We consistently get the answers wrong when given simple questions regarding global trends, such as what percentage of the world’s population lives in poverty, why the world’s population is expanding, and how many girls complete high school. So incorrect that a monkey answering questions at random will routinely outperform professors, journalists, Nobel laureates, and investment bankers.
In Factfulness, Hans Rosling, Professor of International Health and global TED phenomenon, and his two long-time partners, Anna and Ola, give a startling new explanation for why this occurs. They expose the ten inclinations that distort our perspective, ranging from our proclivity to divide the world into two camps (typically some form of us and them) to the way we consume media (where fear reigns supreme) to how we perceive progress.
Our issue is that we don’t know what we don’t know, and our best predictions are influenced by unconscious and foreseeable biases. Factfulness is an urgent and necessary book that will alter the way you can see the world and equip you to respond to future crises and opportunities. It is inspiring and revelatory, full of entertaining anecdotes and emotional stories.
Best Quotes from this Book:
“There’s no room for facts when our minds are occupied by fear.”
“Forming your worldview by relying on the media would be like forming your view about me by looking only at a picture of my foot.”
“The world cannot be understood without numbers. But the world cannot be understood with numbers alone.”
“Remember: things can be bad, and getting better.”
“Look for systems, not heroes.”
In the much-awaited, “Thinking, Fast and Slow”, Daniel Kahneman takes us on a revolutionary journey through the mind and elucidates the two systems that govern our thinking. While System 2 is slower, more deliberate, and more rational, System 1 is quick, intuitive, and emotive. Fast thinking has exceptional talents, but it also has flaws and biases, as Kahneman demonstrates, and he also demonstrates the widespread effect of gut perceptions on our thoughts and conduct.
Understanding how the two systems interact to influence our judgments and decisions is essential to understanding the effects of cognitive bias and complacency on corporate strategies, the challenges of forecasting what will make us satisfied in the future, the difficulties of framing risks appropriately at work and at home, and the profound impact of cognitive biases on everything from trading stocks to making travel plans.
In a vibrant discussion of how we think, Kahneman draws the reader in and explains when and how we should trust our intuitions as well as how to take advantage of sluggish thinking. He provides insightful advice on how to make decisions in both our professional and personal lives.
Best Quotes from this Book:
“A reliable way to make people believe in falsehoods is frequent repetition, because familiarity is not easily distinguished from truth. Authoritarian institutions and marketers have always known this fact.”
“Nothing in life is as important as you think it is, while you are thinking about it”
“Our comforting conviction that the world makes sense rests on a secure foundation: our almost unlimited ability to ignore our ignorance.”
“If you care about being thought credible and intelligent, do not use complex language where simpler language will do.”
“Intelligence is not only the ability to reason; it is also the ability to find relevant material in memory and to deploy attention when needed.”
Matthew Walker, a neuroscientist and sleep specialist, offers a ground-breaking analysis of sleep, looking at how it impacts every facet of our mental and physical well-being. Walker explains how we can use sleep to improve learning, mood, and energy levels, restrict hormones, prevent cancer, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes, slow the effects of aging, and lengthen our lives by outlining the most recent scientific advances and drawing on his decades of research and clinical experience. Additionally, he offers doable suggestions for improving each night’s sleep.
Best Quotes from this Book:
“The best bridge between despair and hope is a good night’s sleep.”
“Practice does not make perfect. It is practice, followed by a night of sleep, that leads to perfection.”
“Inadequate sleep—even moderate reductions for just one week—disrupts blood sugar levels so profoundly that you would be classified as pre-diabetic.”
“Humans are not sleeping the way nature intended. The number of sleep bouts, the duration of sleep, and when sleep occurs have all been comprehensively distorted by modernity.”
“Sleep is the single most effective thing we can do to reset our brain and body health each day — Mother Nature’s best effort yet at contra-death.”
