as when it was first published.

“This is a book I reread a lot . . . it gives me hope . . . it gives me a sense of strength.”
–Anderson Cooper, Anderson Cooper 360/CNN

This seminal book, which has been called “one of the outstanding contributions to psychological thought” by Carl Rogers and “one of the great books of our time” by Harold Kushner, has been translated into more than fifty languages and sold over sixteen million copies. “An enduring work of survival literature,” according to the New York Times, Viktor Frankl’s riveting account of his time in the Nazi concentration camps, and his insightful exploration of the human will to find meaning in spite of the worst adversity, has offered solace and guidance to generations of readers since it was first published in 1946. At the heart of Frankl’s theory of logotherapy (from the Greek word for “meaning”) is a conviction that the primary human drive is not pleasure, as Freud maintained, but rather the discovery and pursuit of what the individual finds meaningful. Today, as new generations face new challenges and an ever more complex and uncertain world, Frankl’s classic work continues to inspire us all to find significance in the very act of living, in spite of all obstacles.

This gift edition come with endpapers, supplementary photographs, and several of Frankl’s previously unpublished letters, speeches, and essays. This book was published with two different covers. Customers will be shipped one of the two at random.

#1 BESTSELLER The groundbreaking book that redefines what it means to be smart, with a new introduction by the author
“A thoughtfully written, persuasive account explaining emotional intelligence and why it can be crucial.”-USA Today
Everyone knows that high IQ is no guarantee of success, happiness, or virtue, but until Emotional Intelligence, we could only guess why. Daniel Goleman’s brilliant report from the frontiers of psychology and neuroscience offers startling new insight into our “two minds”-the rational and the emotional-and how they together shape our destiny.

Drawing on groundbreaking brain and behavioral research, Goleman shows the factors at work when people of high IQ flounder and those of modest IQ do surprisingly well. These factors, which include self-awareness, self-discipline, and empathy, add up to a different way of being smart-and they aren’t fixed at birth. Although shaped by childhood experiences, emotional intelligence can be nurtured and strengthened throughout our adulthood-with immediate benefits to our health, our relationships, and our work.

The twenty-fifth-anniversary edition of Emotional Intelligence could not come at a better time-we spend so much of our time online, more and more jobs are becoming automated and digitized, and our children are picking up new technology faster than we ever imagined. With a new introduction from the author, the twenty-fifth-anniversary edition prepares readers, now more than ever, to reach their fullest potential and stand out from the pack with the help of EI.

It’s the biggest revolution you’ve never heard of, and it’s hiding in plain sight. Over the past decade, Silicon Valley executives like Eric Schmidt and Elon Musk, special operators like the Navy SEALs and the Green Berets, and maverick scientists like Sasha Shulgin and Amy Cuddy have turned everything we thought we knew about high performance upside down. Instead of grit, better habits, or 10,000 hours, these trailblazers have found a surprising shortcut. They’re harnessing rare and controversial states of consciousness to solve critical challenges and outperform the competition.

New York Times bestselling author Steven Kotler and high-performance expert Jamie Wheal spent four years investigating the leading edges of this revolution from the home of SEAL Team Six to the Googleplex, the Burning Man festival, Richard Branson’s Necker Island, Red Bull’s training center, Nike’s innovation team, and the United Nations headquarters. And what they learned was stunning: In their own ways, with differing languages, techniques, and applications, every one of these groups has been quietly seeking the same thing: the boost in information and inspiration that altered states provide.

The Revolution Has Only Just Begun Twenty-five years ago Robert Greenleaf published these prophetic essays on what he coined servant leadership, a practical philosophy that replaces traditional autocratic leadership with a holistic, ethical approach. This highly influential book has been embraced by cutting edge management everywhere. Yet in these days of Enron and what VISA CEO Dee Hock calls our era of massive institutional failure, Greenleaf’s seminal work must reach the mainstream now more than ever. Servant Leadership– – helps leaders find their true power and moral authority to lead. – helps those served become healthier, wiser, freer, and more autonomous. – encourages collaboration, trust, listening, and empowerment. – offers long-lasting change, not a temporary fix. – extends beyond business for leaders of all types of groups. +

The Body Keeps the Score” eloquently articulates how overwhelming experiences affect the development of brain, mind, and body awareness, all of which are closely intertwined. The resulting derailments have a profound impact on the capacity for love and work

20 life lessons from a leading sports psychologist on how to bolster your resilience, boost your positivity, and achieve success.

Leading sports and performance psychologist, Bill Beswick, sees sport as a story of human connection. When faced with physical challenges, pressure and fatigue, the mind is the athlete and the body is simply the means. Changing Your Story explores how the way we think and feel is vital for releasing positive energy and improving our performance.

Anything is possible when you realise it’s never too late to switch direction and change your story.

Instead of concentrating on how to improve your technique, it starts from the understanding that ‘every game is composed of two parts, an outer game and an inner game’. The former is played against opponents on the court, but the latter is a battle within ourselves as we try and overcome self-doubt and anxiety. It is often won or lost before a ball has been hit.

We are hardwired for moderate exertion throughout each day, not triathlons or treadmills. Drawing on over a decade of high-level scientific research and eye-opening insights from evolutionary biology and anthropology, Lieberman explains precisely how exercise can promote health; debunks persistent myths about sitting, speed, strength and endurance; and points the way towards more enjoyable and physically active living in the modern world.