For those who know me or who have read my previous articles you probably know by now that I am a big believer in continuous self-improvement and working on oneself. In fact, the more you know the more you realize how much more there is to learn. I always try to help those who genuinely strive to move to the next best version of themselves. I am not some guru and don’t expect me to be, nor have I been enlightened by some magic power. In fact, I am myself still striving to fulfill my potential and to be the best I can be. But I am confident that I have a secret formula to success and I am willing to share it with you. Why? Well because one thing I learned is that giving is the best way to receive.

So, here’s my little secret for free: Reaching whatever you want to achieve (that happiness state? that ultimate you that you strive for? these riches that you seek? Etc.) is not that difficult once you know this secret recipe: Read on!

No! No! Not only these few paragraphs that follow… READ ON!! Whenever you can! All your life… Keep reading… Seek knowledge from others! There is a wealth of knowledge that you can tap into and in reality most people love to share what they know. Nowadays much more than any time in the past the most powerful resource, information (or better yet, knowledge) is everywhere, and accessing it costs you… well, almost nothing! Imagine what you had to do in the past to acquire a million books. Today, you basically have them in a few clicks on your laptop or phone.

However, you want to learn another secret? The sad truth is that while everyone should be rich, powerful, smart, happy, inspired… just because of the above first secret, the reality is that not many are willing to put the effort to get that knowledge. Let’s face it, we are all victims of that. While the principle is easy, applying it is another story in a World with ever increasing distractions.

I for example have been postponing this article for the past 5 months! and I am the one who wrote about taking action in my first article “Breaking the infinite loop of time”. Granted that I had a lot of work to do and a new baby born, and ummm well you can tell ! can’t you? I am already making excuses … moving on…

The point of this article is to share with you the 15 most influential books that I read in 2017 and to share with you my key learning, hopefully helping you in the process achieve whatever you are out there seeking to achieve. If you are reading still, then chances are you will achieve your objective as you are seeking the knowledge my friend and the universe will reward you.

Today, I read this article that a good friend sent me: “25 ways to dramatically change your whole life” by Benjamin Hardy and it was a wakeup call for me to write this article no matter what I had to do today. Here’s a link to the article: https://medium.com/@benjaminhardy/25-ways-to-dramatically-change-your-whole-life-every-12-months-e8c4f3220bc0. Essentially, this article did what I was hoping to do for some time, but as one of the ways listed in the article is to share and use the multiplier effect, I have decided to write my article and give Benjamin credit. He mentioned in one of his points: “Successful People Initiate, They Don’t Wait (They Are Agents, Not Objects)”. I 100% agree…

So here is what I wanted to share 5 months ago… Below is a list of my top choices of books that I read in 2017. Some are old but gold, others are very recent and provocative. Frankly, I didn’t have any strategy to select the books, I just let my curiosity and instinct guide me and asked a few friends for some recommendations when I didn’t feel inspired. I am not saying that you should read these exact books as a magic recipe for success but think about it more like this: this is my approach to reaching my dreams and my definition of success, you can follow a similar approach but have your own “ingredients” (books) and “spices” to make your own version of the recipe.

My top picks for 2017 are:

1. “Rich Dad Poor dad” by Robert T. Kiyosaki Link: https://amzn.to/3xBuqlA

2. “How to Win Friends & Influence People” by Dale Carnegie Link: https://amzn.to/3xJ14lx https://www.amazon.ae/Books-Build-Self-Confidence-Influence-Wealth/dp/9354401643?crid=3A24K5C2S7QZX&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Q04dY3vetTYdSqCNH2Xl4QbkStkAPQTVNoimhvHt7tgyg3h5eO2gdYuMKfhDf_vr2xGfz0kYWyoNGOjSGqDaThUK90WLaVC6ZnU0c8hf2xBV29nfbX8G8EYQRaXfzz1Ad0fBPMFRxNjH9eGUA1jR-SrPNERrtvcK3VNsia0es0uMfkM6gtpLT4P2GxN6K5uVUvWzDAxatwOeTgUywx7HdNdRds45o9iTHxUPmHPqv3m9RnIdbiOjdpUGpWKi6O7h48OCqy0vR5MpQdyAslCUpQ4DNXlVynv5-k5k5W4aqlc.k8Kt2mkh10Qy8TJMNagkhh8xtyirF3fxKjT2iB1Qbh4&dib_tag=se&keywords=how+to+win+friends+and+influence+people&qid=1713460913&sprefix=how+to+%2Caps%2C143&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1&linkCode=sl1&tag=seekmike-21&linkId=61a666e821b38a30bc9d5b4d02a8343a&language=en_AE&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

