4 Great Books About Transformation That Blew My Mind

In this article, we are going to talk about four books about transformation you should definitely read.

Did you know that the global self-help industry is set to reach a market-cap of 67 Billion USD by 2030?

With the rise of remote-work, employees have time to build themselves up. Some people set up profitable side-hustles that grew into successful businesses. Others focused on healing their relationships, and are now living happier lives.

But change is terrifying.

It’s also foolish to blindly quit your job. We need guidance on transforming ourselves. Fortunately, there’s a plethora of books on self-improvement to help you realize your dreams.

Four Books About Transformation

I’ll cover my favorite books about transformation in this article. From psychology, to financial education and investing— it was these books that started me on my journey towards self-reliance.

I’m sure they’ll help you too.

1. Atomic Habits

Do you get a random burst of motivation some time?

Something that makes you want to take up a huge project? Maybe you even take the first steps to fulfilling these impulses.

But such dreams rarely come to fruition. Have you wondered why?

James Clear took a deep dive into human psychology for an answer. The result was his magnum opus — “Atomic Habits”. In this book, he presents a comprehensive action plan to break bad habits and build good ones.

Clear found that it’s impossible to make sweeping changes in one go. He alleges that this is where people go wrong.

We start with lofty goals. Saying things like “I want to be fit” or “I want to be rich” serve as powerful motivators in the short run. However, without visible and reachable milestones, they are too vague.

Instead, you should focus on making small improvements consistently.

This will allow you to build strong underlying work ethics for yourself. You can then apply this in all aspects of life. For someone like this, success becomes a byproduct of their efforts.

And this is the crux of Atomic Habits —

The secret of getting results that last is to never stop making improvements

2. You Are A Badass At Making Money

Jen Sincero takes on conventional wisdom in You Are A Badass At Making Money.

We learned how to factor polynomials in high school. They trained us on doing litmus tests, and a variety of other exercises. Learning all this early on is what helped us develop our critical thinking skills.

Ironically, conventional education never taught us to apply those selfsame skills in real life. For example, you won’t need an advanced knowledge of chemistry to survive day to day.

So what do we struggle with most in our lives?

Various people will respond variously to this question. Sincero addresses the problem of financial illiteracy in her book.

Regardless of our age or economic situation, most of us can’t manage money. In fact, sometimes we won’t even acknowledge that money matters in life.

Sincero regards this very attitude as the root cause of our troubles. Right from childhood, society conditions us with a taboo against money. And like everything taboo, it only stokes our curiosity.

The result is that we end up developing an extremely toxic attitude towards money.

Making Money will help you heal your relationship with finances. In order to maximize your earning potential, this is the largest hurdle you have to overcome.

3. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

In a career spanning two decades, author Stephen Covey interacted with people in the highest echelons of power. It allowed him to develop an astute understanding of the human psyche.

The 7 Habits is a distillation of Covey’s insights from this 25-year long study into success.

In it, the author argues that our character is the main contributor to our success. Who we are dictates what we achieve in life. What we say or do is secondary.

Covey terms this as a person’s “character ethic”. Seen through this lens, the 7 Habits are the common traits successful people demonstrate.

You can apply the 7 Habits in three stages:

Take control

Be proactive. Solve only those problems that you can handle.
Work with purpose. Make a plan and see it through.
Learn to prioritize. Eliminate redundancies and complete the vital tasks first.

Exert influence

Think win-win. Your solutions should benefit all parties involved.
Listen and empathize with people. Remember: you’re proactive, not reactive.
Synergize and collaborate so your team’s collective effort is greater than the sum of individual contributions.

Ascend

Mastering the first six habits paves the way to unlocking your full potential. You should now focus on improving yourself — you must sharpen the saw.

4. Money: Master The Game

Tony Robbins began his career as a motivational speaker. He quickly climbed the ranks, working with famous authors, sports teams, and venture capitalists. Robbins counselled some of the greatest magnates of our times including Marc Benioff and Hugh Jackman.

Robbins spent decades in close proximity with over 50 financial geniuses. It gave him an insiders’ knowledge of how biggest fish in the pond play the game of money.

The author curated these insights into his 700-page bestseller Money: Master the Game. The book contains tips on managing and growing your wealth. Robbins also includes several mythbusters regarding finances.

Let me summarize its key takeaway—

Setting the correct goal is the key to financial independence

We all dream about making a million dollars.

And this is the very reason we fail: it’s a mere dream. It is a vague statement that doesn’t lead to any actionable steps.

In order to win, you must have a tangible goal in your sights. Robbins suggests the magic number of 51000. It’s the amount the average American spends in a year.

Your first financial target must be to make 51000 USD in returns. Hitting this goal means that your investments cover all your expenses. You won’t have to work again.

Once you’ve eliminated expenses, you can begin growing your wealth. And the best part about this strategy that that investments will keep compounding with time.

Conclusion

This brings us to the conclusion of my list of best books about transformation.

I covered multiple aspects of life in this blog.

From Atomics Habits, you’ll learn how to master your own psyche. You’ll build good systems of approaching work that you can apply everywhere. You can read my detailed summary here.

Making Money will help you build a healthy relationship with finances. It’s a critical prerequisite for those that want to grow their wealth.

7 Habits teaches you ways of boosting productivity at work. You’ll gain professional independence and build a reputation with its ideas.

And finally, Master the Game gives you a concrete action plan for attaining financial independence.

So, which book felt most compelling to you? What is your favorite tip? Do let me know in the comments.

If you liked this article, maybe check out some of my other work on Medium. I regularly post content on productivity, books and wealth. Do consider leaving me a tip if my work was useful to you (link below).

Photo by Suzanne D. Williams on Unsplash