5 Book Recommendations for Self Improvement

We all want to be happy and win in life. But oftentimes, we experience turbulence in our journeys. What is important to remember is that our fates are not set in stone. You can become your own drill master and coach. When life seems unfair, or when it feels like you have lost control over things, there is still hope. Change is the answer. And change starts within us. We can start by setting small challenges for ourselves and making minute adjustments. Over time these changes become habits, and with habit comes consistency. Consistency drives results.

All you need is a kickstarter. Self-help books serve as a spark to ignite that flame of motivation, ambition and optimism in you. Whether it’s a battle with depression, a marriage in friction, parenting challenges, or a dilemma over a career choice, there is a self-help book for every situation. And self-help or self-improvement is a broad genre. Not all of them are made equal. Some help in starting you out on your journey, others give you a boost when you’ve achieved experience in certain areas. Picking a self-help book depends upon the problem you’re trying to solve.

With that being said, this list includes self-help books that will help you in life in general.

• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen Covey

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is one of the most popular books on habits. Stephen Covey identifies patterns of behaviour that differentiate high achievers from the average Joe. Successful individuals make habits of seven similar behaviours, such as proactivity and goal-setting. The chapters explore each of the seven habits in-depth and give tips on how you can incorporate them into your own life with examples.

We tend to overlook simple things and complicate them. Stephen tries to make us understand that it is the basic things that are the key to our success.

“To change ourselves effectively, we first had to change our perceptions.”

• How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie

This timeless masterpiece has sold over 45 million copies since it was published in 1936. The fact that people still refer to it when trying to build meaningful social connections or just nail the first impression tells you why this book is a must-read.

The main point of this book is to be good to people. You’ll end up being likeable and have influence over them. Sound easy? But there is depth to it. Carnegie goes ahead and demonstrates how it actually works. He unlocks the principles for creating influence and impact which are otherwise hidden in plain sight. He encourages people to appreciate and acknowledge instead of criticizing and complaining. The book includes 6 rules that will make people like you and 12 tips on making people follow your way of thinking. Finally, he suggests 9 ways to influence people to do what you want them to do willingly.

• Who Moved My Cheese? – Spencer Johnson

Who Moved My Cheese? is an insight into how to deal with change in your work and life. It is the amusing and enlightening story of four characters who live in a maze and look for cheese to nourish them and make them happy. Cheese is a metaphor for what you want to have in life -- a good job, a loving relationship, money, possessions, health or spiritual peace of mind. The maze is where you look for what you want -- your workplace, or the family or community you live in. The problem is that the cheese keeps moving. One of the characters deals with change successfully and teaches what he has learned. You'll learn how to anticipate, adapt to and enjoy change and be ready to change quickly whenever you need to.

• High Performance: Lessons From The Best on Becoming Your Best – Jake Humphrey

Drawing on interviews with high achievers from the world of sport, business and beyond, High Performance details the nine hidden rules to success and how we can all implement them in our daily lives. From taking absolute responsibility for our situation to working out our non-negotiable 'trademark behaviours' to getting the very best out of our teammates, the book draws on cutting edge psychology to explain why these methods have such a transformative impact. This book will help you think clearly, act decisively and keep calm under pressure to bring our best into our own lives, whether on the pitch, in our careers or at home.

• Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience – Mihaly Csikszentmihaly

Have you ever felt at the top of your game? Answers and ideas flow freely. Your concentration and focus are unmatched. You are happy, content and may be satisfied. You are in control. For more than two decades, he studied those states in which people report feelings of concentration and deep enjoyment. This is the state that Dr Csikszentmihaly refers to as “flow”. The studies reveal that “flow” is a state of concentration so focused that it amounts to complete absorption in an activity and results in the achievement of a perfect state of happiness.

Part science and part philosophy, this book does an exceptional job of relating to us not only how to get more done, but how to live happier and fuller lives due to having an understanding of the “flow”.

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