Journey to Growth: 10 Essential Reads for Personal Transformation

September 11, 2022

Table of Contents

Have you been trying to change your life with little to no success so far?

if your answer is Yes, do not worry; you are not alone.

A study conducted in the Summer of 2020 shows that 72% of respondents want to make significant changes in their lives and do not want to return to the life they lived before Covid.

For some people, Covid has been a life-changing experience as it helped them understand that there is more to life than work.

If you are looking for a great read that has the power to transform your life, this article will help you find the book you need to get started.

Ready to find out about the 10 best life-transforming books and how they can help you unleash your full potential?

Let’s dive in!

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10 Life-Transforming Books to Read

1. The Mountain Is You

1.1 About The Book

The Mountain is You by Brianna Wiest is an amazing personal growth book to help you identify and learn how to break your self-sabotage patterns.

This post about How to identify and break self-sabotage cycles is largely inspired by the lessons I learned from this book.

This book is one of my all-time favorite books. If I had to name only one book that changed my life, it would be The Mountain Is You by Brianna Wiest.

This book is literally the most powerful book I have ever read. If you want to change your life forever, you need to read this book.

It speaks the truth about so many aspects of life, from how we self-sabotage ourselves to protect ourselves from unconscious threats to why we keep pretending we want to change our lives but do so little about it. Most importantly, it explains how to turn self-sabotage into pure mastery.

This book helped me understand that developing our emotional intelligence is key to growing as a person, no matter the goals we set for ourselves.

It also gives great lessons on the importance of letting go of the past to build a better future.

If you want to kick-start your life transformation journey, The Mountain Is You by Brianna Wiest is the place to start.

Even if you don’t plan to transform your life anytime soon, you should definitely read this book. It will change your perspective and the way you see the world. This is definitely a book everyone should read.

1.2 What The Author Says About The Book

“This is a book about self-sabotage – Why we do it, when we do it, and how to stop doing it – for good.

Coexisting but conflicting needs create self-sabotaging behaviors. This is why we resist efforts to change, often until they feel completely futile. But by extracting crucial insight from our most damaging habits, building emotional intelligence by better understanding our brains and bodies, releasing past experiences at a cellular level, and learning to act as our highest potential future selves, we can step out of our own way and into our potential.

For centuries, the mountain has been used as a metaphor for big challenges we face, especially ones that seem impossible to overcome. To scale our mountains, we actually have to do the deep internal work of excavating trauma, building resilience, and adjusting how we show up for the climb.

In the end, it is not the mountain we master, but ourselves.“

1.3 Chapters From The Book

Chapter 1 – The mountain is you
Chapter 2 – There is no such thing as self-sabotage
Chapter 3 – Your triggers are the guides to your freedom
Chapter 4 – Building Emotional Intelligence
Chapter 5 – Releasing the past
Chapter 6 – Building a new future
Chapter 7 – From self-sabotage to self-mastery

2. You Are A Badass

2.1 About The Book

You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero is another amazing bestseller to help you change your life with simple but actionable tips to start living to your full potential.

You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero is a book that will help you feel less guilty about your mistakes. This book really helped me feel less like a failure.

Jen’s funny stories show that you can love yourself despite still being a work in progress and that there is always hope.

The author shows that you should not feel guilty for not always making rational decisions because sometimes irrational decisions create the necessary momentum to kick-start your life-transforming journey.

This book helped me understand that despite being average, you can create a badass life for yourself and become extraordinary.

All it takes is for you to decide to embrace who you are and become your own version of a badass.

2.2 What The Editor Says About The Book

“You Are a badass is a self-help book for people who desperately want to improve their lives but don’t want to get busted doing it.

In this refreshingly entertaining how-to guide, bestselling author and world-traveling success coach Jen Sincero serves up 27 bite-sized chapters full of hilariously inspiring stories, sage advice, easy exercises, and the occasional swear word, helping you to:

Identify and change the self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviors that stop you from getting what you want.
Create a life you totally love. And create it NOW.
Make some damn money already. The kind you’ve never made before.

By the end of You Are a Badass, you’ll understand why you are how you are, how to love what you can’t change, how to change what you don’t love, and to use The Force to kick some serious ass.”

