This is a second part to the article I posted last Monday about tools and resources that are helpful on a personal journey. Everyone’s experience and tools will be different, but the key point is not to put too much pressure on any single resource or channel. No-body has all the answers and we must keep turning a lot of stones before we will find the treasure.

I certainly don’t want to go through life thinking I know it all, or that what my capabilities are now is how it’s always going to be. My goal is to keep exploring and learning, building new things and making new connections, as much and as long as I possibly can. And to that end, I’m using multiple resources, books, tools and forums to expose myself to new ideas.

I wanted to share some of these with you, and would love it if you can post any tips and recommendations you have found useful and why to the comments.

Events

I attended the Anthony Robbins  ‘Unleash The Power Within‘ event in London in January 2006. It was a fantastic experience, including an experience walking on hot coals, and it gave me a lot of material that has enabled me to become much stronger within myself. I can sincerely recommend this to anyone who wants to get a good kickstart to self-develoment. Worth every penny!

I’ve recently been attending various tech talks and networking events, and have found dinner talks by TableCrowd quite a nice way to hear about the topic and meet new people.

Blogs

I have been following a number of bloggers for many years and can warmly recommend the following:

The Art Of Non-Comformity by Chris Guillebeau. He writes about life long journey, success and living the life to your own terms. Chris is the author of ‘100$ Start-up’.

Live Your Legend by Scott Dinsmore is about doing the work you love, helping others and connecting with anyone. He’s created an inspirational global community and helped many people to leave the 9 to 5.

ZenHabits by Leo Babauta is definitely one of my all time favourites. It’s is about finding simplicity in the daily chaos of our lives. Leo started making changes to his everyday life in 2005, which included losing 65 pounds, quitting smoking and trippling his income! He blogs about small daily habits that will ultimately change your entire life for the better.

Robin Sharma, leadership expert and author of ‘Leader Who Had No Tittle’. I was introduced to Robin Sharma by one of our DrivenWoman members not long ago. I love his message of mastery and what makes a genius. I recommend this short video to get to know what he’s about.

(By the way, it’s funny we are more likely to go into personal development when it’s called leadership training. That’s how i got lured in to it in 2005 when I started a leadership program called TrainTheTrainer.)

Sparkline by guys at Fizzle. Sparkline focuses on topics relevant to independent online entrepreneurs and covers anything from building an email list or how to define your audience. Sounds very on-line specific but most of their work is very relevant for any early stage entrepreneur. And, is anyone building anything that doesn’t involve an online presence anyway?

BothSidesOfTheTable by Mark Suster is one of my favourite blogs. It’s about raising capital and starting a business, but he actually writes about great variety of topics, and life in general. His style is very humane and genuine, and I hope that if I’ll ever be in a position where I need to raise serious capital for a tech company (… you never know..), I’d have a chance to meet him.

Note: It’s good to read blogs that are outside your area of expertise and current understanding. How else could you expose yourself to new ideas that may turn out to be very useful in the future?

Books

All the books recommended by DrivenWoman can be found at the ‘Resources‘ part of this blog, I’ll pick three of my all time favourites here. I would say that these books have influenced and helped me more than any other books.

Zen And The Art Of Falling In Love by Breanda Shoshanna

The ultimate book about falling in love with the opposite sex, with life, with business with.. well, anything you do or be. I’ve read the book four times, no less, and not only did it help me to get over my divorce and learn a ton about myself and my choices, it has thought me lessons in letting go, giving and receiving and not living for the outcome. I’ve bought countless copies of the book to my friends and anyone who invites me to their wedding is going to get this book as their wedding present!

Think And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

This unbelievable classic covers desire, persistence and how to use the unconscious mind to succeed in your chosen path. Originally written in 1937 every sentence, every example in the book is still completely valid today. Read this book if you are ready for it… And for making money.

The Seven Spiritual Laws Of Success by Deepak Chopra

This book got me out of the stress I had created last autumn pushing DrivenWoman forward with all of my might. Chopra’s idea that success should not be forced, it is not difficult and should come to you naturally (if you just keep making a reasonable effort) stuck with me. I’ve been working more efficiently and enjoying what I do every day, the work, and I’m not fixated on the outcome anymore.

Chopra made a practical joke on me. As the book arrived from Amazon I felt slightly cheated and disappointed. The book is tiny! I thought: “Is this book really going to offer value.. it’s so small!” Yep, big is not necessarily better and reading the book was one of the best hours I’ve ever spent. (It only takes one hour to read it.)

PodCasts

Fizzle Show by Fizzle. The show is put together by the same guys who write the Sparkline, and mostly on similar topics. It’s a bit ‘blokey’ put I like them and in addition to some very useful information about building an online business they make me laugh. Fizzle Show is my companion in the car and I get through approximately one episode per week, exactly their publishing schedule.

Magazines

I love reading magazines because I can learn about topical ideas and companies, and find interesting people who have created successful concepts. I always keep my notebook at hand when I read magazines as I write down my thoughts and also internet links that I’m going to explore afterwards. Currently my favourite magazines include Forbes, Inc., Wired, FastCompany and Red Magazine. Keep your reading list varied and buy something that feels useful but difficult.

I hope you find some of these resources useful. Please add your own recommendations below in the comments.

~ Miisa