As the new year begins, there is often a quiet restart. It’s not so much about reinventing oneself as it is about reorienting oneself. Reading has been shown to help with empathy, focus, and making decisions that are good for the long run in the fields of psychology, education, and organisational research. Neuroscience says that stories can help the brain understand how to do things, which makes it easier to use intelligence in real life. George Eliot wrote, “It is never too late to be what you might have been.” But big changes don’t usually happen all at once. It can be understood through deep thought, better questions, and small changes in how you see things. When people are going through changes in their job, problems with leadership, or uncertainty about their creative projects, they often turn to old ideas that work. This list discusses books that have helped people take a break, reset, and start their next chapter with a clear mind.
Table of Contents
Frankl Helped Me Reframe My Next Chapter
I read Viktor Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning” while selling my company. That was a weird time. The book isn’t about business, it’s about finding purpose in the worst situations. It made me realize the next career move isn’t everything. It’s just a new chapter. If you need a major shift in how you see things, this book does it.
Bennett Maxwell, CEO, Franchise KI
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Deep Work Boosted Output And Cut Stress
Running an online store? Read Cal Newport’s ‘Deep Work’. My accounting team started blocking out distractions for focused work, and our output went up while our team stress went down. This approach helps you see what actually matters, which builds real confidence. I recommend it if you want to grow your business without burning everyone out.
Ben Sztejka, Managing Director, Your Ecommerce Accountant
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Drive Shifted Us To Intrinsic Motivation
I’d recommend Daniel H. Pink’s “Drive.” It made me rethink everything. I used to think money was the biggest motivator, but this book changed my mind. I changed our recognition program to focus on the internal stuff. Suddenly, people started sharing ideas in our Friday meetings instead of just waiting for the clock to hit five. This stuff works.
Graham Bennett, COO, Bennett Awards
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Atomic Habits Built Momentum For Tutorbase
Start the year with Atomic Habits. This book changed everything for me when I was launching Tutorbase. It shows you how to build small habits that actually stick around. I like that Clear uses simple examples to prove you’re still moving forward even when progress feels slow. That’s a good reminder for any new project.
Sandro Kratz, Founder, Tutorbase
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Good To Great Aligned Our Team Fast
Pick up Jim Collins’s “Good to Great” for the new year. It changed how I run my business. The book isn’t about fancy buzzwords, it’s about getting your team aligned and actually working together. I started using ideas from it the week I finished reading. It just works.
Justin Carpenter, Founder, Jacksonville Maids
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Good Strategy Refocused My SEO With Clarity
If you want to get your head straight for the new year, read Good Strategy Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt. I picked it up this January and it changed how I handle my SEO campaigns. The chapter on focus helped me cut out so much wasted effort. The book has no fluff, no corporate jargon. It just tells you what to do first.
Justin Herring, Founder and CEO, YEAH! Local
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Lean In Helped Me Ask For More
If you need a little motivation each January, try Lean In. Working in a male-dominated field, this book gave me the confidence to go for a promotion I was scared to ask for. It just reminds me that it’s okay to be more assertive in meetings. I think any woman trying to find her footing in her career would get a lot out of it.
Lara Woodham, Director, Rowlen Boiler Services
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The Little Prince Deepened Our Conversations
I’ve been recommending The Little Prince lately. It’s a small book but makes you stop and think. I saw it work its magic with a team from all over. We started asking “what’s the story here?” instead of just “what’s the problem?” It changed our whole conversation. We picked it for an event about handling change, and it was the right call. It reminds you to look past the surface.
Yoan Amselem, Managing Director, German Cultural Association of Hong Kong
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Big Magic Freed Me From Perfection
Read Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Big Magic.” I used to just make music, but then I started mixing art and sound to help people relax. Her book is the only thing that actually got me to stop worrying about being perfect and just try stuff. I’ve read plenty of other books for ideas, but this is the one that stuck. If you create things or just need a fresh start, you’ll probably get a lot out of it.
Vasco Lourenço, Owner, Colorful Sunday
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Phoenix Project Cleared Bottlenecks And Improved Delivery
If you lead a consulting team or handle digital change, The Phoenix Project is a great way to start the year. The part about fixing bottlenecks with systems thinking really clicks with teams, especially when remote work gets messy. I’ve used those ideas to get our internal projects and client launches unstuck. It’s practical advice, not just business theory.
Karl Threadgold, Managing Director, Threadgold Consulting
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Moore’s Chasm Framework Guided Our Market Expansion
If you’re starting a tech company, read Geoffrey Moore’s Crossing the Chasm. When we launched dynares, his book helped us figure out who to call after our first customers. It made the process of moving to a bigger market less of a guessing game. The book is great for figuring out your next steps when you’re trying to grow.
Dan Tabaran, CEO, dynares
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The Innovators Celebrated Collaboration Over Genius
Our team at Zentro Internet started the year with Walter Isaacson’s The Innovators. What stuck with us wasn’t the lone geniuses, but how they built on each other’s work. It’s a good reminder for us that you don’t need a perfect idea to share it, and that our best work will probably come from working together.
