5 Books That Are Worth It

5 Books That Are Worth It

Social Media has become saturated with self-help book recommendations. I love that people are willing to provide recommendations on great reading content for free, but we have to be selective.

There are more professional development books out there than you could ever read, so you have to be confident that the information you’re spending your energy on will be quality, insightful, and relevant to your personal goals. When I see a thread of 40 book recommendations I feel overwhelmed by options, so today I’ll stick to 5 books that provided significant value to me.

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1. The Automatic Millionaire

By, David Bach

Topic: Personal Finance

I’ve always had a passion for personal finance as I don’t want to work forever. Ironically, the laziest people sometimes work the hardest, so they can be lazy again. This was one of the first personal finance books I read and it does a great job of explaining the fundamentals of personal finance. It also provides strategic advice for people that want to be wealthy with the least possible work. Right up my alley.

The mindset towards money that this book implies is somewhat controversial. It places more emphasis on reducing expenses and saving while other sources may emphasize increasing earnings. Neither attitude is wrong, it all comes down to your personal goals and style. It’s still a great source to learn fundamental finance management and I encourage all of my readers to read a wide range of perspectives on topics of their interest. Relying too heavily on one source can not only be unhelpful, but detrimental.

Key Takeaway: Automate recurring expenses and investments. Automation removes the disciplinary stressors of paying on time and consistently investing on track with your goals.

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2. Career Warfare

By, David D’Alessandro

Topic: Personal Brand

Not only was this book insightful but it was also a fun read that kept my attention. D’Alessandro, former CEO of Jon Hancock, gives general career advice supplemented by real examples. His storytelling ability will keep you engaged and his analysis will drive the lessons home. Of course, generalized advice can be tricky when every individual has different goals and contexts surrounding their career, but the general themes of building your personal brand and planning for the future are widely applicable.

Key Takeaway: Do not make rash decisions that will negatively affect your personal brand. Personal brands take years to build and seconds to destroy. Your personal brand can matter just as much or even more than your skill performance.

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3. Talking to Strangers

By, Malcolm Gladwell

Topic: Psychology

Let me just start off by gassing up Gladwell. He’s probably my favorite author right now. He really does his homework, tells stories beautifully, and analyzes like a tenured professor. This book is about the way humans communicate with each other and perceive each other. Although that sounds vague, Gladwell does an excellent job of finding takeaways and applying them to normal lifestyles.

Topics are covered through the analysis of famous historical events such as the meeting of Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler, the Bernie Madoff scandal, and the tragic death of Sylvia Plath. The interesting stories contributed to my excitement in picking this book up every day until I quickly completed it.

Key Takeaway: The perceptions we have of people can be completely wrong and wildly different from the perceptions of others. In a professional setting, we have many different kinds of relationships with peers and superiors, but it’s important to remain objective when evaluating these relationships and to not be overconfident in our own judgement.

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4. Liar’s Poker

By, Michael Lewis

Topic: Finance, Investment Banking

I’ll say right off the bat, this one might not be for everyone. There can be a lot of finance jargon making it tough to stay engaged at times. However, I HIGHLY recommend for those in or exploring the finance industry. Lewis’s recounting of his days at Salomon Brothers in the 80’s provides some entertaining stories and a thorough depiction of Wall Street culture and history, which is still useful to be aware of for investment bankers today. Even if you’re not in finance, this book describes toxic workplace really well and the red flags to look out for in your own organization.

Key Takeaway: Greed, deception, and betrayal exist to some extent in every competitive culture, therefore it’s important to understand this “poker game” and learn how to play.

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5. The Art of War

By, Sun Tzo

Topic: Organizational strategy, mindset

I kept seeing this book all over professional development accounts and had to see what all the hype was about. I really enjoyed it, though I must admit, I think it had more to do my fascination with ancient warfare rather than modern professional development tactics. The book is a rough translation and organization of written account from ancient military leader, Sun Tzu. Therefore, the book lacks the practical professional applications that some of the previously mentioned books have. Although many lessons are vague, they are still extremely insightful and applicable. The value that I really got from this book was the influence on my mindset. There’s constant encouragement to define goals, asses your assets, evaluate the context, understand your “enemies”, and adapt accordingly. I can’t promise this will be the best self-development book you’ll ever read, but I can guarantee that attentive readers will learn something of value.

Key Takeaway: (My Favorite Quote)

“If you know the?enemy?and know?yourself, you need not fear the?result?of a?hundred?battles. If you know?yourself?but not the?enemy, for every?victory?gained you will also suffer a?defeat. If you know neither the?enemy?nor?yourself, you will succumb in every?battle.”

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As I mentioned earlier, you should read and learn from a variety of sources. These books have significantly helped me in my professional life and may not provide such value to you. However, I would not make recommendations without confidence.

I also recommend that you read these suggestions with intent, meaning take notes, research words/concepts that you don’t understand, read analyses from trusted sources, find a community to discuss with, and most importantly, strive to apply the knowledge practically. Written knowledge only becomes solidified in our understanding when we experience it.

Thank you for reading.