Best Mindset Books — 177 Honest Reviews
Every book below was read and judged on one question: will it change what you do on Monday morning? Each review tells you who should read it, who should skip it and the three ideas worth keeping.
The Power of Positive Thinking
Norman Vincent Peale · Mindset
Dated, devotional and still quietly effective for readers who meet it on its own terms.
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Everything Is Figureoutable
Marie Forleo · Mindset
Cheerful and practical; a good book for people who think too long before beginning.
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The Big Leap
Gay Hendricks · Mindset
Insightful and a little mystical; the upper-limit idea alone is worth the read.
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The Code of the Extraordinary Mind
Vishen Lakhiani · Mindset
Ambitious and a little grandiose; the exercises are better than the cosmology.
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The Strangest Secret
Earl Nightingale · Mindset
A thirty-minute read with a thirty-day exercise; small and worthwhile.
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The Magic of Believing
Claude M. Bristol · Mindset
A period piece with a few exercises that still have teeth.
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The Magic of Thinking Big
David J. Schwartz · Mindset
A durable classic; dated in scene, sound in substance.
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Psycho-Cybernetics
Maxwell Maltz · Mindset
The grandfather of mental rehearsal; still useful, occasionally quaint.
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Inner Excellence
Jim Murphy · Mindset
Gentle and sincere; more useful than its fame suggests, less tactical than its title.
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Thinking in Systems
Donella H. Meadows · Mindset
A quietly profound book; the best mental-model upgrade on this list.
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Mindset
Carol S. Dweck · Mindset
Foundational and a bit overlong; the idea matters more than the prose.
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Think and Grow Rich
Napoleon Hill · Mindset
Influential, flawed and still useful; read the principles, ignore the séances.
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Steal Like an Artist
Austin Kleon · Mindset
Short, generous and right; a perfect gift for a creative starter.
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The Creative Act
Rick Rubin · Mindset
Spare and contemplative; either exactly what you need or nothing at all.
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The Art of Possibility
Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander · Mindset
Generous and wise; one of the few leadership books that makes you kinder.
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As a Man Thinketh
James Allen · Mindset
A tiny classic; too absolute to be true, too true to ignore.
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Moonwalking with Einstein
Joshua Foer · Mindset
Entertaining and genuinely educational; the best popular book on memory.
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A Mind for Numbers
Barbara Oakley · Mindset
A practical, research-grounded manual; the best book on how to study.
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The Inner Game of Tennis
W. Timothy Gallwey · Mindset
A quiet, brilliant little book; the root of a whole field.
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Ultralearning
Scott H. Young · Mindset
Rigorous and useful for serious learners; too intense for casual ones.
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Thinking, Fast and Slow
Daniel Kahneman · Mindset
A landmark; demanding, essential, better in pieces than in a rush.
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Big Magic
Elizabeth Gilbert · Mindset
Generous and light; a good companion for the frightened beginner.
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The Gap and the Gain
Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy · Mindset
A small book with one durable trick for the chronically dissatisfied.
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Hidden Potential
Adam Grant · Mindset
Hopeful and well-researched; a good antidote to talent myths.
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Think Again
Adam Grant · Mindset
Smart, warm and overlong; a healthy book for the certain.
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The Alchemist
Paulo Coelho · Mindset
A beloved fable; nourishing or sweet depending on your appetite.
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The Happiness Advantage
Shawn Achor · Mindset
Cheerful and practical; a good introduction to positive psychology.
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Outliers
Malcolm Gladwell · Mindset
Engaging and oversimplified; worth reading for the perspective.
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Drive
Daniel H. Pink · Mindset
Clear and influential; the standard introduction to intrinsic motivation.
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Peak
Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool · Mindset
The real science behind practice; essential for anyone serious about skill.
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The Talent Code
Daniel Coyle · Mindset
Vivid and practical; the stories outlast the science.
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Awaken the Giant Within
Tony Robbins · Mindset
Huge, enthusiastic, and useful in parts; mine it rather than read it.
