Erik Kruger is a high-performance coach and founder of the Mental Performance Lab. He writes an email early each morning which he sends to many thousands of subscribers. The aim of his daily message is to inspire people, asking them to reflect and act. Packed with more than 160 thoughtful reflections on what it takes to live a life of action and not words, Acta Non Verba’s purpose is to get people moving, creating, and generating an unstoppable drive in both their business and personal journeys.

The words Acta Non Verba is the sign-off Erik uses in all his emails. This simple Latin phrase, meaning ‘Actions Not Words’, has started a movement. It’s a plea; a call to create your life instead of living it by default, a call to show your intentions instead of merely speaking about them. It’s a call to live to your fullest potential. This is not a book to read from cover to cover, in one sitting. Each day there is a new chapter waiting to be read. Put this book on your bedside table, and read a new chapter with your first cup of coffee every morning. Each message is short so you can read it quickly, in the moment, and then reflect and act on it for the entire day. It’s a book that demands action.

ACTIONS, NOT WORDS

Remember, it’s not about the words on these pages; it’s about what you do with them.

Self-mastery is the pinnacle of self-effectiveness. It is the reset button that puts you back in control of your life and helps you make healthy choices in both your personal and business life. If you’ve ever experienced anxiety, self-doubt, confusion, procrastination, helplessness, lack of self-control, impatience and a constant need for instant gratification, then Servings of Self-Mastery is for you.

With self-mastery you are able to coach yourself out of the negative mind-states that hold you back. This book will help you recognise the thoughts, feelings and beliefs that stand in your way of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual fulfilment. It will equip you with the agency to reframe these barriers into positive energy that will catalyse and catapult you into action, and this is how the best among us experience flow.

With short, easy-to-digest pep talks, you may want to read this book from cover-to-cover, or choose a specific chapter to read on those days when you need a little support and inspiration.

Alistair Mokoena’s Servings of Self-Mastery is packed with bitesized reminders of the greatness within us, together with the tools to unlock potential and abundance in all aspects of our lives. It is a book that is written with love and compassion to help you thrive.

From Harvard stress expert, Dr. Aditi Nerurkar, comes a reimagined approach to overcoming your stress and burnout using five small but mighty mindset shifts.

Stress has a bad reputation but is actually a healthy biological phenomenon that helps us tackle life’s many demands. It simply becomes problematic when it’s out of tune with the frequency of our lives, result­ing in burnout, fatigue, sleep disturbances, and many other physical symptoms.

To bring stress back to healthy levels, Dr. Nerurkar offers her five science-backed mindset shifts for when life gets hard:

• The First Reset: Get Clear on What Matters Most
• The Second Reset: Find Quiet in a Noisy World
• The Third Reset: Sync Your Brain and Your Body
• The Fourth Reset: Come Up for Air
• The Fifth Reset: Bring Your Best Self Forward

Dr. Nerurkar illuminates why our everyday attempts at being ‘resilient’ – like multitasking, sleeping less, and undergoing huge lifestyle overhauls – aren’t beneficial to our stressed brains. Instead, she prescribes practical, real-world solutions for our modern-day perils that are time efficient, cost-free, and can be applied to anyone’s life, including following the Resilience Rule of 2 (making no more than two changes at a time because doing more is unsustainable), accepting that multitasking is a myth (our brains are wired to do one thing at a time!), and adopting her Bookend Method (creating boundaries).

The five mindset shifts, along with fifteen proven techniques, offer you a road map to change your relationship with stress, bring your biology back into balance, and feel calmer right now.

Change your mind to change your life—discover the neuroscience of a better you in this revolutionary book from neuroscientist and online sensation Nicole Vignola that teaches you how to rewire your brain to achieve peak mental wellbeing.

Are you stuck in a habit of believing you are not good enough?
Do you fixate on a particular story about yourself that you wish you could change?
Are negative beliefs holding you back from reaching your fullest potential?
Do you sometimes feel like it’s just too hard, or too late, to change?

IT’S NOT YOU, IT’S YOUR BRAIN

If any of this sounds familiar, don’t worry – it’s not you, it’s your brain. With Rewire, your personal guide to understanding the neuroscience of your behaviour and why you are subconsciously programmed to repeat certain habits and how you can do, or undo, any type of behaviour, you will become fully equipped to finally become the person you want to be.

