5 Books to Get You Started on The Journey of Personal Development

The concept of personal development is simply the idea of working to improve yourself, by for example building discipline, keeping an open mind or building habits that help you reach your goals in health and wealth.

These are some of the most important books I’ve read on my own journey in personal development. They have helped me understand more about me, how I personally work, how my mind works and how I can relieve stress and anxiety by focusing on the now.

1. The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

This is the book that changed everything for me. Have you ever heard the term “You have to live in the now!”, but just got frustrated because you never truly knew what it meant or just how you do that? Well, this book goes into great detail just how, and most importantly why, you should live in the now.

This book is definitely not for the individual with a closed mind, as it is very spiritual, but I urge you to challenge yourself to keep an open mind and read this. Because it contains some incredibly powerful and life-changing principles and ideas that can help you understand how to get rid of anxiety and fear.

2. The Obstacle Is The Way by Ryan Holiday

Inspired by the stoics of our history, Marcus Aurelius and Alexander the Great to name a few, this book will change your view on the challenges and tests that life throws your way. Instead of seeing them as a punishment or simply bad luck, you take responsibility and see it as an opportunity to learn and grow.

It goes into great detail about the importance of persistence, to keep moving and keep making decisions, to control your emotions and practice objectivity and most importantly, to nourish your mind by filtering your thoughts.

This book is a great starting point for anyone interested in personal development and a stoic lifestyle and one I recommend to anyone, no matter where you are in life.

3. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

This book taught me the biology behind habits and how they work, as there is so much more to it than simply repeating something over and over.

The book itself doesn’t just simply talk about how habits work, it also takes examples from history, business and our society and uses storytelling to give examples of how habits work in individuals, groups and larger organisations. But in short, you’ll be able to learn how to change your bad habits, using the principle of Trigger - Action - Reward, and how you can start forming better habits from the start.

4. The Tools by Phil Stutz and Barry Michaels

This is hands down one of the most practical books I’ve read in a long time, in any genre. The Tools will help you find courage and defeat the fears that are limiting your life, improve your creativity in creating and facilitating ideas and finally increase your willpower to help you push through the struggles when you have no motivation to do it.

The book does this by teaching you 5 very simple and practical tools that you can start using in your life right now, The Reversal of Desire, Active Love, Inner Authority, The Grateful Flow and Jeopardy.

5. The Practicing Mind by Thomas Sterner

This book is to me positioned in the grey zone between Personal Development and Entrepreneurship, as it is about learning to love the process while working towards your goal.

This book will teach and help you understand the importance of mindset and how you perceive your reality in order to reach your goals. It will teach you a practical approach of focusing on the process that will ultimately change your view on the challenges and obstacles that gets in your way. It will help you let go of the attachments to the outcomes and events that you cannot control, and instead focus on the next steps that you need to take in order to move forward.

This is a personal favourite of mine, for the powerful knowledge contained in such a short read and for the clear language that Thomas combines with some truly interesting personal anecdotes.

Thanks for reading! :)

If you have any book recommendations or tips on books that you think should’ve been on this list, be sure to leave a reply below.

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