100 books like The 8th Habit

By Stephen R. Covey,

Here are 100 books that The 8th Habit fans have personally recommended if you like The 8th Habit. Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Denise Brinkmeyer Author Of Project Orienteering: A Field Guide For Project Leadership

From my list on servant leaders who get things done.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am the oldest child, and former teacher turned technology innovator. As the only girl, growing up with three brothers gave me the tenacity to overcome limiting beliefs. Information technology has helped me create an environment where I can help a lot of people. At the end of the day, what I love most is helping someone turn an idea into a tangible solution while motivating team members to see the beauty and joy in this type of service.  

Denise's book list on servant leaders who get things done

Denise Brinkmeyer Why did Denise love this book?

I love this book because I like to write. 

Anne makes me feel normal when I immobilize my writing by fearing that no one will like it or, worse yet, that no one will even care to read it.  When I am pulled off my joy of writing, I re-read this book and find my joy again.

By Anne Lamott,

Why should I read it?

17 authors picked Bird by Bird as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An essential volume for generations of writers young and old. The twenty-fifth anniversary edition of this modern classic will continue to spark creative minds for years to come. Anne Lamott is "a warm, generous, and hilarious guide through the writer’s world and its treacherous swamps" (Los Angeles Times). 

“Superb writing advice…. Hilarious, helpful, and provocative.” —The New York Times Book Review

For a quarter century, more than a million readers—scribes and scribblers of all ages and abilities—have been inspired by Anne Lamott’s hilarious, big-hearted, homespun advice. Advice that begins with the simple words of wisdom…


Book cover of The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich

Denise Brinkmeyer Author Of Project Orienteering: A Field Guide For Project Leadership

From my list on servant leaders who get things done.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am the oldest child, and former teacher turned technology innovator. As the only girl, growing up with three brothers gave me the tenacity to overcome limiting beliefs. Information technology has helped me create an environment where I can help a lot of people. At the end of the day, what I love most is helping someone turn an idea into a tangible solution while motivating team members to see the beauty and joy in this type of service.  

Denise's book list on servant leaders who get things done

Denise Brinkmeyer Why did Denise love this book?

This book inspires me to look at how I spend my time at work. I do many things that could be automated so that I can spend more time doing things that machines are not great at. 

While I do not intend to work only 4 hours a week, I use the inspiration for this book to move from 75-hour weeks to a more practical 40-50 hours that allow me to have time for my non-business roles (wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, etc.). Note that some technologies are outdated, but the concepts are golden.

If you like this book, you might like his Tools of Titans, as well.

By Timothy Ferriss,

Why should I read it?

12 authors picked The 4-Hour Workweek as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A new, updated and expanded edition of this New York Times bestseller on how to reconstruct your life so it's not all about work

Forget the old concept of retirement and the rest of the deferred-life plan - there is no need to wait and every reason not to, especially in unpredictable economic times. Whether your dream is escaping the rat race, experiencing high-end world travel, earning a monthly five-figure income with zero management, or just living more and working less, this book is the blueprint.

This step-by step guide to luxury lifestyle design teaches:

* How Tim went from…


Book cover of The E-Myth Revisited

Denise Brinkmeyer Author Of Project Orienteering: A Field Guide For Project Leadership

From my list on servant leaders who get things done.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am the oldest child, and former teacher turned technology innovator. As the only girl, growing up with three brothers gave me the tenacity to overcome limiting beliefs. Information technology has helped me create an environment where I can help a lot of people. At the end of the day, what I love most is helping someone turn an idea into a tangible solution while motivating team members to see the beauty and joy in this type of service.  

Denise's book list on servant leaders who get things done

Denise Brinkmeyer Why did Denise love this book?

I read this book in 2007 as my life was headed toward significant change as a business owner.

Before I became a partner in the business that my husband and I now own, we were tired of working for someone else, tired of fighting to steer the company in the right direction, and tired of feeling exploited as the only people generating significant revenue for the company. We had even explored buying a Smoothie King franchise and walking away from the business where we had invested so much time and energy.

