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Have you been looking for personal development books to read? If so, you’re in the right place!
The only books I used to read were action and mystery. Over the quarantine, I’ve delved into a different genre.
I’m not lying when I tell you it literally changed my life.
I did some soul searching and realized I’m not quite where I want to be. I’m sure a lot of you are in the same place. I came across some spiritual videos and decided to find some of the best personal development books to read.
I went to Goodreads and found some of the top rated ones, plus books that I had seen people suggest on social media. Within a few weeks I got them and immediately started reading them.
I was worried at first that they wouldn’t be that interesting because I was used to the action and drama.
Let me tell you, I probably set a record for how fast I read them.
You probably just want to know what the books are already, so here are the 10 best personal development books to read.
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle
The Power of Now is probably my favorite and most needed book. This book talks all about living in the present moment. You might think, “Oh, I can do that. I don’t need a book for that.”
But I’m telling you it helps. It has a lot of useful information about learning to let go of your past and not stress about the future. The past and future technically don’t exist.
The only thing that exists right now is the present.
This book truly changed my mindset. We’re all constantly worried about the future. Some of the stuff we worry about is stuff we don’t really need to be worrying about. This book provides you with a path to achieving spiritual enlightenment and living in the present moment.
“Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your life.”
Eckhart tolle
A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose by Eckhart Tolle
A New Earth is also by the author Eckhart Tolle. This book focuses more on learning about your ego. Your ego is your conscious mind. We’re obsessed with our thoughts and emotions.
Think about it (no pun intended). That’s what drives everything. We’re constantly thinking about our thoughts and creating these mindsets and patterns ourselves.
In this book, Eckhart Tolle teaches you how to detach yourself from your ego and obsession with your thoughts to achieve actual happiness.
“The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it.”
eckhart tolle
The Secret By Rhonda Byrne
The Secret is a book all about the law of attraction.
The law of attraction means you attract like things. Essentially, you can attract certain things into your life. The law of attraction has actually been a “thing” for quite a long time, but it’s drawn traction in the recent years.
People have literally attracted money to themselves by the exact dollar.
There are even a ton of celebrities who swear by the law of attraction.
This books explains what the law of attraction is and gives you to tips and tools to start using it in your life.
“If you can think about what you want in your mind, and make that your dominant thought, you will bring it into your life.”
rhonda byrne
You are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living Your Honest Life by Jen Sincero
This title is a mouthful, but it tell exactly what you will find in the book. You are a Badass also talks a lot about the law of attraction.
She teaches you how to change your mindset, how to stop caring what other people think, and ultimately creating the life you deserve.
“You are responsible for what you say and do. You are not responsible for whether or not people freak out about it.”
Jen sincero
Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy by David Burns
I came across this book after someone said their therapist recommended it to them.
If you have anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, or anything else that falls within the mental health category, David Burns gives you the tools you need to help combat those negative feelings in Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy
David D. Burns is a psychiatrist and a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine.
This book teaches you how to cope with things like anxiety and have a better outlook on life.
“There is only one person who could ever make you happy, and that person is you.”
david d. burns
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
As someone who struggles socially, I decided to give this book a try, and it definitely helped.
However, this book isn’t just for those who are really struggling. I think everyone could benefit from reading this book because honestly it just makes you a better person.
The title tells you exactly what he talks about in his book: “How to Win Friends and Influence People“
He provides you with a lot of (good) tips about how to make people like you, how to win over someone in turns of your way of thinking, and how to be a leader.
“One reason why birds and horses are not unhappy is because they are not trying to impress other birds and horses.”
Dale carnagie
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson
A lot of books just say to think positive and everything will be better, but that’s not always how it works. I always see The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck on the lists of best personal development books to read, and there’s a reason for that.
This book talks a lot about how you should only care about things that fall under your values- not anyone else’s.
You need to truly find what is important to you and just stop caring about all of the other little things that don’t make you happy. Just learn to be indifferent about all of those small things that bother you because in the grand scheme of things, they truly don’t matter.
“Our crisis is no longer material; it’s existential, it’s spiritual. We have so much f*cking stuff and so many opportunities that we don’t even know what to give a f*ck about anymore.”
mark manson
Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
In this self help finance book, Robert Kiyosaki compares the lives of two people: his father and his best friend’s father.
They both shaped what he thought about money in completely different ways. Seeing these different perspectives in Rich Dad, Poor Dad can transform your mindset.
This book talks about how important saving money is, how rich people make money work for them instead of the opposite, and much more.
“So many people say, ‘Oh, I’m not interested in money.’ Yet they’ll work at a job for eight hours a day.”
Robert Kiyosaki
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen Covey
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a highly recommended self-improvement book that focuses on changing your mindset.
Stephen Covey looks at the definition of success- because it’s different for all of us. Then he gives us the habits we need to create in order to achieve that success.
“Habit 1: Be Proactive
Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind
Habit 3: Put First Things First
Habit 4: Think Win/Win
Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
Habit 6: Synergize
Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw”
stephen covey
Eat That Frog: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time by Brian Tracey
This personal growth book is for all of us procrastinators.
Eat that Frog is an interesting title. If you eat a frog in the morning, you can pretty much guarantee that’s the worst thing you’ll do all day.
That’s the mindset of the book. Learning to stop procrastinating and doing your hardest task first. Create a productive morning routine.
The book gives you other ways to stop procrastinating and start organizing you day.
“If you have to eat two frogs, eat the ugliest one first.”
This is another way of saying that if you have two important tasks before you, start with the biggest, hardest, and most important task first.”
brian tracy
Let me know what you thought about the 10 best personal development books to read and what you would add to the list.
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