Andrew Dunn, Vice President of Marketing, Zentro Internet
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The E-Myth Turned Work Into Systems
If you need a business reset for the new year, read The E-Myth Revisited. It made me realize I was just working for myself, not running a business. I learned to create written processes so my team could get things done without me. Gerber’s approach is direct and helps you break those big, scary goals into weekly tasks. It’s a classic for a reason.
Ryan Dosenberry, CEO, Crushing REI
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Zen Simplicity Improved Our Showroom Focus
“The Japanese Art of Simple Living” by Shunmyo Masuno is the book I’d recommend. I took its ideas about purpose and applied them to our showroom. Instead of filling every surface, I focused on just three key items per display. People started spending more time in there, really looking at things. It’s perfect for a clean start with home design.
Richard Skeoch, Company Director, Hyperion Tiles
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The Content Code Made Our Work Visible
Check out Mark Schaefer’s “The Content Code.” It’s the one book that actually helped me figure out how to get content seen instead of just published. I’ve used his ideas on client work and our own stuff with good results. It takes some of the guesswork out of creating something people will actually notice.
Sean Chaudhary, Founder, AlchemyLeads
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One Hundred Years Sparked Wonder And Dialogue
I often recommend Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude to new readers. Over the years, I’ve seen this book spark fantastic conversations about time, family, and how things circle back. It shows you how every ending contains a beginning. Starting the year with this book is a good move, it keeps you curious.
Carmen Jordan Fernandez, Academic Director, The Spanish Council of Singapore
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Cialdini Reveals How Influence Truly Works
Anything by Robert Cialdini is great because he has exceptional knowledge of psychology. His works can help you understand why people behave the way they do and what you can do to influence the people around you. He’s an exceptional author for salespeople, marketers and anyone who wants to learn more about human nature.
Daniel Kroytor, CEO, TailoredPay
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Gifts Of Imperfection Made Room For Humanity
I often suggest Brene Brown’s “The Gifts of Imperfection” for a better start to the year. With both teens and coworkers, the idea of letting go of perfection really clicks. It’s such a relief to accept being human as enough. We picked it for our team workshops at Mission Prep Healthcare because it offers a practical way to be yourself and figure out what matters, without all the pressure.
Aja Chavez, Executive Director, Mission Prep Healthcare
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The Power Of Now Calmed Growth Stress
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle is a great one. When I was scaling Hire Fitness, it taught me to stop worrying about future challenges and just focus on the decision in front of me. That made the day-to-day stuff so much easier. I’ve found that even a short bit of focusing on the present can clear your head and keep you moving when you’re starting fresh.
Paul Healey, Managing Director, Hire Fitness
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Creative Intelligence Helped Teams Solve Messy Problems
Here’s a book that actually helped my work: Creative Intelligence by Bruce Nussbaum. I’m always trying to make AI and human creativity click together, and his ideas about messy problems gave me some real tools to use. We’ve been building Superpencil for a while now, and getting different teams talking to each other – something he talks about – made our stuff work better. If you need new ideas, he’s worth a read.
Bell Chen, Founder and CEO, Superpencil (Enlighten Animation Labs)
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Lean Startup Saved Us From Costly Missteps
I tell everyone to read The Lean Startup by Eric Ries. On my last project, the idea of testing small ideas first saved us from wasting months on the wrong approach. This was especially true after we had to scrap a big feature. It’s not magic, but it gives you a real process for figuring things out without betting the whole company.
Oliver Aleksejuk, Managing Director, Techcare
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Permission Mindset Turned Outreach Into Dialogue
If you want to get better at marketing this year, pick up Seth Godin’s Permission Marketing. After reading it, I got that everything changes when people actually choose to hear from you. It stops being an interruption and starts being a conversation. That idea shaped how we built ReelRecall, putting users completely in charge. Anyone trying to connect with people online should read this.
Nick Rogers, CEO, ReelRecall.ai
About ‘What Experts Read’
In our unique series, ‘What Experts Read,’ discover the literary inspirations and must-reads of thought leaders and industry experts. Each article highlights the books that have impacted the viewpoints, tactics, and success of successful entrepreneurs and seasoned leaders in their respective areas.
Discover a wide range of sectors, including technology, finance, healthcare, and more, as professionals share their best book suggestions and talk about the significant influence these reads have had on their careers. Discover priceless information, expand your horizons, and gain insightful knowledge from experts at the forefront of their fields.
‘What Experts Read’ is an insightful look at the relationship between knowledge, experience, and the written word, and it may be of interest to anybody looking for motivation, strategic advice, or just to learn more about the reading preferences of prominent industry figures. Join us for this insightful tour of the most important leaders’ bookshelves of today.
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Reflecting on past experiences can provide a very clear path toward future success.
That’s so relatable! sometimes the biggest changes only make sense in hindsight.