BREAK THE CYCLE
In clear language, neuroscientist Nicole Vignola demystifies the science of breaking bad habits and how to make good ones, the principles of neuroplasticity, and neurohack methods for changing behavioural patterns. In the end, she helps you to see yourself in a different way and control how you react to any life situation, from overcoming negative, limiting beliefs to managing stress and achieving peak mental wellbeing.

ALTER YOUR THOUGHTS
Think of your brain as your hardware and your mental health as your software. Your hardware must work well before you can upgrade your software; Once you learn the fundamentals of rewiring your brain, you can instill new habits, shift your mindset, and change unwanted behaviour to create the best version of yourself.

CREATE LASTING CHANGE
We all have habits and behaviours that hold us back from reaching our fullest potential. This book will help you see that you are not stuck and show you how to rewrite your story.

When it comes to money matters, are you a lioness who leads the tribe, a dolphin who ducks and dives, or an ostrich who buries its head in the sand? This first-of-its-kind book explores and unpacks the intricate world of money archetypes in Black families in South Africa.

Discover the secrets behind your unique money personality and unravel the intricate web of cultural, generational and personal influences that shape your financial behaviour. Eye-opening anecdotes, relatable case studies and expert insights empower you to understand, embrace and transcend your money archetype.

What's Your Money Personality? will change the way you view and manage your individual and family finances.

Everyone has an idea that they believe could be a business. As you read this blurb that idea is in your head, isn't it? But so is the fear of failure, the apprehension to take that first step and the concern that you don't have what it takes.

Very few people take the leap but with the economy turned upside down by Covid-19, there is no better time to get started on your side hustle – to experiment and generate extra income.

Entrepreneur Nic Haralambous has spent 20 years building businesses, learning the hard lessons and figuring out what it takes to launch a side hustle. In this book, he helps you take the first steps towards that side hustle you’ve been dreaming about.

‘In a time when success is a mere hashtag and self-worth is determined by adoration on Instagram, it’s tempting to think that success is instant and easy. But the truth is that most of us are failing every day. Testing. Iterating. Trying. Even in the face of overwhelming odds. So how you make the jump? If you have a side hustle, how do you scale it? Nic’s personal journey, his humorous style and engaging stories from the trenches of business will help you – the true entrepreneur – make some sense of the madness.’ – Vusi Thembekwayo

‘Practical. Personable. Searingly honest. Everyone should have a side hustle. But not before reading this book.’ – Bruce Whitfield

Nolitha Fakude grew up as a shopkeeper’s daughter in the Eastern Cape, studied at the University of FortHare and then entered the workplace in 1990 as a graduate trainee at Woolworths. Subsequently, she has worked in very senior positions at some major blue-chip companies, including Woolworths, Nedbank and Sasol. She was also managing director and then president of the Black Management Forum (BMF).

Over a career spanning 29 years, Nolitha spearheaded programmes that ensure the development of women and marginalised communities in the workplace and society. A passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion, she has earned a well-deserved reputation as a corporate activist.

Nolitha is held in high regard within business circles and serves on numerous boards including the JSE Limited, Anglo American plc and Afrox Limited. Although Boardroom Dancing is her personal journey, it is also a lesson for South Africans committed to the transformation of boardrooms and the economy, and for women looking for role models as they climb corporate ladders and become thought-leaders

Nolitha Fakude was born in Cenyu a small village in the Eastern Cape outside Stutterheim and worked her way up from the shopfloor as a Graduate Trainee at Woolworths to become one of South Africa’s most respected and successful black business women. Nolitha is a humble leader who is widely respected as a pioneer who was at the forefront of transformation strategy, both within the companies she worked for and as a leader at the Black Management Forum where she worked with business, government and unions to drive change in South Africa.

If you are not relentlessly fixated with relevance today, you will be ruthlessly annihilated by irrelevance tomorrow.

How relevant are you? Is your relevance under threat?

