9 Great Books For Career Coaching

Books are regarded as a man’s best and the most genuine of friends. One does not have to give in too much, yet can take in so much.

A career is a rather tough choice. It is one of those big decisions of life that need a lot of introspection, gauging and foresightedness. One could always do with some help in such a situation. Getting a career coach at this point is the most effective step one can take.

But not everyone is comfortable mouthing their problems or opening up to strangers, and this is when career coaching/counselling books come in handy.

If you are someone who is struggling with choices and decisions regarding your career, here is a list of top books that can help you out:

1. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change

Author – Stephen R. Covey

This self-help book highlights the importance of aligning oneself to the true north to achieve the goals. Covey has defined effectiveness as a balance between the desirable results and the efforts that produce those results. This book is an excellent help to those who wish to be effective in their chosen careers.

2. Designing Your Life: How to Build A Well-lived Joyful Life

Authors – Bill Burnett and Dave Evans

Many people do stumble upon careers that they genuinely want to pursue but still fail to be organised and effective in them. Throughout its eleven chapters, this book provides a series of exercises that help one design life. It also helps bring out a definite structure in life, leading to a lot more sensible approach.

3. Refuse to Choose!: Use All of Your Interests, Passions, and Hobbies to Create the Life and Career of Your Dreams

Author – Barbara Sher 

Barbara Sher has become famous for her extraordinary ability to help people define and achieve goals through her various career counselling sessions, motivational speeches and workshops. This book highlights what an indecisive person should do when troubling to find a direction in life. Mostly people like just way too many things to pick one as a career; this book is their way out. 

4. I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What it Was (How to Discover What You Really Want and How to Get It)

Author – Barbara Sher 

Clear enough from the name; this book helps all those who are a little too lost to know what they actually like. It is for those who wish to find their passion and learn their most accurate dreams. As it has been rightly pointed out that the most significant step towards your goal is realising what your goal actually is. This book is an excellent help to those who are a little hesitant to take that step.

5. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

Author – Daniel H. Pink

This book is not only a great help to those taking career counselling but also to those who aspire to be career counsellors one day. The book highlights what actually motivates a person to do something and is not mere words of appreciation, but a direction decided and taken up in life by oneself. This book changes the way one thinks and transforms life like never before.

Apart from the above-mentioned books, here are some honourable mentions:

• Finding Your Own North Star: Claiming the Life You Were Meant to Live by Martha Beck
• The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson
• 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan B. Peterson
• What Color Is Your Parachute? 2018: A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers by Richard N. Bolles