Book Recommendations.
Occasionally, certain books profoundly impact my thinking. Higher ranked books are more universally good, while lower-ranked books were good for a particular purpose (or they're outright not amazing).
Man's Search for Meaning – ⭐ Life-changing / purchase
Endure life with an awesome sense of purpose.
The Alchemist – ⭐ Life-changing / purchase
A story about manifesting your personal legend (ultimate purpose) through persistence.
The Four Agreements – ⭐ Life-changing / purchase
Find inner peace.
Meditations – ⭐ Life-changing / purchase
A semi-stoic guide to become a better human.
The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership – ⭐ Life-changing / purchase
Be truly self-honest with how well you are leading, and open yourself to the possibility of improvement through conscious commitment to it.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy – ⭐ Life-changing / purchase
A hilarious and captivating exploration of absurdism.
Siddhartha – ⭐ Life-changing / purchase
A story of suffering and the path to nirvana.
Essentialism – ⭐ Life-changing / purchase
Do less, but better.
The Enchiridion – ⭐ Life-changing / purchase
A summary of the stoic teachings of Epictetus.
As a Man Thinketh – ⭐ Life-changing / purchase
Find inner peace and happiness.
Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck – ✅ Great / purchase
Learn to prioritize what's important and be indifferent to the rest.
Life Of Pi – ✅ Great / purchase
A fantastic take story and perspective on faith in a higher power.
The Way of the Superior Man – ✅ Great / purchase
Lean into life with love and passionately pursue your ultimate purpose at all costs.
The Bhagavad Gita – ✅ Great / purchase
The Hindu reflection of a good life. Lot's of wisdom to be gleaned from it.
Shoe Dog – ✅ Great / purchase
The story of Nike, and more abstractly, a vulnerable and captivating tale of launching a business.
Kaftka On The Shore – ✅ Great / purchase
The closest you will get to consciously dreaming... This book is a deep dive into the subconscious.
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! – ✅ Great / purchase
Learning to play in this dance we call life.
The Body Keeps the Score – ✅ Great / purchase
A well-researched analysis of trauma and modern approaches for addressing it.
How to Make Friends & Influence People – ✅ Great / purchase
The book that started my personal growth journey.
Never Split The Difference – ✅ Great / purchase
Learn to negotiate with empathy, and expand the pool of resources for everyone.
Stoner – ✅ Great / purchase
A story about perseverance and honoring what feels true.
Project Hail Mary – ✅ Great / purchase
Listen to audiobook - I laughed, I cried, and I did jazz hands. It was awesome.
Discourses of Epictetus – ✅ Great / purchase
Learn about stoicism and how it can help you become a better human.
The Elegance of The Hedgehog – ✅ Great / purchase
A beautiful story about life, meaning, and life's trivialities.
12 Rules for Life – ✅ Great / purchase
As the title says.
A Promised Land – ✅ Great / purchase
Such an interesting perspective on running the United States. Great storytelling.
Influence: Science and Practice – ✅ Great / purchase
Learn how to market to anyone.
Extreme Ownership – ✅ Great / purchase
Improve your life by taking accountability for everything in it.
Sapiens – ✅ Great / purchase
The history of humanity.
The Mastery of Love – ✅ Great / purchase
Overcome emotional wounds and practice love for the world.
Get Together – ✅ Great / purchase
Learn how to build, grown, and sustain community from some of the best.
The Storyteller – ✅ Great / purchase
A bunch of great life-stories from an epic dude.
Zero to One – ✅ Great / purchase
Successful startups create NEW things which add significant value. When you create new things, you have no (or far less) competition.
Soulcraft – ✅ Great / purchase
An exploration of the grand mystery and a personal approach to exploring it.
The E-Myth: Revisited – ✅ Great / purchase
Systematization in critically important in business and in life.
Tattoos on the Heart – ✅ Great / purchase
A beautiful account of one priests time practicing love for suffering humans (gang members).
11-22-63 – ✅ Great / purchase
A story of letting go of the future, and the difficulty of changing the past.
The Stranger – ✅ Great / purchase
An introduction to absurdism. Good for those who want to understand nihilism without jumping deep into the pit.
