Improvement Tier Reading List

Reading tastes are personal. How we receive a book depends on our personality, where we’re at in our lives, our current desires, the expectations for the book, etc. What’s enjoyable or useful for one person could be the opposite for another. And our preferences will change over time. That’s why I list below only my top choices for each category. I hope it increases the chances of you finding material with the most ROI on the topic.

This list will be constantly updated to contain what I think is the best ROI for each topic.

I hope to save you time and money by getting the most ROI for whatever area in your life you want to improve.

Personal Growth

The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz
- Of all the psychology / mindset-type books, this one is the most straightforward, and my favorite. Schwartz nails the balance of emphasizing the simplicity and power of mindset—for example: “Consider just one characteristic of successful people: enthusiasm.”
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
- Carnegie’s evergreen wisdom is never a waste of time. If you enjoy this one, make sure to check out his others.

General Self-Improvement

The Practice of Groundedness by Brad Stulberg
- An excellent collection of self-help advice, with recent research-backed discoveries included. Happiness, action, goals, pattern recognition, exercise, and the process of change are covered as some foundational steps.

Community

The Little Book of Lykke: The Danish Search for the World’s Happiest People by Meik Wiking
- The fundamentals of happier people and societies. Each chapter dives in to the core of healthy societies: a sense of community and tribe, feeling inferior or excluded from your system or government, having autonomy, and the compounding effects of things like inequality, trust, and altruism.
Tocqueville and the American Experiment by William R. Cook
- During his nine month visit to America, Alexis de Tocqueville was able to ascertain so much about what makes up a successful community and country. If you haven’t read Tocqueville’s book (Democracy in America), here’s some benefits I felt of taking this course first: a lot of helpful backstory about Tocqueville is included, important passages are highlighted and discussed, this lecture series is much shorter than the book, and the professor does a great job of evaluating how Tocqueville’s observations and predictions have aged over time.

Rationality

The Scout Mindset by Julia Galef
- A masterclass in living more thoughtfully through rationality. You’ll not only be able to better detect conflicts within your own thoughts and feelings, but you’ll be more effective in communicating with (and understanding) others.
Algorithms to Live By by Brian Christian, Tom Griffiths
- Like a math-themed self-improvement and productivity book. There are great bits on scheduling theory, sorting and caching, game theory, singletasking—and, unexpectedly—willpower, regret, and kindness.

Decision-Making

The Little Black Book of Decision Making by Michael Nicholas
- Explains what influences us, and how we can better approach any situation. I was happy to find so many unexpected topics covered, including conditioning behaviors, accelerated learning, rationality, mindset, and the importance and need for intentional attention.

Stoic Philosophy

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
- Possibly the most popular self-help book ever written, and for good reason. Every page in this short collection is full of evergreen advice on how to live better.
Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
- A deeply human read through a stoic assessment on aging in modern times. Fears, desires, quality of life, meaning, and independence are gracefully discussed to improve our ability to maintain happiness and autonomy amid deterioration.
Letters from a Stoic by Lucius Annaeus Seneca
- Seneca is one of my faves, and this book covers topics like education, study, health, wealth, simple living, fear, loss, death, virtue, freedom, anger, vices, time, and happiness. The letters range from 1–10+ pages, and are filled with nice touches of correspondence—it’s a fantastic format for Stoic discussion.

Collections of Wisdom

Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger by Peter Bevelin
- This is a large information dump centered around, but not limited to, Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger. Topics covered include evolution, psychology, mathematics, mental models, Stoicism, ethics, emotions, rational thinking, investing, humility, curiosity, and simply being a better person.
Tools of Titans by Timothy Ferriss
- Separated into the three sections of Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise, this is a big collection of advice from guests of the Tim Ferriss podcast and others in his orbit. Morning rituals, journaling practices, and thoughts on travel are some other recurring topics.
Tribe of Mentors by Timothy Ferriss
- Poignant quotes, book recommendations, and another round of surveying podcast guests and industry leaders from Tim. Tribe of Mentors has a consistent structure of (well-formed) questions (11) asked to every quest, so it’s much more consistent than Tools of Titans.
The Drucker Lectures by Peter F. Drucker
- Lectures from Drucker, organized by decade. In addition to what you might expect (organization, management, and education), he also speaks on the environment, the social sector, government, volunteering, religion, and globalization.
The World According to Mr. Rogers by Fred Rogers
- Every warm and empathetic quality you can think of is touched on here: being of service, listening, honesty, life purpose, growth, forgiveness, inner strength, etc. A similar book, Life’s Journey According to Mister Rogers, is also great and has little overlapping content.

