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It’s fair to say that self-improvement books get a bit of a bad
reputation, and by all means if you don’t agree with the concept you
don’t have to read any of them. However, if you are looking to read
something that could improve your life Martijn Schirp of High Existence
has created a list of the 25 best self-improvement books to read before
you turn 25:
I remember the first time I got my hands on a self-improvement book. I
was baffled. At that moment I realized my fate was not set in stone. I
could become my own drill master and coach. The books I read would set
out the training course for me to overcome. All I had to do was listen
to that voice that aspired to climb higher and higher. Every time I
committed to a new challenge I knew it was going to be outside my
comfort zone, but after enough iterations, I also knew it will not just
be part of my repertoire,
it will be part of me. I just
turned 25, and while I acknowledge some inherent dangers in the concept
of self-improvement, I still believe in the beauty of self-directing
your life. This is why I am sharing with you
25 Best Books on Self-Improvement You Need to Read Before You Turn 25!
These are affiliate links to Amazon.com, using these will support HighExistence, thank you.
This book is a masterpiece, and unlike most self-improvement books,
this one targets an infinite array of areas in which you can,
and ultimately must, improve.
With its ruthless honesty and genuine inspiration, Godin makes you
ponder the difficult questions you wouldn’t ever dare to ask yourself.
The result is a completely new perspective of the world-
a fresher, more vibrant perspective, packed with new and bold possibilities. If
you need a friend that understands, a boss that forces you to venture
deep in your non-comfort zone, a wise guru that tells you what needs to
be left behind and a sage that proclaims the coming of a new age, then
look no further; you will find these shrewd voices all tied together in
this magnificent book. Make sure to get this one.
Perhaps it is the fact that randomness played such a significant role
in my years as a poker player that I find this book utterly important.
We often attribute skill where there is only luck; we confuse
correlation with causation and we underestimate the incredible effect
small changes can have. This book and my time at the tables gave me a
perspective I unfortunately rarely encounter in others:
you can do everything right and still lose, or do everything wrong and still win. It
is thus not about the outcome; it is about your actions that have lead
you there. This important message is central to many of my decisions I
make in my life and this book by Taleb helps you develop such a
perspective so you will be able to live in a world one cannot fully
understand, where the results are not always clear markers of
performance and where chance seems to play games with our fates.
Stop being fooled by randomness!
I read this book in a time where I thought power was something I
should attain. Power for power’s sake. And while I disagree with my
former self on this point,
the fact remains that power is very real, it forms the invisible scepter of all hierarchical relations around us.
I still recommend this book; I believe it is important to know how
people use power for their own benefit and what to do to protect
yourself from certain abuses of power. Besides the fact that all stories
in this book gravitate around power, it contains many life lessons,
amazing historical anecdotes and, if read in a certain light, the
ability to use power for good. From Caesar to Goethe, Sun-Tzu to
Machiavelli, this eye opening book spans a wide range of human
development. If you, like me, would rather be interested in something
less egotistical, perhaps Greene’s latest book Mastery will suffice (I
haven’t read that one myself). Another great book in the same style, but
this time around, covering a wider scope, and, perhaps, something that
will make the world make a better place.
The title of this book doesn’t capture it all. Covey shares with us
seven habits one should adapt to become truly effective in whatever you
would like to achieve. Of course, it is not as easy as it sounds. He
stresses the fact that we need to go through a paradigm shift – a
fundamental change in how we perceive the world and ourselves. This book
can be read as a guide, with practices and everything, to go through
the stages in order to make such a shift happen. Part shock-therapy,
part ageless spiritual wisdom,
Covey’s book is packed with wisdom that actually makes a difference. And,
as I mentioned, don’t let the title of the book fool you; it is about
much more than just becoming more effective. It is about becoming a
whole integer person who not only seeks the best in oneself, but also in
the people around her. A must read for anyone who feels there is always
something left to learn.
