10 Books Sure to Upgrade Your Mindsets

My primary source for upgrading my mindsets has been through the books that I read. If you are a bookworm like me, and want some great readings sure to help you develop success mindsets, I have compiled the list below.

If you would like more information about success mindsets, please check out my blog. And/or, if you might be interested in receiving a mindset assessment, coaching, training, or consulting related to success mindsets for yourself, your team, your department, or your organization, check out my website, or send me an email:

10 Books That Will Help You Develop The Mindset Of A Boss

Before I decided to start investing in personal development, my mindset was all over the place. I started my personal growth journey in late spring of 2015, right after I graduated college. On the outside I seemed like I had it together and was on a successful path. I graduated college Cum Laude and had a job in my dream industry lined up. To most I had it made. However, after I graduated, and things started to slow down, and I had nothing to do, all my emotions hit me like a ton of bricks. During this time of having nothing to do, I found myself depressed. I finally let myself grieve all that I had lost in just a couple months and it wasn’t pretty. My mindset needed a serious reset. Reading books like the ones I listed below helped me develop what I like to call a “bossed up” mindset. This list of books is for people looking to expand their mindset in ways most people won’t.

1. You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero

This book has helped me tremendously with seeing my value! I’ve accepted that my battle with self-doubt will be a lifetime one but there are ways to remind yourself of your greatness. This can include having self-mantras, keeping a log of nice things people have said, keeping a list of your accomplishments, or a playlist of videos that makes you feel powerful. In this book, best-selling author and success coach Jen Sincero, explains her journey with overcoming self-doubt in a humorous and simple way. After reading this book, you’ll walk away with greatly improved confidence and basking in your brilliance. Because you are brilliant, I know it and deep down you know it too.

Reading this book made me feel like I was reading a story about myself. I can relate to Elaine’s story so much! Elaine managed to become the Editor-in-Chief of Teen Vogue by age 30, yet throughout it all she struggled with feeling like she was enough. In her book, she discusses her journey. She unpacks profound lessons on race, identity, power, ambition, love and finding her voice. After reading this you’ll feel ready to face fear and persevere towards your goals.

3. Unfu*k Yourself: Get Out of Your Head and Into Your Life by Gary John Bishop

If you couldn’t tell by the title, this book is for action takers! This book is the harsh truth you don’t want to hear but need to. Best-selling author and life coach Gary Bishop show you exactly how to silence that lying inner critic and strive for something better. Except a lot of curse words and advice on how to get unstuck. This book will remind you that all the answers you seek are already within you, you just have to extract them.

4. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson

Blogger and author Mark Manson believes that life’s struggles give it meaning, and that the mindless positivity of typical self-help books is neither practical nor helpful. His unconventional approach to self-help is what made me want to read this book. Mark believes that our ability to turn lemons into lemonade is not what improves our lives. Instead he argues that we need to get better at stomaching lemons. Meaning just reframing your thoughts to be more positive won’t do the trick but learning to become better at dealing with adversity will be life changing. After reading this book, you’ll feel more comfortable confronting your painful truths and moving forward.

5. Disrupt-Her: A Manifesto for the Modern Woman by Miki Agrawal

I posted a review of this book on Instagram that led me to meet the author, who is an entrepreneur I admire. Don’t believe me, click here for proof. I love Miki’s perspective on creatively disrupting an industry and I was enlightened by her way of thinking. As the creator of innovative companies like Thinx and hellotushy, she knows a thing or two about how to identify what’s no longer serving us and create new things that will. This book is perfect for women seeking to radically question the status quo. After reading this, you’ll start questioning a lot of things in your life and start to seek better.

6. Year Of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person by Shonda Rhime

Can you imagine pushing yourself to say yes to all the opportunities that come your way for an entire year? As someone who loves social experiments like this, I certainly am up for the challenge. Shonda Rhimes, the creator of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal and executive producer of How to Get Away with Murder reveals an intimate perspective into her life and how saying yes for a chance altered her life. After reading this book, you’ll feel compelled to say yes to more “scary” opportunities. This book made me reevaluate times where I said no because of fear. After reading this I chose to say yes more often. Like to a new job, to starting my blog, and to hosting my own networking events.