2.3 Chapters From The Book

Part 1: How you got this way

Chapter 1 – My Subconscious Made Me Do It
Chapter 2 – The G-Word
Chapter 3 – Present as a Pigeon
Chapter 4 – The Big Snooze
Chapter 5 – Self-Perception is a Zoo

Part 2: How to embrace your inner badass

Chapter 6 – Love the One You Is
Chapter 7 – I Know You Are, But What Am I?
Chapter 8 – What Are You Doing Here?
Chapter 9 – Loincloth Man

Part 3: How to tap into the motherlode

Chapter 10 – Meditation 101
Chapter 11 – Your Brain is Your Bitch
Chapter 12 – Lead with Your Crotch
Chapter 13 – Give and Let Give
Chapter 14 – Gratitude: the Gateway Drug to Awesomeness
Chapter 15 – Forgive or Fester
Chapter 16 – Loosen Your Bone, Wilma

Part 4: How to get over your B.S already

Chapter 17 – It’s so Easy Once You Figure Out It isn’t hard
Chapter 18 – Procrastination, perfection, and a Polish Beer Garden
Chapter 19 – The Drama of Overwhelm
Chapter 20 – Fear is for Suckers
Chapter 21 – Millions of Mirrors
Chapter 22 – The Sweet Life

Part 5: How to kick some ass

Chapter 23 – The Almighty Decision
Chapter 24 – Money, Your New Best Friend
Chapter 25 – Remember to Surrender
Chapter 26 – Doing vs. Spewing
Chapter 27 – Beam Me Up, Scotty

3. Atomic Habits

3.1 About The Book

Atomic Habits by James Clear is THE book that changed my daily schedule. This book is amazing to learn how small habits compound over time and how to make any habit stick.

This book is, in fact, one of the first personal growth books I have ever read, and totally changed the way I organize my time.

After reading this book, my perspective on habits totally shifted. Clears’ great tips motivated me to implement three daily routines made with small habits.

These routines totally transformed my life after only a few months, which shows how powerful the compounding effect of small habits is.

If you want to learn how to make ANY habit stick forever, you need to get this book. Working on your education will have life-changing effects. This book will help you restructure your daily schedules to become a successful person.

3.2 What The Editor Says About The Book

” A revolutionary way to get 1 percent better every day.

People think when you want to change your life, you need to think big. But world-renowned habits expert James Clear has discovered another way. He knows that real change comes from the compound effect of hundreds of small decisions – doing two push-ups a day, waking up five minutes earlier, or reading just one more page. He calls them atomic habits.

In this groundbreaking book, Clear reveals exactly how these minuscule changes can grow into such life-altering outcomes. He uncovers a handful of simple life hacks (the forgotten art of Habit Stacking, the unexpected power of the Two Minute Rule, or the trick to entering the Goldilocks Zone), and delves into cutting-edge psychology and neuroscience to explain why they matter. Along the way, he tells inspiring stories of Olympic gold medallists, leading CEO’s, and distinguished scientists who have used the science of tiny habits to stay productive, motivated and happy.

These small changes will have a transformative effect on your career, your relationships, and your life.“

3.3 Chapters From The Book

The Fundamentals – Why tiny changes make a big difference:

Chapter 1 – The surprising power of atomic habits
Chapter 2 – How your habits shape your identity (and vice versa)
Chapter 3 – How to build better habits in 4 simple steps

The 1st Law – Make it obvious:

Chapter 4 – The man who didn’t look right
Chapter 5 – The best way to start a new habit
Chapter 6 – Motivation is overrated: environment often matters more
Chapter 7 – The secret to self-control

The 2nd Law – Make it attractive:

Chapter 8 – How to make a habit irreversible
Chapter 9 – The role of family and friends in shaping your habits
Chapter 10 – How to find and fix the causes of your bad habits

The 3rd Law – Make it easy:

Chapter 11 – Walk slowly, but never backward
Chapter 12 – The law of least effort
Chapter 13 – How to stop procrastinating by using the Two-Minute Rule
Chapter 14 – How to make good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible

The 4th Law – Make it satisfying:

Chapter 15 – The cardinal rule of behavior change
Chapter 16 – How to stick with good habits every day
Chapter 17 – How an Accountability Partner Can Change Everything

Advanced tactics – How to go from being merely good to being truly great

Chapter 18 – The truth about talent (when genes matter and when they don’t)
Chapter 19 – The goldilocks rule: how to stay motivated in life and work
Chapter 20 – The downside of creating good habits

4. The Psychology of Money

4.1 About The Book

The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel is the first personal finance book on this list for a good reason: this book will teach you all you need to know about money and its impacts on the way you think.

