Essentialism
by Greg Mckeown
The Foundations of Mindfulness
by Eric Harrison
An in depth look at the Buddha's original teachings in a format that you can understand.
How to win friends and influence People
by Dale Carnegie
A foundational book in understanding people and how to make long lasting friendships.
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
by Malcolm Gladwell
A book about the power of intuition. The concept of the “thin-slicing” idea which suggests that spontaneous decisions are often as good as, (or even better than) carefully planned ones. Having too much information can be detrimental to one's decision making.
Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind
by Shunryu Suzuki
One of the most influential books on Zen in western culture. This book is made up of compilation of talks by the late Shunryu Suzuki.
The War of Art
by Steven Pressfield
Being a creative, this book really spoke to me. In it, Steven Pressfield masterfully highlights the different forms of resistance artists, entrepreneurs, and athletes face while they try to break through creative blocks.
Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Desire, faith and persistence have the ability to propel one to great heights if one suppress negative thoughts and focus on long-term goals. The “13 steps” (which allow you to reach your goals) included in the book are:
1. Desire
2. Faith
3. Autosuggestion
4. Specialized Knowledge
5. Imagination
6. Organized Planning
7. Decision
8. Persistence
9. Power of the Master Mind
10. The Mystery of Sex Transmutation
11. The Subconscious Mind
12. The Brain
13. The Sixth Sense
10% Happier
by Dan Harris
One of the first books that got me interested in meditation. The author is an ABC news anchor, and after a stint of reporting in Afghanistan he comes back to New York city only to be entangled with PTSD and depression. On live television he suffers a panic attack and this book outlines his discovery of Meditation and how it helped him even by being a hard-core sceptic.
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
by Robert B. Cialdini
A great read that explains how easily people are persuaded without really thinking twice. The 6 ways of influence:
Reciprocation - People often feel obliged to return favors offered to them
Commitment and consistency - People generally value consistency in others.
Social proof - People look to other people similar to themselves when making decisions. Politicians - having regular people stand behind them as a way to invoke trust.
Liking - People agree to offers from people they like.
Authority - “The Milgram experiment” people often trust others they see as authority figures (i.e. doctors) even when their advice is unjust and immoral.
Scarcity - People want things as they become less available. I.e. advertisements saying “only a few days left before it’s gone”. Items are also given a higher value when they were once in high supply but have now become scarce.
Creative Confidence by Tom & David Kelley
This book is all about design thinking and how companies should look at different ways to solve problems. You don’t have to be a designer to implement a design thinking process to your company or life. Cycle through many ideas, then when you arrive at one - go all in with a prototype, customer feedback, back to the drawing board, field research, then finally a beta product. Find a problem even if there isn't one.