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Books Club

Books That Changed My Outlook on Life

The following are books I’ve read and would recommend to anyone who wants to increase their happiness, health span and success, which is everyone!

Physiology / Physical & Mental Health & Performance

Lifespan: Why We Age – and Why We Don’t Have To
by David A. Sinclair
Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity
by Peter Attia
Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity

Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World 

Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers
A massive tome. You can read it cover to cover, like I did, or, as Tim recommends, pick and choose chapters out of the Healthy, Wealthy and Wise sections

The 4 Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat Loss, Incredible Sex and Becoming Superhuman

by Timothy Ferriss




The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance
by Steven Kotler
Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age
by Sanjay Gupta
Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst
by Robert M. Sapolsky
From the celebrated neurobiologist and primatologist, a landmark, genre-defining examination of human behaviour, both good and bad, and an answer to the question: Why do we do the things we do?
Black Box Thinking: Marginal Gains and the Secrets of High Performance

Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice
by Matthew Syed

Matthew Syed is a half Welsh, half Pakistani, British journalist, author and broadcaster. He was a table tennis international champion, 3x men’s singles champion at the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships (in 1997, 2000 and 2001), and also competed for Great Britain in two Olympic Games, at Barcelona in 1992 and at Sydney in 2000.


Range: How Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
by David Epstein
Range
The Talent Code: Greatness Isn’t Born. It’s Grown.
by Daniel Coyle
Endure: Mind, Body and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance
by Alex Hutchinson
Super Human: The Bulletproof Plan to Age Backward and Maybe Even Live Forever
by Dave Asprey
The Selfish Gene: 40th Anniversary edition

The Blind Watchmaker

by Dr Richard Dawkins


Psychology and Emotional Intelligence

The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance
by Josh Waitzkin
Waitzkin, an eight-time National Chess Champion in his youth, was the subject of the book and movie Searching for Bobby Fischer. At eighteen, he published his first book, Josh Waitzkin’s Attacking Chess.
Now a martial arts champion, he holds a combined twenty-one National Championship titles in addition to several World Championship titles.
Grit: Why passion and resilience are the secrets to success
by Angela Duckworth
In her late twenties, Angela left a demanding job as a management consultant to teach maths to seventh graders in the New York City public schools. Several years in the classroom taught her that effort was tremendously important to success. To begin to solve the mystery of why some people work so much harder and longer than others, Angela entered the PhD program in psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, where she is now a professor. She is also a 2013 MacArthur fellow and founder and scientific director of the Character Lab.
Mindset: Changing The Way You think To Fulfil Your Potential
by Dr Carol Dweck
The Chimp Paradox: The Mind Management Program to Help You Achieve Success, Confidence, and Happiness
by Dr. Steve Peters
The Tools: 5 Tools to Help You Find Courage, Creativity, and Willpower–and Inspire You to Live Life in Forward Motion   
by Dr Phil Stutz and Barry Michels
    The Tools: Transform Your Problems into Courage, Confidence, and Creativity
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
by Bessel van der Kolk M.D.
Psycho-Cybergenetics
by Maxwell Maltz, Introduction and Commentary by Matt Furey
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life
by Mark Manson
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life
Anything You Want: 40 Lessons for a New Kind of Entrepreneur
by Derek Sivers
High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way
by Brendan Burchard
The Invisible Gorilla: And Other Ways Our Intuition Deceives Us
by Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons
The Laws of Human Nature

Mastery 

The 48 Laws Of Power

The Art Of Seduction

by Robert Greene


 


Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade
by Robert B. Cialdini, PhD
Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are
by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz
The Art of War
by Sun Tzu
The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
A succinct, engaging, and practical guide for succeeding in any creative sphere, The War of Art is nothing less than Sun-Tzu for the soul. 
by Steven Pressfield
The War of Art
The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results
by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan
The ONE Thing
Yes! 50 Secrets from the Science of Persuasion
by Noah J. Goldstein, Steve J. Martin and Robert B. Cialdini
The First 20 Hours: How to Learn Anything … Fast
by Josh Kaufman
Rules of the Game

by Neil Strauss
The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, Brain and Body in the Transformation of Trauma
by Sean Pratt and Bessel A. van der Kolk
The Body Keeps The Score
Notes on a Nervous Planet
by Matt Haig
Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us
by Daniel H. Pink
Connect!: How to Inspire, Influence and Energise Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime
by Simon Lancaster
Connect!
The Luck Factor: The Scientific Study of the Lucky Mind