Productivity & Effectiveness

Your Brain at Work by David Rock
- How to be more effective in everything you do through lessons on the brain. It covers topics like leadership, management, changing minds, insight, distractions, arousal, chunking, goals, prioritizing, and appealing to people’s 5 domains of social experience.
Solving the Procrastination Puzzle by Timothy A. Pychyl
- A brief read with actionable steps. Pychyl explains what the phenomenon really is and its causes, including our common desire for immediate mood repair and why we often delay what’s most important to us.

Collaboration

The Effective Executive by Peter F. Drucker
- A thorough guide to make your business operations boring. As Drucker says about well-managed businesses, the “crises have been anticipated” and the exciting things are the “basic decisions that make the future”.
The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande
- Through the undeniable efficiency of checklists, this book advocates for the implementation of simple systems wherever possible. Also discussed is having room to act and adapt, introductions and roll calls, improvisation, and separating complexity from routine.

Education

How the World Learns by Alexander W. Wiseman
- This is relevant to anyone involved in education, from policy making to the individual level—teaching practices, administration, and cultural effects on the classroom are covered. Some broadly successful practices are discussed, but the focus is on accounting for the many different factors that go into your environment’s unique equation for successful education.

Meta-Learning

Make it Stick by Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, Mark A. McDaniel
- Full of research-based strategies for students, teachers, and life-long learners. Methods and practices are often brought up multiple times throughout the book, due to their connected nature.
Atomic Habits by James Clear
- Few books have the potential to affect your daily life so drastically—our lives are our habits. Clear is a machine of good ideas and methods, and in this book you’ll find his habit-acquiring process and topics like compounding 1% daily, habit stacking, desired rewards, systems over goals, two-minute habits, discipline = freedom, etc.
Learning How to Learn by Barbara Oakley
- Practical strategies for students of all ages. How to read better, remember better, and feel better physically and mentally are some of the core topics in this.

Language Learning

Explorations in Language Acquisition and Use by Stephen D. Krashen
- Few people think about language learning as much as Krashen, so save your money on other language learning books and read this short summary of his top findings. The comprehensible input method, classroom and self-study applications, and the process of new ideas are some of the few topics covered.

Creativity and Innovation

The Process

Decoding Greatness by Ron Friedman
- This is a quality collection of practices for self-taught learning, entrepreneurship, and creativity such as patterns, originality, metrics, reflection, desirable difficulties, risk, feedback, and mastery. The content overlaps with many books in meta-learning genre, but if you’re going to read one, this may be the best in the quality and quantity of topics.
Innovation and Entrepreneurship by Peter F. Drucker
- Drucker has a skill of being able to distill nebulous concepts down to their essential functions. Learn what purposeful, systematic innovation and successful entrepreneurs look like.

The Mentality

Art & Fear by David Bayles, Ted Orland
- Similar to Do the Work, this is a great resource for creative motivation, especially amid self-doubt. The first half is more psychological and the second more practical.
The Discomfort Zone by Farrah Storr
- Encouraging motivation with some helpful methods for handling fear and discomfort. Visualizations, having a clear plan, working through and rationalizing your fears, and how high achievers utilize discomfort are some of the topics covered.

Writing

On Writing Well by William Zinsser
- Practical, encouraging, and a joy to read. Along with all of the technical lessons in grammar, Zinsser continually reminds you that writing should be clear and enjoyable, and that you are more than capable of writing well.
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
- Life lessons, seasoned writing advice, and genuinely sharp humor await. Observations on writing, what good writing is, and specific tips on the craft are what you can expect.

Books that Helped Me Understand the World Better

Economics

Scarcity by Sendhil Mullainathan, Eldar Shafir
- I think about this book all the time. Scarcity, a crash course in compassion, takes the economic concept and approaches it from a psychological standpoint; you’ll understand yourself better, and others as well.
The Creature from Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin
- Read this to understand how financial institutions work. Never has the financial history of the US been presented in a more interesting way.
Poor Economics by Abhijit V. Banerjee, Esther Duflo
- For everyone who has wondered why the poor can’t just start saving small amounts of money at their local bank, or for every traveler who has wondered why some regions are full of unfinished, rebar-exposed housing, it’s explained. This is a comprehensive study on the priorities, needs, and current challenges of the world’s poorest.