While finding a book on psychedelics in a list of books on
self-improvement might come as a surprise, I believe any metaphysical
distinction between tools such as books, meditation or molecules hold no
ground and they should all be solely judged on their merits. And the
merits of certain chemical keys, used in a constructive way, are perhaps
bigger than any book in this list. The Psychedelic Explorer’s
Guide will teach you how to prepare yourself and your surroundings, what
and how much to take, and what do do when something goes wrong,
so you can safely enhance your thinking, creativity, introspection and emotional balance. This
book contains everything you need to know about using psychedelics as a
tool for self-improvement while drawing on extensive scientific
literature and personal wisdom. A must have for the beginning and
experienced psychonaut alike.
We all know how that destructive downward spiral feels. We have to do
some big task, of which the thought alone triggers resistance, not sure
how and where to begin and feeling overwhelmed before we start; we get
easily distracted to get rid of that feeling, only to suddenly realize
that hours went by- precious hours- and then find ourselves in the same
position as before, still not knowing where and how to begin, but now,
feeling guilty on top of it which expresses itself in more craving for
distraction.
Ad infinitum. To break this spell
of procrastination before it paralyzes us, Tracy advises us to Eat That
Frog, to set our priorities straight, deconstruct larger tasks into
smaller ones, learn when to tackle the big frog first or to start out
with something else. Tracy is truly a motivational writer, and while I
wished he had gone a bit deeper into the psychological reasons why
people procrastinate, it is still a must have for anyone who wants to
break the spell and get shit done.
A from 1937,
this book by Hill is a masterpiece.
Don’t bother with the edited versions since they all omit important and
controversial information: some historical, and some pertaining to the
goal of the book, which is to think and grow rich. The word rich might
imply that this book is all about material gain, and while it certainly
covers that area, it is about much more than that. Perhaps the first
explicit mention of positive thinking, on how to care not just about the
cash in your pocket, but also the thoughts in your head, this book has
been able to withstand the destruction of time. It covers all the basics
from planning, decision making and persistence, to the more advanced
techniques as auto-suggestion, transmutation and what we can learn from
fear. This is not a grow rich book, but a timeless guide to find out
what actually matters. As it says clearly in the beginning ‘
Riches can’t always be measured in money!’
In a world that is dominated by ever stronger technologies designed
to grab hold of your attention, a way to empower yourself is to bring
that attention back to where you want it to shine. This book offers just
that; in The Attention Revolution, Wallace describes the path to
attaining Shamatha, a buddhist meditation state of mind that is free
from any flickering of distraction. It is a hard and long path, probably
not possible for us to reach in this lifetime. However,
even getting to stage two or three will make everything in life easier. A
wonderful introduction to meditation, The Attention Revolution will
inspire you to take on the challenge and see what training your mind can
actually achieve. Once you have achieved such a level of focus you can
put it to use to open your heart with the practice of The Four
Immeasurables or deepen the practice with this wonderful commentary by
Dudjom Lingpa, both by Alan B. Wallace.
In the last 10,000 years or so it seems we have been propelled into
an ever faster paced world forged by our own hands and minds. Only
recently have we been able to reconstruct our journey and reflect back
upon our humble origins. This amazing book is such a reflection. It goes
back to the paleolithic searching for answers to health and longevity.
Between science and his personal experiments, Durant weaves a mind
blowing story that will convey the importance of an evolutionary
perspective on how to live well. It covers everything from nutrition to
exercise, from sleep to fasting, from ancient practices to modern
biohacking and even has an outline for a vision of the future where
depression and obesity have become obsolete. If you only have room for a
couple of books on this list, make sure this one is included.
