When it comes to success, everyone has a meaning.
But in general, success is when a person is better than he or she was in the past. Financially if you had a small income and increased, you have succeeded. In a relationship if you had a misunderstanding with those around you and you resolved it, you have succeeded.
2020 was a year of many, many were asking for it to end and start in 2021.
But all those who have been eagerly awaiting 2021, believing that it will be different from 2020, have been stunned, as 2021 seems to be more challenging than 2020 and has begun quite early.
What will change your life is not a calendar change, but a personal change.
And your personal change will not come by continuing as you are now, you must change, the question is how do you change?
There is a statement that says; what you think is what you do, what you do is what you are and what you are is the destiny of your life.
But if you want to change your life, then the starting point is in the mindset.
And the easiest way to change your mindset is to learn different things, useful things, that will give you the knowledge and motivation to do bigger.
In 2020, through the SOMA BOOK TANZANIA channel we received analyzes of various personal development books.
Here I have selected 31 books for you to read (starting with its analysis) so that you can change and make great 2021.
Welcome to know the books and briefly what you are going to find, then if you are interested I invite you to join the channel READ BOOKS TANZANIA, to find its analysis in the simplest language of Kiswahili.
Let's go to the list.
1. Man’s Search For Meaning - Viktor E Frankl
The first and foremost requirement in your life is to know the purpose of your being here on earth. That's when many get stuck and find themselves running a life that they don't understand.
Through this book, Viktor Frankl shares what he experienced in the concentration camps under the Nazi regime during World War II. Through his experiences with others, Frankl was able to discover three ways in which one can find meaning in life.
Read this book, find out the purpose of your life, and start living it right away.
2. The 4-Hour Workweek - Timothy Ferriss
You may be working hard, you are really busy, you are tired every day but at the end of the day there are no major results you are producing. And even the income you earn still does not meet your needs.
Tim Ferris through this book, shows us how to set our priorities well, choose to work on those that are most effective and benefit as well.
Imagine if you could reduce your workload while your income increases! Read this book and learn how to achieve that.
3. The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric-Jorgenson
There is a popular saying that money cannot buy happiness, while the rich seem to have everything they want but are not happy.
This was the case in the past because many gained their fortune through the game of gain and loss (zero sum), that is, in order to get rich, one had to take it from others, through stealing or exploiting them.
But the times have changed, and now you can be rich without robbing or exploiting others. Technology has grown so much that you can get rich by enriching others, something that will give you wealth and happiness.
Naval Ravikant shares with us that philosophy of wealth and happiness through the book, reading it will make you completely different.
4. Principles - Life and Work - Ray Dalio
We become so preoccupied with life and work because we do not have the basics we set and live by, especially when making decisions.
Ray Dalio, through his experience in investment, shares with us how having the principles you follow simplifies work and life in general.
A very important book to read for anyone who wants to build a company or business that can run itself without even your presence while leaving a big mark on the world.
5. The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
We struggle to go far in search of the treasure of our lives, when that treasure is where we are now.
Coelho through this novel shows us the life of a young man who traveled long distances in search of his treasure, at the end of the day he found it where he started. But throughout the trip, he learned a lot about life.
Everything you go through in life is a lesson and before you go too far in finding what you want, let's start where you are now. Read this book, it is a spiritual guide and life in general.
6. Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
There is a wave of many nations in the world seeing the capitalist system as not good and trying to return to the socialist system. This wave is not new, it has been tried in the past and the results were not good, as too many people died.
Ayn Rand, through the novel Atlas Shrugged shows how a nation is falling apart if it opposes the capitalist system and free market and embraces the national system to control everything.
He has shown what he calls a mental strike, in which those who are more powerful and productive refuse to be oppressed by the government while those who are powerless or productive are being held hostage.
This novel gives us a great insight into how things are starting to deteriorate little by little. It is very important for the age we live in now.
7. High Output Management - Andrew S. Grove
Whether you are self-employed or self-employed, the results you produce are greatly influenced by the type of management available. Management can either trigger results or reduce them.
Andrew using his experience shows us how we can achieve great results in the work we do by creating good management. Read this book, there is a lot to learn about professional relationships.
