8 Personal Development Books That Transformed My Life
“Personal development is a major time-saver. The better you become, the less time it takes you to achieve your goals.” ―Brian Tracy
So many books, so little time.
— Frank Zappa
I always loved reading.
It was one of the few things I adopted from my mother.
I remember how she always had a book beside her bed when I was still a little girl.
Especially as a child, I truly admired books. I had hundreds of child books, which we later donated to organizations.
However, when I started my studies at business school, I, unfortunately, stopped reading.
As I had to read so much for my studies, I didn’t feel like reading a single sentence in my spare time.
That was the case for almost two years until I first came into touch with personal development.
After watching the first motivational videos and getting into the topic, it didn’t take long until I dived really deep into personal growth.
I was super interested in why some people succeed while others struggle for their whole lives and how one can live happily.
Personal development was one of the answers to these questions.
Once I discovered the diverse world of self-improvement, I could barely stop reading anymore.
Since mid of 2017, I’ve consumed hundreds of books and transformed my own life tremendously.
I am beyond grateful for having discovered the world of personal growth and having access to all the knowledge that is out there.
While I appreciate every book that was ever written, I found a few favorites.
Amongst the hundreds of books I’ve consumed by now, there were some nice-to-haves but also some incredible must-reads.
If I’d had to choose a few books to re-read in my whole life, it would be these.
I am sure that if you not only skim through them but pay close attention and practice what you learn, they can as well transform your life in many areas.
(The links are not affiliates, I just included them to make it easier for you to find the books in case you want to check them out in detail)
1. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9–5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich by Tim Ferriss
Tim Ferriss is one of the major players in the world of personal development, and I’ve already read three of his books, but this is my absolute favorite.
The title might sound more like a business than a self-help book, and indeed, it talks a lot about how we work and how we might do business in the future, but this book is an absolute must-read for anyone, no matter what profession.
The 4-Hour Workweek is one of the books I’d genuinely want every person on this planet to read.
Ferriss packed anything that you need to know about success in life and business into one single book and provides genuinely actionable advice supported by his personal stories.
My favorite quotes:
“Most people will choose unhappiness over uncertainty.”
“If we define risk as ‘the likelihood of an irreversible negative outcome,’ inaction is the greatest risk of all.”
“Few people choose to (or are able to) measure the results of their action and thus measure their contribution in time. More time equals more self-worth and more reinforcement from those above and around them.”
“Don’t follow a model that doesn’t work. If the recipe sucks, it doesn’t matter how good a cook you are.”
“The question you should be asking yourself isn’t, “What do I want” or “What are my goals?” but “What would excite me?”
“You won’t believe what you can accomplish by attempting the impossible with the courage to repeatedly fail better.”
2. Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert
When I started reading Big Magic, I’ve already been looking forward to it for a long time. And it was totally worth my excitement.
While most people know Elizabeth Gilbert for her international bestseller, Eat, Pray, Love, Big Magic is about courage and creativity.
It empowers you to pursue your personal creative interests and live in peace with your fears, instead of fighting them.
Gilbert teaches how you can be creative despite your fears and how you can ensure a free flow of creativity.
My favorite quotes:
“Do whatever brings you to life, then. Follow your own fascinations, obsessions, and compulsions. Trust them. Create whatever causes a revolution in your heart.”
“The universe buries strange jewels deep within us all, and then stands back to see if we can find them.”
“It seems to me that the less I fight my fear, the less it fights back. If I can relax, fear relaxes, too.”
“It’s a simple and generous rule of life that whatever you practice, you will improve at.”
3. Finding Your Element: How to Discover Your Talents and Passions and Transform Your Life by Ken Robbinson
I highly admire the work of Ken Robbinson.
When I first listened to one of his TED talks, I was blown away.
Soon after that, I decided to read his book Finding Your Element, which teaches us to find your talents and passions and how to embrace them.
Robinson states that we need to combine what we love with what we’re good at to be ultimately happy.
My favorite quotes:
“If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.”
“Curiosity is the engine of achievement.”
“Creativity is as important now in education as literacy and we should treat it with the same status.”
“What you do for yourself dies with you when you leave this world, what you do for others lives on forever.”
4. High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way by Brendon Burchard
This one is my most favorite personal growth book ever.
Even though I’ve already read many books about habit-building, I learned so much from this one.
