Self-help / Personal Growth Books

In this deceptively simple handbook, written in the form of a fable, Spencer Johnson presents strategies for coping with professional and personal change and, in the process, determining the path of true fulfillment. Two mice (Sniff and Scurry) and two little people (Hem and Haw), each with different personalities, navigate their maze, searching for the elusive, ever-changing cheese. Basic lessons become clear as we see the mice successfully reaching their goal, while the people sometimes complicate their lives by overthinking. Chapter titles such as "If You Do Not Change, You Can Become Extinct" and "Noticing Small Changes Early Helps You Adapt to the Bigger Changes That Are to Come" add up to a coherent schema that can help us prepare for and accept change while reducing the stress associated with it. WHO MOVED MY CHEESE remained at the top of the New York Times Best Seller list for over a year, and has been used in staff development seminars at many corporations. Dr. Johnson is also the co-author of the famed business book THE ONE-MINUTE MANAGER.

This bestseller in the self-help and management fields offers a new paradigm for personal and professional success. Covey advises building from the inside out and offers strategies for moving from dependence to independence and then to interdependence.

Social commentator Malcolm Gladwell once again takes the pulse of contemporary experience and, in BLINK, comes up with this enlightening exploration of the role of rapid thinking in everyday life. Gladwell shows how what we call snap judgments, first impressions, or instinct are often right on target and get to the core truths. He reveals that experts call this process "thin-slicing"--the ability to dive for truth the way a basketball player grabs a loose ball on the court, cutting through layers and levels of knowledge that resist tortured analysis. He reports on current research in the fields of science and psychology, and their applications in marketing. Gladwell writes of the marriage therapist who can discern, by listening to three minutes of the parties talking to each other, whether their marriage will last, and how thin-slicing operates in a job interview or when an insurance company wants to identify which doctors are candidates for lawsuits. It might be a sense of structures and patterns, or a Sherlock Holmesian sensitivity to the messages we send out, or just the ability to filter out bad signals and bad information. Gladwell draws examples from the home, office, and school, and proceeds with care and caution through his material; his exposition is as engaging as it was in his previous book, THE TIPPING POINT. After reading Gladwell you will more likely trust your first impressions, but wonder what others are thinking, too.

In this 1936 self-help classic, Dale Carnegie presents maxims, techniques, and profiles in success designed to enhance both professional and personal relationships. He highlights the psychology behind behavior patterns, and encourages readers to use their understanding to improve their public speaking skills and their self-esteem.

The struggle to make sense of the modern world can seem overwhelming without some kind of guidance. In this simple yet deep-reaching book, Don Miguel Ruiz presents a framework through which the reader can create a smoother path through life. Ruiz was raised in Mexico by a shaman grandfather and a curandera (healer) mother, and studied Western medicine before embracing the traditions of his family. He thus brings an understanding of today's challenges to his instruction from the ages-old Toltec wisdom. His teachings in this volume offer the four specific agreements, which can bring honesty and focus to our lives; the explanation of these agreements will place them in a perspective that makes them so natural they're almost intuitive. They will both simplify and enrich the existence of any willing reader with a desire to understand and embrace life's meaningful and important issues.

First published in 1981, this business classic offers five steps that can be used in business, school, relationships, and life in general to help resolve difficult situations. The goal is a win-win for both sides based on mutual advantage and basic principles. To achieve that, we need to get past our emotions and back off from polarized positions. If both sides in the negotiation can find a way to see the other person's perspective, conflicts can be resolved without either side feeling something had to be given up. Roger Fisher and William Ury provide a variety of case studies and situations that illustrate how both sides can win if we realize "It's not personal."

Written for business professionals, this book is a direct address to the trend of personal success guides which operate on the premise of combating weaknesses. Clifton and Buckingham, designers of the StrengthsFinder profile, hope to help readers tap into the well of personal talents they innately possess in order to become more successful.

A more universal application of some of the principles explicated by Chopra in CREATING AFFLUENCE and AGELESS BODY, TIMELESS MIND.

The book that popularized the expressions "proactive" and "paradigm shift" and encouraged millions of people to rearrange their priorities remains influential many years after its first printing. Accentuating ethics, integrity, and leadership, Stephen Covey's classic self-help book is written for managers and others who want to balance their career responsibilities with their family lives, and approach both from a principle-centered standpoint. Although Covey's program is full of catch-phrases, it is neither simpleminded nor superficial, and it bears rereading, as its message of self-determination sinks in deeper each time.

