Zen Habits is a blog written by Leo Babauta, and it is one of my favorite blogs of all time! Leo infuses each post with a calm clarity that reflects his personal meditation practice. Zen Habits is a breath of fresh air in an otherwise cluttered, ad centric world. He never posts ads, he never self promotes, and only ever offers value. The blog covers meditation, presence, lifestyle, habit building, and more.

Awaken The Giant Within, by Tony Robbins, is a practical guide on changing your life. The primary focus of the book is achievement and success, attained through both inner and outer work. There’s a time and place for everything, and striving for achievement and success can be an important part of an evolutionary process for some. It was for me. Success and achievement are tangible stepping stones in the path of Transformation, and can help to release old stories like “I can’t do this.”

Though the evolution of human consciousness is going beyond the superficial opulence of success, we as a species can still attain great value from the discipline required to accomplish a goal or a dream. Awaken The Giant Within is a fantastic treatise on doing just that.

The Silva Method covers powerful techniques for controlling your mind. A mind left to its own devices is likely to run astray, and make messes. A mind that is trained and guided allows you to live in greater peace, joy, and harmony.  Because there is typically a purpose behind  each of the exercises offered in the Silva Method, it is not technically a meditation technique, but rather, a powerful system of visualization. If you have specific goals or states of mind you’d like to attain, The Silva Method is a good tool for you. 

Psychocybernetics is a classic book on the power of the subconscious mind. It was written by a plastic surgeon who was fascinated by the effect his work had on not just his patient’s appearances, but more so on their entire lives. He delves into techniques for retraining and repatterining the subconscious mind in ways that are practical, effective, and immediate. This book had a big influence on many  modern day success teachers, like Bob Proctor & Tony Robbins. It is also highly regarded by practitioners of NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming)

The Power of Intention was written by Dr. Wayne Dyer, or as I like to call him, “Uncle Wayne”. This book is beautiful, and down to earth. Most of his books are spiritual in nature, and while this one does touch on spirituality, it is centered on concepts and techniques directly involving the mind. Intention, by it’s very nature, is harnessing the power of the mind & body to invoke spirit into anything you do. The Power of Intention is a direct roadmap for the exercising the muscle of intention until it becomes second nature.

Dr. Dyer’s earlier career was a therapist and phycologist, and he puts those modalities front and center here. There’s still a healthy dose of spirituality in The Power of Intention,(would it be a Wayne Dyer book if there wasn’t?), but this book is his most “mind centered”. 

As a Man Thinketh, by James Allen, is a well known classic. The contents of this book are things many people might “know” intellectually, but laid out in a way that creates.a fresh perspective. It’s a book that can be read in an afternoon, yet with the power to completely transform the rest of your life.

I’ve read hundreds of books on the topic of  “success”, but The Success Principles is one of my all time favorites. The book isn’t about the mindless acquisition of status or material goods, as so many other “success” books are. It’s clear that Canfield has an appreciation for the spiritual aspects of life, and weaves that in throughout the book. Be ready to write your heart out, journal, and do the copious amounts of exercises provided throughout this book. It’s heavy duty, and that’s why it works!

The War of Art is about overcoming your inner resistance, and doing that thing you know you need to do. This book changed my relationship with resistance in the creative process. Resistance, Pressfield explains, is a clue that you’re on the right track. The principles laid out in this book transcend life categories, situations, time, and place. Life is creative by nature, and so, this book is not just about art. It’s about finally going beyond perceived limitations of the small self, and letting your soul lead the way.