Must Read: 2022 by Megan Murphy

One of my favorite things to do over the holiday break is read a good book that’s both entertaining and inspiring for the coming year. Once the quiet of the holidays sets in, I’ll turn to a new book.

One of the things our internal team did differently in 2022 was focus on reading more – we even started a book club! Each quarter, we read a professional development book that allowed us a chance to discuss what we learned while polishing our skills with these titles. 

For our final blog of 2022, I thought it would be beneficial to recap all of the books we collectively read this year.

First Quarter read: Free to Focus by Michael Hyatt

At the start of the year, the team wanted to read something that would spark a sustainable overhaul of our time management skills. Reading Free to Focus was a great way to accomplish this, and we learned a lot about our professional strengths and weaknesses. Free to Focus breaks down the four zones of productivity and explains the balance of limiting beliefs and liberating truths when it comes to being productive. We highly recommend reading this to start the new year off on the right foot!

Second Quarter read: Ideal Team Player by Patrick Lencioni

This book was chosen to strengthen our team’s bond and communication skills. In Lencioni’s Ideal Team Player, the content is broken into a relatable narrative and juxtaposed with an easy-to-follow explanation of why you and your team might have found it relatable. To Lencioni, the ideal team player is hard to come by and comprises 3 main qualities: hungry, smart, and humble. We recommend this book for great debate between your team on their version of the ideal team player. This would be a great icebreaker for newer teams! 

Third Quarter read: Eat that Frog! by Brian Tracy

We decided to go with something short and sweet for the summer. Eat that Frog! offers the succinct and powerful experience we were looking for! Eat that Frog offers a solid strategy to combat procrastination and explains that if you get your most critical task out of the way first, you’ll have tackled the “worst thing that can happen that day” right off the bat! This book is great if you’re looking for a fast read whose impact will last you the rest of the year.

Fourth Quarter read: The 12-Week Year by Brian Moran

Finally, we are finishing the 4th Quarter read, The 12 week Year. Moran’s book The 12 Week Year creates focus and clarity on what matters most and a sense of urgency to do it now. Instead of allowing yourself to procrastinate and make the mistake of complacency in your typical year-long plan, focus on urgency and clarity to get goals accomplished quicker. We think this is another great beginning-of-the-year read! Turn your idea of what you can accomplish this coming year on its head. 

If taking time off over the next few weeks to read sounds like an impossible idea to you, schedule a call and find a VA to help free up your schedule!