Atomic Habits is a guide to building good habits and breaking bad ones. James Clear says all our habits follow a 4-Step Habit Loop which includes: cue, craving, response and reward. You'll learn practical techniques to "hack" each step so you can achieve lasting personal change.
The True Believer shows how the same human frustrations drive all mass movements—whether social, political or religious. People join mass movements to escape their ineffectual and helpless individual self. Eric Hoffer wrote this book 70 years ago, but it's still frighteningly relevant today.
Thinking, Fast and Slow is about how irrational mental shortcuts often guide our decision-making. Based on countless studies, Daniel Kahneman shows we rely on our intuitive mind (System 1) more than our lazy logical mind (System 2), and why this causes systematic errors in our judgement.
As a Man Thinketh says our thoughts set the course our life, not our circumstances. James Allen says thoughts are seeds for actions, so our mind is a garden where we must cultivate the right seeds. This short, inspiring book still influences many modern self-help teachers.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is one of the most popular self help books ever, selling 25 million copies. Stephen Covey explains 7 principles for becoming more effective in our personal and professional lives. These include taking responsibility, acting with long-term perspective and building mutually beneficial relationships.
The Body Keeps the Score is about fascinating new trauma treatments based on the latest research, like eye movement therapy and neurofeedback. Van der Kolk says many of us carry traces of trauma from childhood adversity or neglect. Emotional healing can happen through practices like mindfulness, yoga, play and more.
The Four Agreements shows how to love yourself more, not take things personally, and heal your relationships. Don Miguel Ruiz shares wisdom from the indigenous Mexican Toltec culture to help us stop living in this false "dream" of social rules, expectations and judgments.
Meditations shows how to become more self disciplined, stop caring what people think, and withstand life's emotional storms. Marcus Aurelius was a powerful Roman emperor and great Stoic philosopher. He wrote down all these thoughts in a private journal to himself.
The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching introduces the most essential Buddhist ideas in a way even secular people can easily digest. These ideas include The Four Noble Truths and The Noble Eightfold Path. Thich Nhat Hanh explains how Buddhism is in its essence a pragmatic approach to ending personal suffering.
Nonviolent Communication shows us how to have healthy relationships through openly and honestly communicating our observations, feelings, needs and requests. This book can help us move past dysfunctional communication habits we learned growing up including guilt tripping, being passive aggressive, blaming, labelling and judging others as good or bad.
