It’s no secret that the key to success is keeping your inspiration tank full.
You may have heard me talk about the importance of inspiration because if your inspiration tank runs low, your business will die.
Sounds simple enough, right? Here’s the challenge: if you don’t take action on the inspiration you consume, your business will also die. The fine balance of information consumption and equal amount of output is incredibly important.
If you’re looking for tips on how to fill your business inspiration cup, you’re in the right place. Let’s break down all of my favorite resources of the year.
Books
Because I need to think of ideas, I constantly seek inspiration sources. I’ve always been a big fan of reading business books, but I found I have less time to read. I spend a lot more time in the car or doing household chores, where I can’t sit down and read. But I can listen to a book on tape.
I was anti-book on tape for a long time. I like to hold the paper copy, and I still am usually reading something. But because my reading rate has slowed down dramatically, the Audible app has become my best friend. It’s a free app that you purchase books to listen to.
Let’s dive into my favorite books of the year. You may listen to some of these on Audible or grab the physical copy instead.
The One Thing by Gary Keller
Everything changed when I read The One Thing by Gary Keller. It truly transformed my life, the way I lead my team, how I run my workday, and how I look at my week. It is a good book on tape and a great physical copy read as well.
The One Thing is also a pretty good podcast. Read the book first, then check out the podcast.
Dare to Lead by Brene Brown
Everything by Brene is amazing, but for me, Dare to Lead was huge. It changed the way I wanted to show up as a leader, how I wanted my team to see me, and the way I approached failure.
If you just want a feel-good book, especially if you’re a salon owner who wants leadership empowerment, Dare to Lead by Brene Brown was amazing.
The Universe Has Your Back by Gabby Bernstein
If you like the idea of alignment, signs, finding your calling or chosen path, The Universe Has Your Back is for you. It made me feel like I could conquer the world, and like I was doing what I was meant to do in this lifetime. It has an amazing feel-good vibe.
The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster by Darren Hardy
This one was a real surprise when for me – it’s a big book – but I’ve never felt more understood as an entrepreneur.
It’s called The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster for a good reason. You have peaks and dips, highs and lows, good days and days when you want to close up the shop. Darren Hardy understands. He explains why those peaks and valleys happen, how to make good choices so your life as an entrepreneur is stable, and how your business can scale without taking over your life.
Radical Candor by Kim Scott
This was a book that not just I enjoyed, but everybody on my leadership team loved as well.
Radical Candor was about leading with confidence and having powerful conversations with your team. It’s led me to have incredible, beneficial, somewhat difficult conversations with my team to get to a good conclusion.
I have more clarity around what we’re doing, where we’re going, and how we’re getting there than ever before. Radical Candor changed the way we as a company overall communicate, and it was pivotal.
Culture Code by Daniel Coyle
Culture Code is about creating an open, accepting, and self-reliant culture within your business.
If you’re a salon owner and feel like the team is not on the same page, or you don’t know how to be a good leader, read Culture Code. It’s a great read for any salon owners.
Powerful by Patty McCord
Powerful is about the Netflix culture. They have a different way of viewing business, which is why this book was incredible for me. My physical book is highlighted, corners tagged, and is a go-to book on my shelf.
A Tribe Called Bliss by Lori Harder
To Lori, we can’t tackle this thing called life on our own. We have to have a powerful tribe to support us. Your tribe can’t just be the people that live within the four walls of your house. That’s your family, who are very important, but your tribe is something different.
Through A Tribe Called Bliss, Lori teaches how to cultivate powerful relationships to ensure that we get all the support we need.
Hustle, Believe, Receive by Sarah Centrella
Sarah has an amazing way of balancing the woo-woo universe alignment/manifestation with practical stuff. Think of it as manifestation with practical goal-setting: you decide where you’re going, believe you’ll get there, but also do the work to make it happen.
A lot of people who talk about alignment, universe, and finding your calling think if you believe enough, it will happen, like wishing on a star. You can wish on all the stars in the sky, but until you do some work, it won’t come together.
With Hustle, Believe, Receive, Sara breaks down finding the balance of believing in yourself, finding the true north, but then doing the work it takes to get there.
Podcasts
Take a look through the other podcasts that you listen to and ask yourself if you actually listen every week or just subscribed and not tuning in? Because if you’re just subscribed and not tuning in, be brave and unsubscribe. You can always add them back later.
When I was following 30 podcasts, I got jumbled and stopped tuning into the highly effective ones.
That being said, there are four podcasts I think you would enjoy:
The Gary V Audio Experience
I’m a Gary Vaynerchuk fan, but not everybody agrees with his opinions. I don’t agree with necessarily everything he says, but 85% of the time, he’s pretty dead on.