Alchemy: The Dark Art And Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life – ✅ Great / purchase
The opposite of a good thing is also a good thing. This book helps tap into the unexpected, weird, and magical to create the remarkable.
Slaughterhouse-Five – ✅ Great / purchase
Death and war and a well-written novel.
Trillion Dollar Coach – ✅ Great / purchase
The Story of Bill Campbell and his unique approach to coaching the worlds most prominent leaders.
Principles – ✅ Great / purchase
Simplify your life systems into a set of principles.
Supercommunicators – ✅ Great / purchase
How the worlds best communicators relate and connect.
The Surrender Experiment – ✅ Great / purchase
Surrender to the force of life. Let it take you like a river.
101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think – ✅ Great / purchase
This book covers a wide range of topics... it inspires me to write more.
The School Of Life: An Emotional Education – ✅ Great / purchase
Dives into psychology, culture, work, and relationships in an approachable way.
Born a Crime – ✅ Great / purchase
Listen to the audiobook. Beautiful autobiography of Trevor Noah learning to face life.
Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine – ✅ Great / purchase
Simple and actionable tips for creating a sustainable and profitable business.
When Breath Becomes Air – ✅ Great / purchase
A true story about a man who faced death with integrity. This book made me cry.
Cultivating an Unshakeable Character – ✅ Great / purchase
Reflect on the components of your character.
Turning Pro – 👍 Helpful / purchase
Learning to play a higher-stakes, no excuses game. Lean into life with integrity and conviction.
48 Laws of Power – 👍 Helpful / purchase
This book hurt my soul to read because it focuses primarily on politics and manipulation, but the information is important for understanding that part of humanity.
Think and Grow Rich – 👍 Helpful / purchase
You can achieve whatever it is that you DESIRE if you have faith in your ability to achieve it and persistence in your execution of the DESIRE.
The Way of Integrity – 👍 Helpful / purchase
Application of Dante's Divine Comedy and how it applies to modern integrity.
Can't Hurt Me – 👍 Helpful / purchase
There are many mental limits that hold us back. When we push past these, the outcomes can be incredible.
How Will You Measure Your Life? – 👍 Helpful / purchase
Thoughtfully consider what you most value in life and embody those values within your career, personal life, and family dynamics.
Becoming nobody. – 👍 Helpful / purchase
My first introduction to Ram Das. Some bangers in here.
Crucial Conversations – 👍 Helpful / purchase
Practicing empathy, minimizing negative storytelling, and becoming an effective communicator.
Obstacle is the Way – 👍 Helpful / purchase
A modern take on ancient stoicism.
The Second Mountain – 👍 Helpful / purchase
Live a life of commitment in relationship to others.
The State of Affairs – 👍 Helpful / purchase
Processing infidelity within a relationship.
From The Core – 👍 Helpful / purchase
Exploration of masculinity.
Iron John – 👍 Helpful / purchase
Deep exploration of mythopoetic masculinity. Using storytelling, symbolism, and mythology to communicate profound masculine ideas.
Sex At Dawn – 👍 Helpful / purchase
Learn about human mating behaviors.
Breath – 👍 Helpful / purchase
Breathing through nose > breathing through mouth.
Stillness Is the Key – 👍 Helpful / purchase
Anything You Want – 👍 Helpful / purchase
A story about running a startup and leading a good life.
Stealing Fire – 👍 Helpful / purchase
Deep dive into high performance and unlocking access to higher powers.
The Power of Vulnerability – 👍 Helpful / purchase
Lean into vulnerability and release yourself from a lifetime of shame and suffering.
The Enchanted Life – 👍 Helpful / purchase
Learn to see the magic of the little things that have always been there.
Think Like A Monk – 👍 Helpful / purchase
A reflection of the monk lifestyle.
10x Rule – 👍 Helpful / purchase
It is your moral obligation to be as successful as possible.
Rework – 👍 Helpful / purchase
Chop Wood Carry Water – 👍 Helpful / purchase
A reminder to focus on the process and not the outcome.
The 4 Hour Work Week – 👍 Helpful / purchase
A practical approach to creating a fulfilling life supported by simple work.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – 👍 Helpful / purchase
How to Be Perfect – 👍 Helpful / purchase
A modern (and funny) reflection of moral philosophy. Would be rated higher if it was less opinionated/politically charged.
