6th of September 2020

‍

It’s not uncommon for anyone to feel lost at some point in their life. Struggling to find your purpose in life is an issue to which even history’s greatest philosophers haven’t found one go-to solution. However, there are ways to help you find the right path for you to follow or simply to feel better in your life and books can be of great value in your personal growth. That’s why we decided to put together our own list of the top 5 books with lessons to apply in your everyday life. Choose the one that will help you most!

‍

1) Love yourself like your life depends on it – Kamal Ravikant

Oftentimes, the one obstacle holding us back in most of our decisions is ourselves. More specifically, our lack of self-confidence and appreciation for ourselves. We have all felt like we’re not worthy at some point in our lives, which can grow into a great issue if we do not learn how to deal with it.

Kamal Ravikant highlights the urgent need for self-love in order to live a fulfilled life. In his view, if you don’t love yourself you are bound to continuously create obstacles for yourself which will unavoidably cause you to be frustrated with your own life.

This book is giving you the answers you need to overcome this tendency we have to sabotage ourselves and teaches you to allow yourself the love you need to feel in order to be where you need to be.

If you’ve felt even just once in your life that you didn’t do something you easily could have done if you just believed in yourself more, this book is a must.

‍

1)    Watcha gonna do withthat duck? – Seth Godin

This book takes a pretty bold approach on personal development and forces you to take a leap outside of your comfort zone. Let Seth Godin guide you through questions you’ve probably never asked yourself andsome of which you have never even dared to.

By bringing you rattention to an array of areas where you should improve, this book opens agreat window of new possibilities. The writer's taste of honesty feels like a real kick in the ass and ultimately gives you a fresh outlook on life.

3) How to win friends & influence people – Dale Carnegie

Sounds pretty manipulative, right? The title of this one is a bit misleading, but the lessons given by Dale Carnegie are mostly tips for anyone who wants to achieve better social interactions and get positive outcomes from exchanges with people around them.

Written in 1937, the lessons of this book were initially meant for businesses and more specifically salespeople. However, this knowledge is timeless and so widely applicable across all fields that the book quickly became a classic.

Everyone wants to feel appreciated. And being nice on a daily basis is such an easy thing to do with just a few habits to adopt that will usually take you further than any complex business strategy. However, it is a fine line between honest appreciation and fake flattering and Carnegie emphasises the need to distinguish the two in order to achieve the best results.

This book holds a certain positivity at the core of its tips, and, beyond the career scope, they mainly give the reader a fresh perspective on how to approach interpersonal relations with the aim of making the most out of them every time.

Definitely a useful and recommendable read for anyone.

‍

4)    Man’s search for meaning– Viktor E. Frankl

Viktor E. Frankl wrote this book based on his own experience of 3years of his life that he spent in 4 different Nazi concentration camps during the Second World War. He writes about his time there with his fellow prisoners and how some of them found meaning despite the knowledge that they would stay imprisoned and enslaved for the rest of their lives.

At the crossroad between an autobiography, a historical and a self-development book, the authorfirst describes his labouring years before explaining his psychotherapeuticmethod with which he managed to keep hopeful during this time.

 Frankl argues that meaning comes from deep within the core of a human being and his theory implies identifying a purpose for your life and fully immersing yourself in it by actively imagining its outcomes.

Based on his experience in the camps and as a psychiatrist, the author highlights the crucial importance for anyone to find meaning to move forward in their lives.

‍

5) The subtle art of not giving a fuck – Mark Manson

If none of the books described above fit what you are looking for, we would recommend this one. The subtle art of not giving a fuck – a counterintuitive approach to living a good life takes a controversial perspective on personal growth and criticises the usual positivity of that industry.

The blogger Mark Manson argues that the culture of mindless positivity propagated in the self-help industry is naïve and usually not helpful to anyone. Instead he uses his own experience to explain that encountering crises and questioning gives your life more meaning than a constant search for happiness.

The author’s cynical approach is outlined throughout 9 chapters with the titles:

1. Don't Try.

2. Happiness is a problem.

3. You are not special.

4. The value of suffering.

5. You are always choosing.

6. You are wrong about everything (But so am I).

7. Failure is the way forward.

8. The importance of saying no.

9. And then you die.

If this unconventional book caught your attention, give it a go and you might be surprised by how brutal honesty can actually be a helpful way to approach your personal development.

‍

Pick any of these books as they contain easy and valuable lessons to apply in your everyday life that will make a difference. You don’t need to read them all but just choose one that caught your eye as it is probably the one you need the most. But if you’re hungry for more, check out this list of the 25 Best Self Improvement Books to Read No Matter How Old You Are.

‍

For more resources and career development tips, visit www.meetkibo.com/blog

‍