In a world where everything is changing before our eyes, nothing matters more than your ability to stay relentlessly relevant. Relentless Relevance is your must-read guide to thriving in chaos. Part business blueprint, part manifesto for forward-thinkers, this compelling book draws from insights in technology, culture, and human behaviour to empower individuals and organisations to rewrite their stories. Building on the provocative ideas of his bestselling book Legacide, Richard Mulholland makes a powerful case for abandoning legacy thinking. With sharp wit and actionable wisdom, he challenges you to reimagine the future and embrace the reinvention necessary to remain indispensable.

"I found myself asking the question, ‘Am I still relevant?’ What I discovered is that if you find yourself asking the question, the answer is no. Mostly because it’s the wrong question. The right question is, ‘What can I do today to stay relevant?’ You see, relevance is not a milestone anymore; it’s the path that we travel." – Richard Mulholland

Be prepared to shift from comfort to curiosity.

It started as advice to his own two children entering adulthood, it spread to his students at the University of the Free State and now tens of thousands of his followers of Twitter and Facebook wait for Jonathan Jansen's words of wisdom every day.

Each day Jansen writes a "Letter to my children" - a nugget of advice on life, love and becoming a compassionate, thinking human being. Jansen has become South Africa's moral barometer in a time when leadership seems to be sorely lacking in many areas of our country which explains why this project has struck such a chord with South Africans young and old alike.

Jansen talks to young people using new media but continues to give them good old fashioned advice about how to conduct their lives as strong and caring citizens who live life to the fullest.

Everyone has a purpose. And, according to Oprah Winfrey, "Your real job in life is to figure out as soon as possible what that is, who you are meant to be, and begin to honour your calling in the best way possible".'That journey starts right here. In her latest book, The Path Made Clear, Oprah shares what she sees as a guide for activating your deepest vision of yourself, offering the framework for creating not just a life of success, but one of significance.

The book's ten chapters are organised to help you recognize the important milestones along the road to self-discovery, laying out what you really need in order to achieve personal contentment, and what life's detours are there to teach us. Oprah opens each chapter by sharing her own key lessons and the personal stories that helped set the course for her best life. She then brings together wisdom and insights from luminaries in a wide array of fields, inspiring readers to consider what they're meant to do in the world and how to pursue it with passion and focus. Renowned figures such as Ellen DeGeneres, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Brene Brown, Elizabeth Gilbert, Eckhart Tolle and Jay-Z share the greatest lessons from their own journeys toward a life filled with purpose.

Paired with over one hundred awe-inspiring photographs to help illuminate the wisdom of these messages, The Path Made Clear provides a beautiful resource for achieving a life lived in service of your calling - whatever it may be.

Jack Canfield reveals the simple set of rules for success that led him to become the multi-million copy bestselling author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, and shows how anyone can follow these principles to achieve their own dreams.

Greater levels of performance and achievement are attainable by anyone. This book offers the proven self-empowerment tools and time-tested performance strategies that are the basis for personal and professional success. Jack Canfield has become the author of over 50 best-selling books by following these principles – here he reveals how they can help you to take on greater challenges, produce break-through results and achieve undreamed of success.

With the Ten-Step Action Plan you will learn how to:

• Take responsibility for your life
• Set goals and manage time
• Invest in developing knowledge and core skills
• Face up to what isn’t working and stay motivated
• Focus on your unique abilities
• Transcend other people’s limiting opinions and much more

Decide what you want, believe you deserve it and practise the principles, and with these powerful new habits you can experience astonishing opportunities and extraordinary results in all aspects of your life, from your career to your relationships.

What can be learned from black South Africans who achieved success before South Africa became a democracy in 1994? What are the challenges they faced, and how did they overcome them? And, today, how have South Africans benefited from the country’s democratic system of governance? These are the questions Phumlani M. Majozi explores and attempts to answer in Lessons from Past Heroes.

He traces black people’s success and political activity back to the early 1900s; successful men and women who spearheaded the struggle against the segregationist, colonialist government and devoted their lives to advancing the interests of their communities. Phumlani explores the careers, challenges, and successes of people such as Pixley ka Isaka Seme, John Langalibalele Dube, Sol Plaatje and Josiah Tshangana Gumede.

