Great list! Thanks for sharing this and taking the time to categorize these books into useful sections. For what it's worth, I have found the books Difficult Conversations and Thanks for the Feedback to be extraordinarily useful for self improvement, even though I don't think they are marketed for this purpose. Whatever the marketing, they have lots of really good ideas and concrete advice on how to put them to use.
Thanks, I've just read Chris Voss, really good. However, there's so much in it that it's not easy to take action on it. If you were to do a piece on how to apply what you learn in these books I would be on it!
Love the list. There’s a lot of good stuff in here with many I haven’t read yet. As a fellow self-help book lover, several I’ve loved that aren’t on your list are The Miracle Morning; The Four Hour Body; Bigger, Leaner, Stronger; The Comfort Crisis, and Your Money or Your Life. Each has had a major positive impact on my life.
Thanks Jared! The only one of these I've read is Four Hour Body — I found it pretty inspiring at the time and tried a bunch of stuff from it (including running a marathon on CrossFit Endurance protocols), but my results weren't great. I'll check out the others — have you read any of Dan John's stuff?
Interesting, the 4HB inspired me to eat differently. I basically thought his advice would never work for me and cynically said, I'll try it. I went on to lose 15 pounds in 6 months when I thought I only had 5 pounds to lose since I was already fit by any standard. I've since focused more on body composition with higher muscle mass and lower body fat and 10 years later am still 7 pounds lighter than when I read the 4HB and much stronger...so yes, lasting effects.
I haven't read any Dan John and actually had never heard of him but just watched your book review. Its now on my list of books to read. Some of what I heard you say is very similar to what I read in Bigger, Leaner, Stronger so I'm guessing that author learned from Dan John.
Ahh that's interesting — the slow carb stuff seemed very sensible (especially the advice to eat the same meals a lot, which is sensible but not mentioned much) but I never really tried it. I was always a bit sad that Ferriss never tried an ultra, as he said he was going to in the book.
I love Dan John's work: he also seems to be a lovely guy (I've met him at seminars). He's not much of a self promoter, but I think he legitimately invented the goblet squat and was a huge part of the adoption of loaded carries and sled pushes that you now see proliferating in gyms.
Thanks for these recommendations! I have a soft spot for self-improvement books (and websites and Substacks . . .), and I was happy to see some books I know on your list (Nudge, Willpower, Grit, etc.). I hope you don’t mind if I make a recommendation. One of my favorite self-help books is one that many people would not recognize as an example of this genre. It’s Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography. Even though it’s an actual autobiography written in the form of a narrative, Franklin wrote it with the intention of helping people improve their lives, and it has some splendid advice and examples in it. I actually have written an Audible Original, Ben Franklin’s Lessons in Life, which draws on his autobiography and other sources (including many modern self-help books). My Mind Inclined website has several essays/podcasts on Franklin. Here’s one . . .
Thanks for your response, Joel. Yes, Franklin shared his daily schedule with his morning and evening questions in his autobiography. He also shared his method for his “bold and arduous Project of arriving at moral Perfection.” It’s a very interesting (and often humorous) read.
Thanks Mark! I'll take a look. I've read elsewhere about Franklin, I know he used to journal (his 'What good shall do this day' is talked about a lot), and he deliberately made himself into a good writer, which I think is really interesting.
I'm excited to dig into this, and I feel the need to point out that it's Four Thousand *Weeks* by Burkeman
Great list! Thanks for sharing this and taking the time to categorize these books into useful sections. For what it's worth, I have found the books Difficult Conversations and Thanks for the Feedback to be extraordinarily useful for self improvement, even though I don't think they are marketed for this purpose. Whatever the marketing, they have lots of really good ideas and concrete advice on how to put them to use.
Love the sub headings.
I notice you don't have a single book from Tony Robbins, why is that?
Thanks, I've just read Chris Voss, really good. However, there's so much in it that it's not easy to take action on it. If you were to do a piece on how to apply what you learn in these books I would be on it!
Thanks for the suggestions! My favourite is Four Thousand Weeks* (you might want to edit that!) by Burkeman. His humour is a delight.
Love the list. There’s a lot of good stuff in here with many I haven’t read yet. As a fellow self-help book lover, several I’ve loved that aren’t on your list are The Miracle Morning; The Four Hour Body; Bigger, Leaner, Stronger; The Comfort Crisis, and Your Money or Your Life. Each has had a major positive impact on my life.
Thanks Jared! The only one of these I've read is Four Hour Body — I found it pretty inspiring at the time and tried a bunch of stuff from it (including running a marathon on CrossFit Endurance protocols), but my results weren't great. I'll check out the others — have you read any of Dan John's stuff?
Interesting, the 4HB inspired me to eat differently. I basically thought his advice would never work for me and cynically said, I'll try it. I went on to lose 15 pounds in 6 months when I thought I only had 5 pounds to lose since I was already fit by any standard. I've since focused more on body composition with higher muscle mass and lower body fat and 10 years later am still 7 pounds lighter than when I read the 4HB and much stronger...so yes, lasting effects.
I haven't read any Dan John and actually had never heard of him but just watched your book review. Its now on my list of books to read. Some of what I heard you say is very similar to what I read in Bigger, Leaner, Stronger so I'm guessing that author learned from Dan John.
Ahh that's interesting — the slow carb stuff seemed very sensible (especially the advice to eat the same meals a lot, which is sensible but not mentioned much) but I never really tried it. I was always a bit sad that Ferriss never tried an ultra, as he said he was going to in the book.
I love Dan John's work: he also seems to be a lovely guy (I've met him at seminars). He's not much of a self promoter, but I think he legitimately invented the goblet squat and was a huge part of the adoption of loaded carries and sled pushes that you now see proliferating in gyms.
Thanks for these recommendations! I have a soft spot for self-improvement books (and websites and Substacks . . .), and I was happy to see some books I know on your list (Nudge, Willpower, Grit, etc.). I hope you don’t mind if I make a recommendation. One of my favorite self-help books is one that many people would not recognize as an example of this genre. It’s Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography. Even though it’s an actual autobiography written in the form of a narrative, Franklin wrote it with the intention of helping people improve their lives, and it has some splendid advice and examples in it. I actually have written an Audible Original, Ben Franklin’s Lessons in Life, which draws on his autobiography and other sources (including many modern self-help books). My Mind Inclined website has several essays/podcasts on Franklin. Here’s one . . .
https://open.substack.com/pub/mindinclined/p/a-how-for-the-what?r=44ohic&utm_medium=ios
Thanks for your response, Joel. Yes, Franklin shared his daily schedule with his morning and evening questions in his autobiography. He also shared his method for his “bold and arduous Project of arriving at moral Perfection.” It’s a very interesting (and often humorous) read.
Thanks Mark! I'll take a look. I've read elsewhere about Franklin, I know he used to journal (his 'What good shall do this day' is talked about a lot), and he deliberately made himself into a good writer, which I think is really interesting.
“Conflict Communication by Rory Miller”
HARD AGREE - this book basically got me promoted at least twice at work?
Thanks Joel I love a good list