Books are one of the foundations of my life, and there's a simple reason why: I’ve seen how they can positively impact it.. Once you experience the benefits from reading a good book it's hard to stop.

While I don't represent every book all at once or all the time, they are undeniably influential. They shape my worldview, emotions, problem-solving methods, interactions with people, time management, and career development — all these aspects and much more.

I think, therefore I am. I read, therefore I think. I read, therefore I am.

When I started to prepare for this article, something unexpected happened. Every book on this list triggered a memory, a thought, a feeling. I realized that I am not just a collection of books, but a collection of experiences, thoughts, and feelings that these books have brought me. And because I wanted to share this experience with you, so I decided to pick a nearly random number and select 42 titles that have had a significant impact on my life.

First challenge: how to write about them?

Some of them are about work, others about philosophy, and some don't fit into any category. So I focused on what might be helpful for you. I decided to share why I read them, what I was looking for, what I found, and how it helped me in various situations.

Books are not just about the content, but also about the context. The context of your life, your career, your relationships, your goals, your dreams. I hope that by sharing my context, you will find at least one thing that resonates with you and get inspired to read.

Books I Didn't Look for but Just Appeared in My Life

1. The Design of Everyday Things Goodreads

I found this one lying by the window in the office where I started my first job as a web designer. It was the first book that entirely changed my perspective on what user experience really means. The book was about doorknobs, light switches, and other everyday things that we don't look closely enough at. I was surprised by how much I could apply to designing websites and applications. When you look at something, do you know how to use it? Is it intuitive, easy to use? This book made me think about these questions, and I started to look at the world differently. It changed my path from designing only to impress to something much more important: designing things that are easy to use and understand. Later, I found out the owner of the book. Thank you, Cyryl!

2. Me, Myself, and Us: The Science of Personality and the Art of Well-Being Goodreads

When I started my first job as a manager, I began alongside two of my colleagues. The three of us met with the CEO of the company, who surprised us by giving us a book. I've never spoken with him about what this book meant to him, but years later, I understood what it means to share a book that you deeply care about. What about personalities? The book helped me understand that it's unrealistic to label someone as purely extroverted or introverted. Every person is a mix of both, and we can change our behavior to fit the situation... at a cost. This knowledge not only helped me understand myself better but also to understand others and help them understand themselves. It helped me appreciate quiet time and why I needed it. The book contributed significantly to how I managed my burnout.

3. The Why Cafe Goodreads

In a world of remote work, we try to stay in touch with the people we collaborate with. At the end of one such social 1:1 call with a colleague, I asked for a book recommendation. You can learn a lot about people by asking them what they enjoy reading. "Why Cafe" tells the story of a man who gets lost on a highway, finds a cafe, and meets an enigmatic waitress who asks him some unexpected, strange questions about life. She shares a tale about a turtle waiting for a sea current to appear to get him where he wants. The book is about finding your own current, your own way. If you try to swim as hard as you can and aren’t getting any results, maybe you are swimming against the current. Maybe you should wait for the right moment. This book helped me better acknowledge that sometimes it's better to wait, to be patient, and to let things happen. Once you have a feeling that you are on the right path, you can use your strength, do the work, and significantly increase your chances of success. It's not a solution to everything, but a way to maintain your sanity and keep your energy for the right moment.

4. On bullshit Goodreads

I hated that book. I thought I wasted time reading 67 pages wondering what is bullshit and what is not. Surprisingly, I found it appearing again and again in my mind on multiple occasions. I read it based on book recommendations exchanged with a colleague, learned about the title, and thought—why not? The book presents the idea that there is a truth, there is a lie, and... there is another. It's not a lie, but it's not the truth either. It's a distraction. The person using this rhetorical device doesn't care about the content because they want to redirect your attention. Only after some time did I start to notice it repeatedly. I can't hate something that taught me a life lesson! It reveals a bit more gray between the black and white of life.

Books to Solve Specific Problems

I have encountered many situations where I was out of ideas. Nothing I knew worked. What then? I'm a simple person, so once I experienced how reading a book provides a new way of thinking about a problem, I started to look for more. I sought books that would help me solve the problems I faced at the moment. I looked for books that would help me understand the problems better, find solutions, and make decisions. I searched for books that would help me grow.

