The type of self-help books I read, don’t at all read like what you would associate with self-help. Instead, they tend to focus on how to think better and how to develop excellent cognitive skills.
In that spirit, here are four of my favourites.
‘Thinking Fast and Slow’ by Daniel Kahneman
This book is a fantastic primer on the two systems of thinking, and how and when it’s best to use each one to maximise your ability to find the right answer. Got some great examples in this book of cognitive shortcuts that reduce our ability to think well.
‘Black Box Thinking’ by Matthew Syed
This is book is simply wonderful in developing the love of mistakes within the reader. Given lots of examples from the world of medicine and aeronautics, Syed guides the reader through the realisation that growth comes at the moment mistakes are made and how damaging it can be to ignore or bury mistakes.
‘Irrationality’ by Stuart Sutherland
Before we can think better, we need to know where we can go wrong and what pitfalls await us in thinking. And in this book, Sutherland illustrates just how our minds can often act irrationally and what cognitive mechanisms underlie these errors.
‘A Mind for Numbers’ by Barbara Oakley
Oakley’s frank confession that she often struggled with mathematics and how it had previously prevented her from pursuing careers in fields she want - might not strike you as surprising. But Oakley’s success story through the use of a wide variety of techniques endows the reader with excellent tools that they can use to learn and grow.
Specifically of note to me was her use of the Pomodoro technique and the scheduling of tasks.
@Daniel Sumner You should write a book on how to improve cognitive skills through reading and observing nature. You are such a good writer, know how to write and you make us understand complex theories easily.
Just imagine Self help book by Daniel Sumner on Newyork bestselling list. You have skill, you can do it.