Legitimate Self Improvement Books

I'm challenging the community to amass a list of carefully chosen books that contain legitimate and useful information for a man's self improvement and growth in all areas of life.

For example, if we were to choose the topic of "finances" first, I would submit the following:

Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill
The Richest Man in Babylon, George Clason
The Millionaire Next Door, Thomas Stanley & William Danko
The Wealthy Barber, David Chilton

Only submit books that you've personally read and can guarantee the value of the book's contents. We're not looking for Orzman's or Ramsey's quasi-advertisement publications.

Quality over quantity, gentleman. :)

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Julian Josephs on July 1, 2009 at 1:22pm: Every man needs to have some degree of influence, authority, and power. I haven't read books on the first two yet but I have read The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene.

Beware, this book is very amoral but the laws (more appropriately called strategies) are sound and practical with historical examples to support them.

I find Greene's style stimulating and his content high quality.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Adam Blevins on July 2, 2009 at 3:09pm: I am reading the 48 Laws of Power now...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Stephen Young on July 3, 2009 at 4:00pm: Walter Newells The Code of Man

General principles of Manliness, aided by well educated research from biographies and classics (it also serves as an excellent reading-list generator for manly books); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Gregory Throne on July 5, 2009 at 10:16am: Can recommend a trio of boks by one author. SHUT UP, STOP WHINING & GET A LIFE, It's Called Work for a Reason and You're Broke Because You Want to Be by Larry Winget.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Brian on July 5, 2009 at 3:27pm: The books everyone is suggesting are great! Great work, guys!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Big Secret on July 5, 2009 at 3:40pm: 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R. Covey
The Speed of Trust - Stephen M. R. Covey
How to Win Friends & Influence People - Dale Carnegie (Great AoM book, written in 1936)
Getting Things Done - David Allen; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Andrew Barbour on July 16, 2009 at 9:18pm: I second "How to Win Friends...". I also liked "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living", also by Dale Carnegie.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Dana Larson on July 23, 2009 at 2:43pm: Came here to post How to Win Friends & Influence People - Dale Carnegie, but ya beat me to it :); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Iain Dwyer on July 18, 2009 at 5:14pm: I'm reading I will teach you to be rich by Ramit Sethi right now. Extremely good book. He has a blog with the same name. Don't let the campy title fool you. Solid, action-focused advice with no navel-gazing. In a similar vein, The four-hour work week by Tim Ferriss changed my life for the better. The basic message is automating your income to free your time for what is truly important (along with helping you define what is important to you). I'm not all the way there, but I'm working towards it.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is fiction, but the emphasis is similar. The story follows a young boy trying to meet his Personal Legend. According to the book, a Personal Legend is "[...] what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is." He meets people who gave up on their legends, who accomplish theirs, and the obstacles he meets. Very powerful book, and world record holder for most translated book by a living author.

Edited for formatting; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Frank Gonzales on July 18, 2009 at 9:25pm: read the U.S. Army Special Forces Handbook (the green book), A great source of...everything.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mike Henry on July 21, 2009 at 9:27pm: Eliyahu M. Goldratt - The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by George Fraser on July 28, 2009 at 10:48am: I would suggest Paisley Goes with Nothing: A Man's Guide to Style by
Hal Rubenstein.; ▶ Reply to This

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