5. The Manager's Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and Change Goodreads

I was just promoted to a manager position. Saying it didn't start well is an understatement. After a new level in the company structure was introduced, people were supposed to be divided to report to newly appointed team leaders. As the youngest and least experienced, I could only observe the poll results showing how people answered the question: "On a scale from 1-10, how much do you NOT want to report to this person?" I was the last one. Manager's Path provided me with structure and guidance on what being a manager is all about. Even though I had a rocky start, I gained the confidence that I have the tools to at least try. And most of all, it helped lower my stress level.

6. The 4-Hour Body Goodreads

Problem was quite simple. I was hitting my weight records fueled by office donuts, poor habits and lack of exercise. The contents of this book were too good to be true but I decided to give it a try. So I ordered some recommended magicall pills, followed the tips from the book and I cured myself from... naive thinking. My other attempts to loose weight were way more successful than this one but I understood that there are no shortcuts to getting in shape than keeping the calorie deficit. All you can do is to support your journey with some helpers, but the work is still yours.

7. Never Split the Difference Goodreads

One day, a member of my team refused to work. He was a good developer, but he was unhappy with his work environment and requested a special room so he could work alone. I tried to negotiate with him, but he was unwilling to compromise. Noise-cancelling headphones wouldn't work for him. Remote work? Nope. The company was not able to suddenly provide him with a separate room. I felt stuck. I started searching the web for knowledge on negotiations, and that's how I found the book Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss. I devoured the pages in a couple of days and decided to apply what I had learned with the team member. I used one of the techniques called "broken record'. It felt strange to repeat the same question over and over again, but it worked. I discovered the real reasons behind his aggressive behavior and was able to collaborate with HR on this case using the new information I had obtained.

Later in life, I used other tips from the book. For salary negotiations, for getting the better price for a piece of land. Happy with the results, I shared the tips with some friends, and it helped them too.

8. Meetings Suck Goodreads

Every other week during our team retrospectives, there was always one post-it on the board: "Let's skip meetings; they are unproductive." This sentiment persisted for months. I wanted retrospectives that truly moved the team forward. I desired meetings that were not a waste of time. I wanted to cultivate a happy team environment, and if meetings were an issue, I was determined to solve it. I found a book that helped me understand what was wrong with our meetings and how to fix them. It wasn’t rocket science—it was about setting the right agenda, inviting the right people, and having the appropriate mindset and expectations for what the meeting should achieve. To implement such change, you need a compelling story that helps people envision a world where meetings don't suck, along with a lot of perseverance. It didn't happen overnight, but I began to see results. People became more engaged, more focused, and more productive. Eventually, that post-it disappeared from the board.

9. Clean Code Goodreads

When I started learning how to code, I had one goal: to bring some life into my web design mockups. I couldn't tell the difference between jQuery and JavaScript. I was lucky enough to leverage my mixed skills as a poor coder and an under-average designer to find a job. When I started working with a team of developers, I realized that my code was not good. I was criticized every day for writing some silly functions. To stay there, I knew I had to grow. I had to grow fast. Searching the web with the phrase "how to become a better developer, book recommendations" provided some results. I devoured JavaScript: The Good Parts and tried my best to understand the contents of Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja, but it was mostly about language mechanics. Clean code was different. I found my first understanding of how code could be written to improve the happiness of people working with it. That shaped the path of my career.

10. Bigger, Leaner, Stronger Goodreads

At the age of 29, I had a series of failed attempts at going to the gym. I couldn't maintain a routine, nor could I see the results I desired. I belonged to the group that made gym subscriptions profitable for the owners. Knowing that books are a fuel for motivation, I searched for a firestarter. I found a book that promised to help me get bigger, leaner, and stronger. The author equipped me with knowledge about the impact of food, sets of exercises, and the right mindset. I found a local gym with rusty irons, and that was exactly what I needed. Eat, sleep, pump the iron, repeat. I surprised myself with the results by providing enough protein to get myself in shape. I wasn't the biggest, leanest, or strongest, but I was better than I was before. And that was enough. This created a new persona in me—the one that is unafraid of hard things and puts in the effort.

