Thinking about the coaching work I’ve done over the years there are a handful of written resources I recommend and refer to time and again. This isn’t an exhaustive list or a prescription for every troubling life situation, it’s a selection of useful reads. ** You can click on the title of each book to go directly to Amazon to read reviews and buy it.**
 

When there’s more happiness and
life satisfaction to be had

Learning from Wonderful Lives (click through to Amazon)
by Nick Baylis is an insight into what people do that have lives that go well. From finding enjoyable work and learning to thrive in the face of adversity, through to developing satisfying relationships and the best ways to nourish and nurture our minds and bodies. This tops my list of books for people who want to make the absolute best of themselves or less optimistically, those who wouldn't wish their life on another. Dr Nick Baylis is a lecturer at Cambridge University and is one of the UK’s foremost positive psychologists.  Also see Nick's new book, The Rough Guide to Happiness: Practical steps for all-round well-being.
 

Authentic Happiness (click through to Amazon)
by Dr Martin Seligman, father of the Positive Psychology movement - which is about studying what’s right with people rather than the traditional psychological approach which is to ask ‘what’s wrong with you?’ – is academically thorough and at the same time readable by non-psychologists. This has been a revealing read for clients who’d never quite been content or understood what makes for a personal and lasting sense of happiness. However, I’m confident everyone reading this gets something from and the anecodotes and practical examples make it particularly readable.

 

Your Best Year Yet (click through to Amazon)
by Jenny Ditzler is a handy place to start when you want to reflect on where you are now and where you are going. Particularly useful if you like to structure your thinking as it contains simple exercises and opportunities to think and respond to specific questions. She poses 10 questions and your responses form a personal plan for the next 12 months. A great September read to tie-in with that unshakeable back-to-school feeling or in March when spring’s coming and we feel like dusting ourselves down. Clients have used this as a starting point for our coaching relationship.

 

When drive and direction in the working
world are on your mind

The Coaching Manual (click through to Amazon)
by Julie Starr is less often quoted than Sir John Whitmore’s Coaching for Performance but is an excellent guide to understanding the mechanics and spirit of coaching. Useful for when you want to help others to develop and find their own solutions. I’ve recommended this book in seminars I’ve led with new line managers and also to fellow coaches.

How to Get a Job You'll Love, 2009/10 Edition (click through to Amazon) by John Lees was recommended in The Times years ago and is useful for thinking about where you might go next. The content is based on the author’s research and combines advice, practical exercises and lots of positive messages about how to proactively manage your career. Clients in the earlier stages of their career have used this in conjunction with our work together.

Sir Richard Branson’s autobiography, Losing My Virginity: The Autobiography (click through to Amazon) can be enjoyed by anyone, whether an entrepreneurial spirit wanting a mentor figure or Jo Blogger needing some inspirational oomph in her life. RB is a gutsy man with integrity, drive and ambition and the book charts his rise from a school drop-out to Britain’s best loved entrepreneur. I’ve recommended this to small business owners, people managers in large organisations and people considering how they can best make their way in the working world.

Also see Finding Square Holes: Discover Who You Really Are and Find the Perfect Career by Anita Houghton and get inspired to shape your working life into something you love by doing the 'WORK' course at The School of Life (www.theschooloflife.com).

 

When there’s room for improvement in the way you operate day to day

7 Habits of Highly Effective People (click through to Amazon)
by Steven R. Covey is a seminal book that continues to be something I quote in many of the corporate workshops I deliver, because of it’s pervading relevance to how we operate. It’s an holistic, integrated and principle-centred approach to becoming the kind of person you’d like to have as your parent, boss or partner.

The Mind Gym: Wake Your Mind Up (click through to Amazon) is a book to be judged by it’s cover. Bright and different. I work with the team at the Mind Gym and because professional integrity comes before anything else I mention this book because it’s good and not for anything else. I’m pinching another reviewer’s succinct depiction of it: “There seem to be two different types of people in this world. On the one hand there are those who just seem to have ingenuity, creativity and presence and then there is everyone else. Although this book wouldn't magically turn the latter into the former, what it does do quite effectively is provide ideas that you can pore over in your own time. When you need to persuade someone to your side of an argument, when you need to find a way to relax, when you need to make an impression...this book introduces you to a broad range of options which help you find methods and techniques that you might have forgotten existed.”

The Mind Gym: Give Me Time (click through to Amazon)
also from The Mind Gym is about doing things in new ways and the old joke about not having time to read a time management book needn’t apply as it’s designed to be dipped in and out of. It’s light, humorous and readily applicable.

Also see The Mind Gym: Relationships(click through to Amazon).

 

For women with parenting
on their mind

Sue Palmer’s Toxic Childhood and Detoxing Childhood (click through to Amazon) are interesting to parents who are, or want to become, mindful of the impact their lives can unwittingly have on their children’s development. She’s an experienced writer and broadcaster on children's education and both books are written in a non-patronising way about the practical things we can be doing to raise confident and content children.

Women I've worked with and I have also found Toddler Taming: The World's Bestselling Parenting Guide by Dr Christopher Green, 1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children 2-12 by Dr Thomas Phelan (the basis of many UK children centre parenting courses) and Allison Mitchell's Time Management for Manic Mums and her follow up book The Manic Mums Guide to Magnificent Parenting: A 7 Week Plan helpful reads.

 

When you’ve tried everything but you’re still struggling with the weight

My review of The No Diet Diet: Do Something Different (click through to Amazon) by Professor Ben C. Fletcher, Professor Karen J. Pine and Dr Danny Penman on Amazon:

This book goes beyond weight loss and having coached one of my (obese) clients using the principles outlined here, I know it works. Reading and living the simple-to-implement ideas is fun which makes it my recommended book for people struggling with weight and the attached low self-esteem and low confidence issues. I am going so far as to recommend it to the "Books on Prescription" project many local libraries are now running for health issues. Having heard Chris Evans (Radio 2 DJ) and The Daily Telegraph give high praise for Professor Fletcher and Dr Pine's work I am in good company. My client had this to say about or work together, where the ‘Do Something Different' theme was a constant thread:

"You are an inspiration. I was always re-energised to take on the world, and all my demons, after our sessions. They were inspiring and encouraging and really helped me focus. I want to bottle it and give myself a mini-session each and every morning to make sure I get the most out of the day... you've provided me with the tools and techniques to new ways of thinking, approaching things, shaking things up etc to help me achieve what I want."

Quite simply, if weight's been a constant problem in your life and it's dragged you towards depressive and/or low-confidence tendencies, this book will make more of a difference than anything else you're likely to have tried.

 

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