I believe that if someone would only read High Performance Habits and apply what he learned, it would be enough to live an extraordinary life. You’d probably not need any more personal development books for the rest of your life.
My favorite quotes:
“Just because people want to put things on your plate because you’re good doesn’t mean you should let them.”
“Be more intentional about who you want to become. Have vision beyond your current circumstances. Imagine your best future self, and start acting like that person today.”
“The only difference lies in whether someone decides it is necessary to get better. No necessity, no consistent action.”
“Gratitude is the golden frame through which we see the meaning of life.”
“Seek clarity. Generate energy. Raise necessity. Increase productivity. Develop Influence. Demonstrate Courage. These are the six habits that you need to adopt if you are to reach high performance in any situation.”
5. The 5 Second Rule: Transform your Life, Work, and Confidence with Everyday Courage by Mel Robbins
Also, here, I first watched the TED talk and felt the urge to read the book.
What the 5 Second Rule and the book teach you is taking massive action.
You learn how to trick your brain and finally get things done instead of procrastinating anymore.
The 5 Second Rule: The moment you have an instinct to act on a goal, you must 5–4–3–2–1 and physically move or your brain will stop you
My favorite quotes:
“You can’t control how you feel. But you can always choose how you act.”
“You Are One Decision Away from a Completely Different Life”
“If you only ever did the things you don’t want to do, you’d have everything you’ve ever wanted.”
“There’s one thing that is guaranteed to increase your feelings of control over your life: a bias toward action.”
“There will always be someone who can’t see your worth. Don’t let it be you”
“When it comes to change, goals, and dreams, you have to bet on yourself.”
6. What I Know For Sure by Oprah Winfrey
I always knew that Oprah is fantastic, but since reading this book, I adore her.
What I know for sure is a beautiful summary of various life-learnings Oprah collected over the years.
While you inevitably learn a lot about Oprah herself, you also leave the book with tons of applicable advice that can transform your own life.
My favorite quotes:
“What you believe has more power than what you dream or wish or hope for. You become what you believe.”
“So long as you’re still worried about what others think of you, you are owned by them. Only when you require no approval from outside yourself can you own yourself. “ — Neale Donald Walsch
“If you can get paid for doing what you love, every paycheck is a bonus. Give yourself the bonus of a lifetime: Pursue your passion. Discover what you love. Then do it!”
“Often we make negative statements about others behind their backs, it’s because we want to feel powerful — and that’s usually because in some way we feel powerless, unworthy, not courageous enough to be forthright. “
7. You Were Born Rich by Bob Proctor
If you are familiar with the law of attraction, you’ll love this book.
And if you aren’t, you’ll probably love it even more.
Bob Proctor is known from the movie The Secret and is a living legend.
He is one of the few people who are studying and teaching universal laws for many decades.
In You were born rich, he teaches how our thoughts determine our reality and how we can actively attract and build a life that we desire.
My favorite quotes:
“Thoughts become things. If you see it in your mind, you will hold it in your hand.”
“To believe in the things you can see and touch is no belief at all; but to believe in the unseen is a triumph and a blessing.”
“The trouble with those of us who fail to achieve what we desire, is not that we lack the ability to do so, but that we lack the faith implicit in the “Let Go And Let God” principle, which dictates whatever is necessary for us to reach our goal will indeed occur.”
“God’s gift to you is more talent and ability than you will ever use in one lifetime. Your gift to God is to develop and utilize as much of that talent and ability as you can, in this lifetime.” — Steve Bow
8. The Miracle Morning: The 6 Habits that Will Transform Your Life Before 8 a.m. by Hal Elrod
My morning routine is holy to me. And this book is the base for it.
Hal Elrod teaches you the ultimate personal growth morning routine that you should pursue to become your best possible version.
And it’s fantastic.
His system is called Life SAVERS, which stands for:
Silence, Affirmations, Visualization, Exercise, Reading, Scribbling
My favorite quotes:
“Love the life you have while you create the life of your dreams. Don’t think you have to choose one over the other.”
“You are where you are because of who you were, but where you go depends entirely on who you choose to be.”
“Strive to make every day the best day of your life, because there is no good reason not to.”
“If you want more energy, put yourself in situations where energy is required. Your body will naturally response and always produce the energy you need, but not if you’re just sitting around complaining about not having enough energy.”
“You are always exactly where you are supposed to be, experiencing what you need to experience, to learn what you must learn, in order to become the person you need to be to create the life you truly want. Always.”
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