Seven Life-Changing Career Development Books to Read Today

We all want to thrive in our career keeping goals. Career aspirations develop from little interests and taking small steps toward them and ultimately we realize that we need to act on them.

Not necessarily everyone has these goals from the beginning. If you ask me, I don’t when anything begins but I do know I need to take action when I have something, to begin with.

Few have inspiration and few are fixated on a particular goal and keep up with it by improving and getting better every day. Sometimes, all one needs is a self-stimulated inspiration to act on their goals.

Career development books come in handy whilst working on something we love. The following are seven life-changing career development books you can read in 2021 and beyond, which will help get the right inspiration.

1. Think and Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill

Napoleon Hill discussed various thoughts and ideas a human being goes through while trying to work his way through the success. The thoughts that could be propelled towards success by suppressing negative thoughts and fears are something that is described in a unique and innovative approach.

Everything the author mentioned in this book is quite relatable to people who are looking to work with a different mindset to achieve their goals fast. He mentioned 13 principles for the reader to keep practice for a routine that will help get to his goals.

He discussed various elements to add to our daily routine in our activities to implement discipline, consistency, and many other things.

But after reading this book, you will understand that you are doing good so far and going through a phase that is okay and will give you a clear mind to get more positive thoughts and will help you to see things with a positive outlook.

The “law of success”, the principle he discusses in this book will help understand the basis of life with layers of the positive spectrum. Each layer represents a quality that the author suggests the reader implement personally as a habit and as a part of the routine.

Once a habit is implemented in the chosen career, you will become unstoppable and when you look back there are just simple changes that are made which brought success.

2. What Color is Your Parachute? 2020 – Richard Nelson Bolles

What color is your Parachute, is a perfect read in 2020 if you aspire to do many things in your career. It is best suitable for people who are freshly looking for a job or have a career change and most importantly this book will help enhance more opportunities for freelancers.

Richard discussed many things that will help the readers to create a unique platform for themselves and focus on their key skills to build a career. 

The pointers, ideas, and other basics that the author provided in this book will help anyone build a network with the preferred career community, improve existing individual traits, and think like a professional. In addition to that, the book also covers topics on creating an impressive resume, cover letters, and the art of negotiation.

Richard introduces “Flower Exercise,” which is popular in his previous books as well that provides the set of mental tools to create a unique mindset while job hunting and negotiating the perfect salary in your dream job.

Ultimately, this book will help you understand how the world goes around and how to stand out when you take your career to the next level.

3. Designing your Life: Build the perfect career Step-by-Step – Bill Burnet & Dave Evans

This New York Times Best Seller revolves around the idea of design thinking. The authors highlighted simple things that we are surrounded by have developed from this design thinking pattern.

They both further discussed how everything starts with an idea, followed by thinking of various possibilities to implement the idea and finally giving a design to the idea to leave a perfect example with the inventory. This book helps in various ways in career development when it comes to logical and innovative thinking.

If it is a critical problem to solve or a simple unknown requirement that would make a huge impact on a person or an organization, this book will help understand the depth with simplicity by making the chosen career seem more meaningful.

So the author wrote this book for people who are looking for meaning in their career or to someone who is looking for a career that serves meaning to their lives.

So to conclude, if you are looking for ways to implement existing ideas, searching for innovative yet simple ideas, or struggling with complicated implementations then this book is for you.

The whole point of design thinking will simplify the aspects you are struggling with and will give you a clear picture that you want to create and excel in it.

This will also initiate critical thinking over the design patterns in your mind as discussed by the author in the book which will be a start for you. I would recommend this book for a better understanding of the ability to think authentically and to learn ways to implement it.

4. Do-Over: Rescue Monday, Reinvent Your Work, and Never Get Stuck – Jon Acuff

This is by far, my favorite book of all. But, given the information in the previous items, this would be a bold suggestion yet a must-read in 2020 if you are looking for work that you love.

The author discussed various things that would help the reader to find a career that they love and also for someone who wants a career change. He has provided one main principle to follow that would help the reader live the life of choice with security which is a “Career Savings Account”. 