11. The Intelligent Investor Goodreads

One time, I read on Twitter that it's a super solid strategy to put the extra money from your salary into something called ETFs—Exchange-Traded Funds. Low risk, long-term reward. After my failed cryptocurrency gambling attempts, this sounded like a good idea. I learned how to create a brokerage account and selected a low-cost one. I invested in those famous ETFs and waited. After two years, my results were not satisfying. I had heard that people were earning some crazy money in the market after COVID, but not being one of them hurt. While I invested in foreign stocks, I hadn't taken into account currency differences. As the stocks were rising, my home currency was dropping, and all the stock gains vanished. I asked myself a question: What do other people know that I don't? My search began with the writings of Benjamin Graham and a book he wrote in 1949. I learned that even though the markets are changing, people aren't. They are still greedy, and they are still fearful. I continued making mistakes, but I learned how to make them less painful. It was a great start for exploring other books on the topic.

12. Super Trader: Make Consistent Profits in Good and Bad Markets Goodreads

I didn't know what this book was even about when I bought it, but it had a high rating on Goodreads. I had my first small win in the market, but the feeling of success was quickly replaced by the despair of the next failed trade. Watching the stock I owned go down was not a pleasant experience. I wanted to know how to avoid such situations, so I continued reading. I expected some technical knowledge about the market, but it was all about psychology... and it was brutal. The book asked many questions, making me feel uncomfortable, but that was the goal. One of the strongest points from the book was a technique called "belief examination." It wasn't about the stock market; it was about asking yourself, "What do you believe in and why? What good comes from it? What bad? How did it happen that you started to believe?" This mental model helps me understand my own beliefs, observe them, analyze, and adjust.

13. How to Talk to Anyone Goodreads

I have to admit, in the early years of my career, I was overly focused on productivity. It wasn't too bad, but it had its cons. At some point, I treated small talk as a distraction, but years later, this approach started to hit me back. The goal was to move from awkward to good enough. Two years of the pandemic didn't help either, but blaming COVID for everything means no growth. The same pattern: searching with the tag "communication" brought some results. How to Talk to Anyone shared some good tips, especially a crucial mental model. I had to replace my previous belief: "small talk === distraction" with something more suitable. The book provided me with "small talk === vibe check." This change alone was enough to balance the scale.

14. Ego Is the Enemy Goodreads

Another year, another performance review. I was caught by surprise by one piece of feedback. It ties back to a previous book. I was overly focused on productivity and too focused on results. I asked myself, "What am I not seeing?" It's a hard question to answer yourself because our worldview is built based on our experiences and our beliefs; at some point, we assume that what we know is true. But something wasn't right. I came back to the list of personal growth recommendations, and one of the titles caught my attention. Ego Is the Enemy shed some light on how much growth I was missing if I wasn't able to see my own ego. It's not about being humble; it's about being able to see the world as it is, not as you want it to be. That book was my personal game changer. I've even heard that I must have had an evil twin brother because such a change of heart seemed impossible. But it was. And it was worth it.

Books to Broaden My Horizons

Having seen how one book can make a difference and how multiple books can create huge difference, I was motivated to explore further. Most of the titles here are from different recommendation lists like "top 10 books to read before death as a software engineer" or based on quotes I've found on Twitter.

15. The Lean Startup Goodreads

It was one of the first recommendations in a startup academy I joined. The basic idea of the book is quite simple: how to do more with less and how to validate your ideas as early as possible. To verify any idea, you don't need to build the final product you aim for. Asking people if they would be interested in a solution to their problem is a great start. I guess most of us have personal stories where we invested our time and resources only to learn that it made no sense. In UX design, it's called "guerrilla testing," where you draw the UI on a piece of paper and ask people how they would interact with it. Of course, it's not a silver bullet, but it's a great start. In programming, you can add some dummy data instead of introducing changes in the API. In design, you can skip high-fidelity designs and share mockups or sketches. Validating ideas is not just a startup thing; it's a life skill.

16. How to Win at the Sport of Business Goodreads

This book is one of the reasons I continue reading. In one of the stories, the author highlights that the cost of a good book is a joke compared to how much you gain from it. In another story, he writes about a meeting where he reluctantly raised his hand to share something he had read about. He was sure that it was common knowledge because it could be found in a book. But it wasn't. People appreciated his insight. He realized that the moment he started reading books, he began to stay ahead of the game, and by the time others realized this, it would be too late to keep up with him. I was inspired by this story and started reading more since then. If my role involves spending hours going through book contents and finding nuggets of wisdom, I will do it because it helps move the needle.