The French author spent time in the states as a student and returned home chubby for the first time in her life, but she rapidly returned to normal by readopting French eating habits. In this memoir-like volume, she talks about her own life, but mostly about the secrets of staying slim à la française. The key is smaller portions, but her emphasis is on enjoyment of food--not wolfing down a meal for the sake of staying alive, but actively engaging with every bite, sitting down for meals, eating with friends and family. She also understands the importance of treats on special occasions and appreciating the joys of fresh fruits and vegetables rather than fast food, snacks, and sweets.

David Allen, a productivity consultant, makes a fantastic case for increasing productivity by learning the value of relaxing. To put this principle into practice, GETTING THINGS DONE offers a host of tips and techniques designed to maximize efficiency and minimize procrastination by effectively using down time. This phenomenal bestseller is the go-to guide for organizing in the office and the home.

In this best-selling book, psychiatrist Howard C. Cutler interviews the Dalai Lama about the topic of happiness. How can we be happy? Why can't we stay happy? What causes unhappiness? In a series of thought-provoking conversations, Cutler coaxes some answers from his subject. The answers are simple, but the prescription is not easy. Happiness, according to the venerable Buddhist leader, is a discipline of both the mind and the heart. Anger, resentment, anxiety, and conflict all occur when we let our thoughts dwell on separation and negativity. Opening our hearts to others, and understanding that we are all more alike than different, is the key to compassion. Compassion relieves the heart of its burden, and creates a space for happiness to dwell. Even pain and hardship can be borne with happiness if we learn to cultivate inner calm and kindness. While the Dalai Lama's ideas sound overly simple, he grounds his answers with examples from his own life, and responds intelligently when Cutler plays devil's advocate. Because this is written as a collection of interviews, we are privy not only to the Dalai Lama's thoughts, but also to insightful commentary from the author. Their partnership brings together ancient Buddhist teachings, modern medical sensibilities and plain old common sense.

If youth is wasted on the young, so is good financial advice. Money expert Suze Orman targets an important audience, the generation in their 20s and 30s, tailoring her advice to their situations: enormous debt, big expenses, little left over for saving. Money management is a critical need for them, as they begin a long journey into an uncertain but perilous future. Orman provides a good foundation, with advice about credit cards, college loans, and income, as well as the new opportunities not available to generations before them--such as 401ks, IRAs, and more opportunities to make decisions about their money. Orman organizes her material in a concise, user-friendly way that can be consulted again and again. The young are advised to ignore her commonsense advice at their own peril.

Robert Pirsig's journey to enlightenment on the back of a motorcycle was rejected 121 times before its publication in 1974. ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE immediately hit the best-seller lists, and, even decades later, it remains a cult classic. A combination of travelogue, philosophical tract, gripping novel, and probing memoir, ZEN encompasses both Eastern and Western thought in an exploration of the concept of "Quality"--what it means and how to achieve it. Pirsig's method involves an examination of self: who are we, how did we get where we are, and what is worth striving for? In a readable, often enchanting narrative, he attempts to answer these questions, first for himself, as he travels back into his life and scrutinizes his own experiences, and then for the reader, who is on his or her own quest for meaning. Pirsig's book, both intimately personal and powerfully universal, is in the end a book about how to live. But seen solely as the chronicle of a cross-country trip, ZEN is equally appealing. As the narrator and his 11-year-old son, Chris, travel the roads in all moods and all weathers, he describes, with humor and warmth, his interactions with Chris, and the boy's responses to everything from firecrackers to the sound of rain on a tent roof to a massive bull moose in Montana--and a deep and solid father-son relationship begins to emerge. In a heartbreaking Afterword written in 1984, Pirsig describes Chris's murder in San Francisco, in 1979, at the age of 22, and the decision he and his wife made to have another child--a little girl named Nell. After his initial grief, Pirsig refuses to sink into mourning for his son, and writes, "Chris's body was gone. But the larger pattern remained."

Daniel H. Pink, former speechwriter for Al Gore and bestselling author of FREE AGENT NATION, returns with a thought-provoking book arguing that we are entering a new age, the "conceptual age," where right-brain thinking will dominate the cultural and business world. He compares this paradigm-shift as similar to the one between the "industrial age" and the "information age," a time when new skill sets became necessary, and new models for economic success appeared. In particular, Pink proposes six "senses" that people must develop to thrive in the conceptual age: design, story, sympathy, empathy, play, and meaning.

Jack Canfield synthesizes the large body of wisdom he has acquired over several decades, including his work as educator, consultant, and as co-editor of the "Chicken Soup" books. Canfield presents 64 finely-tuned Success Principles for life, work, relationships, etc. Success begins begins from within, and the chief principle is responsibility. It also involves transformation and team-building. Canfield addresses the money angle also, a critical piece. The Success Principles can be used as guides for success in a range of activities--in life and in business.