This book shares 19 short stories about money and why it can sometimes be hard to apply what we learn in personal finance books.

This book will not teach you how to be rich.

It will teach you why rational decisions are not always the best and how to shift your perspective about money.

Reading The Psychology Of Money changed my finances because it allowed me to reconsider some of the money decisions I made as a young adult and made me understand why they made perfect sense to me despite being totally irrational for some people.

The bite-sized stories are so well-written that it is hardly possible not to finish this book in one go.

The Psychology Of Money will not teach you how to get rich, but it will give you all the information you need to build and maintain wealth.

4.2 What The Editor Says About The Book

“Doing well with money isn’t necessarily about what you know. It’s about how you behave. And behavior is hard to teach, even to really smart people.

Money – investing, personal finance, and business decisions – is typically taught as a math-based field, where data and formulas tell us exactly what to do. But in the real world, people don’t make financial decisions on a spreadsheet. They make them at the dinner table or in a meeting room, where personal history, your own unique view of the world, ego, pride, marketing, and odd incentives are scrambled together.

In The Psychology of Money, award-winning author Morgan Housel shares 19 short stories exploring the strange ways people think about money and teaches you how to make better sense of one of life’s most important topics.”

4.3 Chapters From The Book

Chapter 1 – No one’s crazy
Chapter 2 – Luck & risk
Chapter 3 – Never enough
Chapter 4 – Confounding compounding
Chapter 5 – Getting wealthy vs staying wealthy
Chapter 6 – Tails, you win
Chapter 7 – Freedom
Chapter 8 – Man in the car paradox
Chapter 9 – Wealth is what you don’t see
Chapter 10 – Save money
Chapter 11 – Reasonable > rational
Chapter 12 – Surprise!
Chapter 13 – Room for Error
Chapter 14 – You’ll change
Chapter 15 – Nothing’s free
Chapter 16 – You & Me
Chapter 17 – The seduction of pessimism
Chapter 18 – When you’ll believe anything
Chapter 19 – All together now

5. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

5.1 About The Book

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson is a book about why one should stop worrying so much about everything and how to actually do it.

According to this book, worrying too much will get you caught in the feedback loop from hell. To live your best life, you need to learn to only worry about what really matters to you and not to everyone else.

If you are an overthinker, this book will help you reconsider what you invest your energy in and let go of things that do not help you create your best life.

5.2 What The Editor Says About The Book

“In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger shows us that the key to being stronger, happier people is to handle adversity better and stop trying to be “positive” all the time.

For the past few years, Mark Manson – via his wildly popular blog – has been working on correcting our delusional expectations for ourselves and for the world. He now brings his hard-fought wisdom to this groundbreaking book.

Manson makes the argument that human beings are flawed and limited. As he writes, “not everybody can be extraordinary – there are winners and losers in society, and some of it is not fair or your fault”. Manson advises us to get to know our limitations and accept them – this, he says, is the real source of empowerment. Once we embrace our fears, faults, and uncertainties – once we stop running from avoiding and start confronting painful truths – we can begin to find the courage and confidence we desperately seek.

“In life, we have a limited amount of fucks to give. So you must choose your fucks wisely.” Manson brings a much-needed grab-you-by-the-shoulders-and-look-you-in-the-eyes moment of real talk, filled with entertaining stories and profane, ruthless humor. This manifesto is a refreshing slap in the face for all of us” so that we can start to lead more contented, grounded lives. “