17. The Hard Thing About Hard Things Goodreads

This title was another recommendation on the reading list for people interested in startups. Ben Horowitz tells stories about what it takes to run a company in a highly competitive world. My main inspiration was the quote: “Ben, those silver bullets that you and Mike are looking for are fine and good, but our web server is five times slower. There is no silver bullet that’s going to fix that. No, we are going to have to use a lot of lead bullets.” It reminds me that there are times when you have two options: you can spend your time looking for magical quick wins, or you can spend your time doing the hard work. People don't like hard work because it's hard, and they prefer to look for easy options. They stay in limbo, not being able to find one when it's time to roll up their sleeves and get the job done. Being aware of that and being able to do it is a superpower. It can also shoot you in the foot if it's the first thing you do without looking for clever solutions, but it's a great tool to have in your toolbox.

18. The Power of Now Goodreads

The book got me laughing at myself in a very unexpected way. In the beginning, it asks the reader to do an exercise: "close your eyes and try to only observe your thoughts". Whenever they arise, let them pass without engaging with any of them. Then, the author asks, "Who is observing the thoughts?" I was surprised that I couldn't answer this question immediately. If I can observe my thoughts, then it means I am not my thoughts. Are thoughts really mine, or am I just a resident inside my brain? When I arrived at that conclusion, I laughed so hard because it was the first time I felt such separation. This mental trick is quite useful because it helps you better understand yourself. It's not easy, and it's not something you do every time you think, but when things get messy and stressful, it's good to remember this.

19. Thinking, Fast and Slow Goodreads

Daniel Kahneman is a psychologist who won the Nobel Prize in Economics. He is renowned for his work on decision-making and behavioral economics. The main point of his book, Thinking, Fast and Slow, is that we, as humans, operate using two distinct thinking systems. System 1 is fast, automatic, intuitive, and emotional, while System 2 is slow, deliberate, logical, and effortful. The author explores various cognitive biases through a series of thought experiments, allowing readers to recognize their own mistakes. For me, it was a fantastic way to expand my awareness of how thinking operates. Reading all the stories about how people think wrongly allowed me to relate to many past situations. It was one more step towards achieving a clear mind.

20. Man’s Search for Meaning Goodreads

Man's Search for Meaning tells the grim story of Viktor Frankl, a psychiatrist who survived the concentration camps during World War II. When a person is stripped of everything, what is left? Viktor Frankl finds an answer to this profound question. During his time in the camp, he realized that the people who survived were those who had a purpose. They had a reason to live and a reason to endure the suffering. Thankfully, most of us do not experience such extreme conditions, but the question remains: What is your purpose? If we understand that people are seeking meaning in their lives, we can better communicate with them. We can better understand their expectations and address them. It's not always about the money; it's about purpose. At the time of reading the book, I worked in a team that was struggling with motivation. Trying to find something bigger than just the work itself helped to move the needle. Sometimes it was as simple as changing the project scope so that by the end of the next two weeks, we could see some meaningful results. Other times, it was about changing the story we told.

21. Start with Why Goodreads

Start with Why shares the same core concept as the previous book—the importance of purpose. Simon Sinek introduces the Golden Circle framework: the Why, the How, and the What. Most companies start with the What, then move to the How, and only then attempt to find the Why. However, the companies that begin with the Why are the ones that inspire people and offer something more than just the product itself. Sometimes it's a sense of belonging; other times, it's a way of life. The author concludes that people don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it. He supports this conclusion through an analysis of multiple companies and how they marketed their products. When I observe the same pattern repeated in multiple books, I start to think, "Oh, there must be something more to it."

22. Atomic Habits Goodreads

This book is the most practical one on the list. James Clear writes about habits and how they shape our lives. The main idea is that small changes in our habits can lead to big changes in our lives. The author writes about the habit loop: cue, craving, response, reward. He discusses the importance of the environment, identity, and small changes. The book is full of ready-to-apply advice on how to build good habits and break bad ones. It reiterates the same notion as the two previous ones on the list: that humans are looking for something bigger than the everyday hustle. The strongest habit changes come once you align your habits with your purpose or form a new one. There is a huge difference between "I want to go to the gym" and "I want to be healthy." The first one is a chore; the second one is a lifestyle.