Politics and Government

The Dictator’s Handbook by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Alastair Smith
- An alternative title could be “How the World Works”. And it’s not limited to dictators—the incentives of CEOs, democracies, and foreign aid are covered in detail.
The System by Robert B. Reich
- Clearly establishes the fallacy of party politics and culture wars, to pull the curtain back on the real struggle between democracy and oligarchy.
On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder
- A timeless and succinct manual for identifying and avoiding rising tyranny. Yale professor Timothy Snyder has written many great books.

History

Historical Theory

Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoğlu, James A. Robinson
- A deep dive into the effects of institutions, and what causes countries to fail or succeed in the long run.
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
- A large scale analysis of history, and what major factors are involved in shaping societies.

World History

The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers by Paul Kennedy
- Probably one of the best historic summaries of the last 500 years—the cause and effect of economic change and warfare between countries is broken down so thoroughly. The great powers are covered in many ways: economic, social, geographic, militarily, and political.
History of the Ancient World: A Global Perspective by Gregory S. Aldrete
- A wide-ranging course that occasionally dives deep in some lectures. Aldrete is a seasoned professor with The Great Courses and I have thoroughly enjoyed anything he teaches.

Geography

How the Earth Works by Michael E. Wysession
- Accessible science with an interesting and passionate delivery. Volcanoes, earthquakes, mountains, seasons, evolution, eras, temperatures, and how weather has affected history are some of the topics covered.
Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall
- This is an engaging overview of countries around the world and their advantages, troubles, and motivations. It’s a great read for those interested in geopolitics, or would like to understand geoeconomic motivations better.

Miscellaneous

The World’s Religions by Huston Smith
- 84% of the world is religious. Smith does a great job of covering the practices and core elements of the major religions and sects.
Brief Answers to the Big Questions by Stephen Hawking
- The brief answers to these big questions are pretty big: how we popped into existence, modifying our DNA to survive, how long civilization has left, and the remaining potential for time travel and warp travel are some of the topics.

Books that Helped Me Understand People Better

Psychology

Behave by Robert M. Sapolsky
- This is probably the new standard on social behavior. The first half focuses within the body (brain areas, endocrine system, nervous system, adolescence), and the second half expands to group dynamics and interaction (hierarchy, religion, politics, morality, free will, war).

Communication

You’re Not Listening by Kate Murphy
- Improve your effectiveness, relationships, empathy, and humility with one skill. Curiosity, loneliness, debate, nuance, and identity are some other topics alongside listening.
Non-Violent Communication by Marshall B. Rosenberg
- NVC teaches you how to find the underlying feelings, needs, and requests of others and yourself. It’s such valuable communication advice, and I especially liked his takes on anger and de-escalation.

Grief

On Grief and Grieving by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, David Kessler
- A beautiful book, written with warmth and wisdom. Not only do they cover the psychology of grief, but also the more tangible things, like a loved one’s belongings and roles that need filled.

Romance

The Passion Trap by Dean C. Delis, Cassandra Phillips
- Reading this is like being able to look down on relationships (past, present, and potential) in the third person. The dynamics in any relationship can be constantly changing, and being able to see what’s happening from an informed stance is game-changing.
Getting the Love You Want by Harville Hendrix
- So many interesting terms are taught here: fusers, isolators, lost self, false self, etc. I may have had some cons with this one (over-psychoanalyzed, too many anecdotes, some outdated views), but the benefits far outweighed the cons.

Personal Finance

I Will Teach You to be Rich by Ramit Sethi
- A more accurate title might be “Solid Personal Financial Habits We Should Have Learned Growing Up, But Probably Didn’t”. I appreciate that Ramit discusses specific banks, brokerages, credit cards, and financial tools that he likes and dislikes.
The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
- 20 tips/chapters on how to think about and manage your money. Housel’s brevity and ability to simplify complex topics is something I admire.
The Simple Path to Wealth by J.L. Collins
- Beginning as a series of letters to his daughter, J.L. Collins speaks clearly and candidly on what to do and avoid. I recommend this book after you are already comfortable with the basics of personal finance, as the author is part of the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) community and will cover long-term wealth.

