What are the best books on mindset?
As a real estate coach for my entire adulthood and a lifelong student of optimizing productivity, I’ve read hundreds of the best real estate books and books for success to come out in the last century.
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But Tom, why would you spend so much time reading about something as simple as your mindset? Don’t you need just one system to follow?
That’s one way of looking at it, but I’m not interested in just one way of looking at anything. The mind is constantly looking to get stuck on one track, to grow stiff and become complacent. We can’t allow that to happen, and that’s why reading is so important. It keeps you fresh, fluid, and inspired.
Harry S. Truman once said that “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.”
This blog is about the best books for mindset. The fundamentals of both leading and reading – the books that teach you how to lead yourself. I’m going to show you 18 of the best books on mindset, so you can strengthen your foundation to handle and dominate whatever life throws your way.
Let’s not waste any time…
Best Books for Mindset, No. 1: Think & Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill
The most famous book ever on getting rich and mastering your mindset is also the best.
You’ve probably heard me or someone else talk about this one before and it should come as no surprise that it makes the top of this list. Written in 1937, the principles taught in this book are just as true now as they were then. This is a full system for creating success and financial abundance in your life, and it all begins with your thoughts.
Best Books on Mindset, No. 2: Psycho-Cybernetics – Maxwell Maltz
Maxwell Maltz was a plastic surgeon who would have people come into his office to say that some feature of their body was destroying their confidence and their ability to succeed in life. He noticed that after the surgery, most people would continue facing the same confidence issues and experience only minimal change in their lives.
He realized that healing our self-image had a more powerful effect than any surgery was capable of, and in this book, he shares his wildly successful method of doing it.
Best Books for Mindset, No. 3: The Science of Getting Rich – Wallace D. Wattles
“There is a thinking stuff from which all things are made… A thought in this substance produces the thing that is imagined… Man can form things in his thoughts, and by impressing his thoughts upon formless substance can cause the thing he thinks about to be created. In order to do this, man must pass from the competitive to the creative mind…”
That’s the general essence of this book. Wattles says that getting rich isn’t an art; it’s a science. And like a science, if you combine the right elements, you’ll get predictable results. But it all starts in your mind.
Best Books on Mindset, No. 4: The Strangest Secret – Earl Nightingale
Earl Nightingale is a legendary radio broadcaster and father of self-development. My dad actually got his start working for Earl. This just goes to show that when you surround yourself with disciplined people who practice the same ideas, incredible things are possible.
This book was actually first a radio show – I of course owned them on CDs – and you’re still able to get the original broadcast recording as an audiobook.
Best Books for Mindset, No. 5: Awaken the Giant Within – Tony Robbins
There’s a reason my friend Tony is one of the top self-development gurus out there. This book has worked for millions of people so it’s a fair bet it’ll work for you too.
One of the central ideas here is conquering yourself so that you can conquer the world because the world is easy if you can manage to get past yourself. There’s a giant sleeping inside of you, but until you wake that giant up, you’re at the mercy of whatever fate you’ve already made for yourself.
Best Books on Mindset, No. 6: No Excuses!: The Power of Self-Discipline – Brian Tracy
“Perhaps the most important insight of all with regard to success is that to achieve greatly, you must become a different person. It is not the material things you accomplish or acquire that matter so much as it is the quality of the person you must become to accomplish well above the average. The development of self-discipline is the high road that makes everything possible for you.”
Brian Tracy is a dear friend and personal mentor of mine. He’s one of my earliest and most influential coaches. In working so closely with him, I got to gain firsthand how much wise he was when it came to just about anything, and if I were to recommend a mentor to anyone out there, Brian would be the guy. This book is an excellent place to start.
Best Books for Mindset, No. 7: The Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank
The diary of a 15-year-old girl… One of the greatest books on mindset ever? Absolutely. We’ve all been through some crazy times in our lives, but probably nothing that could even be considered close to the Holocaust. Yet, Anne’s thoughts and philosophies are so level-headed, compassionate, and wise that you can’t help but rethink the way you view every situation. If she’d lived to grow older, she undoubtedly would’ve become one of the great philosophers of all time.
Best Books on Mindset, No. 8: As a Man Thinketh – James Allen
The Bible says: “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”
James Allen took this thought and ran with it in his 1903 masterpiece. This is a short read that you can probably knock out in an hour or so, but I urge you not to do that. Take your time with it, because you want to give these thoughts time to impress themselves on you, particularly the fact that you influence the world as much as it influences you.
Best Books for Mindset, No. 9: Daring Greatly – Brenè Brown
If you want anything in life (happiness, love, money, success), you have to be worthy of it.
So… Who decides if you’re worthy of it?
You do. The only thing holding you back from accepting your own worthiness is shame, because shame prevents you from being vulnerable and expressing who you really are.