As we go into the unexplored realm of the future, Yuval Noah Harari’s 21 Lessons for the 21st Century is a perceptive and insightful inquiry into today’s most pressing concerns. Harari addresses the difficulty of navigating life in the face of continual and disorienting change and poses the crucial questions we must ask ourselves in order to survive. As technology develops faster than our knowledge of it, hacking is becoming a tactic of war, and the world feels more divided than ever, Harari examines how to navigate life in the face of continual and disorienting change.
Harari expands on the concepts covered in his earlier books in twenty-one readable chapters that are both thought-provoking and profound, trying to untangle political, technological, social, and existential issues and providing guidance on how to get ready for a future that will be very different from the one we currently live in: How can we maintain our right to free will while Big Data is keeping an eye on us? How should we prepare for the future workforce and what will it look like? How should we respond to the terrorism threat? The problem in liberal democracy: why?
Millions of readers have been riveted by Harari’s ability to make sense of where we have been and where we are heading. In this passage, he challenges us to think about values, meaning, and interpersonal involvement in a chaotic and uncertain environment. Clarity is key when we are bombarded with useless information. 21 Lessons for the 21st Century is necessary reading since it presents complex modern issues in an understandable manner.
Best Quotes from this Book:
“Questions you cannot answer are usually far better for you than answers you cannot question.”
― Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century
“In a world deluged by irrelevant information, clarity is power.”
― Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century
“Morality doesn’t mean ‘following divine commands. It means ‘reducing suffering’. Hence in order to act morally, you don’t need to believe in any myth or story. You just need to develop a deep appreciation of suffering.”
― Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century
“Silence isn’t neutrality; it is supporting the status quo.”
― Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century
“Humans think in stories rather than in facts, numbers, or equations, and the simpler the story, the better.”
― Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century
The 5 am club is a work that will change your life. It is a work that is equal parts manifesto for mastery, playbook for genius-grade productivity, and companion for a life lived gloriously. Forever.
The 5 AM Club is a concept that legendary leadership and elite performance expert Robin Sharma first introduced more than 20 years ago. It is based on a ground-breaking morning routine that has assisted his clients in maximizing productivity, activating their best health, and fortifying their serenity in this era of overwhelming complexity.
You may now learn the early-rising habit that has assisted so many in achieving epic outcomes while enhancing their pleasure, helpfulness, and emotions of aliveness in this life-changing book, which the author painstakingly constructed over a demanding four-year period.
Best Quotes from this Book:
“All change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end.”
“Art feeds my soul. Great books battleproof my hope. Rich conversations magnify my creativity. Wonderful music uplifts my heart. Beautiful sights fortify my spirit.”
“Remember, every professional was once an amateur, and every master started as a beginner. Ordinary people can accomplish extraordinary feats, once they’ve routinized the right habits.”
“Take excellent care of the front end of your day, and the rest of your day will pretty much take care of itself. Own your morning. Elevate your life.”
“A bad day for the ego is a good day for the soul.”
At least six different human species lived on the planet 100,000 years ago. There is only one now. Us. Human species. How did our species prevail in the struggle for supremacy? Why did our nomadic foragers get together to build towns and kingdoms? How did we come to trust money, literature, and laws; to believe in gods, nations, and human rights; and to be ruled by bureaucracy, deadlines, and consumerism? What will the future millennia bring for our world?
Dr. Yuval Noah Harari covers the entirety of human history in Sapiens, from the very first creatures to walk the planet through the revolutionary – and occasionally life-changing – discoveries of the Cognitive, Agricultural, and Scientific Revolutions.
He investigates how the currents of history have influenced our human societies, the plants and animals surrounding us, and even our personalities. He draws on concepts from biology, anthropology, paleontology, and economics. Has history made us happy as a result? Can we ever break away from the influences of our ancestors on how we act? And if anything, what can we do to shape the future of the centuries? Sapiens challenge everything we believed to be true about being human, including our thoughts, deeds, power, and future. It is audacious, all-encompassing, and controversial.
