In 1994, my wife had a serious operation which meant that we had to forgo our usual family summer holiday. By the end of the summer, she was well enough to travel, so she and I had a late autumn break in Boston.

We stayed at the Westin at Copley Place, and one of our first visits was to the Copley Mall where we experienced what was then a new concept, which became known as fast casual, a coffee shop experience which hadn’t yet crossed to this side of the pond. The venue was the newly opened Au Bon Pain.

So it was with particular interest that I ordered Ron Shaich’s new book Know What Matters. Ron is known as the founder of the phenomenally, successful Panera Bread, but it was at Au Bon Pain that he first made his mark.

Know What Matters is unusual amongst business books in that it tells a story that spans thirty years whilst at the same time being packed with wisdom, knowledge and the experience that goes with building, and eventually selling, a hugely profitable business.

At one point Shaich says: “The ability to know what really matters is like a muscle that must be exercised and the way we exercise it… is by making choices and staying the course. It might be challenging, even painful at times, and you won’t always be proven right. Sometimes you’ll make the wrong choice. Other times you’ll make the right choice, but the circumstances will thwart your progress. But if you keep making choices with as much future-back vision and foresight as you can muster, you will strengthen that all important guidance system that defines a life well lived.”

Although I am an avid reader, it is a while since I have recommended a book on my blog. If you are looking for a book that will exercise your thinking muscle during the holiday season I can highly recommend Know What Matters.