Top 18 best self/personal development books to read: There are different ways to attain self development and constant self improvement. One of the fastest means to achieving this is through books. Reading good books gives us the opportunity to tap into the limitless potentials of authors and learn some of the practical ways through which they circumvent through life’s challenges.
Most of us may not all have the opportunity to learn directly at the feet of masters who have distinguished themselves in their field, but by reading their books, we are exposed to what made their lives extraordinary and given the golden opportunity to be like them.
I will be doing a brief analysis of the best self development books which possess the ability to transform a person’s life at an unimaginable swiftness.
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Top 18 Best Personal development books for your improvement
1. The 5AM Club by Robin Sharma: This book outlines a revolutionary morning routine that has helped the world’s finest maximize productivity and attain unbelievable serenity in this age of complexity and technicalities.
The author narrates in this book how two strangers met in the most unlikely of circumstances and how through mentorship and close guidance, the skills necessary to attain enviable heights and stability in the society are explained. The author, Robin Sharma is a reputable leadership and elite performance expert.
2. The Richest Man in Babylon by George Samuel Clason: This is a best seller that enumerates how practical wealth management was exemplified by Arkad. From a humble beginning, Arkad by some luck and dedication learns the secret of wealth creation. This secret he puts into practice over the years with strong determination and focus.
He is faced with innumerable challenges, but with the guidance and assistance of a good friend, he is able to circumvent through these challenges and build an empire. He rises over the years through the elite class of the society to be known as the richest man in Babylon. This book exposes the secrets Arkad held close to his chest and slaved for in a bid to attain his high financial goals.
For any person who is interested in being a master of finance and interested in understanding the nuances with building wealth and managing finances, this book is a must read. The secrets in this book they are as relevant in our present society as they were a 1000 years ago.
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3. 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene: This is a self-help book detailing ideas on how to get and manage power. This book gives an insight into a very important aspect of human relation – Power and Politics. This book gives real life narrations about the lives of really powerful men, and how they were able to manage and control this power in very tricky situations.
Power usually depends on the relationship between people and how well these relationships are managed. All of the laws give an insight into the faucet of power and what must be done if a person genuinely wants to acquire power in the society of today. Now more than ever, having power is of more relevance and would be of more usefulness in the society of today.
4. The Paleo Manifesto by John Durant: This book is one of the best on health and longevity. It goes back in time to look into what is responsible for a healthy, long and satisfying life. For too long, people continue to by their own lifestyles and decisions, reduce their life span without even knowing.
The author weaves a mind-blowing story developed from experiments and personal experiences that conveys the importance of a revolutionary lifestyle. It covers succinctly all things required for longevity- exercise, nutrition, sleep, fasting, ancient and modern practices.
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5. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill: This is a masterpiece originally written in 1937. This book has undergone various editions to the original version. It is undoubtedly one of the best masterpieces on how positive thinking can transform a life completely, from putting money in a thinker’s pocket to transforming the overall nature of a thinker’s life.
The basics of critical thinking are well covered from planning, decision making and persistence to more complex concepts like transmutation and fear factor. This is a classic on what really is important in a person’s life and how that can be actualized.
6. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie: After years of research into what people really want to learn about after graduating from schools and working for years to build a career, the author came to the conclusion that they want to learn on the subject of human relations and how they can make friends and influence people.
Irrespective of the work a person does or the trade a person is emersed into, humans are always at the focus point of what we do. How to handle these humans whether as an entrepreneur, or a professional expert, or an employee or a high ranking director or whatever may be a person’s position in life is properly discussed in sufficient details by the author. It is a must read for succeeding in everyday satisfactory living.
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7. The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss: The author analyses in this book how most people don’t get to live their best lives until they retire and earn a big retirement bonus. How they are tied down to work for people they don’t like and do things they don’t enjoy and literally put their lives on hold until after retirement.
This the author explains is a very terrible and not so beneficial way to lead a life. The author suggests solutions on how to solve this problem and how we can begin to live our best life at this moment of our lives.
8. Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Nicholas Taleb: This book gives a detailed explanation to the place of chance in the grand scheme of things. How in life, a person may do everything right and still not attain the desired results and another person will do everything wrongly and still attain the desired results.
It seems unfair right? Now you may want to read what the author has to say and how “luck” or “chance” and how to live exploring these to the fullest.
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9. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey: The secrets to being truly effective in whatever endeavour you decide to pursue are extensively discussed by the author in this book.
The ability to be highly effective and attain results in endeavors we have invested out resources into cannot be downplayed. The book contains guides and steps which may be followed to lead us to this state of unimaginable effectiveness in things we decide to do.
10. How to be a Power Connector by Judy Robinette: Power is usually developed over time and we all have in us the potential to develope this. The problem most often times is that we are not willing to take steps to develope our Power. This book gives a practical guide on how to build powerful connections and nurture these connections.
Building connections may be relatively easy with the right determination and charm, but nurturing them and allowing them blossom over the years is the real work. This book makes this work very easy with practical and ridiculously easy guides.
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11. The Only Skill That Matters By Jonathan A. Levi: This book gives you the tools you need to meet future problems in both your personal and professional life. A free offer is also made. The only costs are shipping and handling. Jonathan Levi describes a method in the book that he claims will make you a superlearner.
