“Reading is thinking

with someone else’s mind”

In the past two years, I’ve read a good number of personal growth books on various topics: productivity, habits, finances, mindset, meditation…

In this article, I thought of making a list of the 15 books I found most useful, original, compelling, and, above all, those that had the most positive impact on my life and happiness!

I decided to order these books in the sequence I would recommend to someone approaching the world of personal growth for the first time.

The first books on the list are what I consider the most “essential,” while further down, you’ll find books more specific and focused on particular aspects of life: business, mental well-being, meditation, etc.

That said, expect 15 masterpieces, because regardless of their position, ALL these 15 books have the potential to change your way of thinking, seeing yourself, acting, treating others, and living life 🙂

Let’s get started right away!

Summary:

1. Atomic Habits – James Clear (2018)

2. The One Thing – Gary W. Keller & Jay Papasan (2012)

3. How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie (1936)

4. Deep Work – Cal Newport (2016)

5. The “Feel Good” Method – Ali Abdaal (2023)

6. You Were Born Rich – Bob Proctor (1984)

7. How to Be a Productivity Ninja – Graham Alcott (2016)

8. Think and Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill (1937)

9. Buy Back Your Time – Dan Martell (2023)

10. Getting Things Done – David Allen (2001)

11. The Sales Bible – Jeffrey Gitomer (1994)

12. Rich Dad Poor Dad – Robert Kiyosaki (1997)

13. The Let Them  Theory – Mel Robbins (2024)

14. The Power of Now – Eckhart Tolle (1990)

15. Only Beautiful Things – Irina Potinga (2023)

1. Atomic Habits – James Clear (2018)

“You are not what you do occasionally, you are what you do every day”

Have you ever wondered why we keep procrastinating the things we want to do?

Well, Atomic Habits is the NUMBER 1 book to help us do more of the things we want to do and eliminate those that harm us.

The book analyzes the power of small habits, helping to make small actions more visible, easy, attractive, and rewarding.

If you have a big dream in mind, whether it’s growing a business, eating well, exercising regularly, finishing a marathon, or achieving financial stability, this is the book for you!

Don’t go any further until you’ve read Atomic Habits, trust me, it’s truly incredible! 😉

2. The One Thing – Gary W. Keller & Jay Papasan (2012)

“Focusing on everything makes you mediocre;

focusing on one thing makes you effective.”

Have you ever felt busy all day… but with the feeling that you haven’t really done anything important? I know… it’s frustrating!

Well, The One Thing is the book that grabs you by the shoulders, shakes you hard, and forces you to face the truth: you’re scattering your energy!

The core of this book revolves around a powerful question that forces you to think: what is the one thing that, if done, makes everything else easier or even unnecessary?

The One Thing explains that the problem is not the lack of time, but the lack of clear priorities.

If you feel that your life lacks focus, mental clarity on your goals, this is the right book! 🙂

3. How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie (1936)

“Showing a sincere interest in others is more powerful than any technique.”

Knowing how to treat others in the right way is the most incredible power that exists to move the world!

This small and historic book (it was first published about 90 years ago!) is more relevant today than ever, bringing us a timeless lesson: everyone likes to feel important!

If you want to be someone’s friend, the first thing to do is to take an interest in them, their interests, their perspective, and their needs.

In its simplicity, this book presents us with the OBVIOUS that we too often fail to see because we’re too busy talking about ourselves! 🙂

If everyone read this book, today’s world would be a much more understanding and united place.

4. Deep Work – Cal Newport (2016)

“In a distracted world, those who can focus win.”

Today’s world is full of distractions and people who are always busy but increasingly less productive.

Deep Work is a book that tries to teach us that the real difference is not made by working more, but by knowing how to work focused, without notifications, without interruptions, without multitasking.

Reading it, I realized that “focus” is a trainable skill, not an innate talent, and that protecting your creative time is a form of respect towards yourself (if you don’t protect your time, no one will do it for you!).

If you create, study, write, work online, or want to build something important, Deep Work is a must-read: it’s the manual to stop wasting attention and start producing real results!

5. The “Feel Good” Method – Ali Abdaal (2023)

“The best productivity comes when you feel good, not when you force yourself.”

