10 Books That Changed My Life And Why

There has been some pretty pivotal moments in my life.

In these pivotal moments I held onto whatever I could.

People.

Dreams.

Hope.

And one thing that really helped me believe in myself and adopt the mindset to succeed... books.

So instead of giving you a big list of books that I have read, I want to give you a list of books that have changed my life and the reasons why.

1) The 7 Habits of Effective People by Stephen Covey

- This was the first self help book that I ever read and it completely opened up my mind to what human beings can achieve with habits to become the best you can. The biggest lesson I adopt from this book is to put first things first.

2) Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

- I remember reading this whilst I was sleeping on a coffee table with a mattress on top of it (right next to a dishwasher that went on through the night) in Auckland. Not one night of good sleep with my feet dangling off the edge. I would often cry myself to sleep as I was upset how my life was panning out. This book motivated me to make something of myself and not settle for being just another statistic. It talks about a story of two dads. One that plays it safe in life and one that backs himself, works hard and creates his own destiny. I chose the second option.

3) The Power Of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale

- This book gave me the power to see my mothers death as a positive thing for my life... not easy to do. It also gave me the idea of making a gratitude list that I read every morning to this day.

4) Think And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

- This inspired me to think beyond the norm. I still remember how Napoleon Hill would have meetings with great philosophers, and people he respected, in his head. He would imagine what they would say, how they would react to him and what opinions they would give. If he couldn't access mentors he would just pretend having them. Sounds crazy but I adopted his thinking and instead of imagining meetings with philosophers I would watch TED talks, read books and surround myself with mentors, if possible. My life was never the same from this book onwards.

5) The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz

- The biggest agreement I clicked with was not to take things personally. Saved me from a lot of ups and downs I faced with being self employed. The truth is, sometimes people have a go at you because they're unhappy and it has NOTHING to do with you but all to do with what they are facing.

6)The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

- Thoughts turn into things (if you work for them 😉).

7) The Bible

- No one says it better than the man himself. You don't have to be religious to read the bible and take learnings from it. You just need an open mind and the desire to be taught.

8) Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook! by Gary Vee

- An amazing book on giving value and how to do it through social media.

9) The Road Less Travelled By Scott Peck

- I read this book at a time where I was changing careers and had a 20 year old "mid-life" crisis where I didn't know what to do with life. At a time where I was isolating myself and pushing people away, it helped me see the value in human connection and love (that I'm still trying to get better at). It was also the first time that I was made aware of the idea that everyone is the way they are because of their childhood and upbringing. Which helped a lot as I started working with more and more people.

10) The Richest Man In Babylon by George Clason

- As a kid that just focused on sport as I grew up I never really knew much about money. All I did was play sport, play with my brother T and my friends and eat copious amounts of food really. I favoured P.E and never did one class on Accounting, Economics or Business, and dropped Maths as soon as I could (my teacher hated me and was slightly racist towards Maori students). This book taught me principles of money that I was never aware of.

The last book I want to talk about is...

THE BOOK OF LIFE by YOU

The best way to learn anything is to do it.

Live life.

Experiment.

Do.

Try.

Make Mistakes.

Fail.

Learn.

Meet new people.

See new places.

Do new things.

Apply what you learn in the books you read.

"If you don't apply the knowledge you have, you might as well not have it."

I hope these books help you as much as they helped me.