Very few people know this about me but when I was young, I hated reading. Only after I became 15 years old did books become an integral part of my life.
I’ve never been the one to like reading novels so the vast majority of the books I’ve read are on the topics of self-development, psychology, and management. My favorite books are the ones that give me a new perspective or way of looking at things.
I love asking people - “Do you have any book recommendations?”. Today I will try to answer that very question myself. The honest answer would actually be quite short - it depends. That said it won’t be very useful to stop here so I will share a couple of books that had the biggest influence on my life.
Before I do that, please keep in mind, there is no perfect book or author. The books I will share have golden nuggets but also some contain concepts and viewpoints I don’t agree with nor find useful. I am of the opinion that you can learn from anyone if you have the right mindset. Some of these books I had to re-read and only after years did I see the true value in them. Others, I continue re-reading and finding new and helpful ideas. This is the beauty of it.
After reading hundreds of books over the last decade-plus, I present to you my list of the “top” books in no specific order:
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen Covey
- Mindset - Carol S. Dweck PhD
- Man's Search for Meaning - Viktor E. Frankl
- Influence - Robert B. Cialdini
- 12 Rules for Life - Jordan Peterson
- The One Thing - Gary W. Keller, Jay Papasan
- The Way of the Superior Man - David Deida
- Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger
- How to Win Friends & Influence People - Dale Carnegie
- Rich Dad Poor Dad - Robert Kiyosaki, Sharon Lechter
In future blog posts, I am planning to share my biggest learnings from the books above, so stay tuned.
Hopefully, at least someone can find value in reading this article.
Keep a growth mindset and take care!