Ali Abdaal is one of the most famous YouTubers in the world when it comes to productivity.

With his book, Feel Good Productivity, Ali explains in a simple, intuitive, and direct way, how integrating work with fun, and creating a pleasant environment where creation makes the creative process more vibrant and smooth.

If you work a lot with your mind, have big ambitions, and don’t want to risk burnout, this book might be for you!

Ali’s almost video-game-like writing approach makes it easy to read for everyone, I highly recommend it!

6. You Were Born Rich – Bob Proctor (1984)

“The greatest limit to your life is not outside, it’s inside your mind.”

A divisive book, you either hate it and abandon it after a chapter; or you read it to the end and it changes your life.

Personally, I loved it and read it 3 times, if I hadn’t read it, I probably would never have started this blog or converted a van into our home on wheels! 🙂

You Were Born Rich is a book about money, faith, but above all about the law of attraction, a supernatural law that works only when you believe it to be real.

According to Bob Proctor, we humans attract what vibrates at our same frequency, and it’s up to us to tune into the frequency of what we want to attract.

Timeless teachings from one of the greatest personal coaches of all time!

7. How to Be a Productivity Ninja – Graham Alcott (2016)

“Being busy doesn’t mean being productive, act like a ninja!”

I stumbled upon this little book by chance, buying it at a second-hand market in Edinburgh during the Fringe Festival 2025: I paid only 2 Pounds!

(The best 2 pounds I’ve ever spent!).

Productivity Ninja (available only in English) is a book direct, straightforward, and fast, just like a ninja, teaching us to make peace with the fact: we will never be able to do everything we want in life (and it doesn’t even make sense to do so!).

Instead, it teaches us to prioritize and act like ninjas: maintain a zen calm, find unorthodox solutions, be ruthless, agile, reflect, know our weapons, and camouflage and hide when necessary.

It’s probably one of the most practical and directly actionable books on this list, and truly enjoyable to read.

Although the author reminds us several times that a ninja is not a superhero, finishing the book makes you feel a bit like a superhero 😉

8. Think and Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill (1937)

“Clarity is the first step towards any success.”

It’s the book that inspired Bob Proctor to write You Were Born Rich, and probably one of the most timeless essays on the power of the mind and how to materialize wealth.

Written in 1937 (before World War II!), this book collects the results of over 20 years of research by Napoleon Hill, who studied over 500 successful people to understand their secret (presidents, successful entrepreneurs, inventors, bankers…).

Napoleon Hill, with this masterpiece, takes us into the minds of these “geniuses”, helping us understand their mindset, decision-making process, perseverance, and goals.

It’s a book to be read slowly to be fully understood and internalized, certainly nice to read multiple times, and despite its almost 90 years, it remains incredibly relevant with many insights to put into practice right away!

9. Buy Back Your Time – Dan Martell (2023)

“Money is meant to buy time, not status.”

Dan Martell, with this book, tells us his story from a troubled kid to a successful entrepreneur and athlete.

In a direct and light manner, he shares in this book the philosophy he built during his transition.

Buy Back Your Time (available only in English) is a book I literally devoured: it’s direct, fast, clear, and damn actionable!

The core concept of the book is this: with money, we can buy back our time (which is more precious than money!), and Dan shares with us schemes, tables, and systems to help us take care of our time through various levers.

An escape from the rat race, a different book, from one of the most pragmatic, disciplined, and no-nonsense personalities on today’s business coaching scene!

Highly recommended!

10. Getting Things Done – David Allen (2001)

“When you free your mind, you free energy to create.”

I have to be honest… it took me quite a while to finish this book. I put it down several times and even took breaks of weeks.

Getting Things Done (or GTD in English) is a book that certainly feels the weight of time (it was written 25 years ago), but read with the right mindset, it can still provide many practical insights.

The core philosophy of this book (picked up by many others after it) is to bring all the physical and mental chaos around us into a single “tray,” and then, brutally, organize it by finding a place for everything: throw away, save, catalog, schedule.

It’s the book that gave birth to the 2-minute rule (“if it takes less than 2 minutes, do it now!”), and the concept of “next physical action.”

In short, a bit long to read, but a bomb against procrastination!