8. The Innovator's Dilemma - Clayton M. Christensen
The discovery of new technologies has put big companies at a crossroads. And when they fail to take the right steps, they are often overthrown by smaller companies.
If you are in a large company or institution, you need to know how to use the new technology to take action. And even if you are in a small institution or are starting your own business, you should have a strategy to make good use of technology for growth, this book is worth reading.
9. Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu
Those who talk too much do not know, and those who know do not speak much, is one of the great teachings found in this book.
The book teaches the spiritual philosophy of ancient China, the Taoist philosophy that teaches us to live according to the laws of nature.
The book is short and its lessons touch every area of life, read it.
10. The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand again, here shows the battle that exists in society between being different and following a group.
Society loves you when you do what others do and are accustomed to, but then you will have to flatter yourself in order to gain favor, something that comes down to you later.
But if you choose to be different, if you choose to do the unusual, society will fight you, you will face many obstacles, but if you stand firm, in the end you will have a great victory.
Let me say if someone is self-employed or is in business or is planning to do so, then reading this novel, the principles and values of Howard Roark will help you a lot, especially for the era we live in now.
11. Poor Charlie’s Almanack - The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger - Charles T. Munger
Charlie Munger is Warren Buffet's partner in investment, they have been together for 50 years and have been very successful investors.
Their success lies in one thing, reading books. The 90-year-old Munger spends 80 percent of his time reading books.
In this book he shares with us the wisdom he has learned and used to succeed in investing, showing us the mistakes to avoid when making financial decisions.
Whether you are doing business or investing, Munger is someone you should study, for he is teaching us how to develop a mental decision-making system (Mental Modal).
12. The Black Swan - The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Just because an event has never occurred before does not mean that it cannot happen. That is the biggest mistake human beings make, we live by habits and it happens something we are not prepared for and it bothers us.
Taleb through this book teaches us how to be prepared for what has never happened. Everyone should read this book.
13. Dune by Herbert Frank
Life, politics, leadership, religion and science are the things that make up our society, things that have a lot of interaction.
Through Dune's novel, Herbert has shown us how these things interact with its effects if not done properly. Herbert has shown the danger of society when it is under a heroic leader, as it often overlooks its weaknesses and becomes destructive.
Most importantly in this novel, it is a prayer to overcome fear, a prayer that gives you the strength to deal with anything. Read this book, it is very much in line with the times we are going through now.
14. The War of Art_ Winning the Inner Creative Battle by Steven Pressfield
If you do any creative work, be it writing, drawing, composing, organizing various programs and so on, you know the great battle that is going on within you.
Every time you plan to sit down for a creative project, something happens to persuade you to postpone it. Through this book, Pressfield gives us the techniques to win the battle within us and to be able to produce the best creative work.
15. A Journal of the Plague Year by Defoe Daniel
In 2020 the world found itself stagnant because of the Covid 19 eruption. At first people were hoping that it was something that would pass and things would return to normal. But now we are in 2021 and there are no signs of things coming back the same.
You may think this is new, that this is the first time the world is going through a situation like this. But that is not true, for in the 16th century, the city of London suffered such an explosion and, surprisingly, the mistakes made in that period, we are repeating now.
The world is going through a difficult period as a result of this outbreak, in which hopes for a fast-growing vaccine, have suddenly been extinguished with the advent of a new strain of the virus that is not immune to current vaccines.
By reading this book, we learn the mistakes to avoid in order to cross this tragedy safely
16. Zero to One - Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel, Blake Masters
There are two ways to improve the world, Discovery and Globalization. Discovery is when you start at zero and come up with something that is completely new. Globalization is the transfer of what has worked in one area and in another.
If you want great success, then you have to be a discoverer, from zero to one.
Peter Thiel, an billionaire investor who started from zero on a lot, shares with us how to be able to come up with a discovery that will change the world and give us great success.
17. The Hard Thing About Hard Things - Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz
The first rule of success through business and entrepreneurship is that no single law applies to all people.
So despite learning from others, you still have to make difficult decisions for yourself.
Horowitz, through his experience in starting and promoting various businesses, shows us how difficult decisions are and how to make the right decisions. If you are or are planning to get into business, this is a book you should read, it will prepare you very well to deal with the difficulties of the journey.
