Everybody wants to be successful in life but without reading books written by successful people, it will be hard to achieve success.
Every reader they say is a leader, so it is time to say no to sitting on the sideline and get more from life.
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One thing we all have in common is that we all desire to make progress. We want to see that we are moving forward for the better.
Now is a good time to evaluate how much progress you have made and make plans for progress.
To keep yourself motivated and inspired to keep pushing forward, you want to dedicate yourself to reading at least one book a year.
While a book in itself will not necessarily make you successful, they open your mind to boundless opportunities and to what is possible. Following through with this will keep your goals afresh month after month through the year.
So today, we share with you 12 books you should read if you want to be successful.
Table of Contents
1. The Law of Human Nature by Robert Greene
This book from the author of 48 Laws of Power is epic. This is a book on all your flaws as a human, how to understand other people, and how to turn this knowledge into power.
Sometimes it seems like people really suck, to put it bluntly. We struggle with ourselves and others. People are deceptive, trying to appear generous, nice, and polite to hide mean-spiritedness.
Learn the law of human nature through observation and turn this skill into huge advantages in your career or business. You’ll learn to see through people’s masks, get to understand your dark side and learn to effortlessly influence and persuade people. Knowing yourself is the ultimate source of power. And this book will guide you toward it.
2. Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance
This book tells the story of a South African-born entrepreneur who is shaking the world of business as we know it. The author tells the story of Elon Musk from his childhood, all the way to founding all his companies. Get to learn about the dogged nature of a man many refer to as a rare combination of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Thomas Edison.
From the story to starting X.com, joining PayPal to starting SpaceX, his rocket company, Tesla, his electric car company, and SolarCity, a solar and battery company. If you aspire to achieve something worthwhile in your lifetime, this book will show you that nothing can stop a man who is determined to make a difference.
3. Smarter, Faster, Better by Charles Duhigg
This book gives you insights into the eight productivity concepts that help explain why some people and companies are able to accomplish so much more than others. The book draws from information on neuroscience and behavioural psychology, along with the experiences of successful CEOs, generals, pilots, FBI agents, and Broadway songwriters.
This well-researched book reveals how productive people and companies view the world in profoundly different ways than those who find less success. It is innovative explorations of productivity that can help anyone learn how to succeed without having to endure stress, struggle, or sacrifice.
4. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
This book was originally published during the Great Depression, and it is about the art of convincing yourself to become wealthy. It addresses the highly effective and important steps to take and the equally important steps to avoid in this process.
There are a lot of captivating points and ideas in this book. For example, the author argues that 99% of people do not have a goal in their life, and are therefore trapped in jobs that make them unhappy. The focal point of this book is that you can change your destiny by changing your attitude of mind.
5. The Power of Broke by Daymond John
This book is about how empty pockets, a tight budget, and a hunger for success can become your greatest competitive advantage. The book is written by the well-known Shark Tank star and Fubu Founder, Daymond John. He wrote this book to explain to readers why starting a business on a tight budget can actually be a great advantage for an entrepreneur. The author has been using the practices described in this book since he was a young entrepreneur selling home-sewn shirts in his neighbourhood. On an extremely tight budget, Daymond had to create his own strategies to sell his products. His creativity led to a campaign that later became the well-known $6 billion dollar industry, FUBU. This is a very good business book for every entrepreneur.
6. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen Covey
The book presents a principle-centred approach to solving personal and professional problems. With penetrating insights and pointed anecdotes, Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, honesty, and human dignity – principles that give us the security to adapt to change and the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates.
7. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
A fun and fast read, this book prompts much thought and discussion involving the secrets to success. Gladwell draws on a diverse and interesting set of examples to paint a picture of what it takes to make a person a success story. One of the most important takeaways is that hard work matters much more than raw talent. In the chapter ‘10,000 Hours,’ Gladwell cites a study of music students, which found that the number of hours spent practising is the key determinant in mastery. But, while successful people must invest the time to master their craft, they can only do that when the circumstances and unique events of their lives allow it. There’s an important lesson for everyone about the value of a lot of hard work and some luck.
8. Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
The main concept of this book is that change is a constant cycle that should be welcomed rather than resisted. The world is constantly evolving and what worked three years ago is now likely an outdated technique. While this may initially be viewed as a challenge, it shouldn’t be. The Heath brothers’ book teaches us that when leaders articulate their vision and empower employees for broad-based action, industry shifts can become a driving factor for the success of a business.
9. Focal point by Brian Tracy
Got a lot on your to-do list? Of course, you do. But what separates productive people from others is their ability to focus on a singular task at a time, and get it done before moving on to the next one. Sounds simple in theory, but this can be extremely difficult in practice. In Focal Point, Brian Tracy offers tips to help build discipline and organization into your day so you can get more stuff done.
10. Purple Cow by Seth Godin
Creating a “me-too” product can be easy at the start but can doom you to business or career failure. That’s why marketing maverick Seth Godin recommends creating a product that is truly different from anything already available in the marketplace. In essence, by making the product different you’ll be building the marketing into the actual product development…which just makes your actual marketing a lot easier.
11. You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero
The difference between someone who is successful or not isn’t usually capabilities, it is the ability to believe in their capabilities. There’s a pervasive myth that successful people are born with an abundance of self-confidence–they just knew early how good they were. In reality, some of the most skilled people in the world start out with significant self-doubts. The difference is that they take the time to learn self-confidence. You can spend your career-building skills in your chosen field, but without personal confidence, you won’t give yourself the opportunity to fully express your expertise. This book breaks down how to recognize the difference between self-doubt and capabilities, and how we can manage self-sabotaging beliefs.
12. 99 Perseverance Success Stories by Michal Stawicki
In this book, the author shares stories of success and perseverance from every walk of life, every level of success, and across many different cultures. This is not just a dry recitation of the thoughts of a few millionaires on success. It is wide-ranging, and therefore much more useful. This is a great book to read when you feel a little bit down and unmotivated and want to get the motivational equivalent of a shot of adrenaline straight to your heart.
There you have it. 12 books you should read if you want to be successful in life.