23. Good to Great Goodreads

Jim Collins tries to find common traits among companies that were not only good but also became the top in their field. One of them that particularly spoke to me was the hedgehog concept. The hedgehog concept is about finding the intersection of three circles: what you are passionate about, what you can be the best in the world at, and what brings you money. I read this book when I had progressed meaningfully (at least in my own eyes) in frontend engineering, and I was wondering, "What's next? Should I learn another frontend framework? Should I dive into the backend?" I tried to learn Scala, but without a passion for and use of the language, it was a struggle. At the time, I decided to push forward with what I was good at. I was passionate about the frontend, I was good at it, and it was bringing me money. I explored some complementary skills that increased my output in the team, such as communication, API design, testing, and planning, but I tried not to spread myself thin across multiple fields. So, what is the best time to truly expand your horizons? When your foundations are solid.

24. Mindset Goodreads

If you tell yourself that you are a skilled software engineer and then you are faced with a problem you can't solve, what do you do? If you have a fixed mindset, you will think that you are not good enough, that you are not smart enough. If you have a growth mindset, you will think that you are not good enough yet, that you are not smart enough yet. The difference is subtle, but it's huge. The fixed mindset is about the belief that you are born with a certain amount of talent and you can't change it. The growth mindset is about the belief that you can grow, that you can learn, and that you can improve. Thoughts from this book have been helping me through years to push through obstacles and my own weaknesses. I collect helpful mental models, and this book has one of them.

25. Mastery Goodreads

There is a saying that, "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with." With books, you can spend time with people you never met. Robert Greene brings us personas like Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, and many more. He presents how their mastery was achieved in phases: Apprenticeship, Creative-Active, and Mastery. Reading about how the Greats dealt with their situations and found ways to grow and make an impact filled me with confidence that I can do the same. It also helped me understand that the path to mastery is not a straight line. It's full of ups and downs, failures and successes, hard work, and dedication that cannot be faked.

26. Tribe Of Mentors Goodreads

When I continued to grow (at least that’s what I felt!), I kept asking myself, "Am I going in the right direction?" Should I find a mentor or seek out an entire tribe to find the answer? Tim Ferriss's take on the book was to ask the same questions to numerous people who had achieved meaningful goals. The results? There is no one way. Knowing that there are multiple ways of getting where you want (some sort of success that feels good) is quite comforting. Besides diving into the personalities of the people interviewed for the book to find inspiration, I was able to validate my own path. It wasn't a case of confirmation bias or an aha moment when you find a description that matches yours 100%. It was the general vibe coming out of all their answers.

27. The Obstacle Is the Way Goodreads

If you already know that Ego is the Enemy, then you know what to avoid. But this another entry based on Stoic philosophy shows where to go. Having multiple stories I could relate to helped substantially in the moments when I had to make a decision. When you look at the different options, you can evaluate them based on the return on investment, but there are returns that are not always visible. They are your character. Going through the hard way helps you realize you can make it. Once you make it, you have confidence in yourself that when the next obstacle comes into your life, you will deal with it. And that's what is hard to measure.

28. Clear Thinking Goodreads

Do you know how to think clearly? How to be a rational person? Of course you do. So how does this book help? It tells you when to do that. The author shares four ways your own brain can play situations against you. But most importantly, it provides a way to defend yourself against... yourself. The military teaches you to know the enemy, and that's the reason why I picked this book. One of the best (but there are many!) fragments was about a real understanding of the problem. In software engineering, I could apply the advice the author shares the next day already. What is it about? When people speak about the problem, they share only their vision of what they think the issue is. When the second person joins the discussions, she has only the bits shared by the first one. Those bits are then connected with her own understanding, and the solution is formed. But because not all of the information is shared between them, they might address different problems, maybe not even the real one. When I explored this pattern, I understood how much of the team's effectiveness we lose by not diving into the details, by jumping into solution mode instead. If books on this list were ranked, this would be at the top.

29. Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go Goodreads

It gets more serious when you move from an individual contributor to the team lead position. You are no longer responsible for one person or yourself, but for the people on the team. When it happened to me, I thought that solely relying on my own experience in moving from junior to senior was not enough to support other engineers. This book offered a perspective on how growth could look—not only the common vertical path but also the horizontal one. There are times when you will benefit from improving the skills you currently have, but other times may require you to develop skills you don't possess yet. For software engineers, this might involve exploring how the business works or learning project management. As there is no simple answer to "What next?" I found one of the most profound thoughts in the book: you don't need to have the best answers; you need to have the best questions. I was coming back to this quote again and again, and it never failed me.

