Every leader, writer, communicator, and platform-builder needs great resources. Here are some that I use and recommend. Hopefully, they’ll help you as much as they’ve helped me.

Reading:

Here is a list of inspiring and fun educational books that will help you make an incredible impact in your classroom, school, district, and well… life. You are going to love this list!  This is a list of books that will change your life.

I also listen to summarized books using the app Blinkist. It is a great way to learn from books that I know that I am not going to invest the time into reading and just want the gist.

My wife and I enjoy listening to books in the car using Audible. You can try it out and get two free books using this link.

I make time for reading every day. I believe it makes me a better thinker, writer, speaker and human. It’s enjoyable and in a way lets me live multiple lives by reading about the lives of others. You won’t accidentally read more; set aside a little bit of time for reading every day.

Writing:

The following resources are about to save you years of guessing. Outlined below is the culmination of my intense reading, studying, and testing to become a better writer.

• On Writing by Stephen King: If you are going to read only one book on writing, this is it. King holds nothing back and tells you what you need to hear. Read it. You will want your own copy. While this is aimed at writing fiction or novels, I believe what King says in this important work is something every writer needs to hear.

• On Writing Well by William Zinsser: This is a must-read for any aspiring author who wants to write nonfiction. This is a classic and it is full of the best advice. Skip the others. This is the one you want to read.

• Do the Work, The War of Art and Turning Pro by Stephen Pressfield: Choose any of these great books to get you motivated and believing that your message needs to be heard and that you can accomplish the task. I found each of these incredibly helpful. After writing awhile your brain will begin to tell you to take a break, stop, quit, and even abandon your work. These books will arm you with the necessary defenses to these age old hurdles and career killers.

• Zen and the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury. This is a short wrting but by one of my favorite authors. Bradbury delivers hope and encouragement in this work that every writer should hear. I hope you will give it a read. The image of writing that Bradbury conveys will stay with you as steadfast soldier guarding your dream.

• GoOnWrite.com: This is where I get my book covers.  They are super-affordable and they look great.

• Scrivener:  The best writing tool on the planet for numerous reasons. This program is the best way to write anything period. I have tried them all. This is the one. Scrivener is a powerful content-generation tool for writers that allows you to concentrate on composing and structuring long and difficult documents. While it gives you complete control of the formatting, its focus is on helping you get to the end of that awkward first draft.

 • Learn Scrivener Fast:  Get the most out of Scrivener. This course is quick, easy, and will make you master Scrivener. It is essential. You will be amazed at all you can do, the time you save, and most importantly the writing you create. A must!

Organization:

On my iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch I use the following apps to help me stay organized, each of these are awesome and sync with one another:

• Day One Journal App
• Good Notes 5
• Things (to-do list)
• Drafts

Moleskine Journal: If it’s worth writing down, put it in your Moleskine. Don’t use napkins, sticky notes, or scraps of paper. Put it where you can find it. This is the exact notebook I use as my day to day journal.  I love absolutely everything about it.  This is where I record my ideas and anything of importance.  If you read my posts and hear me speak, you know how important a journal is to my lifestyle and productivity. I don’t go anywhere without my Moleskine.

Creating Art:

I love using the Procreate app on my iPad with my Apple Pencil. I make some pretty cool art with it and share it on my Instagram page.

I use chalk to create my large six foot by eight foot speed paintings. A lot of people wonder what it is I use.

Podcasting:

I record my interviews using Skype.

GarageBand is a free app by Apple that I use to assemble my podcast.

I clean everything up over at Auphonic.com.

I host my podcast on Libsyn.

The microphone I use is inexpensive: Audio Technica ATR2100x