Michael Gerber took us on a journey that helped us understand where we truly were on our adventure and how much we thrived on creating experiences for our customers. While we are not creating franchises for our business, the advice helped us develop systems in the operation, which greatly improved our success.

By Michael E. Gerber,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked The E-Myth Revisited as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

E-Myth \ 'e-,'mith\ n 1: the entrepreneurial myth: the myth that most people who start small businesses are entrepreneurs 2: the fatal assumption that an individual who understands the technical work of a business can successfully run a business that does that technical work Voted #1 business book by Inc. 500 CEOs. An instant classic, this revised and updated edition of the phenomenal bestseller dispels the myths about starting your own business. Small business consultant and author Michael E. Gerber, with sharp insight gained from years of experience, points out how common assumptions, expectations, and even technical expertise can get…


Book cover of The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

Denise Brinkmeyer Author Of Project Orienteering: A Field Guide For Project Leadership

From my list on servant leaders who get things done.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am the oldest child, and former teacher turned technology innovator. As the only girl, growing up with three brothers gave me the tenacity to overcome limiting beliefs. Information technology has helped me create an environment where I can help a lot of people. At the end of the day, what I love most is helping someone turn an idea into a tangible solution while motivating team members to see the beauty and joy in this type of service.  

Denise's book list on servant leaders who get things done

Denise Brinkmeyer Why did Denise love this book?

Malcolm Gladwell never disappoints me. He has said that when people meet him, they treat him like they know him. After years of reading his books and listening to his podcasts, his voice sounds like a friend's.

This book is one of my favorites because it gives me hope that with the right ingredients of passion, hard work, and opportunity, our efforts will tip toward success. It reminds me to open my eyes and watch for opportunities so that when we are in the business of passionate service, we may end up on a great adventure that we could not have predicted.

By Malcolm Gladwell,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked The Tipping Point as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An introduction to the Tipping Point theory explains how minor changes in ideas and products can increase their popularity and how small adjustments in an individual's immediate environment can alter group behavior.


Book cover of Happier Hour: How to Beat Distraction, Expand Your Time, and Focus on What Matters Most

Wanda T. Wallace Author Of You Can't Know It All: Leading in the Age of Deep Expertise

From my list on getting out of your comfort zone.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am passionate about helping people have the kinds of opportunities they want to have in their careers. I coach, teach, speak and write on how to do exactly that. The secret – it almost always involves getting out of your comfort zone, doing something that is a bit scary to you and that shakes your confidence a bit. However, you never want to be sitting alone trying to achieve something all by yourself. It takes a village to succeed. The art comes in knowing how to ask, getting over your fear of being vulnerable, building trust, knowing how to persuade each person you need, and much more. This is my life’s work. 

Wanda's book list on getting out of your comfort zone

Wanda T. Wallace Why did Wanda love this book?

This book inspired me personally and it has changed how I coach people to think about managing their stress and building their resilience. Especially as you step out of your comfort zone and lead in a new way, in a new area, stress will be high. Cassie’s research clearly shows that what we need to manage stress, to feel good about our lives as a whole, and to be our best self as a leader isn’t as hard as you think. The secret is 2 hours of time each day doing things you enjoy – work included.  

By Cassie Holmes,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Happier Hour as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Learn how to reframe your time around life’s happiest moments to build days that aren’t just full but fulfilling with this “joyful guide” (Eve Rodsky, New York Times bestselling author) that is the antidote to overscheduling.

Our most precious resource isn’t money. It’s time. We are allotted just twenty-four hours a day, and we live in a culture that keeps us feeling “time poor.” Since we can’t add more hours to the day, how can we experience our lives as richer?

Based on her wildly popular MBA class at UCLA, Professor Cassie Holmes demonstrates how to immediately improve our lives…


Book cover of It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want to Be

Mike Schnaidt Author Of Creative Endurance: 56 Rules for Overcoming Obstacles and Achieving Your Goals

From my list on books to help you achieve your creative goals.