Business

Marketing

Obviously Awesome by April Dunford
- Positioning demystified. You’ll view your market, customers, messaging, and products in a clearer way.
Traction by Gabriel Weinberg
- Find the right distribution method(s) for a business, taught by the founder of DuckDuckGo. Nineteen different traction channels are covered, with real world use cases for each.

Management

The Drucker Lectures by Peter F. Drucker
- This collection of lectures from Peter F. Drucker covers management in so many ways: as a concept, managing yourself, managing others, structuring organizations properly, interdisciplinary understanding, and the need for retraining.
HBR’s On Managing Yourself by Harvard Business Review
- Made up of 11 articles, this covers topics like the nobility of management, true humility, cultivating resilience, focusing on strengths, renewing energy, failure, effective management, and shifting into a fundamental state of leadership.

Leadership

Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink, Leif Babin
- Straightforward leadership tactics with business and military examples. The concepts are taught from two Navy SEALs who now specialize in business consulting.
The Championship Formula by Jack Stark
- The CF breaks down what any organization needs to produce consistently successful results; companies, athletic teams, and leaders are analyzed by hierarchies, soft skills, key decisions, and failures. Stark is a practicing clinical psychologist (including a team psychologist with the Nebraska Huskers football team, through their national championship streak in the 90s, and with NASCAR’s Hendrick Motorsports Team, which was a winner of five straight national championships), consultant to Fortune 500 executives, founder and director of a performance enhancement group, tenured professor of medical psychology, and current member of the University of Nebraska Board of Regents.

Small Business Creation

How to Turn Your Passion Into Profit by Tara McMullin
- The full guide: this process finds your core motivations, lists many specific software services and products, and creates two fictional small business owners to follow along the course to provide real examples. Six types of business models are covered to appeal to everything from online coaching to wholesale.

Not published yet:

How to Get Paid for What You Know by Graham Cochrane
- A detailed guide for creating an online knowledge-based business. You’re taught how to find your idea, craft a product, create a website, write content and email marketing, funnel creation, and eventual automation of the sales process.

Travel

Vagabonding by Rolf Potts
- Warning: this book is responsible for a lot of people taking a leave of absence and heading out to explore. This is packed with practical and philosophical travel advice.
Traveling Deliberately by Steve Bannow
- I met Steve while traveling in New Zealand, and he was so kind and knowledgeable. Focused on practical advice, Steve boils many things down to the essentials in here, covering health, settling home affairs, financial independence, and detailed preparations to make your traveling the best it can be.
How to Travel on $50 a Day by Matt Kepnes
- A great resource for new backpackers to learn about the methods of budget traveling. Not everything discussed is always practical or doable on a regular basis, but the ideas are a good foundation for learning about different methods of travel.

Technology

Privacy

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff
- In this tome focused on the private sector, Zuboff assesses the new surveillance economy, where human experience is the raw material to be extracted. The disciplines of history, economics, culture, philosophy, and law are combined to examine how surveillance has become normal in our hardware, software, algorithms, sensors, cameras, gps, etc.
Mindf*ck: Cambridge Analytica and the Plot to Break America by Christopher Wylie
- A peek into social media monitoring, big data, cultural movements, political strategy, individual privacy, and psychological manipulation. Wylie shares his personal experiences with Cambridge Analytica, Brexit, and and 2016 U.S. election.

Health and Fitness

Breath by James Nestor
- Great journalism with new research, personal stories, and curated techniques. Optimum breathing rate, tongue posture, lung expanding stretches, different nostril activation, chewing, and clearing nasal passages are some of the topics covered.
Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker
- It’s 1/3 of our lives and yet we get no formal education on sleep. The book is a little long-winded and dry, but you’ll view and prioritize sleep differently, improving the other 2/3 of your life as well.

Food and Nutrition

How Not to Die by Michael Greger, Gene Stone
- Nutritional science is difficult, nuanced, politicized, constantly debated, and always changing. We should be mindful to follow the incentives of any nutritional advice, which is why I’m partial to this author who cites and shares many sources, only recommends cheap and natural food, and donates all of his book and public lecture proceeds to charity.
Eat Like a Fish by Bren Smith
- Engaging, informative, funny, and is most likely a major part of our future food industry. Half autobiography, half ocean farming instruction manual, this was a unique and enjoyable read.
Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual by Michael Pollan
- 3 sections, 64 rules. Some you’ll know, some may pass on, and some will stick.