It has been said that the person you will be in 5 years depends on the books you read, the information you feed your mind, and the people you surround yourself with today. If you want a successful life in future and want to grow and evolve, you must start reading books and inject your mind with new information. I want to introduce three must-read books and give some key points from these books.
The first book that is worth reading is Outliers: the story of success by Malcolm Gladwell.
In Outlier, the author talks about Opportunity and points out that success not only depends on hard work, but the opportunities, circumstances, and hidden advantages play a role. The author claims that most successful people have benefited from hidden advantages, opportunities, and cultural legacy that helped them work, learn and understand the way others cannot. The 10,000 Hour Rule, after researching the Outlier’s lives, Gladwell states that reaching 10,000 hours of deliberate practice is the key to success in any field. He also concluded in addition to having the right social background, opportunities, better living situations, and hidden advantages, the Outliers also had 10,000 hours of deliberate practice. Malcolm Gladwell also mentions that High IQ does not increase the chance of success, but practical intelligence does. The book mentions knowing what to say to whom, knowing when to say it, and knowing how to say it. The Outliers explains that success is the route, where you were born, when you were born, in which family, which country, and the environments around you, how much time did you put on the field you wanted to succeed.
The second book that everyone should read is Getting to Yes (negotiating agreement without giving in) by Roger Fisher and William L. Ury.
Everyone should learn how to be a good negotiator since negotiation is necessary for all aspects of life. The getting to yes explains that the negotiators should look at the strategies, listen to each other, treat each other fairly, and find options that both can benefit from and both parties get what they want. Fisher and Ury’s first method of getting to yes is to Separate the people from the problem. Separating people from problems allows the negotiators to talk about their concerns without harming the relationship with other parties (parties should try to understand each others’ perspective by placing themselves in others’ place). Both parties should explore each side’s perceptions and choose a proposal that would be appealing for both parties. The authors also state Focus on interests, not positions. The parties should identify their interests and discuss them together. Parties should clarify their interests to motivate the other side to take their interests into account. Fisher and Ury suggest that the participants should come together in an informal atmosphere, discuss each possible solution for the problem and try to find appealing options for both sides, and both sides should find it easy to agree. Also, Insist on using objective criteria; must develop objective measures that both parties agree to, and it should be legal, useful, and both sides should agree to be bound by those standards.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey is one of the books that everyone must-read.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey explains how people see the world based on their perceptions. In order to change a situation, we have to change ourselves; we have to change our perception to change ourselves.
The 7 habits of highly effective people offer a structural approach to improve career life and personal life. The 7 Habits mainly revolves around organization skills, people skills, and critical thinking.
- Be proactive
Concentrate on what is controllable and changeable and focus on abilities and skills to improve. Do not build up negative energy and waste time by focusing on what is not controllable and changeable.
- Begin with the end in mind
Stephen R. Covey suggests that we should be clear about where we want to go and whom we want to be and start with an exact destination; make sure the steps taken are in the right direction.
- Put first thing first
We should prioritize what is important for us, not what is urgent. Staying on track toward our goals and should act according to our values instead of our desire.
- Think Win-Win
Habit four is about interpersonal leadership, and Stephen R. Covey mentions that we should commit to creating an equally beneficial and satisfying solution for each party.
- Seek first to understand then to be understood
Habit five explains the importance of communication, and it explains that to establish an effective interdependent relationship, we should effectively interact with another party to understand their point deeply.
- Synergize
Habit 6 is about Synergize; it is always better to create alternative solutions and uncover new possibilities via creativity by working together.
- Sharpen the saw
In order to be efficient/successful, we should allocate time to taking care of ourselves physically, mentally.ly, socially, and spiritually.