7. The ONE Thing by Gary W. Keller and Jay Papasan

This book was challenging for me to read. As a multi-passionate and multi-talented person, I struggle with picking one thing to focus on. If you struggle with that as well, I see you and I know how you feel. This book will be a game changer for you. Real estate moguls Gary and Jay discuss how focusing on one thing helped them cut through the clutter, achieve better results in less time, lower stress, overcome that overwhelmed feeling and stay on track. After reading this book, you’ll understand why focusing on your one thing will enhance your overall well-being including your work, personal, family and spiritual aspects of your life.

8. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck

Carol is one of the world’s leading researchers in the field of personality, social psychology and developmental psychology. This book will help you understand how your brain works, how certain moments in your life have defined how you view certain things and how you can develop a growth mindset, despite any adversity that you’ve been through. If you’re not into reading books that reference research findings, you may not enjoy this one. I love reading about scientific findings and how it affects our behavior, that’s probably why I work in the marketing field. After reading this book, you’ll have a better understanding of the difference between a fixed and growth mindset and how you can acquire a growth mindset in all aspects of your life. It’s not our abilities or talents that lead us to success but rather our mindset. If more people understand the power of their mind, the world would be a MUCH better place.

9. Best Self: Be You, Only Better by Mike Bayer

I’m starting to realize that I really love books written by life coaches. This one is full of tangible advice! Not only does Mike teach you about how to improve various aspects of your life but he provides activities to drill the principles into your head. I promise if you actually do the exercises (I had to push myself to do them) you’ll become more self-aware than you’ve ever been. You’ll start to understand your habits and figure out how to live authentically. He discusses each of the spheres of your life including your social life, personal life, health, education, relationships, employment and spiritual development.

Brené Brown is my spirit animal. Reading her books is what taught me the importance of being vulnerable and how to reframe shame and choose courage instead. She explains throughout the book that every time we are introduced to someone new, try to be creative, or start a difficult conversation, we take a risk. We feel uncertain and exposed. We feel vulnerable. Most of us try to fight those feelings because we strive to appear perfect. When there is no perfect person or perfect time and waiting for things to feel perfect will only damage our life experiences. She discusses why numbing your sadness also numbs your joy and how to embrace all of your emotions. This is a must read, you won’t perceive your emotions in the same way after reading this book. I’m so grateful to have read this early on in my personal development journey.

10 Books for a Better Money Mindset

10 Books for a Better Money Mindset

The list of personal finance and investing books is pretty extensive. This is not that list. While those books can be helpful, many get very technical, and if your mindset isn’t in the right place to take in that knowledge – what is the point? Plus, technical knowledge alone won’t lead you towards a wealthy and rich life (financial or otherwise). A lot of what holds people back from success are their thoughts and beliefs about money.

What stories do you tell yourself about money?

For some, and as society has come to reinforce, is that money is the root of all evil, or that rich people are greedy, or some other negative belief along those lines. Living with a negative or scarce mindset will never lead you to a positive or abundant life. In fact, research shows that one of the BEST predictors of success in life is one’s mindset.

Get your mind right, get your life right!

So then, what is this list? This is a list of books for a better money mindset. Some talk specifically about money, others don’t, but all should spark something in your mind and help you view the world, and your money in a different and more positive way. Let’s get to it!

1. Mindset by Carol Dweck

This is an obvious first choice because, well, this book is THE book about mindset. There are decades of research behind this book that gets translated into specific, actionable, and tangible detail. Dweck has a very compelling view of why we should look differently at failure and learning. Further, this book helps you to evaluate if you are approaching your money from a fixed or growth perspective. There is a huge difference, which is why I recommend this book.

You can pick it up here.

2. Start with Why by Simon Sinek

Simon Sinek is a genius when it comes to getting to the heart of why you should do something, not how. Why do you want more money? Certainly, it’s not to have more pieces of paper with dead Presidents on them laying around. Defining what is truly behind your financial goals will help propel you in the right direction. You will discover that money is never really the WHY.

The book is here (or audiobook). Sinek also has a powerful TED Talk around this concept as well.

3. The Power of Broke by Daymond John

Shark Tank investor and entrepreneur Daymond John was broke with a $40 budget when he was starting his clothing brand FUBU, which today is a $6 billion brand. How is that for bootstrapping?! This book is great for putting money into perspective. It shows that it doesn’t always take money to make money (another disempowering colloquialism that society has)- the book has so many perfect examples of this. Use your lack of financial resources to your advantage. We also recommend this book to those well off because it can reignite a hustle you may have lost along the way.

