I love reading. I love finding those little nuggets of wisdom that provide me with the incentive to change. Whether it’s learning new ideas, or realigning my thoughts to become a better leader, it is great to hear how others have found success. My office is filled with hundreds of books on leadership, customer service, management, and life.

 

This is the time of year when countless blogs and articles focus on “how to be more successful in [whatever year it is].” I recently found a great idea that encourages individuals to bolster their reading lists for 2014. Although I have have often made a New Year’s resolution to read more - this idea gave me an actual visual to support the goal. I thought it would be fun to involve others in the concept, and even turn it up a notch using Social Media. 

Here is a photo of an the space I have created for my little experiment. I’m planning to fill it with new books to read in 2014. I have posted the photo on my twitter page @bobfurniss with the hashtag #filltheshelf. Each time I read a new book, I will share a photo of the shelf with the new book. 

It can be a leadership book from a favorite author, a mindless novel while on the plane, or a book about life skills. Here is a quick list of what is in my Amazon Wishlist and what I have already identified to fill my shelf for 2014:

• Emotional Intelligence 2.0, Travis Bradberry
• Sometimes You Win Sometimes you Learn, John Maxwell
• Daring Greatly, Brene Brown
• Who’s Got Your Back, Keith Ferrazzi
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot 
• “Mindless” novels, anything James Patterson

And, to kick you into gear, how about a photo of a shelf with some of the books I read last year, as well as some of my favorites from the past several years:

Here are several of my favorites (in no particular order):

• Outside In, Harley Manning, Kerry Bodine, Josh Bernoff
• Love Does, Bob Goff
• Crucial Conversations, Patterson-Grenny-McMillan-Switzler
• Chief Customer Officer, Jeanne Bliss
• Iterate or Die, Eric Berridge, Michael Kirven
• The Starbucks Experience, Joseph Michelli
• Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson
• Be Our Guest, Disney Institute, Theodore Kinni
• “Mindless” novels, anything John Grisham or David Baldacci

I would love for you to join me by sharing photos of your shelf and the list of the books you choose. Be sure to mark the Twitter post with #fillltheshelf and @mention me at @BobFurniss. I am hopeful that with a quick search of the hashtag in the future, we will all have a constant list of new “best reads” throughout the year.    

Happy reading, let’s #filltheshelf together!