Why am I passionate about this?

As both a professor of graphic design and creative director of Fast Company, I’m dedicated to helping others be more creative. At Fast Company, my job is to ensure the visuals for the world’s leading business media brand are consistently innovative. (Yea…no pressure.) Honestly, sometimes it’s tough to be innovative when I’m faced with a squeezed schedule, a towering to-do list, and a bargain basement budget. But, as a marathoner, I’ve learned that if you want to be successful, you need to push through sub-optimal circumstances. That’s where these five books come into play: they all provide relatable stories and insights into achieving success, despite tough odds. Let’s do this.

Mike's book list on books to help you achieve your creative goals

Mike Schnaidt Why did Mike love this book?

Paul Arden’s book teaches you how to be an optimist—an essential trait for meeting your milestones. He writes: “You must develop a complete disregard for where your abilities end.” Focus on who you want to be, not who you are. 

This is a tool called positive visualization, one I’ve harnessed in my career path as a creative director, an author, and a professor. By envisioning who I want to be, I take the necessary steps to achieve success.

By Paul Arden,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want to Be as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want to Be is a handbook of how to succeed in the world: a pocket bible for the talented and timid alike to help make the unthinkable thinkable and the impossible possible.

The world's top advertising guru, Paul Arden, offers up his wisdom on issues as diverse as problem solving, responding to a brief, communicating, playing your cards right, making mistakes, and creativity - all endeavours that can be applied to aspects of modern life.

This uplifting and humorous little book provides a unique insight into the world of advertising…


Book cover of Awaken the Giant Within

Andreas Creutzmann Author Of Soft Skills for the Professional Services Industry : Principles, Tasks, and Tools for Success

From my list on soft skills for professionals and entrepreneurs.

Why am I passionate about this?

At the very beginning of my studies, I asked myself a question that still accompanies me today: “Why are some people successful and others not?” I've always been interested in people who are successful through their own efforts instead of building on the success of previous generations through their heritage. In my search for what distinguishes successful from less successful people, I began to read a variety of relevant books and attend seminars. These books and seminars dealt with the topics of success, personality development, marketing and sales, rhetoric, psychology, and management as well as self-management and personal productivity. To date, I've read several hundred books on these topics and attended a number of seminars.

Andreas' book list on soft skills for professionals and entrepreneurs

Andreas Creutzmann Why did Andreas love this book?

Anthony Robbins is the world's most famous success coach.

With Unlimited Power, he has made Neurolinguistic Programming known outside of therapy in management.

Anyone who wants to break through beliefs that prevent success and wants to get many valuable suggestions at all levels of success, can not get past Anthony Robbins. His books have inspired and motivated me.

Anyone who really wants to be successful should read his books. In Awaken the Giant Within: How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical & Financial Destiny! you get a very good summary of his thoughts.

By Tony Robbins,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Awaken the Giant Within as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The author offers advice on such matters as mastering emotions, overcoming debilitating habits such as over-eating, drinking and drug abuse, unleashing the hidden power of body and mind, improving personal and professional relationships, and taking control of personal finances.


Book cover of Finding Your Own North Star: Claiming the Life You Were Meant to Live

Liisa Kyle Author Of Self-Worth Essentials:  A Workbook to Understand Yourself, Accept Yourself, Like Yourself, Respect Yourself, Be Confident, Enjoy Yourself, and Love Yourself

From my list on to treat yourself better.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a life coach and author of two dozen self-help books, I’ve spent the past twenty years helping people treat themselves better. Doing so is fundamental to personal growth and making real, purposeful change. When you fully appreciate yourself and treat yourself well, you will feel so much better! You will be in a much stronger position to overcome challenges, achieve your goals, and get more out of life. 

Liisa's book list on to treat yourself better

Liisa Kyle Why did Liisa love this book?

