What are must-read books you'd recommend to someone in their 20s?
1. The Four-Hour Workweek, by Timothy Ferriss
This is basically an instruction manual for how Tim Ferriss became successful in his 20s. I highly recommend Tim Ferriss' other books, but they may not resonate as much for someone in their 20s.
2. How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie
How to deal with people, especially important for people like me who can be socially awkward due to lack of social experience :)
3. Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill
This is a book on using the Law of Attraction to get what you want in life. It's a lot of woo-woo pseudoscience, but I believe much of it. After all, we haven't discovered everything in science, and you can't dis-prove it.
4. The Miracle Morning, by Hal Elrod
This book transformed the way I think about my mornings. For a couple of years, I actually did wake up at 5AM every morning, until my family situation with 3 kids made that impractical. I hope to do it again in the future.
5. Atomic Habits, by James Clear
I was thinking of putting The Compound Effect, by Darren Hardy in this list too, but I think Atomic Habits overlaps it. It's important for someone in their 20s to realize that the habits they build early in their career will have a massive effect on their future life.
6. Influence, by Robert Cialdini
This book shows you all the marketing tricks people use to trick your mind. Once you learn to recognize the tricks, they won't work on you anymore (and you can use them on others).
7. How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling, by Frank Bettger
This book is dated, but the basic concepts are still relevant today.
8. Anything You Want, by Derek Sivers
How Derek Sivers became successful in his 20s, and the lessons he learned.
9. The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho
A fable on following your dreams.
10. When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi
You're not invincible, even in your 20s. This is a book written by a promising young surgeon after he discovered he was dying of lung cancer. Memento mori.
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