Favorite Personal Development Books

I read a lot of personal development books and have built quite a library for myself. Building your own personal development library is a great idea. Think of it as a treasure chest where you can find the solutions to all your problems. Your problems aren’t unique. Many before you have had the same problems and some wrote down their solutions in books. Whether you need to heal yourself or others, work towards financial independence, improve yourself on a spiritual level – there are books for everything.

Before you start reading you might want to check out my tips on doubling your reading speed and how to get as much out of a book as possible

I will probably turn this into a permanent page on this blog with recommended books and other products, but for now here are some of my favorite books on personal development. They are not in any particular order.

Stuart Wilde
His stuff can freak you out sometimes, but he keeps you hanging on with his great sense of humor and ageless wisdom.

• Infinite Self
• The Three Keys to Self-Empowerment

Eckhart Tolle
He’s real popular right now and his books are great to read. His books make you focus on what really matters.

• The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
• A New Earth: Awaking to Your Life’s Purpose

Malcolm Gladwell
He can really make you look at things in new ways. I haven’t read his most recent book yet (Outliers: The Story of Success).

• The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
• Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Robert Kiyosaki
Not really step-by-step advice you can use right away, but good for inspiration on how to reach financial freedom.

• Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money — That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not!
• Cashflow Quadrant: Rich Dad’s Guide to Financial Freedom

Anthony Robbins
I have been to a couple of seminars by Tony Robbins and listened to most of his audio programs. His enthusiasm is really contagious. Unlimited Power was the first book that made me realize how much more I can achieve.

• Unlimited Power: The New Science of Personal Achievement
• Awaken the Giant Within: How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny!

Jack Canfield
Together with Mark Victor Hansen he created the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. These books are full of inspirational stories. Even though I’m vegan, I really enjoy this Chicken Soup. His other books are highly recommended too.

• The Success Principles
• The Aladdin Factor (with Mark Victor Hansen)
• Chicken Soup for the Soul (with Mark Victor Hansen)

Ken Blanchard / Spencer Johnson
Simple and clear tips on how to communicate with people at work.

• One Minute Manager

Dale Carnegie
A lot of tips on how to improve your communication. A bit outdated at times, but certainly a good and educating read.

• How to Win Friends & Influence People

Napoleon Hill
He wrote the ultimate classic in success literature: Think and Grow Rich. It’s not only about if you’ve read it, but also how many times you’ve read this book. Many bloggers and webmasters in the personal development niche use this book as a gift for signing up for their newsletter, but you can also get it at Amazon.

• Think and Grow Rich

Mark Joyner
I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Mark Joyner. His sense of humor and ability to communicate complex things in a simple way make for easy and extremely useful reading. Most of his books are about marketing, but they also contain much advice you can use in other areas.

• Simpleology: The Simple Science of Getting What You Want
• The Irresistible Offer
• The Great Formula: for Creating Maximum Profit with Minimal Effort

David J. Schwartz
I took a lot of notes reading through this book. It’s full of great information on how to create a mindset for success.

• The Magic of Thinking Big

Stephen R. Covey
Required reading for everyone who is human. It’s full of tips on how to improve your life and your relationships with others.

• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

George S. Clason
Although written a long time ago and containing stories that took place in Babylon, this little book contains a whole bunch of wisdom about building wealth that still works today.

• The Richest Man in Babylon

Bill McFarlan
He gives some great information on clear communication in this book.

• Drop the Pink Elephant: 15 Ways to Say What You Mean…and Mean What You Say

Derren Brown
I’m a big fan of Derren Brown. He doesn’t explain his tricks here, but this certainly makes for an interesting read. You will learn something about improving your memory and some other useful things along the way.

• Tricks of the Mind

Esther and Jerry Hicks
This book contains a lot of useful information on the Law of Attraction through the teachings of Abraham.

• Ask and It Is Given: Learning to Manifest Your Desires

T. Harv Eker
An excellent book on how to build a mindset for wealth.

• Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth

Dan Millman
He’s one of my favorite authors. Everyday Enlightenment was one of the first few books I read on personal development. I especially enjoy The Laws of Spirit, a very small book but full of wisdom.

