Best Books to Become a Better Man

Only You Can Improve You

If you are burned out on consuming movies and video games and are feeling the urge to work on yourself, we applaud you. Reading hasn’t always been perceived as something a ‘man’ does. But a guy can only lift weights and run and work so much. Intellect amplifies who you are and how you carry yourself. Looks can only get you so far.

The benefits of reading is more than just learning something. Books expose you to new ways of thinking and experiences you would not experience for yourself. Books can give you ammo as something to contribute to conversations because you are gaining knowledge about people, cultures, and science. People will be attracted to interact with you.

Reading can improve your conversation skills. The words you read are added to your vocabulary, making you better at expressing yourself. By reading, you become a better listener and a better speaker.

Ultimately, these softs skills can help you in your job and relationships.

TLDR – Our Top Picks for Best Books for Personal Development

These books are a good launching pad to developing yourself into a better man. Most of these books are authored by highly respected men with significant life experience in their fields, and have made the best-selling charts for good reason.

This list will be updated periodically. If you think a book should be included, please send us a message.

Top Books Ever Man Should Read

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Extreme Ownership

If you haven’t heard of Jocko Willink, go to Instagram and get familiar. Along with Leif Babin, they authored a book about leadership principles learned as Navy Seals during the war in Iraq. They share some interesting war stories, not for the sake of telling their adventures, but they highlight specific experiences that demonstrate the outcomes of effective and poor leadership. Those lessons are applied to situations in combat and in private business interchangeably. For example, the concept of “leading up the chain of command” explains how any individual contributor can take ownership and deliver better results in their field.

Reason to Read: If you want to improve how you work with others and develop leadership skills.

Atomic Habits

This is a popularly recommended book for good reason. James Clear lays out a 4 point system for building habits and describes good practices around behavioral triggers that can help improve our lives. It is written in an informal voice so anyone can follow along the explained concepts. There are no secret recipes shared here, but will open your mind to think about why you do things how it affects the larger picture of your life. It is a great place to start if you’re looking to build new habits or break old ones.

Reason to Read: If you want to understand how the mind works and know why we do certain things.

7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Written by Stephen R. Covey about success and some key traits that successful people possess. Your success is ultimately determined by your character rather than your outward image. What we are says far more about us than what we say or do. The “Character Ethic” is based upon a series of principles which are observable and endure in most religious, social, and ethical settings. They have universal application when correct principles are internalized and applied, you see reality as it truly is. 

Reason to Read: If you feel like you lack purpose and feel unsatisfied with your opinion of yourself.

Endure

A memoir with lessons from the life of Cam Hanes. While the stories are interesting, the value of this book is simply the mindset of a savage. Cam a highly respected bowhunter sponsored by Hoyt and at one time Under Armour. But all his success comes from his preparation in running ultra marathons, weight training, shooting arrows, all while holding a 9-5 job and family. He shares his childhood and early adult life was going no where until he found bowhunting and developed the work ethic to be successful in the woods. That same mindset is free and does not require natural talent, just the discipline to “keep hammering”.

Reason to Read: To develop a mindset of sheer unstoppable work ethic and push beyond limitations you have set for yourself.

Scars and Stripes

If you are a freedom loving combat sports fan, then look no further. You probably already know who Tim Kennedy is and have already read the book. According to Tim, the purpose of this book is not to glamorize himself but to share his low points of his life and the lessons learned. Read stories about his journey through joining the military after 9/11 and fighting in the UFC. Clearly he did not make some good choices early in life but has come out the other side as a better human being. Now he is a respected member of the military, MMA veteran, and focused on doing good by running education programs for kids and self defense courses.

Reason to Read: To learn to move past failures and understand the process of becoming is more important than a single destination.

How to Win Friend and Influence People

We keep hearing that in this day and age of social media and video games, our collective social skills are deteriorating. Dale Carnegie published this book in 1936, when everyone talked to everyone for real. This is a great read to sharpen your people skills into a life hack. The principles taught are simple to understand but require practice, as in having real conversations. Learn how to handle people around you through influence and winning people to your way of thinking. This book gets into the nitty gritty of conversations, not just being a good listener.

Reason to Read: To understand human behavior and how to passively navigate conversations while moving towards your objectives.

Conclusion

These days audiobooks have given us the ability to digest books like a podcast. Sitting down to read a paper book undisturbed isn’t very feasible for some people, mostly due to kids or other distractions. Audio versions make it so easy to take in the book’s content while doing other things like driving or working out.

Purposefully cut out the endless scrolling on your phone and make the time to read. You will be glad you did.