Books That Have Changed my Career and Life
The following are books that have helped me to grow tremendously both personally and professionally. I hope you they help you too. I have categorized them into different categories which you can browse through below. Please note all of the links on these pages are Amazon affiliate links.
Happy reading,
Anthony Fasano, PE
Author of Engineer Your Own Success
Engineering Management Institute
Categories:
Career Goals
Communication
Networking
Organization
Leadership
Career Goals
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Working Less, Earning More by Jeff Cohen
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Working Less, Earning More is for people who are feeling overworked and underpaid. This book is about working fewer hours and increasing your income to ultimately live a better and more comfortable life.
Infinite Possibilities: The Art of Living Your Dreams by Mike Dooley
Infinite Possibilities provides principles that transcend belief, knowing the truth about our human nature and exploring how powerful we truly are. Mile Dooley explains that we create our own reality and our own fate. He inspired me to start writing the daily e-mails I send to engineers every day.
Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins
This book is about taking control of your life. Anthony Robbins provides some effective strategies in taking charge of your emotions, finances, and relationships. Awaken the Giant Within will enable you to discover your true purpose and take control of your destiny. Robbins was the first personal development author that I ever read—his books are very powerful.
The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz
Setting your goals high is what this book is all about. The Magic of Thinking Big provides useful methods that you can apply to be successful and motivated. Dr. Schwartz gives strategies for finding success, greater happiness, and peace of mind through thinking big.
Create Your Own Future: How to Master the 12 Critical Factors of Unlimited Success by Brian Tracy
Create Your Own Future is a powerful book that offers 12 principles for success with real-world action plans. I am a huge fan of Brian Tracy because his books are very action-oriented providing specific steps to take to improve your results in life.
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Napoleon Hill has researched over 40 millionaires and found out how they get to be where they are. He provides some clear powerful advice on how to grow rich (not just financially), and reading this book will give you an edge over everyone else if you apply these secrets to success. This is an all-time classic in the personal development genre.
The Alchemist is a magical story about an Andalusian shepherd boy who travels from his home in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a worldly treasure. Along his journey, he meets an alchemist and finds the treasures of life like wisdom and following our dreams. This fable will help you to understand the power of following your passion.
Communication
Speak to Win: How to Present with Power in Any Situation by Brian Tracy
Speak to Win is another gem by Brian Tracy in which he reveals some secrets that readers can use to be able to speak with confidence and deliver winning presentations. This ultimate guide can help engineers accelerate their career and achieve even the most impossible-seeming goals—because if you can present clearly, you will control your own destiny.
Networking
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
How to Win Friends and Influence People has been helping thousands of people climb the ladder of success in their personal lives and career. This bestseller gives some fundamental techniques in handling people, making people like you, and winning them over with the way you think. This is one of the best self-help books, and it will help you achieve your maximum potential. I listen to Carnegie’s advice regularly.
Book Yourself Solid by Michael Port
Michael Port has revealed why self-promotion is a critical factor to success with some guides on how to get more clients and increase profits. This book promotes some key marketing plans and strategies that may be helpful for engineers charged with bringing business into their firm or are building their own business.
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini
Dr. Cialdini has shared his studies on what moves people to change their behavior in this popular book. Reading it will help you to learn six universal principles of influence, how to use them in your career, and personal development efforts.
Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi
I discussed the power of building genuine relationships throughout this book. In Never Eat Alone, Ferrazzi lays out specific steps to doing so and connecting with other people in a way that yields results.
Organization
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen
Through this book, author David Allen transforms the way you work by providing the secret to stress-free productivity. According to his principle, productivity is directly proportional to our ability to relax. This book has created what is known as the GTD revolution, and it will help you get both mentally and physically organized.
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferris
In this book, Tim Ferris provides a step-by-step guide on how to be successful without working 80 h per week. This lifestyle design change can transform your life (it did for me) with tips on how to trade a long haul, tiring career into living more, and working less. I owe Ferris a huge “thank you” because this book changed the way I approach my career and life in general—for that I will be forever grateful.
The Relaxation Response by Herbert Benson and Miriam Z. Klipper
The Relaxation Response describes an effective method to relieve stress. The techniques shared by Dr. Benson and his colleagues have been used by health care professionals in treating patients suffering from heart conditions, high blood pressure, insomnia, and other physical problems. Applying some of these techniques in your engineering career could drastically reduce your stress levels.
The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma
This top bestseller shows how a lawyer finds wisdom and meaning during his spiritual crisis. This book will not only inspire you but also provide a step-by-step approach to living with a life of passion, purpose, and balance. I regularly review and practice the Ten Rituals of Radiant Living that Sharma covers in detail.
By eliminating the unnecessary and identifying the essential, you can focus on accomplishing important goals and be successful in life. In this book, Babauta offers some useful tips on how to break down goals into manageable tasks, create new and productive habits, and increase efficiency. Babauta has successfully provided resources that will help readers to be productive with less. This is a must read if you are feeling stressed and overwhelmed on a daily basis.
The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Success by Achieving More with Less by Richard Koch
In this book, Koch shares his secret to success using the 80/20 principle. This principle is about being more productive with much less effort, time, and resources. Highly effective people and organizations have employed the 80/20 Principle throughout the world and you will be amazed at how simple this principle is. Don’t just read this book, apply the principle in everything you do.
Leadership
Teamwork 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know by John C. Maxwell
Teamwork 101 provides many strategies for developing the leader inside of you. Many of the strategies in this book relate to effective communication and could also have been placed in that category. Maxwell is one of the most accomplished authors on the topic of leadership and has many other wonderful books in this field as well.
Real Power: Business Lessons from the Tao Te Ching by James A. Aurty & Stephen Mitchell
In this book, the authors presented a modern day guide for business leaders based on the world’s oldest leadership manual Tao Te Ching from the legendary teacher Lao-Tzu. They claim that the real power lies in the ability to transform a workplace from a source of stress into creativity and joy that eventually leads to business success. While I think it is difficult to gain agreement on some of these strategies in our fast-paced world, I agree they are extremely effective once implemented.
The One Minute Manager by Spencer Johnson and Ken H. Blanchard
This short but interesting book uses a story of a successful manager to present powerful ways to increase productivity, job satisfaction, and personal success that you can apply instantly in your career.
Drive From Within by Michael Jordan
This book is about how Michael Jordan approaches life, sports, and business. He describes how his phenomenal success was attributed to his teachers, mentors, and friends who have guided him throughout his life. What I love about this book is that Jordan’s burning desire to succeed jumps off the pages.
Energy Leadership by Bruce D. Schneider
The Energy Leadership principle has inspired many managers and leaders (including me) to achieve extraordinary results in whatever they do. This book motivates leaders into reaching their true potential and overcome any obstacles to achieving success. It will challenge you to look closely for the opportunity in every “problem” that you are faced with in your engineering career and life.