11. The Sales Bible – Jeffrey Gitomer (1994)

“People buy from those they trust, not from those who speak best.”

This book is interesting if you need to sell something, otherwise you can skip it.

That said, if you need to sell something, probably there is no more comprehensive book than this.

Jeffrey Gitomer leaves us in this undeniably very “American” book, hundreds of different sales techniques.

It’s a book that navigates the psychology of selling and transactions, in the minds of participants, and teaches us what to say, where, how, and when.

Its peculiarity?

You can open a page at random and start reading from there: it will still seem extremely interesting!

Each idea, in fact, stands alone and is summarized in 2-3 pages. The use of different fonts and bolds makes the book’s concepts easily assimilable and imprints them in your mind!

Not that I want to sell you this book, but really if you want to sell something, it’s brilliant! 😉

12. Rich Dad Poor Dad – Robert Kiyosaki (1997)

“True financial education is learning to make money work for you”

I have a bachelor’s degree in Economics and two international master’s degrees in Business Management.

And still, I learned a lot from this book.

So, this should already be enough to understand how useful Kiyosaki’s masterpiece “Rich Dad Poor Dad” can be, but I’ll tell you more.

The book begins with the author recounting his youth and how he grew up with 2 fathers: one poor (his own), and one rich (his friend’s).

Each father imparts different lessons about money and the right mindset to manage it (and neither is completely right or wrong).

As he grows up, the author (and thus the reader) learns to distinguish between assets (things that bring money) and liabilities (things that consume money) and to lay the foundation for financial freedom.

If you often feel like “you have no idea how to manage your money,” investing 15 euros in this book is a good start!

13. The Let Them Theory – Mel Robbins (2024)

“Let others do what they want, and you will live in full control of your life.”

In plain words, this book teaches us with extreme clarity to “care a little less.”

In today’s world, other people often have enormous power over us: they tell us how to dress, what job we should do, what a family should look like, what goals we should achieve…

But in the end, they have this power over us simply because we give it to them.

In this book, Mel Robbins helps us realize very honestly that we have no power to decide what other adults think, do, and say… and therefore, it’s also useless to worry about it.

Letting go (“Let Them”) is a simple yet incredibly powerful concept for living life with less stress, less anxiety, and less fear of judgment.

Personally, I found this read easy, yet at the same time really sincere and actionable 🙂

14. The Power of Now – Eckhart Tolle (1990)

“What time is it? Where are you?

The present is the only place where life truly happens!”

Have you ever noticed that the mind is almost always elsewhere: in the past or the future, rarely here and now?

The “power of now” is precisely about this: our inability to live in the present moment!

This book, in fact, teaches us that much of our anxiety and dissatisfaction arises from continuous identification with thoughts.

Personally, reading it made me realize that slowing down doesn’t mean stopping, but becoming aware again, controlling one’s attention and presence!

I warn you, it’s not a practical book like others (quite the opposite!), but if you let it sink in, it profoundly changes the way you experience time.

It’s a book to read slowly, making you pause at each page multiple times to understand what you’ve just read (and often you have to reread it! xD).

That said, I decided to include it in this list because it’s one of the best books on meditation I’ve ever come across! 🙂

15. Only Beautiful Things – Irina Potinga (2023)

“Choose carefully what you let into your life:everything else is noise.”

When I first picked it up, I mistakenly thought to myself “what a women’s book”!

Only Beautiful Things is a book about minimalism and its transformative power.

In the first part of the book, Irina explains how to organize our wardrobe, and then room by room our entire house. Once the house is done, it moves on to our mind and our life.

What seems like a simple book on tidiness and anti-waste gradually becomes a pleasant surprise about the philosophy of minimalism and the benefits it can bring to our lives.

The title “Only Beautiful Things” perfectly represents the main teaching of the book, which invites us to surround ourselves with only things we like without feeling guilty about it (many times, we don’t use beautiful things for fear of ruining them, so we never use them).

Finished the book in 7 days, I really changed my mind, it’s a book truly for everyone, and I liked it more than all the women I discussed it with 😉

If you’re interested in approaching a minimalist lifestyle, this book is simply spectacular!

Sadly, this book is currently available only in Italian :\