I have an obsession with reading every damn book about personal growth, breaking the chain, pushing limits and a better understanding of the surrounding world.
There are precisely five books that remain deeply rooted in my head. I seek a piece of advice in those books repeatedly (and not just because I forget everything in one day) and they had been an incredible resource of wisdom for me.
I feel obligated to share this list with others. Go for it, enjoy and let me know if you have found anything useful for you.
I have included links to Blinks, Audio versions, and Amazon so that you can dive in right ahead. If you do not like affiliate links, just ignore them.
The 4-Hour Workweek from Tim Ferris
Although Tim wrote this book in 2007, it is still my number 1 when it comes to life improvement guides. You can find a complete step by step guide on how to get rid of everyday routines, quit your 9-5 job and use your creativity and productivity to build a new, steady income.
You will learn how to hack everything. Most of the obstacles you fight with are just in your head, and Tim knows it. The book will guide you in setting your target income, convincing others that you are expert in any given category, how to travel the world almost for free or how to find virtual assistants to sort e-mails for you.
Listen / Read / 10-minute Blink
Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
Do you think that you are immune to marketing tricks? That you just know when someone is trying to sell you something for more money than it is worth and that you are always a step ahead because you google prices up front? Then this book is for you.
Ariely is a behavioral economist, who conducts social experiments with his students, assessing an impact of our irrationality to our decisions.
You will learn how hard it is to resist to word "free" and how we let ourselves get trapped without even knowing it.
The book reveals a whole bunch of hidden and irrational factors that affect our decisions - from complicated marketing tricks to emotional storms and social customs which dictates our predictable behavior. Read this short book and get a manual for making better decisions.
Listen / Read / 10-minute Blink
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck from Mark Manson
A controversial book about how to live your life in harmony and being able to tell people that you just do not give a damn fuck. Mark is in an open war with positivism and explains why it is better to learn how to live with your limits and problems rather than trying to fight it and suffer.
This book fights against the mainstream which says that everyone is a hero. No, you are not. Almost all of us are just average people who can not win every time.
Men Are from Mars; Women Are from Venus
Every couple gets in a nasty fight from time to time. Some people think about their relationship as walking through an open mine field. Sometimes we feel happy, and sometimes we are unfortunate, even without a cause. I have found an enormous amount of advice for maintaining a healthy relationship.
Read this book, and you will get to understand your soulmate. You will instantly know why your partner is getting upset, what to do and, more importantly, what not to do.
Reading with the Right Brain: Read Faster by Reading Ideas
My biggest problem is slow reading. I read a lot, but I was never able to speed up the process of transforming written letters into meaningful words.
In this book, you will find a step-by-step manual for learning how to read fast. You will learn how to read a book as you are watching a film. The trick is in learning how to visualize the whole blocks of words at once without trying to understand each word after another.