Over the past 10 years, I have read over 100 self-help books.
99% of them repackaged the same ideas with a little twist.
Here's 8 that will change your life 🧵👇
TL;DR: Out of 1,000s of self-help books out there, read these:
• The Big Leap
• 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think
• Never Split The Difference
• The Body Keeps The Score
• Nonviolent Communication
• The Book of Joy
• Stop Doing That Shit
• The Second Mountain
2/Self-Growth
Most self-help books don't respect your time. They stretch a single concept over 300 pages.
Brianna Wiest's 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think drops a new life-altering, knowledge bomb every 3 pages.
Read one essay a day.
1/ Self-Sabotage
Why does your life never STAY good after a big win?
Most people think success is about working toward your dreams. Not true.
In The Big Leap, Gay Hendricks shows you how you're sabotaging your success to stay in your comfort zone.
3/ Weaponizing Empathy
Most people suck at negotiating. The problem is that you're forgetting to empathize.
In Never Split The Difference, you'll learn from an FBI Hostage Negotiator how to negotiate anything: from money to your kid's bedtime.
amazon.com/Never-Differen…
4/ Healing from Trauma
Thousands of books try to tell you how to heal from trauma. Most of it is just pop science.
The Body Keeps The Score is the new bible for therapists and clients alike for healing trauma.
It will change your life.
5/ Healthy Communication
Most relationship conflict is preventable, but we cause each other to get defensive with our words.
Nonviolent Communication gives you a new framework for expressing your feelings and needs AND actually being heard.
8/ Finding Meaning
Most people think success means financial freedom, having a family, a good job, etc. But when they get there, they ask "what's next?".
The Second Mountain shows you to find your true calling and meaning in life.
6/ Finding Joy
What do the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu have in common? They both have been through unspeakable hardship and are happier for it.
The Book of Joy will teach you to turn your darkest moments into your most joyful triumphs.
I was 30 years old when I first chose my identity.
Did you choose yours? Or are you wearing wrappings someone else gave you? Strip away your work and your hobbies.
Who are you?
A question to ask yourself from the latest @tferriss podcast with Cal Newport:
Are you you being effective, or are you getting really efficient at doing things that are not important?
7/ Escaping Your Past
When most people make mistakes, they course-correct and keep going.
This is wrong.
In Stop Doing That Shit, Gary John Bishop shows you how course-correction is futile and how to instead construct your life from the ground up.
In 2004, Tim Ferriss was working 80-hour weeks on a dead-end business.
Today, he has 5 NYT bestsellers, a 700M listener podcast, and travels the world for fun.
One of the keys to his success? Dreamlining.
Dreams + (short) Timelines = Dreamlines
Here's how you can do it. 🧵👇
If you enjoyed this and you're into self-growth and building your dream life:
1. Follow me @kevpacker for more threads and essays like this.
2. Join the 10k people who've read my essay to construct your identity from your values instead of your job:
I was 30 years old when I first chose my identity.
Did you choose yours? Or are you wearing wrappings someone else gave you? Strip away your work and your hobbies.
Who are you?