This is a must-read for anyone- get it here or on audiobook.

4. The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle

This book is grounded in science. It doesn’t skip straight to the “here’s how it works, go do that”, instead, it helps you understand what influences the development of your skills and as a result helps you become a better learner in all areas. This book has expanded my mind and it is another great perspective builder. There are practical stories and examples of the concepts. Above all, Coyle shows how all of us can achieve our full potential (and the best money mindset) if we set about training our brains in the right way.

Check it out here, or again on audiobook.

5. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

This is a classic and one of those books I revisit at least once a year. It is that good. If you haven’t read it, stop what you are doing and read it already. In fact, I believe this should be required reading for high school students. In the book, Napoleon Hill recounts his research of more than 500 self-made millionaires (keep in mind the book was originally published in 1937) and then he boils down the “secret” to building wealth into 13 principles and reveals “major causes of failure” that hold many of us back from getting rich. This should really be on every list of books for a better money mindset, or self-improvement book list in general.

If you haven’t read it, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy today. Get one for yourself and two more as gifts for a recent grad.

6. The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey

I had to convince my wife to read this because she isn’t a huge Tennis fan, she read it and loved it. So, if you are not a big Tennis Fan either, simply ignore the title and read on. This book is about how to master your inner dialog. The inner game of tennis theory states that two opposing mindsets are always battling. The first, the “teller” mind which is filled with self-judgments and criticism. This mindset wants to over-control your performance. The second “doer” mindset is the best mindset for peak performance and happens when you are free and react with your game. You must master both. Again, master your mind- master your money.

Definitely worth a read. You can pick it up here.

7. The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley Ph.D.

This book examines the lives of unlikely, unexpected millionaires. It goes into the habits, careers, and relationships that shape these people. Some of the material is dated to the 90’s but the concept is still applicable today- especially the principle that wealth is more common than you would think, actually it that might be even more relevant today. There is lots of practical advice in this classic book and one worth checking out.

Available in paperback or audiobook.

8. The Other 90% by Robert K. Cooper

I believe there are two main problems with the majority of self-help and leadership books. First, the vast majority of self-improvement books don’t seem to challenge conventional thinking in any meaningful way, nor do they bring about fresh insights. Second, they tend to offer oversimplified platitudes about success. The other 90% goes in the opposite direction. Dr. Robert Cooper, a neuroscience pioneer, urges us to take a radically different view of human capacity. We are mostly unused potential, he says, employing less than 10 percent of our brilliance or hidden talents. This book provides action steps to develop your full potential in all areas of your life.

9. Unfu*k Yourself by Gary John Bishop

I love this book because it offers a no-BS, tough-love approach to help you move past self-imposed limitations. It is a great alternative to cozy, everything is rainbows, self-help books. Beyond the catchy title, it offers practical insights on fostering the will for change, changing your language to serve you, and overcoming analysis paralysis. It drives home the point, quite bluntly, that you currently have the life (and the money mindset) that you are willing to put up with. It is certainly a refreshing read and why it made our list of books for a better money mindset.

Pick up the paperback or audiobook here.

10. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

Habits around money can either be the most empowering or the most detrimental. This book walks you through everything you need to know about breaking and forming habits that will transform your life, and of course your money mindset. This book is a fascinating account of recent research into habits and worth the time to read it. What cues some of your current money habits? What rewards do you have in place for your good habits? Do you have a plan in place to create better habits around money? This book dives into it all. Change might not be fast and it isn’t always easy. But with time and effort, almost any habit can be reshaped.

The paperback or the audiobook is great!

There you have it! Our top Ten Books for a Better Money Mindset. Have you read any of these already? Are there others you would add to the list? We hope you find value in these and that at least one resonates with you in a way that makes you want to intentionally improve your mindset, because if you improve your mindset- you improve your life!

What’s next?

Reading all these books is a great starting place to helping to develop a better money mindset, however, that’s not where it should end. We want to be by your side in your journey. Let’s talk! We offer free 30-minute consultation calls that can help get your questions answered and you pointed in the right direction towards your goals. Reach out to us to set up a call and use the link below for the time that works best for you!

Pin for later….

Please note this post includes affiliate ad links -As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.