New Book Offers Leaders and Business Owners a Path to Clarity, Balance, and Sustainable Success
Cromer, Norfolk – 11th August 2025 – Leadership coach and strategic thinking partner Neil Lawson has released his latest work, Living by Design, Not by Default, a book aimed at helping business owners, senior leaders, and high-achieving professionals escape burnout, restore balance, and lead with integrity in a world that rarely slows down.
In a culture where the “always-on” mentality is often worn as a badge of honour, many leaders are paying the price in fatigue, disconnection, and diminished performance. Living by Design offers an antidote: 81 short, accessible essays that can be read in any order, each delivering practical steps for creating meaningful, sustainable change.
Drawing from his own experience managing multi-million-pound IT projects for global investment banks — and later navigating burnout, reinvention, and a new career in coaching — Lawson brings a blend of real-world insight, empathy, and actionable strategies.
The book is organised around five key themes:
- Work-Life Balance & Sustainable Success – escaping burnout and building businesses that support life, not consume it
- Intentional Living & Life by Design – making conscious choices, using clarity to shift course, and trusting small, consistent steps
- Values-Driven Leadership & Integrity – leading in alignment with your principles and inspiring trust in others
- Inner Growth, Self-Awareness & Pattern Breaking – recognising hidden patterns and developing emotional resilience
- Freedom, Autonomy & Redefining Success – creating space, ease, and a version of success that truly fits
“Leaders and business owners today face unprecedented demands,” says Lawson. “Technology has made us more connected than ever, but it’s also eroded boundaries and focus. This book is about reclaiming agency, reconnecting with the human side of leadership, and creating a life that works for you, not against you.”
With each essay running between one and five pages, the book is designed for busy readers. Whether read cover to cover or dipped into as needed, every piece includes practical, repeatable actions to help readers shift how they live and work.
Living by Design, Not by Default is available now in paperback (£9.99) and Kindle (£4.51) via Amazon
About Neil Lawson
Neil Lawson helps business owners and senior leaders stay relevant by reconnecting with what technology can’t replicate: clarity, presence, values-based decision-making, and meaningful human connection. He blends practical insight with lived experience to help clients reclaim balance, align with their values, and lead with integrity.