I want to pick up a few books geared towards self improvement. Any suggestions? Any self-help, social, or health/fitness book is good.
Obligatory stoicism post
Lines of Marcus Aurelius trying to console himself on long military campaigns is more than enough for us shitheads making excuses for not doing another set.
So, the meditations of Marcus Aurelius.
>>36437938
Enjoy the Decline
>>36437938
48 laws of power senpai
The Game
>>36438052
I plan to pick that up solely, because of /fit/
>>36438071
I've heard people recommend it and I've heard others treat it like it's the devil's work.
>>36438052
One year in my high school's gifted education program we had a voting to choose what philosophical work we were going to read, and Meditations was among them.
I didn't vote for it.
Neither did anyone else, but I feel like shit knowing that we could have read it as a class and become better people overall by learning from one of the wisest men to have lived and one of the few good Caesars.
>>36437938
>48 laws of power
>Models
>How to win friends and influence people
>Sex God Method
>The definitive book of body language
>no more mr nice guy
I ching
>>36438142
I feel like wearing a fedora after reading these titles
>POWER
The 48 Laws of Power
36 Stratagems
Craft of Power
Power (J. Pfeiffer)
50th Law
Art of Manipulation
>Mindset/Philosophy
Might is Right
The Art of Worldly Wisdom
The Book of Five Rings
The Way of the Superior Man
>Military Strategy & Political Philosophy
The Art of War
Art of War (Machiavelli)
On War
33 Strategies of War
The Memoirs of Ulysses S Grant
The Prince
The Republic
The Communist Manifesto
Rules for Radicals
Discourses on Livy
>Social Engineering
Social Engineering: The Art of Human Hacking
The Art of Deception
>Social Skills & Seduction
How to Win Friends and Influence People
The Charisma Myth
Social Intelligence
What Every Body is Saying
The Full Facts Book of Cold Reading
You Can Read Anyone
Get Anyone to Do Anything
The Art of Seduction
The Mystery Method
Bang
The Natural
Models
>Psychology
Brainfluence
Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions
Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuation and Captivation
Influence: Science and Practice
Influencer: The Power to Change Anything
Invisible Influence: The Power to Persuade Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere
Made to Stick
Return on Relationship
Winning the Story Wars
Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive
The Social Animal
Red Queen
Thinking Fast and Slow
Predictbly Irrational
Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
The Person and the Situation
The Psychology of Attitude Change and Social Influence
Strangers to Ourselves
Sleights of Mind
Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain
>>36437938
Self improvement don't exist.
Get bigger and fit then people respect you no matter what.
Being beautiful people you can win everything in life. People don't hate you for not knowing or did something wrong. If you say otherwise then you're a teenager and don't have any social experience
Think and Grow Rich
>>36438157
How many have you read personally?
>>36437938
Outwitting the Devil by Napoleon Hill
>>36438139
For classroom purposes, it's I'll suited, as is stoicism in general unless stoicism is the actual topic, so it's not a bad thing that it wasn't chosen.
>>36438200
The 48 Laws of Power
The Book of Five Rings
The Way of the Superior Man (pretty good if you are into meditation)
The Art of War
What Every Body is Saying (currently reading, good so far)
Models (as good as 48 laws)
you can torrent the pdf for almost all these, also audio books are good if you are constantly away from home.
Starting Strength
>>36437938
Behavioral psychology books where the main goal is to figure out how to manipulate people and engage on your terms.
>>36438052
Also, Siegfried Sassoon's war poetry or even all quiet on the western front. Ww1 fiction and poetry in general, really. To read artful renditions of human misery in its cruellest forms will let one say "all I'm doing is lifting something up and putting it down, but even then I feel like bitchibg out. What the fuck is my excuse?"
Models helped me a lot but I drink too much so I'm still fucked up
>>36438155
ur mom
I don't know if anyone is still in the thread, but here is something: https://www.youtube.com/user/phuckmediocrity/videos
>>36438103
It's pretty unnecessary. All it does is take a bunch of historical anecdotes, pull out/invent some bullshit life lessons, and coat it with an edgy paint of amorality. If you're even vaguely familiar with the major classical/renaissance/enlightenment figures, the (in)famous stories behind them, and have a functioning brain, you don't need to read that book.
