Top 10 books to read for personal development
Books contain the collective experiences of authors and there is much we can learn from their experiences. This helps a lot in our journey to search for our financial freedom.
The Reading Exercise
It is the daily readings that helps open up our minds to more ideas and get creative in the way we see and do things.
Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.
Joseph Addison
If you’re looking to pick up a reading habit but unsure where to start, then pick a topic that interests you the most and make a commitment to read 10 pages a day, be it the start of the day when you wake up or before you call it a night and go to sleep. I started with this commitment and slowly changed it to at least 30 minutes a day.
Application is More Important than Knowledge
Whilst reading is important, the application of knowledge is the key to unlocking success. Thoughts create ideas, actions create results.
Success is the uncommon application of common knowledge.
Dr Ivan Misner (Founder of BNI)
If you’re a committed student, you can have a notebook and pen ready by your side whilst you read to take down important notes, and refer to the notes to apply to your daily life. This is what I do when I read the book the second time.
Top 10 Books Recommendation
Here I recommend the top 10 must read books to hone your mind and open it up to a world of growth and personal development:
Financial Literacy:
Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter
The one book that set me on the path of thinking about money in an out-of-the-box way. It challenges the old school of thought about earning money and teaches things that schools never did. Easy to read and I finished it within a day. The only thing I’ll pick on is that it focuses on real estate quite a bit like every other “get rich” book out there.
Success:
7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
I finished this book sometime earlier this year and found this to be quite revolutionary. The 7 “habits” presented in this book are easy to understand, but the challenging part is to consistently apply them, which is what sets apart successful people from the rest. I feel that it is crucial to adopt these habits to become successful. I wish I started reading this as one of my first few books!
Leadership:
21 irrefutable laws of leadership by John C. Maxwell
Here’s a book that clearly lists out the 21 must-haves that shapes up leadership. It is undisputed, it is true and it shows in great depth about what leadership entails. I definitely can relate to this as I assumed leadership positions and can see some make a greater leader than others. Holding the 21 laws closely at heart and working at it daily will definitely improve one’s leadership qualities.
Communication:
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
There is nothing new in this book, but it accurately brings out the little things that we subconsciously know about connecting with another person. How some people can attract people to them and some just repel people. This book is easily relatable and I find that it is easy to absorb and apply the pointers in this book towards better communication and establishing better connections with people around us, new and old.
Business:
Good to Great by Jim C. Collins
Backed by empirical studies and thorough research on Fortune 500 companies, this book identified companies that managed to transcend into companies with stellar results and clearly draws out points that contributed to their success. At the same time, it makes meaningful comparisons with companies who was great at a time but either never managed to breakthrough the glass ceiling or deteriorated over time. Definitely a must read for anyone who is building a business or trying to breakthrough in their career.
Strategy:
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
There are many variations on the translation and interpretation of this as it is (1) written by a legendary figure from China and (2) uses the Old Language of China. But pick up any book about The Art of War and the contents will be largely similar. It is not the easiest of books to read, but the different strategies portrayed in the book has been used countless times over centuries to achieve success – such as “under-promise and over-deliver”, “Be well prepared to win”, “playing hard-to-get”, etc. It is applicable not just at war, in business, but even in daily life.
Life:
Ikigai – The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life by Albert Liebermann and Hector Garcia
How some people live long and happy lives, while others live short and miserable lives? In this book it’s back to the basics of living. We live in a world with a lot of distractions, but this book focuses on the daily things that matters, which would eventually allow us to happily carry on everyday with a purpose to move forward. It shows examples, it tells tales, but what it can’t do is to tell you what you need, for everyone is different. We all need to find our own “Ikigai” – The reason to jump out of bed every morning. A good reminder, and partially the reason for me starting this website myself.
Money:
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
This book is interesting in the way that it relates riches to our thoughts. It is not DO and get rich, but THINK and grow rich. It comprises studies of people who have amassed fortunes and what was it that helped them achieve their success. The entire book talks about thoughts and how that eventually translates to energy, be it positive or negative, that would influence the results. The more I see how things work in the world, talk to people who have achieved success, the more I can relate to this book.
Personal Finance:
The Richest Man in Babylon by George Samuel Clason
A lot of personal finance advice packed in a story set back in Babylon thousands of years ago. I definitely resonated with this because I am agreeable and do indeed practice the personal finance parables in there. It is simple to pick up and practice. A good intro to your personal finance journey if you want to pick a book on the subject.
Destiny:
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
A Brazilian author weaves into story the journey of Shepherd boy who ventures out to pursue his dream. There are many great takeaways from this book itself. Without spoiling too much, it shows me how sometimes it feels so easy to work on something we want, and then somewhere down the road we are hit with such challenges that we often wonder if we should continue pushing forward or to turn back. Seriously, this fictional story packs more power learning than some of the non-fiction books out there, and manages to make it so enjoyable to read.
Where to get books?
If you intend to shop online (for Malaysians), I recommend first looking for it at BookXcessOnline. They have very good deals, if the books you’re looking for is available.
Else, you can try the few big bookshops names that I usually visit – MPH Online, Borders, Popular Bookstore.
I am not into ebooks because I find that it strains my eyes, and my retention is much better with physical books. So I’m sorry but I can’t recommend any place to source for ebooks!
So, what are you waiting for? Get started on your reading journey!
Alright, if you want to shortcut it and books are really not your thing, but you still want to learn, here’s what you can do:
Go to youtube -> In the search bar type “[book name] summary” -> Click and spend 15 – 20mins consuming the content
Just so we’re clear, I recommend reading the book itself instead as it’s a journey in itself and each person’s interpretation and takeaway may be different.
