Ready to embark on a new, uber-successful chapter in your life? Take some inspiration from these bestsellers and prepare to hit the big time – both financially and emotionally
You’re doing alright. You’ve got a house, a car and maybe even an Alexa. You’re happy enough with your lot… and yet you can’t help but feel that you’re not fulfilling your potential. Why shouldn’t you own a boat, jet off to the Seychelles and drink £100 bottles of wine – all the while feeling contented and #blessed? The truth is, you can and – if you use these top 10 books as motivational guides – you will.
1. The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss
This self-help book is on the New York Times bestseller list and promises that you’ll be able to “escape 9-5, live anywhere and join the new rich”. All while only working four hours a week. Sounds too good to be true, right? Maybe, but there must be something in Ferriss’s advice because this book has sold more than 1,350,000 copies worldwide and has been translated into 35 languages. It explores what Ferriss calls “lifestyle design”, and rejects the life plan that so many people live by today: working crazy hours and shunning holidays in order to save money to relax after retirement. Why not enjoy life now?
2. The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch
In this global bestseller, Koch outlines the belief that 80% of results flow from 20% of causes, and with this principle, we can achieve much more with much less effort. The key? Focusing on the all-important 20%, which will result in you controlling events rather than them controlling you.
3. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
Based on Covey’s belief that the way we see the world is completely based on our own perceptions, this book states that if we want to change a situation, we must first change ourselves, and in order to change ourselves, we must change our perceptions. How? Follow these seven habits:
● Be proactive ● Begin with the end in mind ● Put first things first ● Think win-win ● Seek first to understand, then to be understood ● Synergize ● Sharpen the saw
4. Awaken The Giant Within by Tony Robbins
Want to take immediate control of your mental, emotional, physical and financial life? Robbins tells you how in this book, and encourages you to never settle for anything less than an extraordinary life. He outlines how to overcome your obstacles, how to use your personal values to achieve what you desire most, and how to use pain and pleasure to shape your destiny.
5. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Hill, who died in 1970, is one of the most influential names when it comes to the self-motivation movement. Think and Grow Rich is the most widely acclaimed and authoritative book on personal achievement ever published. Since 1937, it has sold around 100 million copies globally. It will teach you how to combat many common fears such as sickness, money worries, criticism and loss of love, while encouraging you to unleash your true potential and achieve guaranteed success.
6. What The Most Successful People do Before Breakfast by Laura Vanderkam
Accomplishing more in less time is a solid goal. With this book, Vanderkam can help you achieve it. She explores ways in which you can rethink your morning routine, match your to-do list to your natural body clock, make the most of your working hours, balance work and play, and reevaluate your weekends so they become super-satisfying. Enough time-wasting! High-productivity awaits you.
7. Tools of Titans by Timothy Ferriss
Taking the tools, tactics and life lessons gleaned from guests (such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, special-operations commanders and biochemists) on his podcast, Ferriss distills the advice down into this book to give you a guide you can use – as he has – in everyday life. He claims the lessons in the book have changed his life: making him millions of dollars and saving him years of wasted effort and frustration. He calls it the “ultimate notebook of high-leverage tools”.
8. Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
Described as a “massive cultural phenomenon”, Lean In focuses on women and leadership, and highlights how Sandberg – Facebook COO and one of Fortune magazine’s Most Powerful Women in Business – has navigated her way to the top. She illustrates ways in which women can help themselves in business and stop reticence creeping in. Do you deserve that promotion? Hell, yeah!
9. Thrive by Arianna Huffington
Success = money and power. Right? Not so much, says Huffington. Thrive is looking to redefine what it means to be successful in this day and age. In this book, Huffington talks openly about the challenges she has faced juggling her career and raising two daughters. In order to have healthy, productive and meaningful lives, we should make time for mindfulness, meditation, unplugging and giving.
10. Who Moved My Cheese? By Dr. Spencer Johnson
This comical book is a simple parable with a valuable lesson. The cheese is a metaphor for what you want in life, be that a happy relationship, a satisfying job, lots of money, spiritual peace of mind, or good health. The problem is that the cheese keeps moving and your goal seems out of reach. This book will teach you how to adapt to – and even enjoy – change. Taking around an hour or less to read, Who Moved My Cheese? promises less stress, more success and unique insights that you can use in all aspects of life.