>>36438762
And the only story one really needs to know from back then is when Machiavelli puked on an ugly prostitute
Mark Divine's "The Way of the Seal" is a great book on leadership, discipline, and conquering of self. It tells you how to 'think like a Navy Seal'
Also if you're religious religious, Tony Evans' "Kingdom Man."
>>36438267
I read how to win friends and influence people and I think its something one should read yearly because alot of people can benefit from that.
>>36438157
I can vouch for Switch. A little over half way with that one, and it's helped quite a bit.
I recommend Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentimihalyi.
>>36438157
Saved for future reference
>>36441111
Thanks man
>>36438325
Well said. Poets bridge the divine and the profane, many through rendition of human misery.
There's a reason suffering is the cause of so much study. I'd recommend analyses of Suffering from a Buddhist perspective and the Existentialists, notably Kierkegaard and Sartre's plays, with study notes.
Read those then begin poetry, war poets, ancient Greek poets, German poets, Nietzsche. Learn the lives of these poets and reconcile the suffering akin to us all with stoicism in All Quiet on the Western Front and the meditations of Marcus Aurelius. That will make you consider many things small in perspective.
David Allen, Getting Things Done
In general productivity guides are horseshit scams. But this one is actually pretty rigorous and helpful.
Not books, but do you drive, OP?
I recommend downloading speeches from conferences and listen to them instead of music. It's interesting, entertaining, and educational.
>>36437938
>Crash Course
>Wisecrack
>School of Life
go youtube and watch these channels, once you get an overview, pick a book
The Bhagavad Gita, bro.
Special mentions for The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle and A Path With Heart by Jack Kornfield.
>>36441544
Not op, but personally i listen to audio books. personally way easier to digest, and i can listen while doing other shit at the same time.
Others digest better reading tho, so I suggest finding out which works better.
>>36438152
This
Also: the master key system
No more Mr nice guy
>>36437938
50 shades of gray
>>36437938
http://www.amazon.com/Love-Yourself-Like-Your-Depends-ebook/dp/B0086BX8UE
>>36438822
>>Machiavelli puked on an ugly prostitute
On purpose?
Or because he was disgusted?
FYI, my best friend once puked on me.
He was drunk and turned to say something to me,
But his words came out in 3D.
>>36437938
Just started reading SS, pretty good stuff on the main lifts even if you don't follow the routine.
Also, I'd start with the greeks
>>36441544
any recommendations? What do you mean by conferences specifically? Political or scientific or what?
>>36437938
Never leave home without mine
>>36438052
Good post.
>>36438142
Cringe.
>>36438157
Some good books but mostly supreme gentleman.
Read the political philosophy and ignore most of the rest.
>>36441841
Good advice.
>>36437938
The Daodejing
Yung Chu's Garden of Pleasure
Practical Programming for Strength Training - Rippletit
The Cossacks - Leo Tolstoy
The Bet - Anton Chekhov
Rothchild's Violin - Anton Chekhov
In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon - Bhikku Bodhi
On Thinking for Yourself - Schopenhauer
Apology - Plato
Parallel Lives of Eminent Greeks and Romans - Plutarch
Sun and Steel - Mishima
Just read good books pretty much.
>>36437938
I recommend history and economics.
History is important to understand how the world at large works and the context if the present day.
Economics to study the art of bullshit
Unfortunately they don't work - alphas are born not made. You think Chad ever RESEARCHED how to be alpha? It sucks, but you're either born into it or not.
>>36438094
I read The Game,
But didn't take much away from it.
It was fun to read, but mostly throwaway entertainment.
It could have been 200 pages easily.
It's mostly a nod to Neil Strauss' mentor,
Mystery, and a kind of 'cross promotion' of both of their ideas.
