Earlier I shared 5 books that were very powerful for me, you can see that list here. Now today I am going to share with you 5 more fantastic self help books for you to add into your “to read list” that have brought me tremendous value.
- The 5 Second Rule, Mel Robbins
In this book, Mel Robbins talks about a technique she created for herself that allowed her to beat her habit of hitting the snooze button in only 5 seconds. In short the 5 second rule is where you count down from 5 and when you hit 0 you initiate a task, such as getting out of bed in Mel’s case. The 5 second rule has gone on to be backed by scientific research to become a habit trigger to help many people get over bumps in their life, like asking out someone on a date, talking to a new client, or asking for a raise to just name a few. The 5 second rule has helped me get over multiple bumps, such as getting out of bed, doing new skateboard tricks that I was previously scared to try, and hitting that “go live” button when i stream on twitch.
Now this may sound like rainbows and flowers to some but I highly recommend you try it for yourself and implement it daily for at least a week and experience the benefits yourself.
- The Power Of When, Michael Breus, PhD
The power of when talks about the different chronotypes of people within this world. In this book you are able to identify which chronotype you are, as well as discover the best times for you to do many tasks such as, wake up, go to sleep, eat, workout, have sex, work, nap, relax, ask for a raise and many more items. While reading this book you will first identify which of the 4 chronotypes you fit, and each chapter will break down each daily task and the best times to do it for each chronotype.
This book helped me change my sleep schedule into one where it’s a lot easier for me to go to sleep and wake up in the morning opposed to my old sleep schedule I thought was for me. The Power Of When also helped me plan out when my workouts should be to least affect my sleep and amplify my digestive system earlier in the day.
As the book’s title suggests, when you do something through the day can have a powerful effect on your day that you aren’t even aware of. Even if you only get 1-2 optimizations from this book that is more than worth reading it and getting the info you need to have happier, more productive days.
- Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win, Jocko Willink
Some of you may know Jocko previously as a battle hardened badass who wakes up at 4 every morning to get a killer workout in. In this book Jocko gives many reasons why you should never blame others, and instead take all the blame for yourself. Now I know what you’re thinking “I’m not going to take blame for something my co-worker did” and after reading this book I can confidently say to you, that mindset is why you are behind on that promotion, why your family might not be as tight knit, or why your relationship is dying. Taking ownership of everything leaves you with no excuses. In this book Jocko explains why taking ownership is crucial in the field of war, and if you don’t get every detail down and drilled into everyone on your team’s head then catastrophic failure can occur.
Though this book I was able to realize that this quarantine wasn’t taking the opportunities away from me like I thought, no, in fact it was just me being lazy, complacent, and unwilling to do the daily tasks needed to give me bigger and better opportunities. There is no one else who is dictating my success, this world is filled with abundance and just because other people are successful doesn’t mean I can’t be, unless I start blaming others, not taking responsibility, and growing angry with the world.
Extreme Ownership is a life changing book that opens your eyes to a powerful concept that all the world’s great’s implement, but is not taught to us as children, in fact the opposite is taught to us. Stop blaming others, stop seeing other people’s success as taking away from yours and take ownership of the failures and grow everyday to get better and get new, better opportunities.
- The 10X Rule, Grant Cardone
This book is the most powerful on the list for me. In this book Grant talks about making your goals, and your daily actions 10X larger than they are now. This is an extremely powerful concept that literally has changed my life over the past two months. Making your goals 10X larger is something that is opposite of what is taught to us, in todays society you’re taught to go to school, get a job, get married, and then you have no more large life events. But with The 10X Rule, it shows you that making your goals and actions larger will in fact give you new hope in life and new benchmarks to look forward to.
For an example if your goal is to have 1 million dollars, your goal should actually be to have 10 million dollars. If your goal is to have 10X more money then you will have to have 10X larger actions to get there, and even if you don’t make it to the 10 million, if you did the work to get there chances are you will make 6-7 million which is still vastly greater than the 1 million goal you originally set.
If you goal is to make your varsity basketball team, your goal should actually be to play in the NBA. If you are training like an NBA player, eating like one, and focusing like one, chances are you will not only make varsity, but you will be taking a top spot within your entire league.
If your goal is to get a promotion at your job, you should be aiming to become COO, that way even if you don’t become the COO you will show much more initiative than you coworkers and end up in almost any position you want.
Now obviously this isn’t as easy as just saying you want this, it’s about the action, the discipline, the daily study and commitment, the drive, and the love of what you’re doing.
“The Man Who Says He Can and the One Who Says he Can’t Are Both Right” – Confucius
- Mamba Mentality, Kobe Bryant
This book is very powerful. It’s an insight into the mind of one of the greatest competitors to ever live. A lot of people may have seen Kobe as aggressive when he played, but you are confusing aggression with a deep burning passion for the game. This book shows you true dedication, true grit, and true perseverance, and someone who set a goal and did every possible thing to achieve it. This book shows you how little most of us are actually doing to push towards our goals, and what the level of dedication and action required to be the absolute best at what you’re doing.
Although this isn’t a full fledge book with the pages completely filled with pages, the contents are so powerful that the fluff that fills most books would only take away form this great piece.
R.I.P Kobe Bryant… Mamba Forever
Thank you for reading today, I hope this article was able to give you value and help you get 1% better than yesterday! If you enjoyed please consider following my Instagram @MichaelFladungFitness!
Habit Change, Mindset, Health and Fitness 