You are very different from me but it’s very likely that we do have one thing in common, a love for learning. Finding a good book to read can be a challenge.
I’m always interested in what others have found meaningful and helpful, so I thought I’d pay it forward by letting you have a peek at some of the books that have molded my life and thoughts.
In this Video:
00:50 – 3 Books on Mind and Spirit
02:03 – 4 Books on Communication, Relationships, and Love
03:52 – 2 Books on Money and Business
04:45 – 6 Personal Development/Success
06:43 – Quote from – Vera Nazarian
07:00 – Affirmation to Move You Forward
Listen To The Audio:
Watch The Video
Transcription:
I have a treat for you today, I want to give you a little bit of insight into my library. I’ve got a bunch of books up here and I’ve got another shelf over there with more books.
And the reason why I am doing this is because I want to share with you some of the books that have had a really big impact on my life.
I would like to be able to say okay, these are the books that I have the biggest impact on my life. I don’t think that way, I have a hard time choosing favorites and quite frankly, I love a lot of things. My taste in music, for example is very eclectic.
So when it comes to books, it’s the same thing, I couldn’t decide on five or ten so I just took like fifteen. I won’t go into many details, but I will just whet your APPETITE a little bit. Okay, so here’s a few to start with.
Books on Mind and Spirit
Think and Grow Rich
One of them is Think and Grow Rich. I have a rather new edition, I don’t have the old edition, but the title says it all. And this is one of the books that is really, one of the earliest books in PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT that really taught people how to think and how to access the resources that we have inside ourselves. (Read Think and Grow Rich)
As a Man Thinketh
Now the next one I have on my list is As a Man Thinketh. It’s not on this list here, I do have my Kindle and I have been downloading and I have a lot of these books on my Kindle. So As a Man Thinketh is really just gold when it comes to setting your MIND right and you know, you become what you think about. That’s really the basics of it. It’s similar to Think and Grow Rich, but it’s kind of an easy read, it’s very short and easy to assimilate. (Read As a Man Thinketh)
The Power of Now
The other one that I have you on my list is The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. Now Eckhart Tolle, he showed up on Oprah TV explaining a lot of this and this is one of the things that really pushed his book forward. But even without Oprah, you will find that he really landed on a really important secret here and that is the ability to be present detaches us so much from the confusion that comes in and just ruins our lives, and fear of the future, remorse over the past. Anyways, a great read. (Read The Power of Now)
Books on Communication, Relationships, and Love
The next ones is actually on relationships more than the first ones. The first ones are more, I guess on spirituality.
Men are From Mars and Women are From Venus
Men are From Mars and Women are From Venus changed my life in that it just helped me to relax about a lot of issues between me and women and my wife, my girlfriends early on when I read it and then later on my wife. And now I am divorced and just dealing with that and you know meeting new women, I don’t think we have it figured all out, but it’s a great book and gives you great insight into handling those differences. (Read Men are From Mars and Women are From Venus)
The 5 Love Languages
The next one is related and that is The 5 Love Languages and I read this one just recently and it’s one of those books that I wish that I had read before when I was married and I might have been able to save my marriage. I will never know, but it’s just gold when it comes to understanding how to give people LOVE in a way that is meaningful to them. Some people need gifts, some people need words of affirmation and some people need… Anyways, just go ahead and read it yourself, it’s a great book. (Read The 5 Love Languages)
Emotional Intelligence
The other one that I…I think I have a copy here and that is Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goldman. And it’s the whole EQ, IQ debate. Well, IQ is going to get you a job but EQ is going to get you a promotion. It really has some awesome insight that helps you to understand our thinking and our emotions and connect to them, how to connect with them and work with them better. (Read Emotional Intelligence)
Winning Without Intimidation
The next one that I have on the list is Winning Without Intimidation. It’s an older book and I think it’s out of print, but I am glad that I read that book because it’s been one of the keys to helping me manage and navigate the challenging conversations with great success and really keep friendships alive, keep communication flowing in the workplace or with friends, in my marriage, in relationships and just realizing that I haven’t had to be confrontational to succeed, to win in a CONVERSATION, because we can both win. (Read Winning Without Intimidation)
Books on Money and Business
The Cashflow Quadrant
And the next book that I have on this list is The Cashflow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki. Actually he has several books, they are all really great, Rich Dad, Poor Dad and so on. But The Cashflow Quadrant is a very nice overview of where you might be in your life financially and how you can move if you want to change your life if you want to become rich, if you want to become a business owner, if you want to invest, if you want to change out of the rat race, as he puts it. (Read The Cashflow Quadrant)
The Personal MBA
The next one I have on my list is The Personal MBA and this one is really great. It is recommended to me by a friend and I just read through it, it just helps you to understand the intricacies of running a business. It’s really great if you’re an entrepreneur, if you’re looking at building your own business. It’s a bit technical and it’s more like corporation ideas but they’re very sound business ADVICE and counsel on how to look at different aspects of the business and what are the key parts to keeping a business running. (Read The Personal MBA)
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Books on Personal Development and Success
Today Matters
Now the next one that I have on the list is Today Matters. I mentioned this in a previous post, I am actually in the middle of this one. But this one has really opened my eyes to how to bring the important areas of your life into making decisions about them and practicing those decisions every day in your life to make a great future for yourself. (Read Today Matters)
Influence
The next one that I have on here is Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. I don’t think I actually have a copy of it down here, no I don’t. But Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion is awesome in that it helps you, it’s kind of one of the early books about selling and understanding selling, how to motivate people to either communicated to buy or to accept your ideas and proposals and how to avoid it if you are trying to get away from it as well. It’s quite a funny read. (Read Influence)
Outliers
The next one on the list is Outliers. Now Outliers, I love Malcolm, Malcolm Gladwell, he has a great way of just combining information and data and really coming to some interesting conclusions. I wouldn’t say that it’s all gospel, but it’s very interesting to see what makes people successful. (Read Outliers)
Screw It. Let’s Do It
And the next one that I have on here is Screw It, Let’s Do It, by Richard Branson. Just one of those role models that I really admire in business today and a really nice person from what I have come to understand. (Read Screw It, Let’s Do It)
The Greatness Guide
Another one that I don’t have a copy of here is The Greatness Guide by Robin Sharma and he just gives you little gold nuggets throughout the book to really make you raise your life to world class and to really EXCEL in anything you do. (Read The Greatness Guide)
The Magic of Thinking Big
And last but not least is an older book and it’s called The Magic of Thinking Big and The Magic of Thinking Big is like, why think small when you can think big? Because you’re going to get the way your mind is thinking, what you’re looking at, the questions that you’re asking. And so it teaches you to just open up to BIGGER ideas. (Read The Magic of Thinking Big)
All right, there you go, 15 books and I hope I didn’t go too fast for anybody on that one. But check them out, see which one YOU want to add to your morning reading list.
All right, well here’s a quote for today:
[shareable cite=”Vera Nazarian”]Whenever you read a good book, somewhere in the world a door opens to allow in more light. #quote[/shareable]And here’s your affirmation for today, make it a part of your emotions and your belief and say it three times in the morning when you wake up and three times in the evening before you go to sleep:
[shareable cite=”Abe Stone”]I eagerly read books that help increase my understanding. #affirmation[/shareable]
