What I’m buying my family for Christmas
Ho! Ho! Ho!
Years ago, I cracked the Christmas code: I buy people books.
Giving people a book says, “I think you’re the sort of person who can unglue yourself from your screen and spend a few hours learning something. In other words, I think you’re smart.”
And it’s a smart deal for me too: books cost under $30, they don’t require a separate card (I just scribble a Merry Christmas message on the inside cover), and my local bookstore will even giftwrap them for me. Job done!
Here are the books I’ll be putting in my Santa sack this year:
Never Split the Difference, Chris Voss
So inflation is ripping the backside out of your buckets … everything costs more these days.
Which is exactly why you need to negotiate a hefty pay rise – at least 7% – next year.
If the thought of that negotiation fills you with horror, you need to read Never Split the Difference.
Chris Voss is a former FBI hostage negotiator, and his method doesn’t involve being sleazy or manipulative … in fact it’s just the opposite. Instead, he shows you how to get what you want while still being empathetic, understanding and non-confrontational.
It’s both practical and powerful, and I use these techniques in the trenches every day (with my kids).
4,000 Weeks, Oliver Burkeman
Did you know the average person gets just 4,000 weeks on this planet?
Doesn’t sound like a lot, right?
But it gets worse: you’ve already used up a good chunk of them (I’m about halfway – hopefully).
Heavy, huh?
Yes, it is. And the book’s introduction kicks off cheerfully: “In the long run, we’re all dead.”
Yet that’s what makes this book so interesting: it doesn’t fall for cookie-cutter time management tips, and it takes an axe to the current culture where ‘busy’ has been rebranded as ‘hustle’ and worn like a badge of pride.
Every other time management book I’ve ever read talks about how you can stuff more things into your schedule. This book turns that idea on its head: it smacks you in the face with how little time you have left, and shows you how to really make the most of it.
The Little Book of Common Sense Investing, Jack Bogle
Over the years I must have given away at least fifty copies of this little classic. (Whenever someone tells me they’re going to see a financial planner, I give them a copy.) Jack Bogle was the founder of Vanguard Investments and is regarded as an ‘investment hero’ by none other than Warren Buffett.
What makes this book so powerful is its simplicity: Jack demolishes Wall Street sales spin and teaches the reader everything they need to know about investing – and how to earn above-average returns – in a little book that you can read in an afternoon.
Barefoot Kids (OF COURSE)
Yes, you guessed it, I’ll also be giving a plug to my new book, Barefoot Kids.
I’ve been getting messages from parents and grandparents all around the country that it’s the first book their kids have read cover to cover in a long time. And it makes the perfect stocking-filler – a cheap gift you can actually feel good about buying them.
Tread Your Own Path!