I like the way he fires me up. He’s a straight shooter, has good opinions, and will push you to get out of your own way and make magic.
The Foot Traffic Podcast with Stacy Tuschl
If you’re a stylist or salon owner, Stacy’s talking to you.
She recently changed her podcast, so if you’ve listened to Stacy’s podcasts in the past and thought this is good, but not for me, give it another listen. All that Stacy coaches to now is brick-and-mortar business owners.
Stacy has been an online digital educator for many years and is an absentee owner of a financially successful brick-and-mortar business in Wisconsin. Through The Foot Traffic podcast and coaching, she teaches how to build a scalable physical business model, which is something we, as stylists and salon owners, should be tuned into.
Christy Wright’s Business Boutique
Christy Wright is one of Dave Ramsey’s coaches and teaches to female entrepreneurs.
I love her take on business. She’s a busy mom trying to juggle all the things and doesn’t by any means make it look easy. Instead, she shares what it’s really like and practical advice.
The Productivity Paradox by Tonya Dalton
I love Tonya’s podcast because she frees us of the mom guilt. Especially trying to be a female running a business, take care of your home, show up to the parent-teacher conferences, cook dinner, and oh, did you buy all the holiday gifts for everybody?
It’s overwhelming trying to do all of the things, and Tonya has a beautiful way of releasing the pressure without the expectations. All of her productivity hacks fit into anybody’s business life.
Netflix
I geeked out on so much Netflix this year that I have to share my favorite documentaries of the year with you.
Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates
I’m obsessed with this three-part mini-series documentary because this is a man who has built a multi-million, if not billion, dollar company. He’s incredibly charitable and now spends his time giving back to those less fortunate in the world.
He’s gone through business highs and lows and failed partnerships. It shows behind-the-scenes of how his business runs, who gets him where he’s going, how he’s kept organized, what his meetings look like. It is unbelievable to see how that man’s life works. What’s cool is he’s just an average dude, and when you see what this average man has accomplished, it makes you realize you can achieve anything you want to.
Brene Brown: The Call to Courage
It’s a quick, incredible 90 minute documentary of her giving a keynote presentation from the stage.
It makes you walk away feeling like you are worthy. You can do anything you want to, and it’s okay to be scared or make tough choices. Brene gives you the power to stay motivated to keep chasing big dreams.
I Am Not Your Guru
This is one of the first things I watched when the Netflix documentaries started rolling out. What I love is the mix of the behind-the-scenes and seeing Tony speak from stage.
Watch how his company facilitates events, his morning routine and habits, how he coordinates the chaos, and his take on what it means to be successful.
I love the title because he doesn’t feel like it is his job to solve the world’s problems. All he wants to do is open your mind so you can solve your own.
Organizational Finds
If you know me, I’m always on a quest to become more organized. I am not organized naturally; I’m painfully disorganized. I found two great products this year that I want to share with you.
My favorite physical planner
This year, I found a new planner that I’m a huge fan of: Agendio. Agendio has an option to design your own planner (head to bit.ly/brittsevaagendio to see a copy of my planner!). Mine has sections for Thrivers Society and podcast planning. My weekly spread looks exactly like I want it to, and there’s a lot of room for notes. This is the only planner I’ve been able to use 365 days a year.
My favorite digital planner
I’m a big fan of having a master notebook so I don’t keep 700 little notebooks lying around my house every year. I take all of the class notes from the year and put them in a master notebook.
This year, I fell in love with GoodNotes. I am not a digital fan or a digital note taker, but I love this digital notebook system app (it costs less than $10). I purchased a GoodNotes book template from Etsy and transplanted it into GoodNotes for my master notebook.
The cool thing is I can now access those notes on my iPad or my phone.
Guilty Pleasures
Here are my favorite guilty pleasure reads and podcasts and Netflix shows this year:
Book: The Woman In The Window by AJ Finn
It’s a big book with such a cliffhanger.
Favorite guilty pleasure podcast: To Live and Die in L.A.
It was an investigation happening in real-time and every week my team, and I would geek out together over it. It is one of the best true crime podcasts I’d ever heard.
Close seconds:
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Dr. Death is a documentary about a surgeon who was doing faulty surgeries, but nobody would turn him in because they were afraid of repercussions.
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Bear Brook is another great story. It was fascinating to hear how genealogy has become a part of crime scene evolution.
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Culpable is another investigation happening in real-time. It is a fascinating, older podcast about a botched crime scene investigation.
Favorite guilty pleasure on Netflix: Working Moms
They just released the third season, and I watched it in one night. It’s so real, funny, and binge-worthy.
That wraps up all of my favorites from 2019, so get to reading, watching, and organizing.