18. The plague by Albert Camus
Book 15 above shows life in an explosion, especially for ordinary citizens, as they struggled to cope with the blast. The book contains many accounts that were quite true.
Albert Camus himself wrote a novel that described life during the explosion, especially on the part of the militants. It is a novel that shows us the difficult times faced by those who are at the forefront in the fight against the explosion. From political leaders, religious leaders and health workers.
There are those who decide to uphold the truth and there are those who reject the truth. This novel shows us the effects of all of this, it shows us how the explosion of disasters affects every area of life, especially the spiritual realm.
If you are having a hard time making various decisions during this Covid 19 explosion, read this book, it will give you a basis for making the right decisions.
19. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Whatever you seek in life, it is in the hands of others. If you snatch them away you will not enjoy it, but there is a way to persuade them to give you what you want again while they are enjoying it.
Carnegie has given us the key to getting into people’s hearts and being accepted. He has given us many secrets, one of which is to use a person's name correctly.
This book is for everyone to read, because each of us has something to do with the other, and with good influence, you will have everything you want.
20. Thinking, Fast and Slow-Farrar - Daniel Kahneman
Our brains have two systems of thinking, the first is fast and sensory, the second is slow and logical.
Many of the mistakes we make in life are because we use more of the first system than the second.
Kahneman has carefully analyzed the two systems and shown us how to use them to make the best decisions. If you have been making decisions emotionally and it costs you, read this book.
21. Bird by Bird - Some Instructions on Writing and Life - Anne Lamott
For writers, when you have a lot of writing work it is easier to postpone than to sit down and write.
For example this article has 31 books to read, I have always told myself I will write it, but I see until I finish all 31 books it will take time.
But I remembered Lamott's advice, that if you have a lot of work to do, go from piece to piece.
This book is a short writing course, from getting an idea, writing, editing to typing. If you are a writer or want to write, this book is worth reading.
22. Fahrenheit 451 by Bradbury Ray
Another novel that is relevant to the era we live in, you can see this list of books has seven novels, and all of them are very similar to the era we are living in now.
The basis of the novel Fahrenheit 451 is a dying society because it has stopped reading books. The rulers enjoy that, because people don't think anymore, all the time watching TV while being filled with propaganda. The fire brigade has been tasked with searching and burning all the remaining books.
Have you noticed how it fits into this era? Obviously, people are no longer reading books, but all the time they are on social media, they are filled with a lot of propaganda and can no longer think correctly.
Thankfully the books are still not banned, but we do not know the future, we readers may be seen as the obstacle and the books began to be banned. So let's read books, think with our minds and live a life that is meaningful to us and not just following a whim.
Read this book if you want to live a free life, think with your mind and make your own decisions.
23. Surely Youre Joking, Mr. Feynman (Adventures of a Curious Character) by Richard P. Feynman, Ralph Leighton
There are people who choose to live their lives and in the way they live, others are motivated to choose to live their lives as well.
One such person was former physicist Richard Feynman, who worked closely with Albert Einstein, Niel Bohr, and other great scientists whose books we have read in their books.
Feynman was a very curious person, who did not agree with anything because many agree with it, instead he was trying everything himself.
There are so many examples of how he tried things and found out people were wrong, read this book, it will inspire you to choose to live your life and have the right attitude.
24. High Growth Handbook - Elad Gil
There are two types of business growth, initial growth, where the company loses less than ten employees to ten employees. Then there is the rapid growth of the future, from tens of thousands to thousands of employees.
Growth strategies are not the same in those periods. Many business books describe early growth, but the rapid growth of the future is often not explained in detail and that is where many make mistakes that completely undermine business.
If you are in business, this is an important book to read, also if you are in an institution with the goal of growing more, read this book, you will find minerals to help the institution something that will make you more valuable.
25. Give and Take; A Revolutionary Approach to Success - Adam M. Grant Ph.D.
People are divided into three groups, providers, suppliers and exchanges.
Donors are those who give to others regardless of what they get. These collectors watch what they get no matter what others get. The exchanges are the ones I give to you, I give to you.
