I don’t put these books up here lightly. If someone said I could only read 8 business/self-help books for the rest of my life, these would be them.
I gravitate towards books that focus on principles that have broad application. This way I can learn and apply truths to different scenarios.
I’ve come to love true principles – or truths that lay at the foundation of good thinking, reasoning, and behavior.
These 8 books focus on teaching principles. While I may not agree with every little thing they teach or talk about, I do agree with the majority of the principles found in them.
Each of these books have fundamentally changed the way I think and see the world, and have been of extreme value to me.
There is no particular order to my ranking of these books – I find them all of equal weight. Each title links to the book on Amazon – so feel free to look deeper if my summary interests you.
Here they are!
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen R. Covey
As I grew up, my father worked for FranklinCovey – which Stephen R. Covey co-founded. As a teenager, my father actually worked on Stephen R. Covey’s team and helped set up meetings with everyone from the President George W. Bush and the Dalai Lama.
As you can imagine, the principles of this book were taught an ingrained in me, but I didn’t actually read the book until I was 22.
Covey teaches 7 habits than any human being can develop to becoming highly effective in life – in our personal and work relationships, and ultimately fufilling our life’s mission.
If you haven’t read this book and are looking for more meaning and purpose in your life, you should start here.
The title is fitting given my introduction – Ray Dalio is the Founder of Bridgewater – one of the worlds’ most successful hedge funds. Dalio believes in confronting difficult realalities in personal and work lives head on. One of my favorite principles he teaches is:
“You have nothing to fear from knowing the truth.”
As we understand what actually is, we can approach it in most reasonable and practical way. Especially today when I feel so much is distorted and changed by those with agendas of all kinds, this book has helped me cut through the fog.
What is truly essential in your life? (I laugh because essential has a different meaning after COVID-19 – for most people it was toilet paper at one point.)
McKeown discusses how focusing on that which truly matters, and putting all else to the side is crucial to our success as a human being, each entrusted with a mission only we can fufill.
McKeown will help you understand what truly matters to you, and to focus on it above all us.
I can’t recommend this book enough.
The 4 Hour Work Week – Tim Ferriss
This book title sounds like a scammy infomercial. Partly because Ferriss is a brilliant marketer – but he changed the way I view time forever.
I have never read a more practical book than this one – a book that teaches step by step how to regain control of your time, and do the things that you really care about. Essentially, he gives the guide to do what is essential for you.
A word of warning – after reading this book I started treating a lot of things in my life with disdain if it was ineffective or inefficient – while the effects of this were mostly positive, it did impact some of my relationships negatively. After a couple years, I’ve been able to regain balance, and have come to understand
Ferriss is a master interviewer – and loves to learn. His introduction to the book is better than anything I could write. This has been a helpful guidebook for me.
Enter Ferriss:
“For the last two years, I’ve interviewed more than 200 world-class performers for my podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show. The guests range from super celebs (Jamie Foxx, Arnold Schwarzenegger, etc.) and athletes (icons of powerlifting, gymnastics, surfing, etc.) to legendary Special Operations commanders and black-market biochemists. For most of my guests, it’s the first time they’ve agreed to a two-to-three-hour interview. This unusual depth has helped make The Tim Ferriss Show the first business/interview podcast to pass 100 million downloads.
“This book contains the distilled tools, tactics, and ‘inside baseball’ you won’t find anywhere else.
“What makes the show different is a relentless focus on actionable details. This is reflected in the questions. For example: What do these people do in the first sixty minutes of each morning? What do their workout routines look like, and why? What books have they gifted most to other people? What are the biggest wastes of time for novices in their field? What supplements do they take on a daily basis?
“I don’t view myself as an interviewer. I view myself as an experimenter. If I can’t test something and replicate results in the messy reality of everyday life, I’m not interested.
“Everything within these pages has been vetted, explored, and applied to my own life in some fashion. I’ve used dozens of the tactics and philosophies in high-stakes negotiations, high-risk environments, or large business dealings. The lessons have made me millions of dollars and saved me years of wasted effort and frustration.
“I created this book, my ultimate notebook of high-leverage tools, for myself. It’s changed my life, and I hope the same for you.”
How Will You Measure Your Life – Clayton Christensen
On the first day of an internship I had in Munich Germany with FranklinCovey (thanks Dad!), I had just finished touring Germany with my Father. When I woke up in the hotel room, I found a book on the table gifted from my Dad.
It was this book.
Christensen died early in 2020 – but not before leaving a powerful mark on the world. He was a world-renowned thought leader and executor on innoviation.
After changing the trajectory of hundreds of massive companies and millions of lives due to his teachings, Christensen wrote “How Will you Measure Your Life?” Essentially, how will you know you have lived a successful and meaningful life?
This is a profound quick read. Anyone who wishes to make an impact in this world and their family should read it.
The Prosperity Paradox – Clayton Christensen
Again, Christensen to the rescue. This was his last book before he died. It changed my life.
Christensen shows that throughout history, the key to all of our advancements and as a society has been innovation.
The way the United States become the richest country in the world, is through innovating. That is the way it will stay that way too.
The poor countries of the world can and should follow that same model – and he outlines the principles for creating wealth in poor places.
I can’t recommend this enough.
Jim Collins – a master thinker – essentially discusses the principles that drove the success of the most sustainable and high-performing businesses and organizations in the world. I personally have found these principles to be true in my own life.
You’re going to love the concept of the “flywheel” he discusses. You’ll start seeing them everywhere!
Conclusion
Reading has been one of the greatest gifts of my life. Without these and many other books, I would not be who I am today.
I invite you to read more. Just 10 pages of a good book each day. That’s it.
It will change you.
And then you will change your world.