The author humorously points out many things about people who are stuck in a nine-to-five job that makes them miserable but they continue because of the financial commitments they have.

In the modern work tradition, we work, eat, and sleep by the clock and do not take a breather enough to see that if we even love the job we do. Even when the realization strikes, we avoid those thoughts as they are stressful. This is the reason, the author used humor as an element to make the reader understand the scenario.

He discusses that with his principle anyone can get a career change or kick start right away who is looking for a job they love. He also discusses various stories of friends and family that underwent career changes and stated all their initial struggle and misery with humor which would make the reader laugh and feel sad about the people and yet feel happy as they progress eventually.

The book also generates a mix of emotions that will keep the reader hooked to it and learn about the various things that are discussed and simultaneously start looking for what they love to do.

I would strongly recommend this book if you are struggling with a career change. Reading this book will let you realize the process would be time-consuming but it is worth it when you get to the bottom of it.

5. Pivot: The only move that matters is your next one – Jenny Blake

Pivot is the book that discusses the next move in career. Jenny Blake, former career development program manager at Google wrote this book for people who struggle with next moves in the desired field.

According to the author, the next move could be making a fresh start, career change, or looking for a better promotion in the existing field. She states the ability to make the right decision towards the next move is all that defines one’s career. 

Every person makes the next move towards their career at some point for a better position. Jenny suggests that the next move should be at the best and discusses various things that would train the mind to make you stand out. The concept of methodical thinking that keeps us going by the book when we start something always fails when we don’t look into the situation from the market’s perspective.

The fear of failure again makes us panic about the next move altogether. Jenny wrote this with precision how the way of thinking is all that matters at the end whilst making the next move.

She categorized the patterns of how the mind functions with negativity and fears and discussed how to deal with it with a positive outlook. So to make difference in your lives with new career aspirations and to make meaningful progress towards the life you desire then this is the place where you start.

If you are starting your firm or kickstart a career that you love that is new to you yet you love, then this book is for you. Because every move is worth it when it is taking you to the next level.

6. The Third Door – Alex Banayan

The Third Door is the write-up where the author explains how the most successful people have followed unconventional methods to reach their goals.

The author categorized the paths that successful people are lined up to get in. The first door is referred to as the textbook method to achieve success. This path is followed by many people in the beginning and many even continue hoping to achieve their goals.

The second door is where people are born rich and where not much credit is given. The third door is what the book is about where after interviewing many successful billionaires the author concluded that these folks have taken the unconventional route and made sure their ideas came out of the box. Many successful personalities like Bill Gates, Pitt Bull, Warren Buffet, Lady Gaga, and many more stories towards glory has been discussed in this book.

Each personality discusses with the author the choices they had in becoming richer fast yet choosing the hard way as they believed in long term goals. The author concluded that with unconventional and innovative ideas with a lot of patience, the desired success could be achieved.

If you are looking for inspiration to trigger your creativity and are interested to get insights into many real-life success stories, then this book is just for you to read this pandemic. 

7. So Good They Can’t Ignore you – Cal Newport

Cal Newport writes this book for people who look for something new in their jobs. Following a passion and making that a dream job is what all of us want. But, many fail to notice that passion requires hard work.

Passion is not the only thing that can keep us hooked to what we believe we can do, but that requires a great amount of work which makes it look like talent at the end. The author discusses various patterns for aspiring career developers to make a living out of their passion and points out the areas where things could go wrong. 

The initial stage of hopping from one job to another in the hope of finding a passion gives quite the anxiety according to the author. Instead, he suggests developing a taste for the job they are working in even if it is remotely connected to their desired fields and make constant improvement in the work which will lead them to the success ladder.

He has beautifully written how the improvement will become a signature of an individual’s mark for perfection that the work and progress cannot be ignored.

Conclusion: Life-changing Career Development Books

To conclude, if you are looking for some motivation in the job that you are looking to make progress or looking for a new job or freelance work that is going to fit you perfectly yet worried about not reaching the heights soon, well remember that no process towards success is easy.

This 2020, Cal Newport’s bestseller will give you the right amount of focus towards the direction you are working and will boost your dedication. So this book is here for you to give a read.