While we’ve listed the books in our library here, we’ve also put together a short list of our top 5 reads.
1. Atomic Habits by James Clear
At the top of our list, we like Atomic Habits for setting precedence of shifting habits towards a successful lifestyle. Becoming conscious of all the small things we do throughout the day is the first step to making major change. What your habits look like today will tell you a lot about how your life will look like 1, 5, or even 10 years from now. If you look closely enough, you will see that your trajectory is clearly outlined by your habits. Clear pushes his readers to focus on a system rather than goals, and to build identity-based habits that will last a lifetime.
2 Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson
Taking an unusual approach at providing understanding at how our choices affect our lives, Manson dives deep into Conflict Theory, notably arguing that humans tend to thrive when under pressure and met with challenges. He argues that this is what makes us continue to grow, and that ultimately, we must choose which outcomes we want in life and which challenges we choose to endure along the way. He offers a refreshing viewpoint that individuals should seek to find meaning through what they find to be important and only engage in values that they can control.
3. Developing the Leader Within by John C. Maxwell
We vote this book as one we wish we read earlier in life. Maxwell takes us through the art of building relationships and credibility with the people we lead, and how to continue to grow in real, non-superficial influence. The main premise in this book is that leadership is a quality that can be developed in anyone. In it, Maxwell encourages leaders to focus on self-improvement and developing their ability to influence others via: self-improvement, influence, empathy, integrity and more.
4. Principle-Centered Leadership by Stephen Covey
This is one of Covey’s least popular, but one of the most his most effective, books; a hidden gem if you can find it. Covey depicts what it means to live and lead a life of principle, rather than attempting to maintain surface-level influence within our lives. He explains that living a life on congruency, when one’s words, thoughts, actions and beliefs all come into alignment, that’s when the magic happens in our lives. Covey is another author that encourages prioritizing character development within oneself first, before then using those principles to guide others. This leads to long-term positive impacts rather than short-term gains.
5. The Compound Effect By Darren Hardy
Wrapping up this list, we vote on The Compound Effect to tie together the four books on this list. Hardy’s insights take a deeper dive into Atomic Habits and instill a not-so-subtle sense of urgency in taking action. Rather than trying to tackle immensely difficult larger habits, Hardy encourages his readers to start small, and just like compounded interest in your bank account, your habits will compound naturally, snowballing into larger, more effective habits over time. He argues that small, seemingly insignificant actions repeated consistently over time can lead to significant and positive results in your life. “Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement.”
While we’ve listed our top 5 books above, we couldn’t just leave ‘well enough’ alone. We had a hard time choosing which were our absolutely favorites, so for now, we’ll say that the books listed above are our recommendation on where to start, but by no means is a master list. Here are our honorable mentions (i.e., put these on your reading list too!):
Honorable Mentions:
Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink & Leif Babin
Relentless by Tim Grover
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