• The Laws of Spirit: A Tale of Transformation
• Everyday Enlightenment: The Twelve Gateways to Personal Growth

James Redfield
The Celestine Prophecy is the only book I’ve read twice. It has been a while though and I don’t know if I would now enjoy it as much as I did when I first read it, but it certainly made a big impact on me at the time. The book was followed by two other books (The Tenth Insight: Holding the Vision and The Secret of Shambhala: In Search of the Eleventh Insight). They are also worth reading.

• The Celestine Prophecy
• The Tenth Insight: Holding the Vision
• The Secret of Shambhala: In Search of the Eleventh Insight

Will Bowen
I already wrote an article inspired by Will Bowen. It’s called How to Stop Complaining.

• A Complaint Free World: How to Stop Complaining and Start Enjoying the Life You Always Wanted

Richard Bach
You can read some of his books in less than a day, but you will think back the stories and the messages in his books for years.

• Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah
• Jonathan Livingston Seagull

David Allen
David Allen is one of the great gurus of productivity. The best tips in his book Getting Things Done (or GTD) seem to be in the first few chapters, but those tips alone improved my productivity a lot.

• Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

John Robbins
Talk about life changing books. Some people warned me that you don’t want to read The Food Revolution if you don’t want to become vegan. Well, that’s exactly what happened. The way this book discusses just about everything associated with food makes you think about your own diet. Truly life changing. Highly recommended.

• The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and Our World
• Healthy at 100: The Scientifically Proven Secrets of the World’s Healthiest and Longest-Lived Peoples

David R. Hawkins
Rather controversial and some of the chapters Power vs. Force should perhaps be taken with a pinch of salt, but this is still great information. It really helps you become aware of some of the issues you might be struggling with in your personal growth.

• Power vs. Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior

Richard Gordon
Quantum Touch is relatively easy to learn with this book. The basics are pretty simple and from there on you can build on that. In no time you will be able to heal yourself and help others to heal. Alain Herriot wrote a followup to this book called Supercharging Quantum Touch: Advanced Techniques

• Quantum-Touch: The Power to Heal

Allan & Barbara Pease
They cover all aspects of body language in this book, with lots of humor. Pictures of famous people are used to show you the various forms of body language.

• The Definitive Book of Body Language

Joe Navarro
Another book about body language – again, with great tips.

• What Every BODY is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Speed-Reading People

Paul Ekman
He is the inspiration for the TV series Lie To Me. Paul Ekman has spend years studying the faces of people in all parts of the world. Emotions Revealed shows you how to spot emotions by looking at faces and how to control your own emotions.

• Emotions Revealed: Recognizing Faces and Feelings to Improve Communication and Emotional Life
• Telling Lies: Clues to Deceit in the Marketplace, Politics, and Marriage

David J. Lieberman
By giving a lot of examples Lieberman shows you how you can read anyone. As the cover states, this is not a book about body language.

• You Can Read Anyone

Boris Vene and Nikola Grubisa
Took more notes than I can remember taking in any other book. Every page is full of information you can use right away or inspire you to take action.

• The Millionaire Mindset: How to Tap Real Wealth from Within

Carol Look
She gives great information about using EFT for all sorts of things, but I especially liked her book on attracting abundance with EFT.

• Attracting Abundance with EFT

Bob Doyle
He is one of the teachers featured in The Secret. Before that he has written a great book called Wealth Beyond Reason. You can get the book at Amazon, but if you are really interested in learning more about the Law of Attraction (LOA) I suggest you look into his program Wealth Beyond Reason. Talking about overdelivering. For example, you do not only get the book Wealth Beyond Reason, but also A Happy Pocket Full of Money by David Cameron Gikandi (also highly recommended) and Spiritual Marketing by Joe Vitale. Furthermore, there’s a whole bunch of audio recordings available to you with interviews and Q&A about LOA. I got WBR years ago and still come back to it regularly. It has just been updated, so have a look.

• Wealth Beyond Reason book
• Wealth Beyond Reason program

Tom & Penelope Pauley
This duo have written a book with the great title I’m Rich Beyond My Wildest Dreams. I am. I am. I am.. This book teaches you how you can activate the Law of Attraction by writing down what you want. It’s very much fun to read.

• I’m Rich Beyond My Wildest Dreams. I am. I am. I am.

I’m always looking for new tips. Let me know what your favorite personal development books are and share them with everybody in the comments below.

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