Will Edwards

A while back, my daughter asked me to name three must-read books in my field – which is, of course, Personal Development. It didn’t take much thinking – right away, I answered that my top three recommendations would be:

How to Find Your Real Self by Mildred Mann

The 7 Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

That, I believe, is also the best sequence in which to read them. In this post, I am going to outline why I think these books are essential reading for any student of the subject. Let's take each of them in turn ...

There is only one message in Mildred Mann’s book, but it is an important message and one that I hope you will take on-board. It is this … you are here to fulfill a purpose - you are not an accident - your life has meaning and value.

The book is beautifully written and it is the only one of my three recommendations that is in the public domain – that means, you can get a copy for free and read it for yourself; which is something I hope you will do!

Deepak Chopra’s book the 7 Spiritual Laws of Success is the product of much thinking and soul-searching. In it, he outlines the path to success being revealed as a consequence of being connected with the universal mind of God. I particularly like the language of this book – it is almost like reading poetry at times. It is really rich and full of goodness – you feel better for just reading or listening to the words. Personally I have the book on CD and I play it in my car, from time to time, on long journeys.

The 7 Spiritual Laws are sequential and you will find that they build on the message and work of Mildred Mann. Though Mildred Mann writes from the Christian tradition and Deepak Chopra writes from a Buddhist perspective, I personally find no contradictions or difficulties in the essential content.

For many people who have studied Law-of-Attraction-style books and courses, there seems to be a missing link between the spiritual side of the process of creation/manifestation and the practical side of the process. That gap is perfectly bridged with Stephen Covey’s book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

The 7 Habits is a well-adjusted approach to achieving success in life; balancing the need for development of character against the need for working creatively with other people. Frequently, people do not see the need for developing character as a basis for personal growth, but that message is central to the book.

It is a sequential approach – easy to understand, but deceptively powerful. In my experience, not everyone can immediately grasp the true power of these behavioral habits, but when they are applied to your life and they become a part of the way you operate, you can produce truly outstanding results – you can achieve whatever you set out to do.

If you take the time to read these three classic works and let the important messages sink in, you will find that they do complement each other, but they each focus on a different aspect of the subject. So you will get a wonderfully complete and holistic view of how to go about achieving real success in life.

Mark McClure

Will, I read Covey's book way back when and still trip up on this self-test:

"Name the seven habits from memory." ;-)

I know, I know.

That's what an index card is for... hehe

Let's see...

Begin With the End in Mind
First Things first?
Sharpen the Saw...
???

I'll have to go dig my copy out again.

Actually, what I did was create my own set of rules... 5 in fact.
I don't forget those.

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Will Edwards

Hi Mark

Perhaps you'd like to use my mnemonic - PET WUSS

P - be Proactive
E - begin with the End in mind
T - first Things first

W - think Win-Win
U - seek first to Understand, then be Understood
S - Synergise (still can't bring myself to spell it with a Z - lol)
S - Sharpen the Saw

There you go - you'll always be able to remember them now.

Will

GF4444

Those are great recommendations. I'd like to add Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom for anyone who needs a "tune up"

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ZigZag

Thanks for the recommendations Will. I've added all three to my list. Recently I've been reading Psycho-Cybernetics and the more I evolve as a person the better it gets. So there's another one people may like to consider reading. Looking forward to reading The 7 Spiritual Laws Of Success.

"Magic is believing in yourself, if you can do that, you can make anything happen."—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

curt

I read and enjoyed Covey's book, but never really attempted to apply it. I sent my copy to an ex-girlfriend and never got it back. I guess I should buy another one.

The best thing about his book was the info on Victor Frankl. Everyone should read his book, Man's Search For Meaning.

He shows how he was able to keep his positive attitude in a concentration camp. This really helped me because I sometimes slip and let my emotions be dictated by external events.

Curt.

Will Edwards

Hi Curt

Yes - I agree with you about Viktor Frankyl's book - the first part anyway. It's am amazing story not only of survival, but why people survive. The second part on his theory is a bit heavy-going, but still interesting.

GF4444 & Zigzag - thanks for the recommendations.

Will

curt

Hi Will,

You're right about that. The first part I've read many times. The second only once.

Curt.

CourtneyJames

Hey,

Interesting post.

My personal fav is:
"The Success System That Never Fails" by W. Clement Stone

I've read "Psycho-cybernetics" as well and agree with Zigzag. That's a great book. I highly recommend it.

"The Greatest Salesman In The World" By Og Mandino is also a personal fav of mine as well as "Think And Grow Rich" but that one's a standard I guess?

- Looking forward to reading some of the other books mentioned here.

All good.

TracyNeedham

I'd add the Science of Getting Rich by Wallace Wattles and The Highest Goal by Michael Ray.

Tracy

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