Best Quotes from this Book:
“You could never convince a monkey to give you a banana by promising him limitless bananas after death in monkey heaven.”
“How do you cause people to believe in an imagined order such as Christianity, democracy or capitalism? First, you never admit that the order is imagined.”
“Culture tends to argue that it forbids only that which is unnatural. But from a biological perspective, nothing is unnatural. Whatever is possible is by definition also natural. A truly unnatural behaviour, one that goes against the laws of nature, simply cannot exist, so it would need no prohibition.”
“One of history’s few iron laws is that luxuries tend to become necessities and to spawn new obligations.”
“History is something that very few people have been doing while everyone else was ploughing fields and carrying water buckets.”
Leadership is not about labels, status, or control over others. Leaders are persons who hold themselves answerable for seeing and developing the potential in others and ideas. This is a book for anyone who wants to have an impact and lead by choosing courage above comfort.
When we dare to lead, we don’t claim to have all the answers; instead, we remain curious and ask probing questions. We don’t regard power as finite and hoard it; we recognize that when we distribute it and seek to connect authority and accountability, power becomes infinite. We don’t dodge unpleasant talks or situations; instead, we embrace the vulnerability required to accomplish an effective job.
Dare to Lead provides answers to these issues as well as effective tactics and real-world examples from her new research-based courage-building program. ‘One of the most important discoveries of my career has been that courage can be taught, developed, and assessed,’ writes Brené. Courage is made up of four skill sets and twenty-eight behaviors. All it takes is a commitment to performing risky work, having difficult conversations, and showing up with all of our hearts. Easy? No. It is difficult to choose courage over comfort. Is it worthwhile? Always. We want to be courageous in our lives and in our job. That is why we are here.’
Best Quotes from this Book:
“I define a leader as anyone who takes responsibility for finding the potential in people and processes, and who has the courage to develop that potential.”
“At the end of the day, at the end of the week, at the end of my life, I want to say I contributed more than I criticized.”
“The courage to be vulnerable is not about winning or losing, it’s about the courage to show up when you can’t predict or control the outcome.”
“Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind.”
“People are opting out of vital conversations about diversity and inclusivity because they fear looking wrong, saying something wrong, or being wrong. Choosing our own comfort over hard conversations is the epitome of privilege, and it corrodes trust and moves us away from meaningful and lasting change.”
Money success doesn’t always depend on your knowledge. It has to do with your behavior. Even for extremely intelligent people, conduct is difficult to teach. The way that money is often taught is as a math-based subject where statistics and formulae tell us exactly what to do with regard to investment, personal finance, and company decisions. However, people don’t make financial decisions in the real world using a spreadsheet. They are created at the dinner table or in a meeting room, where a variety of factors are mixed together, including personal history, your own distinctive point of view on the world, ego, pride, marketing, and strange incentives. Award-winning author Morgan Housel provides 19 short stories in The Psychology of Money that explore the peculiar ways people think about money and instruct you on how to better understand one of life’s most significant subjects.
Best Quotes from this Book:
“Money’s greatest intrinsic value—and this can’t be overstated—is its ability to give you control over your time.”
“Spending money to show people how much money you have is the fastest way to have less money.”
“Things that have never happened before happen all the time.”
“Planning is important, but the most important part of every plan is to plan on the plan not going according to plan.”
“Controlling your time is the highest dividend money pays.”
A famous blogger cuts through the BS in this generation-defining self-help book to teach us how to quit striving to be “positive” all the time so that we may actually improve and be happier. Positive thinking is the secret to leading a happy, fulfilling life, we’ve been told for decades. Mark Manson says, “F**k positivity.” Let’s face it, sh*t is f**ked, and we must accept that. Manson doesn’t mince words or use ambiguity in his enormously well-read Internet blog. He says it like it is, giving today’s world a much-needed dose of unvarnished, energizing honesty.
