A compilation of the top books on skill development
Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning
Authors: Peter C. Brown,Henry L. Roediger III, Mark A. McDaniel
You’ve tried highlighting, underlining and rote-learning only to realize their impact is short-lived. In Make It Stick you will discover new, enriching study techniques such as self-testing and introducing certain difficulties in practice. Not only will they improve your long-term memory, but they will also reduce the amount of time and effort you waste in exaggerated revision methods.
The Little Book of Talent: 52 Tips for Improving Your Skills
Authors: Daniel Coyle,
Whether it’s for you, your kid or your employee, Daniel Coyle’s The Little Book of Talent shows you how skills can be improved. The 52 scientifically-proven, “tried and tested” injunctions in this book apply to parents, students, performers, entrepreneurs, employees, leaders and anyone who wants to be better than they are today.
So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love
Authors: Cal Newport,
Passion often results in an uncertain career and severe anxiety. Newport uses his experience with organic farmers, venture capitalists, and many others to infer that what you do is not as important as how you do it. Discover how you can be so good they can’t ignore you and love your job at the same time.
The First 20 Hours: How to Learn Anything…Fast
Authors: Josh Kaufman,
Most people don’t get past the first few hours of learning a new skill. In this book, Kaufman gives you a cheat-sheet that will help you acquire faster. He trains you to use the first 20 hours to focus and pick up a habit. His step-by-step techniques will help you learn even the most complex tasks and simplifies learning for everybody.
Like a Virgin: Secrets They Won’t Teach You at Business School
Authors: Richard Branson,
The rules in business school give you an idea. But they won’t guarantee a future. Richard Branson shares with you everything you need to know about enterprise — how to begin, how to lead and how to be more innovative. The Founder of Virgin groups never conformed to what was normal; he made his own rules. Now, he shares his secrets with you as well.
How We Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and Why It Happens
Authors: Benedict Carey,
Throughout your life, you’ve been told to use a quiet place, switch off the music devices and build a strict routine if you want to do well in your tests/presentation. On many occasions, this simply does not work. In How We Learn, Carey gives you realistic and research-proven strategies that will improve your learning with much less effort.
Unlimited Memory: How to Use Advanced Learning Strategies to Learn Faster, Remember More and be More Productive (Mental Mastery Book 1)
Authors: Kevin Horsley,
Have you ever wondered how some people are able to concentrate and recall just about anything when you can barely get your mind to focus on a simple task? Kevin Horsley provides the answer. His easy strategies will improve your memory and attention skills, reduce the mistakes you make and double your productivity.
The Art of Learning: A Journey in the Pursuit of Excellence
Authors: Josh Waitzkin,
Becoming a World Champion in two extreme disciplines — chess and Tai Chi — made Josh Waitzkin realize that it isn’t chess or Tai Chi that he is good at. Rather, it is the art of learning. In this book, he uses his own life to explain how emotions can be used to fuel your creativity, how your weaknesses can be made into strengths, and many more life-changing lessons.
Smartcuts: How Hackers, Innovators, and Icons Accelerate Success
Authors: Shane Snow,
Shane Snow introduces the concept of “lateral” thinking, an approach to challenge the conventional ways of doing things. Unlike other mythical, counterproductive ways of achieving success, Snow shows you realistic methods and strategies that will help you do great things in a shorter span of time. The secret is to work smarter.
The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business
Authors: Josh Kaufman,
An MBA will only teach you how to make a good Powerpoint presentation and some outdated and irrelevant financial models. Josh Kauffman gives you advice and information on how you can run a real business, unlike those that exist in textbooks. Save hundreds of dollars and learn something that can truly benefit you through Kauffman’s The Personal MBA.
Don’t Shoot the Dog!: The New Art of Teaching and Training
Authors: Karen Pryor,
This book will change your life. Behavioral scientist and animal trainer Karen Pryor shares some practical ways of implementing reinforcement to change behavior. This book is the lifeline of a pet-owner, a parent or even a teacher. Learn how you can correct behavior without yelling, lying or having to apologize later!
Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else
Authors: Geoff Colvin,
If doubt and fear have made you think that you are not “gifted” like the other successful people in the world, you have to read Colvin’s Talent is Overrated. He proves that a world-class performance is within everyone’s reach — as long as you are willing to do what it takes. What’s surprising is that it takes only a little effort, but most people choose to ignore it.
Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment
Authors: George Leonard,
As competitive beings, we are always trying to master everything – our relationships, our work, ourselves. George Leonard gives us the tools we will need to achieve this. In Mastery, he shares the 5 essential keys to mastery, the 3 personality types that are obstacles to mastery and how to avoid the pitfalls along the path.
Turning Pro
Authors: Steven Pressfield,
Pressfield proves that you don’t need to take a class or purchase an unaffordable product to become a pro. You just need to give up your easy-life, comforts and the identity you have grown to associate yourself with. What you get in exchange is power, an undying self-respect and an identity that shows who you really are. Are you ready?
The Start-Up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career
Authors: Reid Hoffman,Ben Casnocha
With rapid technological advancements, unemployment levels have skyrocketed. The competition in the labor market is intense. Job-security is no longer a relevant concept. LinkedIn co-founder and chairman, Reid Hoffman, and author, Ben Casnocha argue that the best way to tackle this is to treat yourself like a start-up. Discover how you can invest in your own profile and use entrepreneurial strategies to transform your career.
Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest & Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics
Authors: Henry Hazlitt,
In Economics in One Lesson leading economic thinker, Henry Hazlitt, foresaw the collapse of the global economy 50 years before it took place. His theories and non-governmental economic strategies have proven to be of undying value to experts in the economic field. If you want to study the global market, this book gives you a strong overview.
Mastery
Authors: Robert Greene,
Discover from the lives of Da Vinci, Darwin, and Einstein how to unleash the master hidden inside you. Greene’s insights will get you past the challenges you face and help you uncover the secret to gaining mastery in your field / career. He spent his entire life studying power, now he shares with you the path to greatness.
Maximum Achievement: Strategies and Skills that Will Unlock Your Hidden Powers to Succeed
Authors: Brian Tracy,
Brian Tracy’s insights have changed the lives of countless hundreds of people. He gives you strategies that can make you perform better in every aspect of your life. Discover your own potential and develop a more optimistic and assertive approach to life.
The Ten-Day MBA : A Step-By-Step Guide To Mastering The Skills Taught In America’s Top Business Schools
Authors: Steven Silbiger,
You can now learn corporate ethics, financial planning, and even leadership, just as it would be taught in Harvard, Stanford, and Pennsylvania, for a much lower price! Silbiger also shares with you some of the challenges the business world is facing today and the tools that can propel you forward in it.
Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice
Authors: Matthew Syed,
Two-time Olympian and world-renowned sports writer, Matthew Syed reveals the answer to the questions that cross every fan’s mind. Find out what your favorite champions are made of, if talent really has more impact than practice, the effects of using drugs and other answers to what leads to success in champion sportsmen.
Now, Discover Your Strengths: How to Develop Your Talents and Those of the People You Manage
Authors: Marcus Buckingham,Donald O. Clifton
Most people focus on their flaws and focus excessively on fixing them. Buckingham and Clifton give you a new approach to a better life — focus on your strengths instead. Their program will help you identify your true talent and hone it until it becomes your biggest strength.
Novice to Expert: 6 Steps to Learn Anything, Increase Your Knowledge, and Master New Skills
Authors: S.J. Scott,
Wall Street Journal bestselling author, S. J. Scott helps you develop a talent, without having to spend too much time or money. In Novice to Expert Scott trains you to dedicate your free time to building a skill and practicing it. He eradicates the role of an instructor in your life and proves the power of self-learning.
The Talent Code: Unlocking the Secret of Skill in Sports, Art, Music, Math, and Just About Everything Else
Authors: Daniel Coyle,John Farrell
After years of research and interviews with soccer players, violinists, pilots, artists and even bank robbers, Coyle compiled practical strategies that will help you acquire any skill. Discover how you can identify your talent and develop it, whether it lies in athletics, language or even math!
Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise
Authors: K. Anders Ericsson,Robert Pool
Based on three decades of research, Ericsson illustrates the real art of developing new skills. While most writers and books focus on theories that may not work in the real world, Ericsson’s practical steps will help you better your performance, whether it’s sports or music. His techniques will shatter all conventional training programs and serve as an invaluable guide to discovering your expertise.
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