As my Burmese meditation teacher often proclaimed, ‘Mindfulness alone
is not enough!’ Siegel seems to have taken this to heart and made an
unique synthesis between meditation, psychoanalysis and neuroscience
which he calls ‘Mindsight‘, as he says himself, a potent combination
between emotional and social intelligence. All of us deal with some
disorder or another,
something that seems to disturb the very core of our being at ease, and
while it might not always be the best strategy to want to get rid of
it, it certainly helps to understand and have compassion for that little
aspect that upsets that perfect image of ourselves. Brimming with
techniques, insights and epiphanies, this book contains everything you
need to know to reprogram your brain and to optimally use its capacity
of neuroplasticity. A great book for spiritual seekers and scientists
alike.
This is the first self-improvement book I have ever read and it is
also probably one of the oldest in this category. Written in 1937,
mainly for the door to door salesman of that era, this book by Carnegie
can truly be called a classic. It shows what we all intuitively know: it
doesn’t matter what your line of work is or what you want to achieve-
if you are doing business of any kind, you need to make it about the
other person. Being nice helps,
a lot. And while I might not
fully defend the premise of this book, because it doesn’t distinguish
between genuine interest and faking it to get what you want, it still
contains a treasure chest full of timeless wisdom.
Everybody wants to feel appreciated, and rightfully so. Learning
to take a small effort to make someone’s day will make the world run
smoother, no matter what your goal is. I still spontaneously remember
some of his guidance, and perhaps this quality is the reason why this
book still draws millions of readers to this day.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is the most effective therapy used by
psychologists today; it consists of identifying thought patterns that
have a detrimental effect on your self-image and mood, and
deconstructing these in order to break out of these destructive cycles.
If
you want to know how this works, which moods are central in your life,
what thought patterns are causing your depression, how to overcome
self-judgment and guilt, how to defeat approval and love addiction and
how your self-perfectionism is hindering you, then don’t look further; Cognitive
Behavioral Therapy has helped millions of people and it can help you,
and this is the best book for the job. Packed with scientific research,
exercises and examples, this is the best improvement your self is going
to get.
What can a plastic surgeon tell us about happiness? By
dealing with his patients, Dr. Maxwell Maltz experienced firsthand that
having your expectations come true doesn’t automatically result into a
more positive life experience. Their outward appearances did indeed
change but their inner insecurity remained. This caused him to find
other means to help his patients, resulting in visualization techniques.
He found a person’s outer success can never rise above the one
visualized internally. This book carries a very honest and humbling
story, loaded with fundamental truths about our psychology and how our
own philosophy affects us, all told by a very compassionate writer. Of
some books it can be said that it will be valuable for years to come,
and I am absolutely positive that this is one of them.
This brilliant book by Nobel prize winner Daniel Kahneman is a lucid
account of all the amazing research he has done over the years.
He
is the founder of behavioral economics – the way our psychology affects
our decisions – and explains in simple prose how our thinking is
divided in two systems: one fast and one slow. The fast one is
almost instant; it consists of the hardwired instincts that govern
emotions, a remnant of an evolutionary past, an unconscious irrational
machine. The slow one is deliberate, self-reflexive and logical, but can
easily be distracted and takes a lot of effort. Both play a large role
in our lives and Kahneman explores when the fast system fails and why
the slow system is often not utilized. Packed with mind blowing examples
and sharp analyses, this book teaches you how to learn to make sound
judgments, and use the best of both systems.
A few extraordinary people journey to the edge of our world and come
back with a unique story to tell. Colonel Hadfield is such a person, and
his story is perhaps the most important one in this list. While the
other books in this list teach you to be independent, visualize your
future and dream big, this astronaut’s guide turns these all upside
down. A truly remarkable book, overflowing with mind-blowing stories
that illustrate the life lessons he learned
as one of the most accomplished astronauts that ever lived.Full
of compassion, warmth and genuine self-reflexive humor, he conveys to
us to be prepared for the worst and never let yourself be swayed from
enjoying every moment. Part action story, part no-nonsense hard truth
and part timeless spiritual wisdom, this book makes you feel like you
stepped onto a rocket ship and experienced what he did while learning
these most valuable lessons on the way.
No self-improvement list is complete without a nutrition book and the
Perfect Health Diet is arguably the best diet book on the market now.
