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“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies… The man who never reads lives only one.” – George R.R. Martin
This quote speaks nothing but the truth on the rich experiences a good book can bring you. With over 130 million books published since modern history, it can get pretty hard to choose what books you should read and what books to avoid. But in the myriad of books that are available to you today, here are 10 best-selling books you need to read before you die.
1. 12 Rules For Life
Author: Jordan Peterson
A psychology professor at the University of Toronto and a current practicing clinical psychologist, Jordan Peterson published this book in January 2018. Initially being just a hobby to answer questions posted on Quora, he decided that he should publish a book with the most commonly asked questions. This book is divided into chapters with each title representing a specific rule for life. Originally conceived of with 40 rules, Peterson condensed the major questions and simplified it into 12 easy-to-understand questions he has answers to. In this book, Peterson will take you on a journey in learning the powerful impact of the truth, benefits of observations, turning life’s most chaotic situations into favorable ones, and many more…
2. How To Win Friends and Influence People
Author: Dale Carnegie
Written in 1936, this book is a timeless novel that will always be relevant in all societies. In this book, Carnegie is set to teach you techniques in handling people, different and efficient ways of making people like you, winning people to your way of thinking, being a good leader, dealing with criticism, people, the secret of success, and influence. With each of these categories, Carnegie ties along different ideas and steps on how to achieve your goals by following his advice. There has to be a reason why this book was read by many influential people today and now is your chance to find out that why.
3. The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F**k
Author: Mark Manson
Mark Manson offers his view on the secret of having a good life by putting it in a way that has never been thought of before. His ultimate proposition is that people need to start caring less about everything but Instead, the key to living a good life is in individuals knowing what is truly important to them and not wasting energy stressing over the little things. One unique idea that captured the minds of many is the idea of how to move forward by going backward. The book goes into a conclusion that fundamentally reminds us to look beyond ourselves and embrace the hardships and uncertainties in our lives.
4. The Power of Habit
Author: Charles Duhigg
This idea for this book was sparked when Duhigg’s fascination with the wit of a U.S. army major in Kufa, Iraq, who helped avert a riot in a small town by persuading the mayor to keep food vendors out of large gatherings. When people couldn’t fuel their anger and energy with food, people just left. After years of research, Duhigg published this book about habits. This book will teach you ways of saving energy for your brain by offering shortcuts and the idea of improving your life by breaking existing habits. With plenty of examples to extrapolate each category, this book is bound to be a pillar of your success if you can fully commit to its principles.
5. Willpower
Author: John Tierney and Roy Baumeister
In a study that focuses on the limits of human willpower, Tierney and Baumeister broke barriers with new discoveries of the strength of perseverance, sense of self-control, and how willpower, like a muscle, can be strengthened through time. With documents recorded from multiple experiments done by them, this book will change your understanding of your willpower and how to make life better by taking it to the next level.
6. The Power of Now
Author: Eckhart Tolle
Drawing from a variety of spiritual traditions, it uses ancient ideologies and traditions to draw a relatable explanation to the belief system based on living in the present moment. Set to reassure readers that the importance of living is to focus on the present rather than the past or future, Tolle is suggesting different methods in where you can improve your quality of life by following the steps he proposes.
7. Making It Stick
Amazon
Author: Peter C. Brown, Mark A. McDaniel, Henry Roediger
After 10 years of collaborating with 11 different cognitive psychologists, Brown, McDaniel, and Roediger collected data and documents on how to learn new things faster and remembering things clearer. Introducing a new way to build memory and a better understanding of the things we see, this book offers us a variety of different techniques on how to increase our capabilities to hold deeper and more precise information. By proving the existing learning strategies we have today as ineffective, it will teach us how to really make information stick.
8. Extreme Ownership
Amazon
Author: Leif Babin
Written by a former U.S Navy SEAL officer, this New York Times bestseller is set to help us get down and dirty with the idea of leadership. His experiences as a SEAL officer is recapitulated and serves to teach us how the lessons he learned in combat is relevant to leaders of any role. Teamwork is a major key to success and Babin goes deep in details on educating us how a number of leadership concepts are effective in combat and business scenarios.
9. Mastery
Amazon
Author: Robert Greene
This book is heavily investing in talking about how to sculpt your mind and life in the pursuit of becoming the best in a craft. Talking about the callings in life and how to find them, Greene uses famous people from the past such as Charles Darwin to exemplify his point about mastery. By also relating reality to the concept of growth, Greene talks about the different phases of life in general and phases in the different pursuits you choose.
10. Rich Dad Poor Dad
Author: Robert T. Kiyosaki
Kiyosaki speaks about his childhood and how the different ideas his father(s) taught him about money. With pieces of advice that are not taught in the real world, Kiyosaki gives us an inlook of how he came to success with the tips he learned as a child. It advocates the importance of financial literacy and financial independence. He also speaks about the importance of building wealth through investments; real estate, starting and owning businesses.