The Only 5 Books You Will Ever Need To Be Successful

The Only 5 Books You Will Ever Need To Be Successful

Here’s a way you can live 100 lives and gain the knowledge of the greatest people in history:

If you’ve ever felt powerless, outsmarted or weak – this book makes sure you won’t feel that way again.

Robert Greene combines human psychology based on history with modern tactics to ensure you get the upper hand.

I have listened to this book on Audible and read the paperback many times, with each revisit providing a new perspective.

Here are two of my favourite laws (the first and the last) from the book which can be applied to work, life, business and competition.

Law 1 – Never Outshine The Master

Many people show off to try and one-up those in positions of power, foolishly believing this makes them seem smart.

This is wrong.

People in positions of power (think of your higher manager or CEO) want to be superior.

If you make them feel this way – you will be favoured.

If you make them feel below you – prepare to lose your position.

Don’t suck up to them, as this goes against the rule.

Strategically make them feel important.

Law 48 – Be Formless and Unpredictable

When you repeat the same actions (predictable), no one will be interested in you.

Why would they be?

What makes you different?

Being unpredictable and formless means that you aren’t tied down to a common pattern of behaviour.

You adapt to changes in your environment and you adjust based on the situation at hand.

You dictate your reality and it’s precisely this which makes you powerful.

Life hits hard, tragedies are unexpected and business failures happen suddenly.

It’s the adoption of this law that teaches you to how to avoid these situations.

Like Bruce Lee once said:

“You must be shapeless, formless, like water.”
Atomic Habits – James Clear

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit” – Aristotle
Let me ask you a question.

What category do you fall in?

Category A:

Eat junk food, smoke, binge-watch Netflix.

Category B:

Eat clean, exercise daily, read books, write, positively work towards a mission.

People in both these categories are disciplined – as they repeat the same habits daily.

But.

It’s the habits that you choose which tells me what you’re life will look like a year, 2 or 10 from now.

Do you want success or not?

Choose these habits.

Atomic Habits is the ultimate book on everything you need to know about forming habits, the importance of these habits, and how you can break old ones.

Here’s an example from the book:

The British Cycling team sucked.

They couldn’t win anything to save their lives.

But then something amazing happened – they stumbled upon a concept called the ‘aggregation of marginal gains’.

The whole idea was to find 1% improvements in the habits they needed to succeed.

These small habit changes seemed insignificant, until they tried them.

They changed:

Which pillows to use for each rider
Which mattress would be the best
Which massage gels to use for the rider
How to wash hands to reduce a cold
What colour paint on the team truck
All this and 100s of other little changes made a humongous difference.

The same team which couldn’t win in the past 100+ years now won 60% of the medals available at the 2008 Olympics.

In 2012, they exceeded themselves by setting 9 Olympic records and 7 world records.

Small habit changes completed daily lead to exponential growth in the long term.
The Psychology of Money – Morgan Housel

This book will change the way you think about money.

Financial books say this:

Save your money for a rain day
Have >1 income source
Invest your money
Whilst this is good advice, it doesn’t dive deep into the reasons why human beings act the way they do.

Those with millions don’t need any more money, so why do they lose it?

Reading this book will tell you why.

Getting rich is the first part, understanding wealth and keeping it is a whole different game.

From the multiple lessons of wisdom in this book, here are my two personal favourites:

Lesson 1: Freedom is the highest form of wealth.

Being able to wake up in the morning, not having to answer to an alarm, a boss, a co-worker or anyone else is why you should become wealthy.

It’s not about the Rolex, BMW or Gucci.

What’s the point of that if you don’t have control of your own time?

You’re driving a $50,000 car with a $20,000 watch to work – so someone else can tell you what to do.

Pointless.

If you’ve worked hard enough to earn a high salary, the priority should be using it to buy your freedom.

Lesson 2: No one cares about your possessions as much as you do

This lesson perfectly leads on from the first lesson.