59 Seconds: Think A Little, Change A Lot

by Richard Wiseman


Exactly What to Say: The Magic Words for Influence and Impact
by Phil M Jones

Sociology

Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
by Brené Brown
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind 

Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow

21 Lessons for the 21st Century

by Yuval Noah Harari (Hebrew: יובל נח הררי‎‎)
Harari is Israeli historian and a tenured professor in the Department of History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Sapiens’ is Bill Gate‘s favourite book and is on a lot of recommended reading lists. It is the 3rd most Recommended and Gifted books of guests on The Tim Ferriss Show as listed in his book ‘Tools of Titans’ (see above)
 

Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging
by Sebastian Junger
From the author of THE PERFECT STORM and WAR comes a book about why men miss war, why Londoners missed the Blitz, and what we can all learn from American Indian captives who refused to go home.
Tribe is a look at post-traumatic stress disorder and the challenges veterans face returning to society. Using his background in anthropology, Sebastian Junger argues that the problem lies not with vets or with the trauma they’ve suffered, but with the society to which they are trying to return.
The Captain Class: A New Theory of Leadership
by Sam Walker  
Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success
by Adam Grant, PhD
Sex at Dawn: How We Mate, Why We Stray, and What It Means for Modern Relationships
by Christopher Ryan and Allyson Johnson
The Truth: An Uncomfortable Book About Relationships
by Neil Strauss
Sway: Unravelling Unconscious Bias
by Pragya Agarwal
Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar
by Cheryl Strayed

Spirituality

The Four Horsemen: The Conversation That Sparked an Atheist Revolution
by Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Daniel Dennett; Stephen Fry (Narrator)
Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion
by Sam Harris
Dr. Sam Harris received a degree in philosophy from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA.

Philosophy

The Obstacle is the Way: The Ancient Art of Turning Adversity to Advantage
by Ryan Holiday
Ego is the Enemy: The Fight to Master Our Greatest Opponent
by Ryan Holiday
Meditations
by Marcus Aurelius
Tao Te Ching
by Lao Tzu
Letters from a Stoic

On the Shortness of Life

by Sénéca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca)

The Republic
by Plato

Economics, Money and Business Skills

Principles: Life and Work
by Ray Dalio
Ray Dalio is the founder and co-chairman of Bridgewater Associates, which, over the last forty years, has become the largest and best performing hedge fund in the world. Dalio has appeared on the Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world as well as the Bloomberg Markets list of the 50 most influential people. He lives with his family in Connecticut.
Money: Master the Game 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom
by Tony Robbins
How to Win Friends and Influence People
by Dale Carnegie

This classic, written in the dark ages when your granddaddy was a young man, before TV, let alone the internet (yes, a time did exist), still rings true today. A lot of the information has become cliche because it is so well known and well read, but I often say, ‘Something becomes cliche because its true’. It was on my reading list for a while then I was chatting to my cousin about some stuff I was going through at work, and she basically implied that I needed to get some people skills then pulled this book off her shelf, loaned it to me, and told me that she regularly goes back to it when she is having trouble getting what she wants. If family can’t hit the BS button on you then point you in the right the direction then who can?
The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers
by Ben Horowitz

Horowitz is the co-founder and general partner of Andreessen Horowitz, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that has invested in Airbnb, GitHub, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Previously, he was cofounder and CEO of Opsware, formerly Loudcloud, which was acquired by Hewlett-Packard for $1.6 billion in 2007. Horowitz writes about his experiences and insights from his career as a computer science student, software engineer, cofounder, CEO, and investor.
The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers
Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It
by Chris Voss and Tahl Raz 
Sell or Be Sold: How to Get Your Way in Business and in Life
by Grant Cardone
Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
by Gino Wickman
Think and Grow Rich
by Napoleon Hill
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us
by Seth Godin
Tribes by Seth Godin
The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done
by Peter Drucker

Biographies, Autobiographies and Journalism

Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life’s Greatest Lesson
by Mitch Albom

Maybe it was a grandparent or a teacher or a colleague. Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching and gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it. For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly 20 years ago. Mitch lost track of this mentor.
Mitch Albom rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man’s life. Knowing he was dying of ALS, or motor neurone disease, Morrie visited Mitch in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college. Their rekindled relationship turned into one final “class”: lessons in how to live.
Tuesdays With Morrie
Between the World and Me: Notes on the First 150 Years in America
by Ta-Nehisi Coates