5.3 Chapters From The Book

Chapter 1 – Don’t try
- The feedback loop from hell
- The subtle art of not giving a fuck
- So Mark, what the fuck is the point of this book anyway?
Chapter 2 – Happiness is a problem
- The Misadventures of Disappointment Panda
- Happiness comes from solving problems
- Emotions are overrated
- Choose your struggle
Chapter 3 – You are not special
- Things fall apart
- The tyranny of exceptionalism
- B-b-b-but, if I’m not going to be special or extraordinary, what’s the point?
Chapter 4 – The value of suffering
- The self-awareness onion
- Rock start problems
- Shitty values
- Defining good and bad values
Chapter 5 – You are always choosing
- The choice
- The responsibility/fault fallacy
- Responding to tragedy
- Genetics and the hand we’re dealt
- Victimhood chic
- There is no “how”
Chapter 6 – You’re wrong about everything (but so am I)
- Architects of our own beliefs
- The dangers of pure certainty
- Manson’s law of avoidance
- Kill yourself
- How to be a little less certain of yourself
Chapter 7 – Failure is the way forward
- The failure/success paradox
- Pain is part of the process
- The “Do something” principle
Chapter 8 – The importance of saying No
- Rejection makes your life better
- Boundaries
- How to build trust
- Freedom through commitment
Chapter 9 – …. And then you die
- Something beyond ourselves
- The sunny side of death

This self-help book is filled with powerful quotes, but one of them really hit me. It says:

“The desire for a more positive experience is itself a negative experience. And, paradoxically, the acceptance of a negative experience is itself a positive experience.”

When was the last time you reconsidered a bad experience and started analyzing the good side of it and how it positively impacted your life?

This simple exercise can help us be more grounded and grateful, which is the way to go to transform our lives for the better.

6. Everything Is F*cked, A Book About Hope

6.1 About The Book

Everything is F*cked, A Book About Hope, is the second book of Mark Mansion.

This book explains why so many people feel hopeless and how our “thinking” and “feeling” brains can create chaos when contradicting each other. This chaos is what slows us down when trying to achieve goals.

Very often, the only thing we have to do to change our lives and reach the goals we set for ourselves is to realign our feelings and thinking brains to ensure they both pursue the same goal.

This book offers a new perspective on many aspects of our daily lives. If you want to discover how your brain sometimes conspires against you and how to make it work for you, this book will help!

6.2 What The Editor Says About The Book

“From the author of international mega-bestseller, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck comes a counterintuitive guide to the problems of hope.

We live in an interesting time. Materially, everything is the best it’s ever been, yet somehow everything seems to be irreparably and horribly fucked. What’s going on? If anyone can put a name on our current malaise and fix it, it’s Mark Manson. In Everything is Fucked, Manson draws on mountains of psychological research, as well as on the timeless wisdom of philosophers from Platon to Tom Waits, to dissect religion, politics, money, entertainment, and the internet.

With this usual mix of erudition and humor, Manson challenges us to be more honest with ourselves, openly defying our definitions of faith, happiness, freedom – and even of hope itself. One of the great modern writers has produced another book that will set the agenda for years to come. “

6.3 Chapters From The Book

Part 1 – Hope

Chapter 1 – The Uncomfortable Truth
Chapter 2 – Self-control is an illusion
Chapter 3 – Newton’s laws of emotion
Chapter 4 – How to make all your dreams come true
Chapter 5 – Hope is fucked

Part 2 – Everything is fucked

Chapter 6 – The formula of humanity
Chapter 7 – Pain is the universal constant
Chapter 8 – The Feelings Economy
Chapter 9 – The Final Religion

7. The 4-Hour Workweek

7.1 About The Book

Reading The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss is a must if you are willing to transform your life, live an intentional life, and stop worrying about money while working less.

This is the book that introduced me to the concept of mini-retirements and changed my vision of the ideal life. If you think life should be less about work and more about doing what you love, this book is for you.

It’s a step-by-step guide to freedom filled with amazingly effective tips to take your life back, be more effective, and scale your income while working less and enjoying your life.

If you want a sensational lifestyle change, this book is definitely what you need to kick-start the process!

7.2 What The Editor Says About The Book

“WARNING

DO NOT READ THIS BOOK UNLESS YOU WANT A NEW WAY OF LIVING

Forget the old concept of retirement and saving for the future – there is no need to wait, and every reason not to. Whether your dream is escaping the rat race, experiencing first-class world travel, earning a monthly five-figure income with no management, or just living more and working less, this book is the blueprint.