During the apartheid years, South Africa produced black men and women who overcame the odds to succeed in their fields of business, entertainment, science, and politics. They excelled in the face of an oppressive government system, and their stories should inspire every South African today. After exploring the history of South Africa, Phumlani delves into the present and the future; evaluating the challenges South Africans face and proposes solutions that can speed up their economic progress.

He argues that much of South Africa’s history has portrayed the majority as victims of the minority, and that the inspirational stories of those people who overcame adversity are not being told widely enough.

These stories must be told to inspire future generations.

If black South Africans could succeed in the pre-1994 era, what can stop them today? The answer is nothing, Phumlani writes.

Winning isn’t a science. It’s an art. And it can be learned.

No one embodies winning more than Bill Belichick, the greatest football coach of all time. Over the past fifty years, Belichick has been a man of notoriously few words, believing that a coach should keep a low profile. After he left the Patriots in 2024, he briefly became a coach without a team. He spent that year writing down the principles he learned from his father, Navy football, and from his forty-nine-year coaching career.

Belichick’s philosophy goes far beyond football. He presents a whole-year, whole-life, whole-mindset approach to greatness that encompasses preparation, motivation, confidence, and leadership. The principles in this book are adaptable to wherever you work. No matter where you are on the ladder, they will help you think like a leader in anticipation of being one.

Drawing on decades of studying the greats of the game, handling colorful personalities and egos, and playing for the highest stakes in sports, Belichick shares memorable examples and practical takeaways from his lived experience. Winning is not about being perfect—it’s about growth. And you will improve only as much as you recognize where you’re weak. Belichick owns up to mistakes like deciding to go for it on 4th and 13 in the 2008 Super Bowl. Then he breaks down how to learn from your mistakes like a leader does—an approach that sustained him throughout his early career challenges and ultimately brought him to the top of the sport.

Belichick’s principles might surprise you at times. At other times, they might seem strangely obvious. (His rule for how to win football games? Score the most points.) Football is about strategy, human nature, and business. Your vision of success might involve breaking into a new, competitive market in your industry; seeing solid returns on a portfolio that you’ve carefully prepared; inspiring your students to earn the highest scores in the district; or raising up trainees to take over your job someday. Whatever the situation, your performance is up to you.

Practical, authoritative, and bursting with unforgettable inside stories, The Art of Winning is an indispensable guide to success from the greatest coach in NFL history.

Drawing from personal experiences, military background, extensive research, and in-depth study of thriving enterprises, Fulufhelo Sithole reveals straightforward yet powerful principles for achieving and preserving wealth, with a focus on sustainability.

This comprehensive exploration sets the stage for an enlightening and practical guide to financial success. Having experienced poverty from birth, the author believes his life journey can inspire readers to become the better version of themselves and ultimately contribute to making the world a better place to live.

Within these pages, readers will uncover a treasure of wisdom and guidance curated into powerful principles which unlock the secrets of sustainable wealth. From identifying their life's purpose to cultivating the habits of prosperity and adopting an abundance mindset, each chapter covers a vital aspect of the journey toward enduring financial security. These principles offer both key knowledge and practical tools to construct a life of wealth that will endure the test of time.

Structured with user-friendliness in mind, the chapters are easy to navigate, and each is logically titled to guide the reader towards lasting financial success, security, wealth expansion, continuous learning, growth, and more.

This book's transformative journey is built on practical advice, strategies, and insights, helping lay a solid foundation for sustainable wealth while emphasizing the values of dedication, discipline, continuous learning, and adaptability on the lifelong pursuit of financial prosperity.

Why do so many conversations leave us feeling unheard and disconnected? In Deep Listening, acclaimed BBC journalist, accredited executive coach, and mediator Emily Kasriel argues that it’s because we've forgotten how to truly listen.

Distracted by our own agenda, we so often hear without understanding, impatiently waiting for our turn to speak. In this exploration of transformational listening, Kasriel shows how shifting from surface-level exchanges to Deep Listening can enrich our relationships as friends, parents, and partners, enhance our effectiveness as leaders, and strengthen the fabric of our communities. At a time when divisions within communities, organizations, and families are often a source of profound pain, this book offers inspiration and practical guidance on how we can better listen to each other, even when we fiercely disagree.

