Hey there!
It's been a while since I last posted on the blog (sorry), and I was thinking that I haven't done a Stuff I Like entry in quite a while. So today, here's an entry about three books that I've read and loved, and which have been hugely influential in the way I've worked, though they don't have any direct link to the world of music:
a) Imaginable, by Jane McGonigal. So many times, when disaster strikes or the so-called unthinkable happens, people will throw their arms up in the air and cry, “Who could ever have imagined that that could have happened??” (Like, um, a global pandemic shutting down the planet, that kind of thing?) Nuts to that, says game design guru Jane McGonigal: If something is unimaginable, it's a fault of imagination and the ability to think ahead and consider possibilities. Embracing thoughts of "what if"?" and “what then?” helps people and organizations mitigate (and even embrace) the possibilities that the future might just shove down our throats one day. It's also a great book to read if you want pursue a dream, or stop the pain in one area of your life, but you're not exactly sure what questions you need to ask yourself before you do it.
b) Unbound: A Woman's guide to power, by Kasia Urbaniak. Let's get the 800-lb elephant out of the room right away: Yes, the title is an allusion to BDSM dynamics. Yes, the author has worked as a dominatrix. (She's also a Buddhist nun.) More importantly, the book deals with how to manage energy, power and rage to get what you want, and you do that by judging how the flow of attention and energy moves within yourself and between/among people. And that doesn't always come by being belligerent or loud. It's a must-read for women who have been taught to lean in, to speak up, to take it like a man…and who still find themselves getting railroaded, harrassed, annoyed, or taken advantage of.
c) The Personal MBA: Master the art of business, by Josh Kaufman. Yeah, you could pay MIT or Wharton or any business school a hundred grand a year to get an MBA. Or you could just read this book and get the most important information right off the bat. I've hauled this book around with me from Spain to Ottawa, and for good reason: it breaks down the basics of business in an accessible, easy-to-digest way that demystifies what you need to make a business succeed. (And yes, being an indie musician is a business and I treat it as such.) There's a ton of useful information that ranges from the biggest picture to the smallest hints on how to make your life more manageable (my fave: your to-do list shouldn't include more than three big tasks to do on any given day).
So let's hear from you! What non-music book have you enjoyed and gotten a lot out of this year?