His response to the coddling, make everyone feel good mentality that has invaded American society and spoilt a generation by giving them gold medals merely for showing up is The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k. Manson makes the case that enhancing our lives depends less on our capacity to convert lemons into lemonade and more on developing a better stomach for lemons, a claim supported by both academic data and well-timed poop humor. Because of their flaws and limitations, humans cannot be perfect; there are victors and losers in society, and sometimes it’s your responsibility. Manson counsels us to recognize and accept our limitations.
We can start to develop the courage, persistence, honesty, obligation, curiosity, and reconciliation we seek once we embrace our fears, flaws, and doubts, once we stop fleeing from and avoiding hard facts, and instead start facing them head-on. Manson makes it plain that there are only many things we can care about, so we need to decide which ones actually important. Money is good, but it’s preferable to care about what you do with your life because real wealth comes from experience. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is a welcome slap for a generation to help them lead happy, grounded lives. It is a much-needed moment of real discussion that will grab you by the shoulders and look you in the eye.
Best Quotes from this Book:
“Who you are is defined by what you’re willing to struggle for.”
“You and everyone you know are going to be dead soon. And in the short amount of time between here and there, you have a limited amount of fucks to give. Very few, in fact. And if you go around giving a fuck about everything and everyone without conscious thought or choice—well, then you’re going to get fucked.”
“Unhealthy love is based on two people trying to escape their problems through their emotions for each other—in other words, they’re using each other as an escape. Healthy love is based on two people acknowledging and addressing their own problems with each other’s support.”
“Being wrong opens us up to the possibility of change. Being wrong brings the opportunity for growth.”
“Because when we give too many fucks, when we choose to give a fuck about everything, then we feel as though we are perpetually entitled to feel comfortable and happy at all times, that’s when life fucks us.”
You can pursue the job you want and succeed in getting it. You can make improvements to the job you now have! Any circumstance you find yourself in can be made to work in your favor. More than 15 million copies of How to Win Friends and Influence People have been sold since its 1936 publication. The first book by Dale Carnegie is a classic bestseller that has helped thousands of now-famous people climb the success ladder in both their personal and professional life. It is jam-packed with sound advice.
Dale Carnegie’s teachings are still applicable today and will aid you in realizing your full potential in the challenging and competitive modern world. Learn the six ways to win people around to your point of view, the twelve ways to convert people, and the nine ways to influence people without offending them.
Best Quotes from this Book:
“It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.”
“Don’t be afraid of enemies who attack you. Be afraid of the friends who flatter you.”
“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”
“Any fool can criticize, complain, and condemn—and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving.”
“Everybody in the world is seeking happiness—and there is one sure way to find it. That is by controlling your thoughts. Happiness doesn’t depend on outward conditions. It depends on inner conditions.”
Malcolm Gladwell guides us intellectually through the world of “outliers”—the smartest and most accomplished people—in this breathtaking book. What differentiates exceptional achievers, he wonders?
His response is that we focus too much on what successful individuals are like and not enough on where they come from, which includes their culture, family, generation, and unique experiences growing up. Along the way, he explains how software billionaires get their money, what it needs to be a good soccer player, why Asians are brilliant at math, and why the Beatles are the best music band ever. Outliers is a remarkable work that is both brilliant and amusing and will delight and enlighten.
Best Quotes from this Book:
“Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good.”
“Who we are cannot be separated from where we’re from.”
“Achievement is talent plus preparation”
“In fact, researchers have settled on what they believe is the magic number for true expertise: ten thousand hours.”
“Success is not a random act. It arises out of a predictable and powerful set of circumstances and opportunities.”
We must leave our intelligent mind and its fabricated self, the ego, behind in order to travel into the Now. We quickly go to a much higher altitude where the air is lighter as soon as we turn the first page of Eckhart Tolle’s wonderful book. The unbreakable core of who we are, “The eternal, ever-present One Life beyond the various life forms that are subject to birth and death,” becomes a part of us. Eckhart Tolle employs straightforward language and a straightforward question-and-answer structure to lead us even when the path is difficult. The Power of Now is one of those uncommon books having the capacity to inspire readers to have an experience that can profoundly alter their life for the better. It has become a word-of-mouth phenomenon since its initial release.