In this step-by-step guide to living the life of your dreams, you will learn:

How author Timothy Ferriss went from $40,000 per year and 80 hours per week to $40,000 per MONTH and 4 hours per week
How to eliminate 50% of your work in 48 hours using the principles of a forgotten Italian economist
How to exchange your career for life for short work bursts and frequent “mini-retirements”
How to outsource your life and do whatever you want

7.3 Chapters From The Book

Step 1 – D is for Definition:

Chapter 1 – Cautions and comparisons: How to burn $1,000,000 a night
Chapter 2 – Rules that change the rules: Everything popular is wrong
Chapter 3 – Dodging bullets: Fear-setting and escaping paralysis
Chapter 4 – System reset: Being unreasonable and unambiguous

Step 2 – E is for Elimination:

Chapter 5 – The end of time management: Illusions and Italians
Chapter 6 – The low-information diet: Cultivating selective ignorance
Chapter 7 – Interrupting interruption and the art of refusal

Step 3 – A is for Automation:

Chapter 8 – Outsourcing life: Off-loading the rest and a taste of geo arbitrage
Chapter 9 – Income Autopilot I: Finding the Muse
Chapter 10 – Income Autopilot II: Testing the Muse
Chapter 11 – Income autopilot III: MBA – Management by Absence

Step 4: L is for Liberation:

Chapter 12 – Disappearing act: How to escape the office
Chapter 13 – Beyond repair: Killing your job
Chapter 14 – Mini-retirements: Embracing the Mobile Lifestyle
Chapter 15 – Filling the void: Adding life after subtracting work
Chapter 16 – The Top 13 New Rich Mistakes
The Last Chapter: An E-mail You Need to Read

8. How To Win Friends And Influence People

8.1 About The Book

How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie is a personal growth book that will help you navigate through life with grace and grow from delicate situations.

This book will help you become more self-aware, express your thoughts clearly, and convince people to follow your way of thinking.

Whether you want to become a great leader in the company you work for or want to launch your own business, this book will give you all the advice you need to be successful.

8.2 What The Editor Says About The Book

“GO AFTER THE JOB YOU WANT – AND GET IT!

TAKE THE JOB YOU HAVE – AND IMPROVE IT!

TAKE ANY SITUATION – AND MAKE IT WORK FOR YOU!

Originally published during the depths of the Great Depression – and equally valuable during booming economies or hard times – Dale Carnegie’s rock-solid, time-tested advice has carried countless people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives.

The most groundbreaking guidebook of all time introduces simple and life-changing concepts such as:

How to make a good first impression
How to win people to your way of thinking
How to criticize other people without creating resentment
How to increase your ability to get things done
How to become a more effective leader
How to successfully navigate almost any social situation
What to do when nothing else works
And much, much more!”

8.3 Chapters From The Book

Part 1: Fundamental techniques in handling people

Chapter 1 – If you want to gather honey, don’t kick over the beehive”
Chapter 2 – The big secret of dealing with people
Chapter 3 – He who can do this has the whole world with him. He who cannot walk a lonely way

Part 2: Six ways to make people like you

Chapter 4 – Do this, and you’ll be welcome anywhere
Chapter 5 – A simple way to make a good first impression
Chapter 6 – If you don’t do this, you are headed for trouble
Chapter 7 – An easy way to become a good conversationalist
Chapter 8 – How to interest people
Chapter 9 – How to Make People Like You Instantly

Part 3: How to win people to your way of thinking

Chapter 10 – You can’t win an argument
Chapter 11 – A sure way of making enemies and how to avoid it
Chapter 12 – If you’re wrong, admit it
Chapter 13 – A drop of honey
Chapter 14 – Get the other person saying “yes, yes” immediately
Chapter 15 – The safety valve in handling complaints
Chapter 16 – How to get cooperation
Chapter 17 – A formula that will work wonders for you
Chapter 18 – What Everybody Wants
Chapter 19 – An appeal that everybody likes
Chapter 20 – The movies do it. Advertisers do it. Why don’t you do it?
Chapter 21 – When nothing else works, try this

Part 4: Be a leader: how to change people without giving offense or arousing resentment

Chapter 22 – If you must find fault, this is the way to begin
Chapter 23 – How to criticize – and not be hated for it
Chapter 24 – Talk about your own mistakes first
Chapter 25 – No one likes to take orders
Chapter 26 – Let the other person save face
Chapter 27 – How to spur people into success
Chapter 28 – Give a dog a good name
Chapter 29 – Make the fault seem easy to correct
Chapter 30 – Make the people glad to do what you want

9. Rich Dad, Poor Dad

9.1 About The Book

Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki is a personal finance book you need to read if you are new to personal finance and want to improve your financial education.

