You’ll learn so much.
I have personally learned SO much from just reading books. It’s almost like having a mentor teaching me or guiding me what to do. Then, it’s up to me to follow the steps and apply it towards my life or the goals that I have. The books I’m recommending below are some of the first books I read on personal development. And when I say that these helped me, I mean I was able to relate and apply a lot of the concepts discussed.
But, honestly, before I even share the list, I just want to say that if you ever feel down or demotivated, just pick a book. Not just any book though. Pick a book related to the feeling. I personally have an account on Goodreads.com (not affiliated with them, just an app/site that I use A LOT). Goodreads is just a way that you track what you have read and what you want to read. There are users that will review book so you can read through and see if it will help you. Basically what you do is search for that “feeling” — for example let’s say you are feeling anxious lately, search for that term and read a book that people recommend there. Make sure you start reading it RIGHT away though! You will feel so much better. Personally, books have played a huge part in my life; in my growth. If I am sitting here, writing this blog out, the kinds of books I have read have played a huge part in it.
What if I don’t like reading?
Now, if you are not a huge reader, you can always listen to audiobooks or there are also a lot of videos on YouTube. Personally, I use Scribd when I’m on the go — they have mostly all the books, audio books, along with bunch of articles, documents and artifacts that really help me. There are various ways, the only thing I want you to remember, and I will say this probably in all of my posts (Yes I can be annoying ya’ll but it’s for your own good) that there is always a way. You can do whatever you put your mind to!
Again, I have applied a lot of concepts from these books in my own life. I will share more books with you in the future and keep updating this as I read more books. I really hope these help you in some way too and help you in your journey.
These books, you can’t just read once and be done with …
One thing I want to also mention is that most of these books I have read more than once — you really can’t just read some of these quick and be done with it. (or really any personal development book). It’s really important that you take your time from chapter to chapter or sometimes even sentence to sentence, to really think about what you have read.
After reading, ask yourself:
1. How do you feel?
2. How does this (what you have read) make you feel?
3. How were you feeling about this (what you read) before you read it?
4. What can you learn from this?
5. Do you see any way that you can apply this to your own life? How?
PLEASE share if you end up reading any of these books and how they made you feel or if it helped you at all. I’d love to know that. Also, if you have any book that you would like to recommend — please let me know! I love reading new stuff and if it helps you, it might help me or others reading, too.
1. THE FOUR AGREEMENTS
This book is one of those really short reads. The reason I am placing it in this list is because: first of all, it was a short read LOL (Hey, I wasn’t a huge reader before). Secondly, it was one of the first “self-help” books I read and that’s where the journey of reading such books basically began. If you are not a huge reader — go for this one! The book is straight to point and goes over literally as the title says “The Four Agreements” — to personal freedom. These four agreements, as you read the agreement titles may seem very basic but the way the author explains through each will really make you think.
This book really got me to challenge my own thoughts and emotions. Everything is not black and white, right? Since it’s not a long read, it’s to point. It will make you think. It will make you reflect. Just make these four simple agreements with yourself and see your everyday life change, positively. That’s what the book is about. If you apply, with practice — it’s all about you and what you want to learn from it. Now, you might not like everything you read, but remember the idea is to ‘learn’ and ‘grow’, yeah? Try to understand what will help you grow and apply that!
2. THE POWER OF NOW
A MUST READ! If I could write a blog about just one book that I’d like to recommend you read then it will be THIS BOOK. I have been through the phases in my life where I have dealt with severe anxiety and depression. I didn’t read this book back then (I so wish someone had recommended it to me though) but this is a book that I read a few years ago.
I had made a bunch of mistakes in life (personally and financially) that I was not happy about. I was feeling low and didn’t know what to do — I didn’t want to fall back. I had started meditating a lot and saw this book as one of the recommended ones (I don’t remember exactly what I searched for online). I read this, again, again, and again. I made notes — I mean, you can write a whole separate book just based on the notes I read.