30. The Phoenix Project Goodreads

Novel about IT department? Why not! The author tells the engaging story about the unimaginable recovery from the disaster in the IT project which rises like a mythic phoenix from the complete failure to groundbreaking success in the company. The plot unravels around the theory of constraints which also in a real life determines the effectiveness of every action we take. I still remember my time when we were optimising the performance of the application. I worked for three weeks on the change just to realise that there was no visible impact only because it was not the bottleneck. It didn't mean that it was not valuable, but there was bigger problem to solve that was overshadowing the the smaller one I handled. The quote I remind myself everyday is: "every work beside the bottleneck is an illusion". It helps me to focus on the most important thing at the moment because I don't want to live through the letdown I had before again.

31. First, Break All the Rules Goodreads

There is a lot of common knowledge about management. The problem is that some views have become outdated, not because they are old, but because the type of work we do has changed throughout the years. This book provides guidance on what makes a great manager today. I would be skeptical if it were just the author sharing his opinion, but thankfully it's based on modern Gallup research with 80,000 managers, which is strong social proof. As a fan of questions, I was happy to receive a set of 12 of these questions as a framework for measuring engagement at work. They provide a great way to kickstart not-so-easy talks about motivation and satisfaction on a deeper level than just setting personal goals every quarter. I strongly believe answers to those questions help truly understand the other person and introduce meaningful improvement. I only wish they were asked more often.

32. How to Win Friends & Influence People Goodreads

This is one of the controversial books. Some people love it; some people hate it. Why? The set of advice Dale Carnegie shares has been reviewed as manipulation or more like people-pleasing rather than creating meaningful relationships. The people who love it probably found that advice helpful in their lives. I found it helpful. The author shares his own experiences and observations on dealing with people. His goal was not to manipulate them but to understand them. His simplistic approach to communication with others might be seen as arrogant, but only if we assume he had malicious intent. If we assume he wanted to help, then we can see the value in his advice. For me, it was definitely a good entry into the world of communication. I was able to see the patterns in the conversations I had and adjust my approach to better suit the situation.

33. Co-Active Coaching Goodreads

While micromanaging has gained a bad reputation, it is still useful when a person is new to the job. But what about those who are not new? It undermines their autonomy and reduces trust. This is where coaching comes in—not the coaching that tells you what to do, but the coaching that helps you find the answers yourself. The book provides a framework for coaching sessions and the questions that can be asked. It's not about the answers; it's again about the questions. Not knowing the difference can harm the relationship between the manager and the employee. Not widening your management toolset can harm the team. I found the book helpful in situations where I was not able to help the person directly. I was able to ask the right questions and help them find the answers themselves. It was empowering for them, and it was empowering for me.

34. The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization Goodreads

The book is about systems thinking. The author writes about the five disciplines that are necessary to build a learning organization. The first one is personal mastery, the second is mental models, the third is shared vision, the fourth is team learning, and the fifth is systems thinking. The author discusses the importance of systems thinking and how it can help understand complex problems. The book is full of examples and stories that help explain the concepts. It is helpful for moving away from linear thinking and starting to see the bigger picture. Observing and acting on individual parts might be difficult; it's about the whole system.

35. Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers Goodreads

When I was getting into the software development world, Clean Code was definitely a thing. It was a great start, but it was not enough; it was just about the code, and code is not the only thing that matters. In The Clean Coder, I found some great baselines for what it means to work as a professional software developer. It helped a lot to move from being a code monkey to someone who took a bit more responsibility for his work. I remember that when I was reading the book, there was a debate about whether the employer should provide you with some additional time to learn new things. The author provides a great argument that it's not the employer's responsibility to make you better; it's your responsibility. It's your career, it's your life. He relates how ridiculous it would be to ask the employer for time to learn something new if you were a plumber. It spoke to me, and I started to take my career more seriously. Not too much, but definitely in a better direction.

36. Software Craftsmanship Goodreads

I had already been coding for a couple of years. I had already been reading books about programming languages, design patterns, and refactoring. I had already been trying to apply best practices in my work. But I was still missing something. I was missing the mindset, and I found a great mental model within Software Craftsmanship. I could write here about the principles the author shared, but I think the most important thing I got from the book was that I started being proud of what I create. I started to treat code as a craft and enjoy the quality of the work. There are times when you have to deliver code fast, but there are times when you can take your time and make it great. Those extra hours I spent on making the code better and not stopping at the first implementation were the hours that made me a better developer, but most importantly, someone who truly enjoys what they do.