This book describes the 2 main perspectives people have about money: working for money and making money work for you. The author describes the lessons his educated, poor dad taught him and compares them to the lessons he learned listening to an uneducated but wealthy friend’s Dad.

This book is a great place to start rethinking your finances and implementing simple but effective tips to build wealth. It also includes a study lesson at the end of each chapter to help you apply the principles.

9.2 What The Editor Says About The Book

” RICH DAD POOR DAD

THE #1 PERSONAL FINANCE BOOK OF ALL TIME…

Explodes the myth that you need to earn a high income to become rich – especially in a world where technology, robots, and a global economy are changing the rules
Teaches why acquiring and building assets can be more important to your future than a big paycheck – and the tax advantages investors and business owners enjoy
Challenges the belief that your house is an asset – as millions of people learned first-hand when the housing bubble burst and the sub-prime mortgage fiasco raged
Reminds us why we can’t count on the school system to teach our kids about money – and why this critical life skill is more important today than ever before
Explains what to teach your kids about money – so they can be prepared for the challenges and opportunities of today’s world and enjoy the rich life they deserve

9.3 Chapters From The Book

Chapter 1 – The rich do not work for money

Chapter 2 – Why teach financial literacy?

Chapter 3 – Mind your own business

Chapter 4 – The history of taxes and the power of Corporations

Chapter 5 – The Rich Invent Money

Chapter 6 – Work to learn, don’t work for money

Chapter 7 – Overcoming obstacles

Chapter 8 – Getting Started

Chapter 9 – Still want more? Here are some to-do’s

10. The Automatic Millionaire

10.1 About The Book

The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach is a personal finance book that aims to teach us how to become a millionaire with less than $10 a day.

This book is a game-changer when it comes to personal finances. It explodes the myth that you need a high income to build wealth and become a millionaire.

It also includes success stories from readers to show how applying the tips from the book can totally change a life.

If you want to improve your finances but don’t know where to start, this book will teach you some basic but essential concepts for building wealth on autopilot.

10.2 What The Editor Says About The Book

” David Bach’s no-budget, no-discipline, no-nonsense system will help you finish rich automatically

Do you want to live rich and retire richer? Rich enough to do what you want to do when you want to do it? Rich enough to stop worrying about money? Rich enough to make a difference and help others?

If your answer is yes, then stop what you are doing, open this book, and read a few pages. Bach’s easy approach to automating your financial life works while you sleep. All you have to do is follow his one-step program to financial security – the rest is automatic!”

10.3 Chapters From The Book

Chapter 1 – Meeting the Automatic Millionaire
Chapter 2 – The Latte Factor: Becoming an Automatic Millionaire on just a few dollars a day
Chapter 3 – Learn to pay yourself first
Chapter 4 – Now make it automatic
Chapter 5 – Automate for a rainy day
Chapter 6 – Automatic debt-free homeownership
Chapter 7 – The automatic debt-free lifestyle
Chapter 8 – Make a Difference with Automatic Tithing
Chapter 9 – The Automatic Millionaire Blueprint

Final Thoughts

At some point in life, we all want to make drastic changes and start a new chapter.

Doing so can seem overwhelming, but it isn’t that hard with the right information and some inspiration.

I’ve tried to change my life for years with no success. That was until I read The Mountain is You by Brianna Wiest. This book is what truly kick-started my life-transforming journey.

Less than 90 days later, my life was completely different. Every other book on this list helped me sharpen my vision of life, and I sincerely hope they will have the same impact on yours.

These life-changing books will help you rewrite your history to create a life you will love.

It’s your time now; trust the process, enjoy the ride, and your life will be totally different 90 days from now!