After a busy time or day, the Dotters like to unwind with a good book. During the lockdown, we had more time to delve into various topics from creating morning routines, reading the autobiography of the world’s biggest sports shoemaker or get advice for women who want to grow in their work. This gives us an alternative to the endless Netflix binge evenings on the couch! We, the Dotters, are also big fans are happy to share our favourite books of the moment with you. 

Caroline’s favourite books

• The obstacle is the way van Ryan Holiday
• Shoe dog – Phill knight
• The offer you can’t refuse – Steven van Belleghem 
• Think and grow rich – Napoleon Hill 
• Miracle Morning van Hal – Elrod

I love to read books that are motivational and related to being an entrepreneur. You recognize real-life scenarios and this helps you to relativize situations and makes you feel inspired. One of my life mottos is to always think in possibilities and not problems. Some books appeal to me greatly because of this: The obstacle is the way, Shoe dog and Think and grow rich. This last book was written 80 years ago, so it’s not female friendly, but the principles from THINK and GROW rich are super relevant to me. 13 principles that will make you more aware of all the opportunities lying in front of you. I always want to elevate the best in people and I truly believe that the one thing that stops you from reaching your goal is your doubting mindset or your own negative thoughts. I love to maintain the same principles for The Dot Society. We can cross barriers together if we just believe in ourselves and what we can reach!

Céline’s favourite books

• The 4-hour workweek van Tim Ferris 
• The 7 habits of highly effective people van Covey & Stephen
• Miracle Morning van Hal Elrod

As a true productivity and efficiency freak, I love reading books that provide me with new insights on how to get more done in a day. As time is really the most precious “good” we have, it can only be spent once, while if you lose money you can simply try to earn it back. As a Dotter and first time mom I always have a lot of stuff to juggle and deadlines to meet, these books really helped me to be able to get the most out of each and every day. Next to that 7 habits of highly effective people also taught me an important life lesson: namely you are in charge of your life and there’s no other force that can stop you. All too often people make excuses like: “There’s nothing I can do” In my opinion, there is always something you can do, you are in charge of your life. If you want something you will have to work for it and yes, sometimes it won’t be possible to take the easy road but you are in charge of how you approach things. 

Chloë’s favourite book

If I had to recommend one must-read book to you, I would resolutely go for “You do you” written by Sarah Knight. In a world where we are flooded daily with 1001 opinions through social media, it is sometimes not easy to not let this influence you. And in fact, being yourself should be the easiest thing in the world. And it’s exactly this what “You do you” try to explain. Sometimes it’s okay to take time for yourself or say no to appointments you don’t feel like going to. From a young age we are taught to always please others, but doing good for yourself is also necessary now and then. Because it’s time to put your own happiness first & to listen to your own opinions. And last but not least, this can be accomplished without hurting or bumping into others.

Lieselotte’s favourite book

“Nice girls don’t get the corner office”. The ultimate career book for women. A super practical guide on how to get a grip on your professional life. The writer of the book teaches you how to eliminate the unconscious mistakes that could be holding you back in your career. The main message includes “stop making “nice girls” errors that can become career pitfalls”. For me, this book was a real eye-opener and it gave me some more confidence, not only for my own career but also on a daily basis while working for lots of different kinds of people.

Axelle’s favourite book

“How to win friends and influence people”. The core idea of the book is that by changing your own behaviour, you can also have a positive effect on other people’s behaviour. By doing so, you learn to understand people more clearly, become a more sympathetic person, improve personal and work-related relationships and influence behaviour through leadership. By being a good sincere listener to others and encourage people to talk about themselves, people will quickly feel comfortable with you and therefore find you a very pleasant person. “We are interested in others when they are interested in us.” One of the most important things from the book… never forget to smile :) 

Cato’s favourite book

The offer you can’t refuse – Steven Van Belleghem

I read ‘The offer you can’t refuse’ during my studies Digital Marketing and can highly recommend this book to everyone interested in Marketing & Technology. It is also an extremely relevant book for entrepreneurs who want to be able to manage their first or next project, big or small, just that little bit better. As it is extremely challenging to stay relevant for your customers these days, Steven states you will need the following three factors to succeed: technology, personal involvement, and social commitment. In the past decade technologies like 4G, mobile services, etc have brought a revolution in terms of customer experience, and this will only evolve further in the future. One of the most important learnings of the book, in my opinion, is that you have to become a real partner in the life of your customers by delivering optimal customer convenience. In the future, you must be able to anticipate the needs of your customers before they even recognize their own needs themselves. You will have to be more actively involved in the personal life journey of your customers. Steven Van Belleghem brings a lot of practical examples as well which makes it more tangible for the reader. His examples from companies all over the world, make the book stand out. Steven has also written a lot of other very interesting books before this one, which is also worth the read!