This book was so helpful to me that I still go back and read through whenever I get a chance. I have quotes from this book in my journal, my wallet — everywhere. Anyway, back to the book. This book will really help you realize the importance of “now” — being present. This book will make you “FEEL” — feel the air around you, the silence in the silence, appreciate the nature, and appreciate everything around you. Like I said, I can write a lot about this book.
3. GRIT
Another great read. This is one of the books I recently read in one of my book clubs. This one is by Angela Duckworth and she also had bunch of assessments that you can take to help you understand how gritty you are. Don’t worry about the results though, my results were not that great either back when I read it but that’s the point — we learn what we need to work on.
This book takes you through a lot of scenarios and examples of people who pushed through and did not give up. It is the kind of book that I had not read before, it’s completely different type of research that it’s based on. If it makes you wonder why some people succeed in life while other’s don’t, then this book will provide you with that. You see, I went to high school and had people around me that I thought were way smarter than me. Today, I know only a few who even graduated college (not that graduation is important, but I am talking about those who WANTED to graduate or get a particular job but couldn’t) .
They had so much potential and some are still struggling. Some are happy with their lives while some are not. The difference? Perseverance. Goals. Having a growth mindset. Not Giving Up. Success is different for everyone, you can’t measure success by comparing it to others really. But, what success or passion is to you, or perhaps even smaller things in life such as losing weight, creating a habit — actually working towards it and not giving up is what helps one succeed.
4. THE WILLPOWER INSTINCT
This book will make you want to start planning everything in life. As you can guess from the title, this book is about willpower. Similar to the grit, this is based on similar research. We are not only learning why willpower is important but also how we can practically (literally) improve it.
If you struggle with forming habits, productivity, or perhaps procrastination, then this book will help you. This is not “this is what helps everyone so try it” book, it will really help you understand the entire process of self-control and how to become more disciplined. You will really want to apply what you learn from this book, with practice, in your life to get the rewarding experience that this book offers.
It is all backed by research and science so it will really open your eyes as you go through this book. If you are someone who is already really disciplined, you will still enjoy this part. The beginning might bore some of you as it talks about basic habits (food, sleep, etc.) but I promise you just keep reading and it will get better. Remember, nothing is easy or a simple ‘let’s do this’ — everything requires consistency so really take your time reading and ‘understanding’ this book to really get the most out of it. I can’t emphasize enough on this part.
5. NEVER SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE
This one is focused on your communication skills and is probably one of the best there is! Whether you are working or an entrepreneur or perhaps just looking to get better at communicating in general, this book will (if you really use it the right way) take you from a beginner to advanced level.
The author, himself, was a hostage negotiator for the FBI. He had dealt with all kinds of people you can imagine. I know a few people who even hate this book or think it teaches you how to manipulate people. But really — it’s all about what kind of message you retain and how you decide to utilize the knowledge you gain from this book. If you use it for good — there is no way you will take anything negative from it.
Want to help the world fight against climate change perhaps? Animal Rights? You need to know how to not take a “No” — you need to know how to ‘Never Split The Difference’. It’s all about where you plan to apply the knowledge you gain here. I honestly recommend this book always and it will surprise you, give you goosebumps, but you will enjoy the ride.
So.. Just Take Your Time
These are the five books I highly recommend. Just remember, you will not always like everything that you read in some of the books and that’s okay – these are supposed to make you uncomfortable and that’s where growth opportunity lies. It’s important to grasp what helps you and not overthink — take notes where you can, try to understand your strengths and weaknesses, and realize how or what can help you grow.
Don’t just stop there though, take your time to take it in. These personal development books can really help you with growth if you take your time with them. Just don’t rush through them, the journey towards self-growth is not a quick one, it takes time — for me, I always say it’s never-ending. If you think about this this way, then you know there is no rush, you are not trying to learn and understand everything at once — you don’t need to. Enjoy the books, don’t think of reading as a task.
*Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links that I may earn a small commission from, at no additional cost to you.