If you are overweight or not, feel sick, or just looking for an extra
boost in health (and keep it this way), then look no further.
From reading decades of studies the authors construct the optimal way to eat, destroying popular food fads in the process. They
explain in sufficient detail the optimal macro-ratios, which starches
are safe, which vitamins and supplements to take and what foods, or what
they call toxins, to avoid. This book is a great supplement to
the Paleo Manifesto as it shares its basic evolutionary perspective; we
were evolved to eat non-toxic, high fat, moderate protein and
carbohydrates. And, sometimes, going around with no food at all, can be a
very healthy thing. If your body is not in optimal health, then it is
almost no use to read the other books. Make this your priority number
one.
At one time or another, we will all fail. What matters most is how
you deal with it once you do. Will you give up? Or will you use it as a
stepping stone for success? I recently read an article about new
start-ups in silicon valley. Its hypothesis was the more you had failed
in the past, the more likely you were going to get funding. Why?
Because failing teaches you invaluable lessons,
and if you decide to continue after you hit the pavement, the more you
have it in you to deliver. Now, this is not in anyway our instinctual
reaction to failing. Most of us dread it, avoid it or refuse to fail at
all costs. All three are by far sub-optimal. It is far better to accept
failure where it arises, to accept responsibility and use it as a way to
learn about yourself and your weaknesses. Only when you are absolute
honest with yourself with respect to failure can you hope to grow. This
wonderful book will teach you how to do exactly this. A honest book for
everyone searching for a clean mirror.
The Power of Now hardly needs any introduction. It is perhaps
the book that
has had the most impact on our collective consciousness in recent
years. It inspired millions of people all over the world to live a more
fulfilling and compassionate life, all through the practice
of mindfulness. Mindfulness consists of moment to moment non-judgmental
awareness.
It is a technique that alleviates depression, increases emotional intelligence and develops compassion- and
only recently has come to the west, which remained weary and skeptical
until science had validated a wide array of its claims. The brain can be
trained. The Power of Now teaches you how to release your attachment to
certain thoughts and states of mind, thereby clearing the mind to fully
embrace the present moment. If you already have read this book and are
looking for deeper understanding, readWherever You Go, There You Are.
At some point or another, almost all of us has come across The Last
Lecture by Randy Pausch. (If you haven’t, watch this powerful message
here.) What would you say when you only have a few months left to live?
This was probably Pausch’s question he posed to himself when he had to
deliver his lecture a week later. But being confined to an academic
setting and short time frame he felt he had more to share, thus marking
the birth of this book. Filled with stories about his childhood, it is a
very down to earth exploration of what it means to chase your dreams,
to be a good person and live a life that gives value to others.
A beautiful mixture of humor and optimism,
his tender voice will be a source of inspiration for everyone who will
take the time to listen, something he tried to impart on his readers. A
very lovely read. And don’t forget,
‘It’s not about the cards you’re dealt, but how you play the hand.’
I love Brené Brown’s books. She writes about an insight that I have found to be scary but true at the same time.
Vulnerability, unlike we have been taught, is not a weakness, but a power to be tapped. Growing
up with the idea that we have to hide certain parts of ourselves, to
look strong and persevere at all costs always seemed a facade to me. And
now she has the research to back that up. From that place of
vulnerability comes a sense of worthiness, which for most of us, needs
to be cultivated every day. Only if we get in touch with that tender
spot of our hearts can we connect with others and develop genuine
compassion, which are prerequisites, Brown tells us, for living a
‘wholehearted life.’ The reality, however, is that we often close down,
feel neglected and misunderstood, and rather want the vulnerability and
perhaps even ourselves to disappear. This book is an amazing antidote
for that common instinct. Want to be truly convinced?
Check out her amazing ted talk here.