Of the three categories, the most successful are the providers. You may not understand it, but the author has well described the power of delivery in success. Read this book, it will help you a lot in building a foundation that will lead you to great success even if you start at the very bottom.
26. Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse
A spiritual novel, which describes the life of a young man who is tired of the traditional beliefs in his community and goes in search of a new and meaningful faith. In that journey he is lost, he falls into a life of worldly pleasures, but later he finds a revival and returns to the right path.
Life has a variety of ways to trap us and bring us down, the worst is not to fall, but to fall and not rise again. Siddhartha's life teaches us a lot, from refusing to live by habits, to having something of value in you and not forgetting what is in you.
Read this novel, it will give you the strength to cope with life's difficulties.
27. Mindset - Changing The Way You Think To Fulfil Your Potential by Carol S. Dweck
There are two mental perspectives, yoghurt (fixed) and growth.
Those who are successful in life have a growth perspective and not a yoghurt attitude.
Through various studies, Dweck shows us why it becomes so.
The most important thing you will learn from this book is to raise children with a view to growth and not yoghurt.
There are statements that, if used as a parent, make the child feel yoghurt and be a hindrance to him or her. For example, if a child succeeds and you tell him he is smart or he fails and you tell him he is not smart, then you make him have a yoghurt attitude, believe he is smart or not. But if you tell your child that he or she is getting better results from the effort he or she made, he or she will have a growth perspective, which will push him or her to put more effort and success.
Whether you are a parent, teacher, coach or leader of any kind, this book is invaluable.
28. Influence - the psychology of persuasion by Cialdini, Robert B
Book number 19 above is to help you have a greater influence on others in personal relationships. This book number 28 helps you to have a greater influence on others in business or leadership.
The author has used various studies to describe the six main weapons of influence, weapons that have the power to persuade a person to take certain actions.
Any business advertisements you encounter every day, make good use of the basics of this book.
If you want to be influential to people, even those who do not know you, then read this book. If you are in business or your job involves marketing and sales, this should be your bible, know the six weapons of persuasion and how to use them to get good results.
29. Can't Even - How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation by Anne Helen Petersen
There is one thing I have seen in my medical career, the vast majority of people between the ages of 25 to 45 who come to the hospital are not suffering from anything, it's just fatigue.
Someone will come in looking helpless, every limb of the body hurts, various tests are done and all show no problem. Most people in this group (excluding pregnant and chronically ill) are in good health, but fatigue is what bothers them.
Since most of the work we do these days is more mental than physical, one finds yourself working longer and not having enough time to relax the mind, what happens is the mind forces the body to rest, that is what makes a person feel sick when he has no disease.
Petersen through this book shows why the millennial generation (people born between 1981 to 1996) has become a generation of very tired people.
He shows how fatigue started in school where we were forced to study hard to succeed, and went to work where at first they were not available and when they were available they were not well-paid. And even worse is the social networking site that keeps people busy all the time.
I don't need to tell you more about the fatigue you are going through, you know, read this book to know the right steps to get rid of your current fatigue and live a calm life.
30. The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
There are so many covenants that you are living in now, covenants that have put you in bondage and found yourself living in hell. These covenants are powerful but you do not know them, because society does not want you to know, it wants you to continue to abide by those covenants in order to use you as you wish.
Miguel through his book shares with us four new covenants to live in your life, which will set you free and live in heaven on earth. By knowing and living these covenants, you will no longer be in social bondage, instead you will be free to live your life.
You will not know the prison you are in if you have not read this book, so read it, the covenants are quite simple and do not require you to change anything in your life except your thoughts and the way you view life.
31. The Psychology of Money - Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness by Morgan Housel
When it comes to money, everyone makes decisions that he or she feels are right, although to some it may seem strange. No matter what you advise people about money, at the end of the day they will make decisions that you will not understand.
That's because our financial decisions are often made emotionally and not logically. So the most important thing in money is our psychology. We fail to change when it comes to money, because we do not know how to change our psychology financially.
In this book, Morgan Housel gives us 20 lessons on financial psychology, how we are motivated to make financial decisions and how to make better decisions.
Money is an important part of everyone's life, so this is a book that everyone should read in order to make the right financial decisions.
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