Human Hacking – 👍 Helpful / purchase
An ethical approach to getting what you want.
The Lean Startup – 👍 Helpful / purchase
Learn how to run a startup in the modern age.
The Third Door – 👍 Helpful / purchase
A story about the person power that comes with creating new options.
Excellent Sheep – 👍 Helpful / purchase
The elite educational system has created a generation of individuals who do things not because they are virtuous, but because they are necessary (and this is bad because we think critically about ourselves and our values less often).
Let My People Go Surfing – 👍 Helpful / purchase
What can happen when you pursue a cause that you really care about, making sure to have some fun along the way.
The Virtue of Selfishness – 👍 Helpful / purchase
A completely different perspective on Truth, and where we should base our moral system.
The Art of War – 👍 Helpful / purchase
A collection of ancient war reflections that you can apply to your modern life.
The Ride of a Lifetime – 👍 Helpful / purchase
A well-rounded and love-centered book on leadership.
Beyond Order – 👍 Helpful / purchase
A thoughtful reflection of timeless human patterns distilled into a collection of rules to live by.
The Prophet – 👍 Helpful / purchase
A collection of life advice.
The Go-Giver – 👍 Helpful / purchase
Blitzscaling – 👍 Helpful / purchase
A practical guide to rapidly scaling a company.
Women Who Run with the Wolves – 👍 Helpful / purchase
Exploring the feminine archetype. Good short read.
The Richest Man in Babylon – 👍 Helpful / purchase
A guide to accumulating wealth.
The $100 Startup – 👍 Helpful / purchase
Learn how to run a startup in the modern age.
Unfu*k Yourself – 👍 Helpful / purchase
Sovereign Love – 👍 Helpful / purchase
How to integrate masculine and feminine energies with love.
You're a Badass at Making Money – 👍 Helpful / purchase
Manifest what you want and you will get it.
The Masculine Road – 👍 Helpful / purchase
A small dive into Robert Bly's study of masculine archetypes.
The War of Art – 👍 Helpful / purchase
A great perspective on resistance and how (and when) to push through it.
Rich Dad Poor Dad – 👍 Helpful / purchase
The Tactical Guide to Women – 👍 Helpful / purchase
A thoughtful and honest approach to evaluating romantic relationships.
The Effective Executive – 👍 Helpful / purchase
The Masculine in Relationship – 👍 Helpful / purchase
Exploration of masculine characteristics (for men and women).
A Court of Thorns and Roses – 👍 Helpful / purchase
An epic story of the power of romantic love.
Lord of the Flies – 👍 Helpful / purchase
Humanity devolved into apehood.
Little Book of Circle Processes – 👍 Helpful / purchase
A guide to keeping indigenous talking & healing circles.
The Prince – 👍 Helpful / purchase
A guide for action in a political environment.
The Science of Storytelling – 👍 Helpful / purchase
A practical guide to telling good stories.
The Storytelling Animal – 👍 Helpful / purchase
An exploration behind the psychology of storytelling.
How to Know A Person – 👍 Helpful / purchase
Candidly I spaced out while reading this... It's getting challenging to rank these books now.
Models (Mark Manson) – 👍 Helpful / purchase
A guide to no-bullshit, zero game-playing, authentic dating
Taming the Tiger Within – 👍 Helpful / purchase
A zen buddhist guide for translating fear into love.
Purple Cow – 👍 Helpful / purchase
An essential guide to value-driven marketing.
The Great Mental Models – 👍 Helpful / purchase
A set of frameworks for thinking about the world.
The Dip – 👍 Helpful / purchase
Know when to quit and know when to give it everything you've got.
Same As Ever – 👍 Helpful / purchase
A story about what always stays the same for humans.
Single on Purpose – 👍 Helpful / purchase
Why it's valuable to be single for a while and focus on self.
The Untethered Soul – 👍 Helpful / purchase
Getting in touch with divinity within.
Ego Is The Enemy – 👍 Helpful / purchase
Set aside your ego to find greater actualization of your ideal life.
High Performance Habits – 👍 Helpful / purchase
Start With Why – 👍 Helpful / purchase
This book is game changing for a lot of people. For me, I got the point after the first chapter. Perhaps it deserves a reread.