This strategy is based on neuroscience. You’ll learn methods for speed reading and improving your memory within the pages. Readers of this book have called it a game changer. Athletes and top performers have used the techniques to propel them to success. Get the free book if you want to realize your full potential.
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12. The Success Principles by Jack Canfield: Anyone who regularly reads self-help books will be familiar with Jack Canfield. Jack has been motivating people for years as the author of the well-known “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series. In “Success Principles,” Jack offers 65 strategies for changing your life. However, devoted followers of personal development may discover some of these ideas to be recycled versions of ideas they have already heard, not original new ideas.
If you’re looking for a single self-help book that gives you a ton of great ideas on how to improve your life and your success, this would be the one. Simply because these steps are effective, the concepts are reiterated here. I think the book might be a great way to brush up on the things you need to do in order to have the success you want, even if you already knew all 65 of the principles before buying it.
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13. Getting Things Done: The art Of Stress Free Productivity by David Allen: Being organized is not my natural disposition. Given this, I’d say that reading GTD for the first time had a profound impact on my life. Allen offers wise counsel on how to organize every facet of a busy life (both business and personal).
The problems life throws your way have an answer in this book. You’ll be able to stay on top of things and organized with its assistance. I do not currently adhere to all of the GTD principles. I have adopted a more web-based methodology. But even if you don’t adopt his particular methods, the book’s fundamental concepts will still help you become more productive in a variety of ways.
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14. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho: In the classic novel The Alchemist, a young boy named Santiago decides to search for wealth among the Egyptian pyramids after experiencing a recurrent dream about it. He encounters mentors, falls in love, and—most significantly—learns the worth of who he is, how to improve himself, and how to pay attention to what matters most in life along the way.
Despite having a simple storyline, this book is packed with wisdom. It encourages the reader to question constantly and come to the conclusion that destiny is what we make of it by focusing on the concept of destiny and including enigmatic characters as well as important messages.
15. Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis: According to the book’s author, Rachel Hollis, you alone are ultimately in charge of your happiness and future self. No matter how defeated they may feel right now, Girl, Wash Your Face inspires women to take charge of their lives and go after their dreams.
Other people might not notice the difficulties that women face. In this book, Hollis utilizes a kind but reassuring tone to help women get rid of any mindset that might impair their self-confidence and help them maintain control of their circumstances even when things seem to be going wrong. An honest and humorous book that provides good advice.
According to the author, in order to attain your goals, you must develop the practice of keeping your word because breaking it brings you down. Learn to embrace the river of turbulent home life rather than battling it. To stay inspired to make your ambitions a reality, visualize them and pay close attention to them.
16. Atomic Habits by James Clear: Atomic Habits is the go-to manual for quitting poor habits and forming good ones in four easy steps. It demonstrates how little, incremental changes in daily routines over time add up to big, positive change. What does it require to create a habit? There is a ton of material available on the subject, but sometimes you might not have the time to read it all.
In order to help you develop more positive habits and prevent negative ones, James Clear has written this helpful and practical book. This book will teach you that every habit we develop follows a four-step process: cue, craving, reaction, and reward. Making new habits evident, appealing, simple, and enjoyable will help them stick. A habit tracker is a fun tool you can use to monitor your development and prevent slacking off.
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17. Thinking Fast And Slow by Daniel Kahneman: Thinking Fast and Slow explains how two competing systems in your brain are always vying for control over your behavior and actions, and it teaches you how this can result in memory, judgment, and decision-making mistakes as well as what you can do to fix it. A wonderful, but as of yet unexplored, area is the human mind. But Kahneman can tell you that two systems influence our way of thinking. This book will get you thinking and change the way you think if you’re seeking for a fascinating discussion on the human mind.
You will learn from this book that vertical, not horizontal, advancements make the most strides. You cannot use your intelligence to its maximum potential because of how lazy your brain is. You will also find that you need to get emotionally detached when making financial judgments.
18. Best Self by Mike Bayer: The basic idea of this book is that taking care of oneself is not selfish. By teaching you how to be honest with yourself about what you want, recognize your poisonous anti-self, and define the characteristics of the best possible version of you that you can conceive, Best Self will assist you in being the hero you’ve always wanted to be.
Do people make changes to be happier? If you’re not sure how to respond to this question, Coach Mike’s book could be a helpful place to start because it will help you put your life in perspective. Understanding where you are can help you decide what to do and where to go in order to live a better life. Has this book yet to appear on your “must-read” list?
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Conclusion
It is enough to have all the knowledge in the world, but if we do not take steps to put into practice the knowledge we have, they depart from us in no distant time. Reading these books may not be enough, we must all take steps to put them into practice in our everyday lives.
Edeh Samuel Chukwuemeka, ACMC, is a lawyer and a certified mediator/conciliator in Nigeria. He is also a developer with knowledge in various programming languages. Samuel is determined to leverage his skills in technology, SEO, and legal practice to revolutionize the legal profession worldwide by creating web and mobile applications that simplify legal research. Sam is also passionate about educating and providing valuable information to people.