First, I love how Martha Beck writes. She’s funny! Also wise and candid. I would happily recommend any of her books. This particular one is helpful in treating yourself better because it guides you through specific exercises to evaluate your essential self, to appreciate it, and to pursue your unique, authentic path. 

By Martha Beck,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Finding Your Own North Star as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

New York Times bestselling author and Life Designs, Inc. creator Martha Beck shares her step-by-step program that will guide you to fulfill your own potential and create a joyful life.

In this book, you'll start by learning how to read the internal compasses already built into your brain and body--and why you may have spent your life ignoring their signals. As you become reacquainted with your own deepest desires, you'll identify and repair any unconscious beliefs or unhealed emotional wounds that may be blocking your progress.

This will change your life, but don't worry--although every life is unique, major transformations…


Book cover of The Gap and The Gain: The High Achievers' Guide to Happiness, Confidence, and Success

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve said all along that the people I’ve surrounded myself with are the most important part of everything I do - my crew is what helps push me forward and supports me when things are tough. It’s a really important skill to have to continually do two things: better understand myself, through both outside learning and deepening self-awareness, and continue to learn about other people and strengthen all of the relationships I have, both inside and outside of business.

Helaine's book list on business books for digging into your relationship with yourself and others - which is the key to success

Helaine Knapp Why did Helaine love this book?

This book hit me hard and is sooooo important for overachievers, especially us entrepreneurs who are never satisfied with ourselves or our progress in a given moment.

This book advises not comparing yourself to others at all, but instead to the progress you have made personally as the litmus test. That was so helpful to me in stopping being so hard on myself because in looking back, I really have done some amazing things and made serious progress!

By Dan Sullivan, Benjamin Hardy,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Gap and The Gain as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Dan Sullivan shares his simple yet profound teaching that, until now, has only been known to his Strategic Coach clients: unsuccessful people focus on 'The Gap', but successful people focus on 'The Gain'.

Most people, especially highly ambitious people, are unhappy because of how they measure their progress. We all have an 'ideal', a moving target that is always out of reach. When we measure ourselves against that ideal, we're in 'the GAP'. However, when we measure ourselves against our previous selves, we're in 'the GAIN'.

That is where The GAP and The GAIN concept comes in. It was developed…


Book cover of Living The 80/20 Way: Work Less, Worry Less, Succeed More, Enjoy More

Carl Phillips Author Of Simplify - from Inside Out

From my list on help you live a simpler life.

Why am I passionate about this?

The origin story on my blog reflects some of my story best. After a period of reflection several years ago, I realised I was accumulating more in my life. More things that didn’t matter. More commitments I wasn’t truly passionate about keeping. More friction! So, I started to take some action. That action has meant: I have made good on long-term threats to write and for the last 10 years I have been writing at my blog and authored an expanding list of short books full of big ideas (all under the umbrella of simplifying life). I have accumulated less material possessions but enjoyed more (travel and holidays, events, life experiences).

Carl's book list on help you live a simpler life

Carl Phillips Why did Carl love this book?

We come more up-to-date with my third book recommendation. However, this book was no less transformative for me. Richard Koch’s books around the 80/20 principle were a paradigm-shifting fork in the road for me personally. They came at a time in my life when I was feeling somewhat overwhelmed and really needed them. I credit them with being one of the main reasons I became invested in my own simplicity journey.  

This book (and others by the same author on 80/20) had such a profound effect on me that they influenced the name of my own company when I set it up 10 years ago. 80/20 is a concept I return to often in my own writing and I believe it is a close relative to simplicity. A powerful tool we can all learn to leverage. 

By Richard Koch,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Living The 80/20 Way as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

If you knew that you could always get more of the great things that life has to offer, with less effort and cost, would you be interested? If you could find a simple solution to your problems by following a way that always works, would you be interested? If you could work a two-day week, and yet get much better results and pay than you do for a full week now, would you be interested? If that way applied not just to making a living, to money, or success, but also to the even more important areas of life -…


5 book lists we think you will like!

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