37. The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey Goodreads

The One Minute Manager series has a pretty simple concept: one book, one idea. Meeting the Monkey was the particular one that spoke to me. As a manager, you meet different people with different problems to be solved. To feel helpful, it's natural to take the problem from the person and solve it yourself, especially if your previous position was all about solving problems. The problem is the monkey. The monkey jumps onto your shoulders, and the person is free. But you are not. Such an approach is simply not scalable and has to be dealt with differently. The solution is to provide the person who brings the monkey with the capabilities to solve the problem, to give them the rod so they can fish for their own fish.

38.Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds Goodreads

Sometimes you don't need the complicated mental models, the complex theories, the deep thoughts. Sometimes you need the simple story. Can't Hurt Me tells the simple story of David Goggins: "You can do more than you think you can." The book offers actionable advice on how to push yourself beyond your current limits. The author shares his own story of how he went from a fat, lazy person to a Navy SEAL and ultra-marathon runner. To some people, it might sound a bit too extreme, but every chapter ends with down-to-earth advice that can be applied by anyone. After finishing it on my vacation, I came back and didn't miss a day at the gym for two months, which surprised me both with the results and the discipline I didn't know I had.

39. The Psychology of Money Goodreads

Money rules the world. It's not a secret. But how much do you know about it? How much do you know about your own relationship with money? For some, money is the source of stress; for others, it is the source of happiness. Morgan Housel analyzes how we think about money, where our beliefs come from, and more importantly, how we think and feel about money every day. What comes out of it? In my case, it was reduced anxiety and completely dropping the feeling of envy for things other people seem to have. Equipped with the new mental model, I felt more confident in my decisions and more relaxed about the future.

40. How Will You Measure Your Life? Goodreads

There is a saying: "What gets measured, gets improved," but what if we want to improve our lives? The author tries to answer this question, and along his story, he provides two ways in which people assess their happiness. One is momentary, and the other is reflective. Momentary happiness is about how you feel right now. Reflective happiness is about how you feel about your life in general. The question, "Are you happy?" can be answered by approaching it from two different angles. I learned that only focusing on the moment might take away from the bigger picture. Even when the moment is not great, by looking back at your life, you can sum up every little good thing that happened and arrive at the conclusion that you are actually happy. Referring to Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow, it's about moving from System 1 to System 2.

41. Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win Goodreads

It's quite easy to define what ownership is in terms of physical things, but what's behind owning the problem? I've seen multiple people struggling with ownership because to truly incorporate it, you need to understand it first. The authors of this book deconstruct the term through stories from the battlefield and how they applied ownership to the problems they faced. For me, it became clear that taking ownership, even if it's not your fault, is the way to move forward. Blaming the world for the problems you face is not going to solve them. It helps me act in situations of uncertainty, take the lead, and move the needle.

42. The Courage to Be Disliked Goodreads

The past is the story you tell yourself; the future is the story you can create. The book is about Adlerian psychology and the way we perceive the world—how the story we tell ourselves shapes our reality. Until we decide to act, we live in an imagined version where things are possible. But the moment we start actually doing things is the moment of truth. It's the moment when we face reality, and reality is not always as we imagined. It's the same mechanism that was preventing me from finishing this blog post. Is it going to be good? Is it going to be helpful? I can only learn about this once it's finished and shared with others. I need the courage to be disliked, to be critiqued, and to be wrong. Without this, there is only regret.

Do you really need to read entire book?

You could say, "Wow, that's a lot of reading. What stops me from reading the summaries?" Most books can be summarized in a couple of sentences. The problem is that the value of the book is not in the summary.

By spending hours reading on the same topic, you help to internalize knowledge. In some cases, I would say it feels more like meditation. You observe the thoughts appearing while reading and connect them to everything you know. Some examples might work, some might not, so if you stop at the first one, you will miss the opportunity to be positively impacted by the next one. The full content of the book is like a canvas where you can paint your own conclusions, your own next image of yourself. Having the summary leaves you with someone else's filtered version of the book. It's like watching a movie with someone who is constantly explaining what is happening. You might get the idea, but you will miss the experience.

If you have some books that changed your life, I would love to hear about them. You can reach me on Twitter @ArturSzott. I'm always looking for new recommendations.