3. “Principles: Life and Work” by Ray Dalio Link: https://amzn.to/3w8KnPM

4. “Predictably Irrational: The hidden forces that shape our decisions” by Dan Ariely https://amzn.to/4d5mFoy

5. “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho Link: https://amzn.to/3UmHhB2

6. “The Myths of creativity” by David Burkus Link: https://amzn.to/4b0ZMAI

7. “The 5 second Rule” by Mel Robbins Link: https://amzn.to/3UmHJPK

8. “The subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck” by Mark Manson Link: https://amzn.to/3W4tKzr

9. “You Are a Badass at Making Money” by Jen Sincero Link: https://amzn.to/3Jp3kkw

10. “Unshakeable: Your Financial Freedom Playbook” by Tony Robbins Link: https://amzn.to/4aLypek

11. “The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do” by Charles Duhigg Link: https://amzn.to/4b2hfsC

12. “The Magic of Thinking Big” by David Schwartz Link: https://amzn.to/4d4cGzK

13. “Awaken the Giant Within” by Tony Robbins Link: https://amzn.to/3JrU673

14. “Be Obsessed or Be Average” by Grant Cardone Link: https://amzn.to/3Q4FFte

15. “Conversations with God: An Uncommon Dialogue” by Neale Donald Walsch Link: https://amzn.to/4aUWEGg

I could tell you what I learned from each book but I prefer not to do that for two main reasons: A- If I tell you what I learned from each, I might influence your learning and bias your takeaway. B- The other reason is that in my opinion some of these books build on each other and have common ideas and therefore, attributing one idea or credit to one book might not be fair to all.

So, as a summary here are my key takeaways:

1- Doing what everyone else is doing cannot be right. It’s simple really. If it was that right then everyone should be extremely successful. The reality is that the few that break from the pack are the ones that make it big.

2- We are instinctively wired for success and for great things. It is the World and the people around us who kill that instinct in us or tame it (and for all the good intentions I might add).

3- Being respectful to people and acknowledging their individuality is one of the most impactful skills. Developing your emotional intelligence is much more lucrative and a better predictor to success than developing your IQ (especially in this New World).

4- There is a super power out there that we can tap into. Call it whatever you prefer God, Universe, Cosmos, Energy etc… It a source of abundance that we can tap into by really focusing our thoughts and believing in our power to attract what we are mostly focused on. If you focus on positive thoughts and abundance, then you shall have it. If you focus on negativity and live by fear of loss then you shall lose.

5- Have principles in life and stick to them. You will always face opposing views and people that don’t share your perspectives, your values and your ambitions… You should have strong and solid principles that guide you through the journey of life. Otherwise, you will be a boat without a compass in a raging storm, never knowing who you really are and where you are really heading. Essentially you might be living someone else’s life without knowing.

6- We might like to think that we are mostly rational beings and in control of our decisions, but most of our decisions are irrational and can even be predicted. Knowing that, will help us avoid this trap and approach the world with more confidence in our decisions.

7- Meditation even if for 5 minutes a day works! It makes a big difference. I am not talking about advanced meditation here. I have not delved into the depths of it but even a simple 5 minutes exercise of 5 deep breaths, 4 minutes of calm, thinking of 3 things I am grateful for and focusing on two objectives for the day and how I plan to achieve them helped. In fact this method is from Mel’s book but the theme of meditation was a recurring one in most of the books above.

8- Taking action is the best you can do. You know I am a big fan of “just do it”. Not an ad for the Nike slogan but to really just go ahead and do something is so powerful. Remove hesitation. The outcome is always worse when you don’t take action versus when you do.

9- We are creatures of habit. The bad news is that we have so many habits that we are not even aware of and that might be derailing us from our true path. The good news is that we can use that same point to make sure that we program ourselves with habits that lead us to the success that we seek.

10- Dream big and focus on your dreams. If people are not telling you “you are dreaming man!” then you are not seeking big enough objectives.

11- This reminds me: Surround yourself with the right people. The closest family members and friends might have the best intentions but will hold you down because of their own limitations and their own paradigms. You need the right people around you and the right environment to succeed. You are the only one who can tell who those are. Do not be afraid to push away those who are not supportive. But remember to do it in an honest and friendly emotionally intelligent way.

12- To succeed you can’t give up after a couple failures. You learn so much from pain. Don’t worry about what people think and move on! Once you succeed and you change the World, no one will remember your failures. Go be your own hero!

Thank you for reading all the way through to here for I know that today, so many things compete for our attention.

I hope you find these 12 takeaways helpful on your journey to success.

I would love to hear from you and to hear about your journey to success. Read on!!!

Michael

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