Around 24 million North Americans read some type of self-development book every year. There are over 300,000 self-help books available on Amazon.ca alone.
The truly great self-development books are real, down-to-earth, and inspire you to act. Some are long-winded, full of hocus pocus, and dry as an internet troll’s bath mat. Others are simply used as a tool to get you to purchase the real information from their website.
Fortunately, we’ve read through a lot of the drab and the phonies to bring you 5 of the best. They’re so good that if you were to only read these books every year, you’d turn into a pretty amazing person.
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
This book is recommended by everyone so often that it feels like people don’t take it seriously any more. It’s turned into a vocal meme and even had a horrible film named after it, but the content stands true over eighty years later (it was first published in 1936).
One of few things that has stayed truly constant over the last hundred years is how people are liked. Remember the asshole who thought grabbing your ass in the club was a great pick-up move? Well, you’d find that same asshole 100 years ago, hassling a tavern barmaid to see what was under her corset.
You’d hate them both, and they’d go home alone.
If only they had read “How to Win Friends and Influence People”. This book has you covered on how to be a likable and influential person. Things like how to really listen, how to make people feel important and how to be genuinely appreciative. It should be studied in all schools and workplaces.
You can pick it up on Amazon Kindle for just $0.99 and if you find us being really, really nice to you for some reason, it’s likely we’ve just re-read this book.
Read it if:
Your manners are equivalent to a zombie food-eating scene from The Walking Dead.
Nobody will do what you ask them to (because you’re probably an ass).
Note: This book has its detractors too. Their argument is that it makes you act in ways that are not of your nature and invites you to be manipulative. But if you can’t listen, or talk to people respectfully, or appreciate other humans then its you that needs to change, not the book.
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck by Mark Manson
The self-development books we really hate are the ones full of woo-woo affirmation nonsense and those that make you feel worse about yourself after reading it.
Mark Manson’s book is a breath of fresh air. Using a character called Disappointment Panda he cuts through all the nonsense, essentially telling the reader that they’re an entitled asshole and full of shit. Yes, even those who feel they really need help.
While most books prey on the notion that there’s something wrong with you, Mark lets you know:
That it’s okay to not feel great every day, just do something about it.
Stop giving a fuck about the small stuff and choose to give a fuck on the things that are really important.
Read it if:
You feel the need to tailgate the car who just cut you up and that anger lingers long into the night.
There’s another subway delay and so you feel the need to compare the mayor’s infrastructure plan to that of Adolf Hitler’s World War II plan.
Start With Why by Simon Sinek
The premise of Simon Sinek’s book is to reverse engineer your thoughts and actions to find out WHY you do what you do.
Finding out your WHY, Sinek argues, drives how well you do things. Having a strong WHY will help you drive through resistance. Having a strong WHY will make you a better leader.
People do not believe in you by what you do or how you do it; they believe in you because of WHY you do it.
It has a more business leadership of a read to it but anyone can adapt it to their situation – a parent or pastor should all strive to be a great leader and it’s all about finding and being true to your WHY.
Read it if:
You are horrible at sticking to a new-found habit – like exercise or healthy eating.
You wonder why nobody will invest in your alt-right movement.
The One Thing by Gary Keller
The premise of this book is simple and asks one question. What's the ONE Thing you can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?
This question can be applied to everything in your life from work, relationships, and spiritual improvement.
We even use it when speaking to our members. With 600+ of them, it’s hard to chat to everyone and cut to the chase on interesting stuff. Asking Jennifer, “Hey, welcome back, what’s the one thing you loved/hated about your trip to Paris” will produce thoughtful and interesting answers.
The book covers a wide vary of topics, from going deeper than the 80/20 rule to the domino effect this statement brings, right through to habit building. It’s a beautiful book that has a neat in-printed function - all the key ideas are underlined in pencil-like ink.
It might seem a really simple concept to take up a whole book but when you’re stuck-in-a-rut or feel overwhelmed it’s a great reference to use.
Read it if all of the following happens at the same time:
You start eating out every day for lunch.
There’s too much pressure at work and you don't know where to start.
Your toddler starts to slap every person she meets.
Your other half has decided to never cook or clean a dish again.
Linchpin by Seth Godin
The idea behind this book is simple – “What makes you remarkable and indispensable?” Too often we snore through our job expecting our boss to notice that we’re doing a fantastically normal go of it and expect our wages to inflate to reflect that.
This book tells you that you can’t wait around for change. You can’t wait around for good things to happen. You have to take the bull by the horns and become The Linchpin – an indispensable part of your team, community, or family.
Read it if:
You want to challenge the status quo.
You believe that your colleagues at work only get promoted because they kiss-ass.
You’re not sure if the employee trying to kiss your ass is indispensable.
If you think you’re cool, rebellious and Office Space is your favourite movie.
It’ll take a while to read all of these but even if you grab just one it will provide you with a new perspective – a challenge to the way you currently think.
Kevin & Victoria
