Five Personal Development Books That Changed My Life

Reading was never something I’d be excited about while in school. Books sitting on shelves, covered with dust and piles of papers and more books, remained a typical thing in my household, despite my parents’ requests and encouragement to read. Unfortunately, when you’re a kid or even a teenager, it almost never dawns on you that books could be fun.

It wasn’t until later on in life that I picked up a book (a personal development book) and read it all the way through. From then on, I was hooked; reading became a thing, a habit I couldn’t simply let go. Now, books have a big place in my life. I believe they have the power to change the way we think, live our lives and see the world around us.

This list of books is what helped me — and what I’m hoping will help readers and book lovers– not only carve the way for a rich and better life, but also change the way they perceive books in general.

Don’t Bullshit Yourself by Jon Taffer

Do you read books? Do you go to the gym? Do you eat well?

If yes, great!

If not, then right now your head must be overflooding with excuses to justify the reason. That’s what the book is about!

Reading it feels like you’re on Bar Rescue (a show where Jon Jaffer helps transform struggling bars into profitable businesses); you’re being monitored, judged and reprimanded by the author, he’s holding you accountable and making you realize, as you flip the pages, you are your own biggest enemy.

The book is divided into 6 chapters, each one goes through an excuse, such as fear or time, and gives stories of real people (Calls them Bullshit busters) who pushed an excuse away and rose on top of it.

Filled with AHA moments, this book is like a mirror that reflects past mistakes and shoves reality right in your face.

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Factfulness by Hans Rosling

Endorsed by Bill Gates and Barack Obama, this book went on to become a surprise bestseller. It instills doubt and makes you raise questions.

In the beginning of the book, you’re asked to answer 13 questions, and in doing so, you quickly realize how wrong your facts are about the world.

It is certainly one of those eye-opening books that will make you see everything through different lenses.

Hans Rolling put his whole energy and effort to make this book a masterpiece. Sadly, he lost his life to cancer before seeing its massive success.

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Millionaire Success Habits By Dean Graziosi

Want some inspiration and a deeper look at the life and story of one of America’s multimillionaires, real-estate investor and business owner Dean Graziosi? This book provides all that and more.

To a lot of people, it might seem like one of those “rags to riches success story” clichés, but upon reading it, I realized it is much more than that; it brings new insight and a new look at the habits necessary to lead a life of abundance.

What’s more, it shares the humble beginnings of a middle-class kid from New York and his accumulation of wealth and prosperity.

This book is rich with lessons on how to turn failures into opportunities, and to develop successful habits by adding them to our daily routines.

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The Brain Warrior’s Way by Dr. Daniel Amen

Dr. Amen’s brain SPECT scan imaging, which looks at blood flow in the brain, has laid the foundation for good health, proving in this book that our lives, habits and diets are either damaging our brain, or healing it.

Through becoming a Brain Warrior and waging war against the toxic food industry, we can win the fight for the health of our brain.

What’s special about this book is that it shows proof of real life brain scans, and shares stories of how patients were able to turn their life around after becoming brain warriors.

Working out — which is one among many other health habits mentioned– does very little to compensate for a poor diet. Bad eating is harmful, regardless of how big your biceps or quadriceps are. Food is either poison or medicine for your body.

Reading this book forever influences your perception of healthy eating for the brain.  After reading it, I developed Brain envy; a concept that fuels you to care for your brain and always strive to make it better than other people’s brains.

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Maximum Achievement by Brian Tracy

Personally, I give this book a lot of credit. Not only is it one of the very first personal development books I picked up and read, but it also awakened a deep longing for being better and pursuing a life of success.

Brian Tracy is one of the world’s leading authorities on personal development. He has helped thousands of people and businesses all over the world unlock and achieve true success.

This book encompasses many lessons related to psychology, philosophy, business and well-being, in addition to other strategies and techniques anyone can apply to improve the quality of life.

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Personal development books generally aim to impact and change lives, but many end up being repetitive or boring.  The books on this list are the exception.  They all truly belong to the category of “life-changing” books.

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