9 Reads to Enhance Your Professional Development this Summer

Ah, summertime and the reading is easy. As you prepare to embark on your long-awaited vacation you’re probably looking for some suggestions on some reading material. A thrilling spy caper? Maybe the latest dystopian nightmare? How about a nice romantic escapade?

Sorry, but you’ve come to the wrong blog. Those topics listed above are covered extensively elsewhere – just look for the clickbait. Here we are more concerned about the professional “you”. How you can use this relaxing time away from the office to improve yourself professionally. The goal, of course, is so you can take better vacations.

Let’s start with a few of the classics:

Who Moved My Cheese: An Amazing Way To Deal With Change In Your Work And Your Life by Spencer Johnson – Don’t let the mouse or the metaphor fool you.

The Seven Habits Of Highly Successful People: Powerful Lessons In Personal 

Change by Stephen R. Covey – Yes, it was written 30 years ago. No, the concepts have not changed in the digital age.

StrengthsFinder2.0 by Tom Rath – Do you soar with your strengths or try to strengthen your weaknesses. Do you even know what your strengths are? This will help you find out.

Nice Girls Don’t Get The Corner Office: Unconscious Mistakes Women Make That Sabotage Their Careers by Lois P. Frankel – A new revised edition is out. Written by an executive coach who outlines 130 different behaviors.

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink – Spoiler alert: It’s not money.

120 Jobs That Won’t Chain You To Your Desk – Princeton Review – Has your career path turned into a muddy road? This book may provide you with an off-ramp.

The Power Of Habit: Why We Do What We Do In Life And Business by Charles Duhigg – Why do habits exist? How can they change? Habits aren’t destiny.

Originals: How Non-Conformists Move The World by Adam Grant – Should you focus on refining a few ideas or generating a lot of them? How do balance risk? There are stories to answer those questions.

The War Of Art: Break Through The Blocks And Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield – How to overcome resistance. Amazon describes this as Sun-Tzu for the soul.

This is by no means a comprehensive or complete list. To be sure, there is an entire industry built around this topic. However, do yourself a favor. Find a bookstore (they still exist) and browse for thirty minutes. It will help you get into that vacation state of mind.