Best Quotes from this Book:
“Form is emptiness, emptiness is form” states the Heart Sutra, one of the best known ancient Buddhist texts. The essence of all things is emptiness.”
“The moment you realize you are not present, you are present. Whenever you are able to observe your mind, you are no longer trapped in it. Another factor has come in, something that is not of the mind: the witnessing presence.”
“The light is too painful for someone who wants to remain in darkness.”
“You attract and manifest whatever corresponds to your inner state.”
“Emotions arise in the place where your mind and body meet”
This famous work on military strategy by Sun Tzu, based on Chinese battle and military doctrine, was written 250 years ago. Since then, all ranks of the military have applied Sun Tzu’s precepts to battle, and civilization has modified these teachings for application in business, politics, and daily life. One should use The Art of War to their advantage both on the battlefield and in business meetings.
Best Quotes from this Book:
“Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.”
“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
“Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.”
“Supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.”
The first non-fiction book by New York Times journalist Stephen J. Dubner and University of Chicago economist Steven Levitt is titled Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. The book, which was released on April 12 by William Morrow, has been characterized as fusing pop culture and economics.
Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? How much do parents really matter? What kind of impact did Roe v. Wade have on violent crime? Freakonomics will literally redefine the way we view the modern world.
Childhood for David Goggins was a nightmare filled with deprivation, discrimination, and physical abuse. However, Goggins changed himself from a hopeless, obese young man into one of the best endurance athletes in the world via self-control, mental fortitude, and hard training. He was the only man in history to successfully complete the rigorous training required to become a Navy SEAL, Army Ranger, and Air Force Tactical Air Controller. He then broke records in a number of endurance competitions, earning him the title of “The Fittest (Real) Man in America” from Outside magazine.
He discusses his incredible life experience in Can’t Hurt Me and demonstrates that most people only use 40% of their potential. This is what Goggins refers to as The 40% Rule, and his life narrative shows how anyone can use it to overcome sorrow, face fear, and realize their full potential.
Best Quotes from this Book:
“You are in danger of living a life so comfortable and soft, that you will die without ever realizing your true potential.”
“In the military we always say we don’t rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training,”
“No one is going to come help you. No one’s coming to save you.”
“I thought I’d solved a problem when really I was creating new ones by taking the path of least resistance.”
“It’s a lot more than mind over matter. It takes relentless self discipline to schedule suffering into your day, every day.”
Your parents, coaches, instructors, friends, and mentors have all encouraged you to rise above your justifications and conquer your fears throughout your life. What if understanding how to push yourself is all it takes to have the bravery and confidence to improve your life and work?
Mel Robbins will illustrate the power of a “push moment” using the science of habits, captivating tales, and unexpected details from some of the most renowned moments in history, art, and business. She will then provide you with one straightforward technique you may utilize to develop into your best self. Using this program only takes five seconds, and each time you do, you’ll have wonderful company. Mel’s TEDx Talk has had more than 8 million views, and executives from the biggest brands in the world are adopting the tool to boost engagement, productivity, and teamwork.
Best Quotes from this Book:
“Hesitation is the kiss of death. You might hesitate for a just nanosecond, but that’s all it takes. That one small hesitation triggers a mental system that’s designed to stop you. And it happens in less than—you guessed it—five seconds.”
“Your feelings don’t matter. The only thing that matters is what you DO.”
“You have been assigned this mountain so that you can show others it can be moved.”
“There’s one thing that is guaranteed to increase your feelings of control over your life: a bias toward action.”
“I was the problem and in five seconds, I could push myself and become the solution.”