Drawing on scientific studies, new research, and powerful stories from legendary listeners in politics, business, and the arts, Kasriel unveils her simple yet transformative eight-step approach. With Deep Listening as your guide, you’ll learn to become a better family member, friend, co-worker and citizen.

At once a practical guide and a heartfelt manifesto, this groundbreaking book challenges us to rethink our approach to listening and in doing so, transform our lives from the inside out. Whether readers seek to strengthen their empathy, boost their performance at work, or foster genuine understanding across cultural, political, and generational divides, Deep Listening provides the tools and inspiration to unlock the power of lasting, meaningful connections.

It is almost impossible to keep up with the pace and direction in which business and technology are moving today.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. AUTOMATION. BLOCKCHAIN. BIG DATA. INTERNET OF THINGS. THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION.

Who actually knows what any of these concepts mean for their business, much less how to integrate them? Things are moving at a faster pace than ever before and trying to keep up has become intimidating and overwhelming. It’s tempting to bury your head in the sand than try to make head or tail of it all. But none of the buzzwords actually matter! You don’t have to jump aboard every single change and adjustment in the market, or trade in your suit for a T-shirt, jeans and sneaker combo. If you have the right context, it’s a lot simpler to understand and use technological shifts as an opportunity to transform your business.

Tech Adjacent is about understanding the principles of tech and its pace, hearing the footsteps of where it might be going, knowing how disruption and innovation work tangibly and, most importantly, leveraging it for your individual exponential success. Innovation is contextual, so while Uber, Airbnb and Facebook are grandiose Silicon Valley success stories, they have little relevance in our own market. This book shares stories and case studies of African businesses, exposing who is getting disrupted as we speak and why, as well as how new companies are leading the next wave of growth. Mushambi Mutuma’s experience and expertise in both business and as a tech entrepreneur give real-life context to rapid change, unlocking future opportunities and offering tools to predict where your audience and industry are heading. He sells no big ideas, but genuinely shares his unique perspectives and know-how to help whoever he can in the process.

Tech Adjacent isn’t just another book on growing your business in 100 days, nor is it dry academic theory. It is the guidebook for not only surviving but excelling in a world of exponential growth. Whether you are a start-up entrepreneur or a corporate executive, this guide is a must for both present and future leaders.

Bonang Mohale is a highly respected South African businessman, who is known as much for his patriotism and his active role in seeking to advance his country’s interests as for the leading role he has played in companies like Otis Elevators, Shell South Africa and South African Airways, among others. Developed over 30 years of business experience, his insights have motivated change in organisations and individuals alike.

As CEO of Business Leadership South Africa, he frequently shares his insights through speeches and articles on the role of business in South Africa and the core tenets of leadership. Lift As You Rise is a compilation of some of his spoken and written words in which Mohale reveals the issues he is passionate about – among them transformation, people development, constructive collaboration and integrity – and how they came to define his career and his life. He looks into the ideas behind his words and offers fresh thoughts on the subjects they cover.

This well-balanced compilation is enhanced by contributions from others he has mentored or met on his journey which underscore who Mohale the man is – a fearless and energetic leader whose compassion, humanity and eternal optimism promote hope and encourage action.

There is value in this book for leaders in all walks of life, but it is Mohale’s hope that young people specifically, those rising through the ranks, will find his insights and experience inspiring – for they are the country’s future leaders.

The Real Interior not only allows the reader a behind-the-scenes peek into the glitz and glamour of design and décor, but into a career once never considered an option for a young girl, born in Soweto.

As one of the first black and very recognisable faces of Interior Design in Africa, Nthabi Taukobong was thrust into the limelight from the very start of her profession. Spanning a career of more than 23 years she has worked on esteemed residential and leisure projects for presidents, African royalty, captains of industry and five-star hotels, to name but a few. Through the rough and often very challenging terrain of her chosen career, sprinkled generously with the high-end glamour of prestigious interiors that Nthabi has been privileged to work on, she learned that she, in fact, had to be seated right within her own interior before she could offer anything further to those in search of her creative gift.

