Heyo đź‘‹ Jordan here,
Over the last 7 years, I’ve read a little over 200 self-improvement books.
Most were 100% platitudes. Some had useful ideas.
But only a precious few were life-changing.
Here the 21 best ones👇
Punishment and rewards are terrible motivators 80% of the time. They replace the powerful intrinsic motivation that you already have.
Daniel Pink's Drive explains motivation in the way it should be done (for you or to help others).
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
Attention is the new oil.
Dopamine regulation is the new superpower.
In Dopamine Nation, Anna Lembke explains how to gain that superpower, how to escape addiction, and the pleasure/pain balance (which is groundbreaking).
Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence
Most happiness books are too wishy-washy for me. Not Jonathan Haidt's "The Happiness Hypothesis".
From how the brain works to scientific explanations of gossip or disgust. And, of course, how to use them in the final happiness equation.
The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom
"If you get one percent better each day for one year, you'll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done." — James Clear
Atomic Habits is the quintessential book for self-improvement. Read it.
Atomic Habits: the life-changing million-copy #1 bestseller
Getting started is the hardest part of anything we face.
In under 250 pages, Mel Robbins will teach you how to get started with anything. Anytime. Anywhere.
I've been using The 5 Second Rule to start things for 7 years. It's insane!
The 5 Second Rule: Transform your Life, Work, and Confidence with Everyday Courage
We're all fantastically biased. That's okay — it makes life more fun.
And it's something that you can learn to make better decisions.
Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow is the book for that.
Hint: Paper > Audio with this one. Trust me!
Spoiler: Your environment plays a significant role, but what you do is the deciding factor (which can even overcome your environment).
Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers is an in-depth look through unlikely but real examples of why.
Outliers: The Story of Success
The most successful people on our planet practice extreme ownership. They take full, personal responsibility for anything that happens.
Jocko and Leif demonstrate the effectiveness of Extreme Ownership from battlefields to meeting rooms.
"What stands in the way becomes the way" — Marcus Aurelius
Ryan Holiday's The Obstacle is the Way will give you the stoic knowledge that will help you build resilience in the face of challenges and take the most from any situation.
The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph
For years I thought what you get is based on what you can.
That's partially true.
What you get is what you can TIMES what you negotiate.
Never Split the Difference is Chris Voss' masterclass on mastering negotiation.
Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It
Mark Manson is a brute compared to many of the authors on this list.
That is the precise reason his books are worth reading. They're direct, honest, and brutally effective.
It's counterintuitive and genius.
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life
Deep Work: "Professional activities performed in a distraction-free environment that pushes your cognitive abilities to their limit."
Cal Newport goes in-depth on how to make 5x your time while working.
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
If you want to learn something fast learn it from the best place you can.
Games motivate people to play for years to get pixels. Yu-kai Chou is an expert on why they do that.
Use the knowledge in his book to make anything more fun.
Actionable Gamification: Beyond Points, Badges and Leaderboards
“There’s nothing you can’t do if you get the habits right.”
We become what we do every day. And most of that is automatic. By habit.
In The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg goes in-depth on how to build good habits and get rid of bad habits.
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
Extraordinary results come from doing ordinary things for an extraordinary period of time.
In The One Thing Gary Keller teaches you how to find your one thing, say "no" to everything else, and being extraordinary there.
The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth About Extraordinary Results
Flow. Performing at 100%. Being in the zone.
Once you get into flow, you can never forget the sensation.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi dedicated his life to understanding flow, simplifying it, and bringing it to us. His books are his legacy 🫶
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (Harper Perennial Modern Classics)
“Working hard for something we do not care about is called stress; working hard for something we love is called passion.” — Simon Sinek
Sinek is redefining leadership as we know it. In Start With Why, you'll learn how to inspire passion.
Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
Daniel Pink shows that selling is a part of your life. It's the art of convincing others.
In To Sell Is Human, you'll learn to move others in a good and honest way.
To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others
There are a few things that grow us as much as responsibility.