The classic book on persuasion, Influence, explores the psychology behind why people say “yes” and how to use this knowledge. The father of the rapidly developing science of persuasion and influence is Dr. Robert Cialdini. This widely praised book is the culmination of his 35 years of meticulous, evidence-based research and a three-year program of study on what motivates people to alter behavior.
You’ll discover the six universal rules, how to apply them to become a persuasive speaker, and how to counter them. The Influence concepts are ideal for people from all walks of life and will propel you toward significant personal change and achievement.
Best Quotes from this Book:
“A well-known principle of human behavior says that when we ask someone to do us a favor we will be more successful if we provide a reason. People simply like to have reasons for what they do.”
“Embarrassment is a villain to be crushed.”
“we all fool ourselves from time to time in order to keep our thoughts and beliefs consistent with what we have already done or decided”
“Often we don’t realize that our attitude toward something has been influenced by the number of times we have been exposed to it in the past.”
“persons who go through a great deal of trouble or pain to attain something tend to value it more highly than persons who attain the same thing with a minimum of effort.”
Generations of readers have been intrigued by Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl’s memoir because of its tales of life in Nazi death camps and its teachings for spiritual survival. Frankl contends that while we cannot avoid suffering, we can choose how to deal with it, interpret information in it, and push forward with fresh purpose. He bases this claim on his own experience as well as the accounts of his patients. His logotherapy idea is based on the conviction that the quest for meaning rather than pleasure is what drives people most. One of the most well-known novels in America is Man’s Search for Meaning, which continues to motivate us all to discover meaning in life itself.
Best Quotes from this Book:
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”
“Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how’.”
“But there was no need to be ashamed of tears, for tears bore witness that a man had the greatest of courage, the courage to suffer.”
“An abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal behavior.”
Rich Dad Poor Dad is Robert’s account of growing up with two fathers – his biological father and his best friend’s father, his “rich dad,” and how both men affected his views on money and investing. The book debunks the notion that you need a high income to be wealthy, and it discusses the distinction between working for a living and letting your money work for you.
Best Quotes from this Book:
“In school, we learn that mistakes are bad, and we are punished for making them. Yet, if you look at the way humans are designed to learn, we learn by making mistakes. We learn to walk by falling down. If we never fell down, we would never walk.”
“Winners are not afraid of losing. But losers are. Failure is part of the process of success. People who avoid failure also avoid success.”
“You’re only poor if you give up. The most important thing is that you did something. Most people only talk and dream of getting rich. You’ve done something.”
“If you’re the kind of person who has no guts, you just give up every time life pushes you. If you’re that kind of person, you’ll live all your life playing it safe, doing the right things, and saving yourself for something that never happens. Then, you die a boring old man.”
“The love of money is the root of all evil.”
The grand enigma of the cosmos was disclosed in 2006 by the ground-breaking feature film The Secret, and Rhonda Byrne soon after published a book that has become a global blockbuster. Over the years, fragments of a Great Secret have been discovered in literature, oral traditions, religions, and philosophical systems. The Secret’s components finally come together in an amazing revelation that will change everyone who experiences it for the better.
You’ll discover how to apply The Secret to every area of your life in this book, including finances, well-being, interpersonal relationships, happiness, and all of your interactions with other people. Your realization of the innate, untapped power you possess will help you live more joyfully in all areas of your life.
Modern teachers who have used it to gain wellness, wealth, and happiness have shared their knowledge in The Secret. By putting The Secret’s principles to use, they share inspiring tales of eliminating disease, amassing an enormous fortune, surmounting challenges, and accomplishing things that most people would consider impossible.
Best Quotes from this Book:
“There is no such thing as a hopeless situation. Every single circumstances of your life can change! ”
“There is a truth deep down inside of you that has been waiting for you to discover it, and that truth is this: you deserve all good things life has to offer.”
“Your power is in your thoughts, so stay awake. In other words, remember to remember.”
“Your thoughts become things!”
“If you are feeling good , it is because you are thinking good thoughts .”