And as she searched and explored the greater world of design, trying to grasp what it really took to be an esteemed designer, the journey unexpectedly brought her right back into her own home. Not only Nthabi’s physical home, but also to her inner-home, the place that she refers to as her ‘real interior’. It was in writing a letter one evening, congratulating herself on reaching the milestone of 21 years in her career, that Nthabi discovered she was not only writing to herself, but to every creative.

Her letter ended up being an entire book and Nthabi finally understood how her unique story could inspire and encourage others.

Discover the life guide that has developed world champions, empowered athletes to become world #1, and most importantly, transformed their hearts and minds. This step-by-step training manual from one of the world's top mental skills coaches will teach you how to train your mind like the very best.

Whether you’re an athlete or entrepreneur, single mother or father of five, you’ll find exercises, techniques and tools in this book that will improve every area of your life. Your life will take on new meaning as you move beyond the pursuit of happiness to a life of purpose and fulfillment.

Jim Murphy's complete program of proven mental techniques is based on the powerful principles of love, wisdom, and courage, that came from over six years of full-time research and writing (after his masters degree in Coaching Science).

Inner Excellence will show you how to:

• DEVELOP SELF-MASTERY—and let go of what you can’t control
• OVERCOME ANXIETY—and build powerful mental habits
• REMOVE MENTAL BLOCKS—and get out of your own way
• TRAIN YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS MIND—and release limiting beliefs

As a professional baseball player in the Chicago Cubs organization, Jim’s sense of worth and identity revolved around his performance. He was obsessed with fame but also afraid of failure, and that fear made him struggle under the pressure to perform.

When he started coaching professional and Olympic athletes, he saw the same pattern over and over again: athletes had lost their joy and passion for life as the fear of failure engulfed their lives. This book will share with you how some of the best athletes in the world transformed their careers through Inner Excellence.

You'll learn how Inner Excellence propelled them to extraordinary performance even when they were filled with doubt and uncertainty, and how you can excel in the same way in your life.

Leadership is not a destination. Leadership is an odyssey. A voyage of discovery, marked by changes of fortune and circumstances, informed by successes and failures. Defined by how you behaved and who you have become.

The Upside of Being Myself and Other Leadership Stories is a unique opportunity to catch a breath, step back, and take a long, hard, reflective look at who you are as a leader and where your odyssey will take you. Powered by experience, informed by the reality of operating in today’s harsh realities, and leveraging the insights gained from many leadership victories and defeats, each essay creates an opportunity for reflection, introspection and personal growth.

The book spans almost every aspect of leadership, including the journey towards that mythical corner office, the agility and flexibility of styles required for sustained success, the art of crisp, concise communication and the need for an internal compass to guide you on your journey. Ian Russell draws on his 30 years of leadership experience from around the world, using his irreverent, light-hearted but thought-provoking prose to land key leadership messages. Further diverse and powerful leadership insights come from a number of contributing writers on politics, large corporate life and entrepreneurial start-ups.

The Upside of Being Myself and Other Leadership Stories is an investment of your time into your leadership odyssey. This is not an opportunity you can pass by. So pick up a copy, settle down and enjoy.

Navigate power dynamics, build effective relationships with higher-ups, and earn more authority, freedom and confidence at work.

• Do you feel vulnerable to the whims of your boss, peers or internal politics?
• Do you push through each day with an undercurrent of anxiety?
• Are you micromanaged, interrupted in meetings, saddled with busy work or overlooked for career opportunities?

• Get in your boss's head to understand their priorities
• Earn more respect from your manager
• Say no and push back with tact

Whether you're delivering a heartfelt toast or eulogy, giving a presentation at work, or speaking up for change, this comprehensive guide gives you the tools you need to become a confident and compelling speaker, communicator, and leader in your work and in life.

Drawing on the life-changing lessons he learned from his time in the White House, leading speechwriter Terry Szuplat shows you how to:

• Communicate clearly and confidently in any situation
• Create an emotional connection with your audience
• Adopt a new mindset to help overcome your anxieties
• Use the power of storytelling to win over any audience

Full of practical tips, fascinating psychological research and never-before-heard insights and advice from conversations with President Obama, this book will transform the way you approach speaking in public forever.