Do you floss your teeth every day? Now, I do. But it was not always the case. When I was younger, I would slack all the time. After each dental appointment, I would proudly floss for a couple of weeks, feeling good about myself. But then my discipline would fade away and slowly vanish. I would first skip a day. I would then skip two. And then go a whole week without flossing… Things changed, however, when I moved and met my new dentist, John Vecchito. On my very first appointment, he looked at me and said with a broad shining smile: “Sergey, you should only floss those teeth that you want to keep in your mouth. Don’t you dare to floss all the other teeth. Okay?” John is now retired, but his message got stuck with me. Every time I brush my teeth, I hear his voice of wit and wisdom, and my hand grabs the flossing thread. I am glad to pass on his wisdom to you and tell you the following: you should only read these books if you want to live a happy, fulfilling, and productive life. If you don’t care about your present and future, don’t you dare to read. If you are in, join us every Friday for the personal development meeting between 12 and 1 pm at M3.032A to discuss the idea that success is not about doing extraordinary things but about doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.
What makes people succeed or fail at work and in life?
“The strangest secret ” Earl Nightingale
“Steps to the top” Zig Zigler
“Indispensable” Tony Zeiss
“Twelve pillars” Jim Rohn
What endows people with resilience, optimism, and mental strength?
“Learned optimism” Martin Seligman
“Flow” Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
“Mindset” Carol Dweck
“Drive” Daniel Pink
What is the most reliable path to professional flourishing?
“How to win friends and influence people” Dale Carnegie
“7 habits of highly effective people” Stephen Covey
“So good they can’t ignore you” Cal Newport
“Talent is overrated” Geoffrey Colvin
“The inner game of tennis” Timothy Gallway
How to rapidly learn hard things?
“Hidden potential” Adam Grant
“The first 20 hours” Josh Kaufman
“Atomic habits” James Clear
“Deep work” Cal Newport
“Peak” Anders Erricson
How to manage projects?
“High output management” Andrew Grove
“Getting to plan B” Mullins and Komisar
“Getting things done” Paul Allen
“Scrum” Jeff Sutherland
How to develop yourself as a thinker?
“Where good ideas come from” Steven Johnson
“What the best college teachers do” Ken Bain
“Thinking, fast and slow” Daniel Kahneman
“The art of thinking clearly” Rolf Dobelli
How to develop yourself as a speaker?
“Confessions of a public speaker” Scott Berkun
“The art of public speaking” Dale Carnegie
“Do you talk funny?” David Nihill
“How to speak” Patrick Winston
How to develop yourself as a writer?
“The craft of writing effectively” Larry McEnerney
“The elements of style” Strunk and White
“On writing well” William Zinsser
“Made to stick” Heath brothers
“Bird by bird” Anne Lamott
What makes people to work well together as a team?
“Crucial conversations” Grenny, Patterson, Switzler, McMillan, Gregory
“Group dynamics” Donelson Forsyth
“The culture code” Daniel Coyle
“Seeing systems” Barry Oshry
How to develop yourself as a mentor?
“What the best college teachers do” Ken Bain
“The Mentoring Manual” Julie Starr
“Mentoring 101” John Maxwell
“Make it stick” Peter Brown
How to develop an amazing memory?
“You can have an amazing memory” Dominic O’Brien
“Moonwalking with Einstein” Joshua Foer
“The memory book” Lorayne and Lucas
How to become financially independent?
“The millionaire next door” Stanley and Danko
“The richest man in Babylon” George Clason
“Think and grow rich” Napoleon Hill