No one truly cares about what you drive or what you wear.

This summarises the natural psychology of human beings – we spend money to buy things we don’t need, to impress people we don’t like.

We assume if we do buy these things, we will be respected and admired.

Let me tell you something – respect comes from actual achievement, not perceived.

I’m 100x more impressed by someone who can choose their daily routine, than someone who has to listen to their boss.

Work hard, be smart, invest your money and buy your freedom.
Meditations – Marcus Aurelius

‘Stoicism’ is a controversial topic.

You have two sides of the story:

The first side thinks that stoicism is useless and by having a stoic approach (enduring hardship without complaint) – you aren’t expressing yourself as you should.

The other side thinks it’s a useful tool to apply to your daily life.

I agree with the other side.

Marcus Aurelius was the original stoic philosopher and this book is the collection of timeless advice from one of the greatest leaders in history.

Here are two of the most important lessons from the book:

Lesson 1: You choose how you respond to a situation

For example – if someone wanted to give you feedback

What would you do?

You can angrily question them.

Or you can take the feedback on board as constructive criticism and improve yourself.

A simple mindset shift that has improved the quality of my life is changing:

Why is this happening to me?

To

What can I learn from this?

By doing this – you will make a positive out of a seemingly negative situation.
Psycho-Cybernetics — Maxwell Maltz

Your mindset is your greatest ally or your worst enemy.

What your thoughts are.

How you perceive your self-image.

And why you think the way you do.

Successful people are in the positions they are due to relentless self-belief.

No one achieves a significant accomplishment thinking ‘I CANT do this’.

This is the entire philosophy of the book.

You’re reading this article because you believe you’re an intelligent person who wants to learn more – otherwise, you wouldn’t be here.

The self-image you have created of yourself is that of a learner.

Those who invest their money believe they are wealthy, those who work out believe they are fit (you get the idea).

Within the book, Maxwell Maltz sets the framework for S.U.C.C.E.S.S which I will share:

S – ense of Direction

This refers to having goals to pursue so you have a purpose in life.

Whatever that may be, your goals need to be specific.

Don’t think “I want to be rich”.

That’s a dream, not a goal.

Instead, it should be “I want to have $2m in assets so I can be financially free”.

U – nderstanding

Understand yourself and your fears.

Fear makes us irrational and destroys our chances of success.

Example:

Are you afraid of speaking in public?

Understand why you’re afraid and work on it.

Improve your self-image.

C – ourage

The enemy of progress is the comfort zone.

Sitting, doing nothing whilst ‘waiting for the right time’ is a dangerous game to play.

You will run out of time.

Imperfect courage is better than no courage – so if you have an idea, take a calculated risk and just do it.

Don’t be foolish and try something stupid.

Be courageous and try something smart.

C – harity

Putting the needs of others (not always) ahead of yours.

Being charitable will provide a sense of gratitude to your life.

On your journey to self-improvement, it’s a nice contrast when you focus on someone else – whether this is through money, guidance, time or advice.

Give back to others.

E – steem

My personal favourite.

Tell yourself you can do whatever you put your mind to.

That’s all.
Final Remarks

Books are useful tools to access the minds of great individuals.

500 pages or so will give you the information you need to change your life for the better.

The list of booms I’ve provided above covers the following:

Strategy (48 Laws of Power)
Lifestyle (Atomic Habits)
Finance (Psychology of Money)
Stoicism (Meditations)
Mindset (Psycho-Cybernetics)
And these are just 5 books off the top of my head that cover a few topics.

There are unlimited amounts of knowledge out there.

I want you to become a lifelong learner and develop a reading habit.

And whatever you learn, I want you to take action on it.

Bonus: The Blueprint to Making $100k Online

I’ve provided this suggestion for those looking for a way to make money onlinez

If you’re looking for a resource that teaches you the exact methods from the beginning to make $100k per year online.

CONTRIBUTED BY Long Term Wealth

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