We all find UFO’s fascinating. We all really want to believe in magic
or visiting aliens (surely the crop circles are conclusive proof!) and
some of us believe the government is poisoning us with chemtrails. At
the same time we are fascinated by the progress made by science, by all
the new technology and medicines and the fascinating discoveries being
made on a daily basis. Clearly, for the average person, it is quite hard
to make a distinction between one claim or another –
most of us are scientifically illiterate.Carl
Sagan fought his whole life against such unreason and claimed that
missing this ability to distinguish valid claims from hogwash could
plunge us back into the dark ages. This book is perhaps his best on this
subject, filled with examples and his eloquent mesmerizing voice, The
Demon-Haunted World is a
How To guide to arm you against manipulation masked as information. A must read for anyone who still feels the temptation to click sensationalist sophistry.
As philosopher Sloterdijk puts it;
‘philosophy is a beautiful child of an ugly mother.’ Philosophy
first arose when the old Greek polis states were at the brink of
destruction. Philosophy, according to Sloterdijk, was not just a way to
make sense of the world, to come to knowledge or truth, but to serve as a
psychological immune system. This book is an amazing expression of this
perspective. From the stoics to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Jules
Evans writes about some of the amazing philosophical techniques we can
use to train and improve our cognitive immune systems. He weaves ancient
stories with modern applications, from heroism to cosmic
contemplation, Philosophy for Life a beautifully written book that makes
it easy to understand the practical nature of philosophy. Perhaps the
book would have been better if he would have gone deeper into the
subject matter, but nonetheless he captures the essence of what
philosophy can mean for the modern person. A must read.
If I had to pick one book from this list for mandatory reading I
would choose this one. For three years Viktor Frankl labored in four
different Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz. He tells us
about his experience and that of his fellow prisoners. Both chilling and
uplifting, confronted with the idea that they would be trapped there
for the rest of their lives, he gives us an account of those who found
meaning and those who succumbed to nihilism. A blend between a memoir, a
psychological investigation and a self-help book, Frankl delivers a
powerful message: finding meaning lies at the core of being human. From
his own experience as a psychiatrist combined with anecdotes from his
time in the concentration camps, he tells us how important it is to find
meaning in our own lives and what we can become if we don’t. Suffering,
he conveys to us, is inevitable. But as to how we cope with it is
dependent on ourselves.
If we can find meaning, even in the
worst acts our species has ever inflicted upon his fellow man, we will
be able to move forward with renewed purpose.
24. Simplify – Joshua Becker
This is a fun little book written by Joshua Becker, a big proponent
of minimalist living. We all know that quote from Fightclub: “
Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need.” Well,
this is ending. Slowly we are outgrowing an era where the unquestioned
mantra ‘more is always better’ dictates our behavior. Rather, we now
find ourselves, our lives and our homes cluttered with too much
information, too much stuff and just too much shit we don’t need. This
simple book helps you become aware of the freedom gained from living
with less. It is a small book, easily read under an hour, but it carries
a persuasive punch to start living live in a very different way.
The fundamental ground upon which all true self improvement is build
is called self-love. Because in the end, no matter which way you turn,
if you don’t love yourself, you
will sabotage yourself
at one point. You will think that, for some reason or another, you are
not worthy. And if you think that, why would you truly want to achieve
anything? And this is not just about achievement. This is about how you
approach yourself every day; this is what you see when you look in the
mirror. We make so many snap-judgments about ourselves- often without
being conscious of them- that are filled with negativity, haltering us
before we can even begin to heal. This powerful book shows you the
antidote. Self love. Not to be confused with creating some narcissistic
image of ourselves that some previous books in this list implicitly
endorse, but self love, that inner gratefulness that no external
condition can take away. Self love, that infinite source you can share
with others.
A pastor at the Christian Proctor Church in Vermont, USA, has been
sentenced to one year in federal prison after refusing to marry gay
couples, according to NBC. This comes shortly after the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision ruling that states must allow gay-marriage.
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The United States of America has assured Nigeria of its commitment towards rescuing the abducted Chibok girls.
President Muhammadu Buhari
