Book Reviews

‘Start with why: How great leaders inspire everyone to take action‘, written by Simon Sinek, carefully illustrates examples of leaders such as Steve Jobs, Martin Luther King and Sam Walton, who stand out from everyone else for one simple reason… They always start with WHY. As a whole, I enjoyed reading ‘start with why’ finding it a quick, easy yet catchy read. I did, however, have a few reservations and criticism, which are outlined below. But first, I will introduce you to Sinek’s main ideas/the idea’s that most inspired me. There are only two ways to influence behavior I don’t […]

Today’s career book review looks at “Choose Your Career: Strategies for a Satisfying Life” by Janet Scarborough Civitelli, PhD.  In this book, Civitelli draws on the experience and advice of fifteen different career experts. A quick bit about the author…  Janet Scarborough Civitelli, who has a PhD in Counseling Psychology from the University of Texas, has over 19 years experience in providing career coaching and counseling services.  She has recently completed the humungous task of writing the book ‘Choosing your career: strategies for a satisfying life’, and I have been lucky enough to spend some time reading and reviewing it. Before

Martin Seligman, the inventor of “positive psychology”, has dedicated most of his working life to positive psychology and to the understanding of human well-being. I must admit that, as an undergraduate psychology student, I never took a particular interest in positive psychology.  In fact, I’d almost forgotten it existed. That was, of course, until I stumbled across Martin Seligman’s book ‘Flourish’, which corrected the flaws of his earlier theory ‘Authentic happiness’ and introduced the new, and novel, idea of positive psychology. Positive psychology focuses on our well-being and how we can increase it. It is different to most other forms

Over the last few days, I have spent some of my time reading and reviewing the fantastic work of  Cal Newport and his book ‘So Good They Can’t Ignore you’. At just over 200 pages, the book is a quick and easy read. Throughout the book, Newport cleverly and neatly introduces four simple rules that he believes will lead us all to successful and fulfilling careers. Of course, many of us believe that rules are made to be broken, but I think these might be some rules you’ll want to follow very closely. Rule 1) Don’t follow your passion (its

Written by Austrian Neurologist-psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, Victor Frankl, ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’ was in intense, reflective and incredibly insightful read. The first one hundred or so pages of the book describe Frankl’s harrowing and traumatic experiences in concentration camps during World War Two. I must say, I started to read this book whilst on a flight back from a six-month trip to Australia and New Zealand and I have never felt more grateful. Despite describing the worst suffering that one could imagine; the first section is written with grave consideration, to avoid being overly depressing and cynical. Frankl explains