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Clear Thinking
Shane Parrish · Mindset
Clear, organized and useful; a good decision primer.
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Bird by Bird
Anne Lamott · Mindset
Warm, funny and wise; a comfort for anyone who makes things.
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Fluent Forever
Gabriel Wyner · Mindset
Rigorous and effective; the serious person's language guide.
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The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth
John C. Maxwell · Mindset
Systematic and encouraging; a sensible growth plan.
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Decisive
Chip Heath and Dan Heath · Mindset
Practical and well-made; the decision book to actually use.
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The Art of Thinking Clearly
Rolf Dobelli · Mindset
Handy and shallow; a reference, not an argument.
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Learned Optimism
Martin E. P. Seligman · Mindset
Foundational and practical; the original learned-optimism manual.
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Before Happiness
Shawn Achor · Mindset
Decent sequel; the first book is enough for most readers.
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Chatter
Ethan Kross · Mindset
Clear, researched and immediately useful; the best book on the voice in your head.
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Transcend
Scott Barry Kaufman · Mindset
Substantive and humane; a serious book on becoming whole.
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The Power of Regret
Daniel H. Pink · Mindset
Thoughtful and practical; a useful reframe of a painful emotion.
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Poor Charlie's Almanack
Charles T. Munger, edited by Peter D. Kaufman · Mindset
Dense, wise and worth owning.
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The Great Mental Models
Shane Parrish and Rhiannon Beaubien · Mindset
Well-made starter set.
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Smart Choices
John S. Hammond, Ralph L. Keeney and Howard Raiffa · Mindset
Rigorous and usable.
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Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life
Steven C. Hayes with Spencer Smith · Mindset
The source; dense and rich.
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Limitless Mind
Jo Boaler · Mindset
Hopeful and well-grounded; important for anyone who teaches or learns.
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The School of Life: An Emotional Education
The School of Life, introduced by Alain de Botton · Mindset
Elegant and humane.
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Noise
Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony and Cass R. Sunstein · Mindset
Important and demanding.
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Freakonomics
Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner · Mindset
Entertaining and habit-forming.
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Ask and It Is Given
Esther and Jerry Hicks · Mindset
Mood tools in metaphysical packaging.
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The Law of Attraction
Esther and Jerry Hicks · Mindset
Origin text; the practical one is better.
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The Essential Rumi
Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks · Mindset
Beautiful, contested as translation.
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The Practice of Groundedness
Brad Stulberg · Mindset
Grounded, practical and humane; a strong antidote to hustle.
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Kiss That Frog!
Brian Tracy and Christina Tracy Stein · Mindset
Negative thinking, twelve counters.
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Believe It to Achieve It
Brian Tracy and Christina Tracy Stein · Mindset
The psychological end of Tracy.
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Mental Models: 30 Thinking Tools That Separate the Average From the Exceptional
Peter Hollins · Mindset
A starter list, nothing more.
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The Decision Book
Mikael Krogerus and Roman Tschäppeler · Mindset
Fifty frameworks to sketch.
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Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude
Napoleon Hill and W. Clement Stone · Mindset
Hill, made specific by Stone.
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In Tune with the Infinite
Ralph Waldo Trine · Mindset
The New Thought source, in good prose.
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The Molecule of More
Daniel Z. Lieberman and Michael E. Long · Mindset
Why getting it does not satisfy.
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What They Forgot to Teach You at School
The School of Life · Mindset
Emotional education, a primer.
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The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
Oliver Sacks · Mindset
The mind, through its failures.
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Superforecasting
Philip E. Tetlock and Dan Gardner · Mindset
Rigorous and practical; a thinking upgrade.
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Fooled by Randomness
Nassim Nicholas Taleb · Mindset
Sharp and readable; his most accessible.
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Nudge
Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein · Mindset
Influential and practical; environment design.
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Predictably Irrational
Dan Ariely · Mindset
Entertaining and instructive, with one caveat.
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Factfulness
Hans Rosling with Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Ronnlund · Mindset
Hopeful, rigorous and clarifying.
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