7 Coaches Share What Books Inspired Them Most

Looking for the best books to support your development as a coach, but feeling overwhelmed by all the options available? Maybe you’re just someone who enjoys reading and is ready to expand your library of personal development books. If so, we’re right there with you!

It can be so disappointing to pick up a coaching book that seems promising and then end up feeling like it didn’t deliver the resources or inspiration you were seeking. The goal of this blog post is to lessen the chances of that happening. 

In this article, we spoke to real coaches and asked them about the books that deeply inspired them on their coaching journey. They shared real stories about the books and authors that motivated them in the most pivotal parts of their careers. 

To help you decide if any of the recommended books resonate with what you’re currently seeking, they also break down the concept of the books.

Intrigued? Keep reading to learn more!

Inspirational Books For Coaches, Chosen By Coaches

Here are our top picks for the best books for coaches.

1. Limitless: How to Ignore Everybody, Carve Your Path, and Live Your Best Life By Laura Gassner Otting

“This book motivated me to pursue a career as a coach. What do you need to know to live your greatest life? Gassner Otting tells readers how to better link their ambitions and principles with their employment in Limitless. Laura is a rule-breaker, so this isn’t your normal professional book! Gassner Otting focuses not only on establishing what gives you meaning and happiness but also on what she refers to as consonance: the what you do daily at work or at home connecting thoroughly with who you are at your best. 

We don’t intentionally develop a life aligned to our ‘what’ and ‘who,’ so this peace between our ‘what’ and ‘who’ is typically transitory, ‘Limitless’ is a step-by-step guide to determining your consistency and living in harmony with it.”

– Loic Bellet, Speak Proper English

2. Building A Story Brand by Donald Miller

“Building A Story Brand by Donald Miller enabled me to tailor my message to potential clients. When I first built my website, it included information about me and my accomplishments and did not focus on what I could offer to potential clients. 

In Building A Story Brand, Donald Miller details that you should appeal to clients’ needs and help them achieve their goals. Your coaching business and web presence should guide clients from the start line to the finish line, and building your story brand can help you accomplish these goals.”

– Annette Harris, Harris Financial Coaching

3. Rejection Proof: How I Beat Fear and Became Invincible Through 100 Days of Rejection by Jia Jiang

“As coaches and entrepreneurs, we all have a fear of rejection. The word “no” sends shivers down our spine — or keeps us up into the late hours of the night. What if my lead says no? What if that influencer doesn’t want to co-host a live together? What if my favorite media publication doesn’t like my idea? I bet you’re nodding your head right now because you had moments like this. Maybe they’re even preventing you from going after what you want.

I once felt that, too. Now, I create situations where I get rejected. Why? Because it leads to yeses and opportunities. I also now realize that every “no” is simply that person’s opinion. It’s not a reflection of who I am.

And it’s partially thanks to Jia Jiang’s book, Rejection Proof: How I Beat Fear and Became Invincible Through 100 Days of Rejection, that I now look fear in the eye and charge straight at it. As Jiang himself puts it, “… by not even asking, we are rejecting ourselves by default—and probably missing out on the opportunity as a result.” Don’t miss your opportunity to shine because you’re afraid to hear “no.” Go in for the ask. Next time, that “no” could be a yes — a yes that creates a significant impact on your business.”

– Olga Zapisek, Novedia Creative

4. Your Body is your Brain by Amanda Blake

“Your Body Is Your Brain by Amanda Blake inspired me more than any other coaching-related book I’ve read. So often we live in our heads and want to use rational reasoning to solve our problems. Blake’s book taught me that our body holds a lot of information. We just forget to look there sometimes. 

Her branch of study, somatic intelligence, supports the coaching model I follow called Co-Active Coaching which embraces embodiment as a source of knowledge.

Did you know that the vagus nerve, the biggest nerve in our body, runs from the gut to the brain? You heard that right – 80% to 90% of our vagal nerve fibers send messages to the brain, not the other way around! Consider how that can be applied in our coaching work. When we recognize how the body informs the brain, we take our gut instincts much more seriously.

Your Body is Your Brain lets you coach from another vantage point – the physical body – so clients understand themselves more holistically.”

– Laura Barker, Laura Barker Coaching

5. The Prosperous Coach by Steve Chandler

“The book that inspired me the most would be The Prosperous Coach by Steve Chandler and Rich Livtin. I loved the very practical and scalable approach to maximizing your born gifts and talents to create a thriving coaching practice. They give practical tips and tools that go behind creating a website and running ads. 

The book encourages you to do the work, which is meeting people and telling them what you do and how you can help them, and it’s that work that makes a lot of new coaches uncomfortable. 

I also love how it encourages the reader to grow their belief in self and their ability to coach. Use those skills to connect and grow your coaching business by referral and word of mouth. Get great at what you do and people will want to work with you.”

– Georgie Howie, Coach Georgie

6. The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss

“The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss was the book that inspired me to support other entrepreneurs in building their online businesses that allows time freedom, location freedom, and financial freedom. I realized after reading this book that you can travel full time and take advantage of geo-arbitrage, which is all made possible by creating a business that is location-independent.

I used to work in Finance so I am very familiar with being on a life path that is not aligned, and my purpose in my work now is to help people develop the confidence and clarity to pursue something they love, which also in turn helps them travel the world.”

– Danielle Hu, The Wanderlover

7. The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson

“The book that I read that has inspired me the most both in my coaching journey and in my life is The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson.

The Slight Edge is the idea that it’s all the small and seemingly insignificant choices we make moment to moment each day that ultimately create our success or failure in any area of life. Since I read this book for the first time nearly 10 years ago, I have been putting it into practice every day.

There was no book or blueprint when it comes to creating success in coaching for me. It has been based on years of showing up consistently, trying and testing things, winning and failing, and being in it for the long haul no matter what.

My business success was a decision I made early on… Without knowing how to do it, without evidence. Deciding on success enables you to make the choices necessary every moment of every day to create what you want!”

– Nicole Spencer, Authentic Conversion

Final Thoughts

Now that you’ve heard from real coaches, you can choose any of the books above and read them yourself. You have everything you need to make an informed decision on your next coaching read!

As you saw in the post, books for coaches are special, especially when you find the right one. As soon as you connect with what you’re reading and use it to improve your life, you may feel as if you’ve found one of the secret codes to coaching. 

If you don’t have a good recommendation, you may feel as if you are wasting your time reading irrelevant material. We hope this post has inspired you to pick up a new book!

But, before you get started, please make sure you leave a quick comment and let us know — what’s been the best book you’ve read as a coach?