In Daring Greatly, Brenè Brown gives us a beautiful and seriously enlightening look into how daring to be vulnerable can transform our lives. It will give you the courage to be imperfect in the most beautiful way possible.
Best Books on Mindset, No. 10: The Alter Ego Effect – Todd Herman
Did you know that Beyonce used to get nervous and suffer from stage fright? When we think of “Beyonce,” we think of fearlessness but, as is often the case, that’s not how she saw herself. In her mind, she had to leave Beyonce behind and become her alter ego named “Sasha Fierce.”
Athletes, public speakers, and all kinds of top performers do that same thing, and performance coach Todd Herman has been studying these alter egos for years. In this book, he’s going to help you discover yours.
Best Books for Mindset, No. 11: The Artist’s Way – Julia Cameron
But Tom… I’m a real estate agent, not an artist! Well… it depends on what you consider an “artist” to be. If it’s someone who has to use creativity to solve issues and create change in the world, then you’re most definitely an artist. But more importantly than that, this book gives you several indispensable techniques that are easy to practice every day and help you clear out all the clutter in your mind that might slow you down.
Best Books on Mindset, No. 12: Dominant Thoughts – Chris Heller & Greg S. Reid
I know a lot of my friends are making it to this list (Chris is my former affirmation partner), but that’s because I surround myself with some really brilliant people!
In this book, Chris takes simple concepts that you may already be familiar with and grows them into something bigger so that you know exactly where you need to begin. In an episode of my podcast, Chris said that his hope for this book was that team leaders would read it and then give it to every member of their team.
Best Books for Mindset, No. 13: Feeling is the Secret – Neville Goddard
Before Rhonda Byrne wrote “The Secret,” there was Neville Goddard. He’s widely believed to be one of the most influential spiritual thinkers and mindset pioneers of the last couple of centuries, but his ideas are still a little too out there for some.
He interprets The Bible to be a metaphor for how to manifest any desire into your life by thinking and feeling in just the right way. This might not be everyone’s jam, but if you’re interested in the Law of Attraction, there’s no better writer on the subject.
Best Books on Mindset, No. 14: Ryan Holiday’s Books on Stoicism
I couldn’t pick just one here because each one of Ryan Holiday’s books seems to speak to me at a different time when I’m in need of that message. He’s today’s great synthesizer of stoic wisdom – for those who don’t know, this is a Greek school of philosophy that later made its way to Rome and influenced one of the world’s greatest emperors, Marcus Aurelius – and uses modern examples to show how great people have used these principles to accomplish amazing things.
Best Books for Mindset, No. 15: Mindset – Carol Dweck
The entire point of reading about mindset is to develop a growth mindset, and this book is a masterclass in doing just that.
So many people believe that just because they are a certain way means that they’re doomed to play those cards for the rest of their life. Psychologist Carol Dweck shows us that the science of neuroplasticity proves that our brains are capable of changing and completely transforming themselves even into adulthood.
So how do we harness this neuroplasticity to reshape our own brains and develop a growth mindset? Read this masterpiece to find out!
Best Books on Mindset, No. 16: It Works! – RHJ
This is more of a pamphlet than a book. You can read the entire thing in like 30 minutes and those 30 minutes could change your life.
Written in 1926 by a then-anonymous businessman, this is a three-step manual for accessing your subconscious mind and achieving anything you want.
Best Books for Mindset, No. 17: Flow – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Have you ever heard of accessing a “flow state,” when time just disappears and you’re so engrossed in your work that time disappears and you’re at your absolute best? It’s known as the “state of effortless work” for a good reason.
This book shows you how to access that state by adjusting your mindset and matching the challenge to your skill level in just the right way. Most importantly, it shows you how to enjoy your work and find deep fulfillment in it.
Best Books on Mindset, No. 18: Gratitude Works! – Robert. A. Emmons
We all know we should be feeling grateful for what we have, but what most people don’t understand is just how great the benefits of it are. Feeling and expressing gratitude has the ability to transform our thinking, our health, our relationships, and our businesses.
Robert A. Emmons is the leading scientist on gratitude (yes, that’s a real thing) and this masterwork not only shows you the benefits but shows you how to practice being grateful in the most effective way.
Pick One of these Best Books for Mindset and Grow Your Mind
So there you have it, some of the best books on mindset out there. I wish I could’ve kept going because there are just so many good ones I couldn’t get to.
It’s important to emphasize again that you’re not just trying to extract the main ideas from these books. The act of reading itself is what produces the changes in your brain. Sometimes you need to hear a message over and over for it to seep down to a subconscious level.
So pick up one of the looks on this list, whichever one resonates with you, and get started. Enjoy it. This is a fun thing.
And if you need real, serious, personalized help with training your mindset, having a coach is the way to do it. Our coaches have succeeded in exactly what you’re attempting to do in your business right now because they’ve mastered the keys to their thinking – and now they’re dedicated to helping you with yours.
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