This is a large open letter to his son. Not the usual book you’d expect a white Aussie, living in London, would read but it was an education on race relations in the USA, and I could relate to it as a man who grew up in the ’90s, had to find his way in this world, and now is of an age where he reflects and thinks about what he wants to pass on to the next generations.
Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!
by Richard P. Feynman
Man’s Search for Meaning
by Viktor E. Frankl

Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl’s memoir has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival
Losing My Virginity: How I Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way
by Richard Branson
Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story
by Arnold Schwarzenegger
The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists
by Neil Strauss
Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream
by H.G. Bissinger
The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness
by Eric Jorgenson
The Founders: Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and the Company that Made the Modern Internet
by Jimmy Soni 

Books I am Yet To Read…

Book that intend to read or have heard good things about or interviews with the author:

Physiology and Physical Performance

Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work
by Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal
Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work
Extreme Ownership   

Discipline Equals Freedom
by Jocko Willink
   
Becoming a Supple Leopard   

Deskbound : Standing Up to a Sitting World

by Dr Kelly Starrett
   
Younger: A Breakthrough Program to Reset Your Genes, Reverse Aging, and Turn Back the Clock 10 Years
by Sara Gottfried
Outliers: The Story of Success
by Malcolm Gladwell
Gladwell is not the first person to come up with the 10,000 hour rule, that was Anders Ericsson (below), but this book popularised the concept, and it’s about time I caught up with it. Gladwell is great at explaining deep concepts.
Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise
by Anders Ericsson
Exponential
by James Hewitt
Natural Born Heroes: The Lost Secrets of Strength and Endurance
by Christopher McDougall

Psychology and Emotional Intelligence



Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
by Robert B. Cialdini, PhD
Coming Alive: 4 Tools to Defeat Your Inner Enemy, Ignite Creative Expression & Unleash Your Soul’s Potential
by Dr Phil Stutz
    Coming Alive: 4 Tools to Defeat Your Inner Enemy, Ignite Creative Expression and Unleash Your Soul’s Potential
The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life

by Timothy Ferriss
   
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
   
Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets

Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder
by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
   
The 50th Law
by Robert Greene and 50 Cent
Psych
by Judd Biasiotto
Thinking, Fast and Slow
by Daniel Kahneman
A Billion Wicked Thoughts: What the Internet Tells Us About Sexual Relationships
by Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam
Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World
by Adam Grant, PhD   

Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy
by Adam Grant, PhD and Sheryl Sandberg
   
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead
by Sheryl Sandberg
Dataclysm: Love, Sex, Race, and Identity–What Our Online Lives Tell Us about Our Offline Selves
by Christian Rudder
Date-onomics: How Dating Became a Lopsided Numbers Game
by Jon Birger
Mistakes Were Made (but Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts
by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
by Jonathan Haidt
The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation
by Thich Nhat Hanh
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity   

Mating in Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence
by Esther Perel

Getting the Love You Want: A Guide for Couples
by Harville Hendrix Ph.D.
The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide: Safe, Therapeutic, and Sacred Journeys
by James Fadiman
Unplug: A Simple Guide to Meditation for Busy Skeptics and Modern Soul Seekers
by Suze Yalof Schwartz
Now! No Opportunity Wasted: 8 Ways to Create a List for the Life You Want
by Laurence Gonzales
Solve for Happy: Engineer Your Path to Joy
by Mo Gawdat

Sociology and Spirituality

Rising Strong: How the Ability to Reset Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead   

Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone

The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are

Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience


by Brené Brown
   
Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living
by Krista Tippett
Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder   

On Becoming Fearless…in Love, Work, and Life

by Arianna Huffington
   
The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible   

The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World

Drop Dead Healthy: One Man’s Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection

by A. J. Jacobs
   
The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun
by Gretchen Rubin
10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works–A True Story
by Dan Harris
After having a nationally televised panic attack, Dan Harris knew he had to make some changes…
The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck: How to Stop Spending Time You Don’t Have with People You Don’t Like Doing Things You Don’t Want to Do (A No F*cks Given Guide)
by Sarah Knight
The Gift of Fear and Other Survival Signals that Protect Us From Violence
by Gavin de Becker
When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times
by Pema Chodron
Gratitude   

Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain

by Oliver Sacks
   
The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing
by Bronnie Ware
The Mastery of Love: A Practical Guide to the Art of Relationship   

The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom

by Don Miguel Ruiz
   
Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why   

Flight 232: A Story of Disaster and Survival

Everyday Survival: Why Smart People Do Stupid Things

by Laurence Gonzales
   
The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason
by Sam Harris
Seven Brief Lessons on Physics   

The Order of Time

by Carlo Rovelli
   

Philosophy

The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment   

A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose
by Eckhart Tolle
   
The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman
Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha
by Tara Brach
Discourses
by Epictetus
Confession of a Buddhist Atheist
by Stephen Batchelor
The Handbook of the Navigator: What is God, the Psychic Connection to Spiritual Awakening, and the Conscious Universe   

Meditation within Eternity: The Modern Mystics Guide to Gaining Unlimited Spiritual Energy, Accessing Higher Consciousness and Meditation Techniques for Spiritual Growth

by Eric Pepin
   
The Twelve Links of Interdependent Origination
by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche
The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World
by HH Dalai Lama and Rev. Desmond Tutu
Science in the Soul: Selected Writings of a Passionate Rationalist
by Dr Richard Dawkins

Economics, Money and Business

Unshakeable: Your Guide Financial Freedom
by Tony Robbins
Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the World
by Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler
Choose Yourself!
by James Altucher
Scale: The Universal Laws of Growth, Innovation, Sustainability, and the Pace of Life in Organisms, Cities, Economies, and Companies
by Geoffrey West
Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending
by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton
You Can Be a Stock Market Genius: Uncover the Secret Hiding Places of Stock Market Profits
by Joel Greenblatt
Maverick: The Success Story Behind the World’s Most Unusual Workplace   

The Seven-Day Weekend

by Ricardo Semler
   
The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: Violate Them at Your Own Risk!
by Al Ries and Jack Trout
Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big
by Bo Burlingham
Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel
by Rolf Potts
Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant
by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne
The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves
by Matt Ridley
Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable
by Seth Godin
The Great Leveler: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the Twenty-First Century
by Walter Scheidel
Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time
by Keith Ferrazzi and Tahl Raz
The Gospel of Wealth
by Andrew Carnegie

Biographies and Autobiographies

Open: An Autobiography
by
Andre Agassi
The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon
by Brad Stone
If This Is a Man / The Truce
by Primo Levi
Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life
by Steve Martin
Rebirth: A Fable of Love, Forgiveness, and Following Your Heart
by Kamal Ravikant
Finding My Virginity
by Richard Branson
Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future
by Ashlee Vance
The Surrender Experiment: My Journey into Life’s Perfection
by Michael A. Singer
The Red Circle: My Life in the Navy SEAL Sniper Corps and How I Trained America’s Deadliest Marksmen   

The Killing School: Inside the World’s Deadliest Sniper Program’s Deadliest Marksmen

by Brandon Webb
   
Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success
by Phil Jackson with Hugh Delehanty
Porcelain: A Memoir
by Moby
Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul
by Howard Schultz
A Life on Nashville’s Music Row
by Bobby Braddock
I Lived to Tell It All
by George Jones

Literature

The Unbearable Lightness of Being
by Milan Kundera
Levels of the Game
by John McPhee
The Alchemist
by Paulo Coelho
Rilke’s Book of Hours: Love Poems to God
by Rainer Maria Rilke and Anita Barrows
Letters to a Young Poet
by Rainer Maria Rilke
The Old Man and The Sea
by Ernest Hemingway

What’s one book you’d add to this list? Comment below…

If you want some more book recommendations, you can get them by reading any of these posts

50+ Billionaires, Mega-Bestselling Authors, and Other Titans

11 Books Not To Miss in 2017, According To The World’s Most Influential Persons.

5 Books That Have Influenced Tim Ferriss The Most

4 Books That The World’s Best Hedge Fund Manager Recommends To Everyone, and none of them are about money

The five best parenting books grounded in science: an expert’s choice

35 Books To Build Your Character: The Definitive Reading List on Humility and Ego… Advice and Inspiration

35 Books To Build Your Character: The Definitive Reading List on Humility and Ego… Cautionary Tales

What’s one book you’d add to this list? Comment below…

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