Joseph Liu, Career Consultant & Host of Career Relaunch Podcast, Found a Mixture between Books, Podcasts & Articles

Joseph Liu is a career change consultant and host of the Career Relaunch podcast, which was ranked as a Top 30 career podcast on Apple Podcasts in both the United States and the UK.

Keep on reading our interview and find out what book helped him clarify what matters in life, what book radically changed his consumer behavior and how he deals with all the books he gets from people pitching to be on his show.

What’s your favorite book and why? Business and non-business, if possible.

Business – Great By Choice, Jim Collins. I love this book because it provides some practical case studies about the behaviors that allow certain individuals, teams, and companies to excel that you can then apply to your own personal life and career.

Non-business – Top Five Regrets of the Dying, Bronnie Ware. This book provides a poignant reminder that we are all mortal, and regrounded me in what really matters in life. The book helped me clarify where I should be devoting my energies and efforts with the limited time I have in this world.

Was there a moment, specifically, when something you read in a book helped you? Can you tell me about it?

From the book Great By Choice, Jim Collins talks about a concept called the “20 Mile March,” which is about setting and committing to a pace in your career that allows you to make steady progress toward your goals. I loved this concept of setting an upper and lower bound to a consistent cadence of actions, and I’ve applied this concept to many aspects of my life, both related to my career goals, and also my own personal goals.

What books had the biggest impact on you? (perhaps changed the way you see things, dramatically changed your career path)

Poorly Made in China is a revealing book about the cost of consumer consumption and pressures of producing products at the lowest possible cost to drive the greatest possible profit. Getting a glimpse into the cost of outsourcing radically changed my consumer behavior. I now try my best to more carefully consider my own material consumption, and make a point to consider where products are made before I purchase them.

I’m interested in finding out more about your reading habits. How often do you read? In what format?

To be honest, I’m not the best reader out there. I find it hard to carve off blocks of time to sit down and read a long book, although I have a long list of books I’d like to read. These days, I tend to spend more time feeding my knowledge with podcasts and articles, which tend to fit more easily into my schedule.

How do you make time for reading?

I typically do most of my reading to fill gaps in time, and I tend to do most reading on the Kindle, which allows me to access books on the go anytime, anywhere. If I’m standing in a long line, I can then easily open the app, and quickly pick up where I left off.

Do you take notes or have any other technique for conquering the torrent of information?

I always try to read books on the Kindle app, which allows me to capture all my highlights and notes in one place. I also use Evernote to capture key notes accessible across all my devices.

How do you choose what books to read next?

I tend to read those books that I feel could help me gain career insights that my audiences and clients would find useful, especially those focused on navigating career change and personal branding, my main areas of interest. As a podcast host, I get sent a lot of books from people pitching to be on my show. I tend to prioritize those that are current, to the point, and written in a way that provides clear takeaways.

Do you prioritize the books recommended by certain people? Is there anyone that you consider a book-recommendations guru?

I tend to prioritize books where the author has shared insights in another medium (interview, podcast, etc), that leaves me thirsty for more. I don’t have a book-recommendations guru.

Last question: what book are you currently reading and what are you expecting to gain from it?

I’m currently reading Uncopyable, which is all about how to create an unfair advantage over your competition. Given that I focus myself on helping others build a compelling, unique personal brand, I hope to extract some insights I can then share with my audiences, especially related to the topic of how to differentiate yourself, which I can hopefully also apply to my own work.

Links where you can follow Joseph Liu or find out more about his projects:

• Joseph’s official website
• Career Relaunch podcast
• Joseph’s TEDx talk
• Connect with Joseph on Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram

All books mentioned by Joseph Liu in this interview:

• Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck–Why Some Thrive Despite Them All by Jim Collins
• The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing by Bronnie Ware
• Poorly Made in China: An Insider’s Account of the China Production Game by Paul Midler
• Uncopyable: How To Create An Unfair Advantage Over Your Competition by Steve Miller