Mystery did learn some things from Neil too,
And he is credited in The Mystery Method (as 'Style') and contributes some routines to that.
But if you want an accessible, practical, applicable book, would recommend The Mystery Method, or anything by Roosh (Bang/Day Bang)
The irony is, I resisted this stuff for years, when it was precisely what I should have read.
I wanted to believe -
Improve looks, grooming, social life, gains + abs = more sex and more women.
But while I had some success, it still led to awkward moments where I couldn't work out where I stood or what progress I was making with certain girls - the more subtle social cues and body language.
I had female friends, groupies, fans, but couldn't escalate a situation.
The more emotionally charged an area of self-improvement is, the less likely it is that people seem to look for actual advice, because it entails a painful and honest assessment of yourself.
It often doesn't go as smoothly as this -
>read book
>improve immediately
>success!
It's usually more like -
>denial
>pain
>anger
>????
>acceptance
>improvement
>relapse
>smaller improvement
>hard decisions
>????
>success!
>>36441984
I agree that reading to become an alpha is a pleb idea.
But that doesn't mean OP shouldn't read good literature.
>>36441990
>self-improvement is just for banging sluts in a club
Meaningful life you get their champ ;)
>>36441984
With that attitude -
>not gonna make it
Many regard Hitler as 'Alpha' -
If I told you a short, insecure vegetarian, with literally only one testicle, who sleeps in a separate bed from his wife, enjoys painting watercolors and going for long strolls in the mountains alone, has a ridiculous haircut and Charlie Chaplin moustache, would be admired by self-proclaimed 'Alphas' even after his death,
Would you believe me?
And yet, Hitler, who studied body language, practised speeches in the mirror daily, and studied great orators and mimicked their pacing and tonality, did just that.
Born or made?
So first, I think that in most cases, books specifically about self improvement are often counter productive. Read books about the aspects of yourself you want to improve, then apply those principles.
Read books about how to think first, and the rest become exercises in application. Recommended:
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Influence (Caldini) (this is pretty much the only book you need to read about persuasion specifically)
There are some others about specific bits of irrationality. Opening Skinner's Box was one I loved. Bad Science by Ben Goldacre is good.
There are others, about math specifically for instance.
How to Lie With Statistics is a good one.
You might want to supplement Marcus Aurelius with some other Greeks. I like On The Nature of Things by Lucretius.
After that you might consider text books (out of date ones cost what normal books do). History first. Economics and civics after. Math, particularly practical/applied statistics.
>>36442053
'alphas' don't admire Hitler, /pol/ does.
Not trying to prove that self-improvement is bullshit but really now.
>>36442053
People who take the 'Alpha' shit seriously are betas and meatheads.
Superbetter.
Was especially relevant to me after sustaining a brain injury, but anyone can benefit.
Also, make sure to never underestimate the internet.
>>36442005
>banging sluts in a club
Yeah, that's what I thought too.
One of the reasons I resisted it.
I hate bars and clubs, which, I admit, is in most of the Game type books.
I didn't feel I would get much validation from some drunken slut.
'Day Bang' by Rooshis a perfect antidote to that.
No clubs or bars, just regular everyday venues.
But I was surprised how deep some of the content was, and it does hold up to scrutiny no matter what lens or filter you choose to put on it, or view it through.
Social psychology? Marketing? Sales? Social anthropology? Influence? Philosophy? Biology?
It's all in there, with a bias towards attracting women, in ANY situation, not just clubs and bars.
The irony is, the more high quality the woman, the more likely they are to fall for this shit.
I have seen it myself and tested it.
The principles and methods are solid.
You may have to read a hell of a lot of textbooks if you are not a natural alpha,
Which none of these authors were, by their own admission.
How much time do you have?
Because while there may be nuggets of wisdom here and there, game theory exists and was created at a time when it was most needed.
A scientist may take years to carry out some dubious social science study, with funding and perfect conditions, to confirm what you could test in a weekend.
Few people are willing, or able, to define this stuff.
We have never seen a time when there were so many beta faggots in history.
My little pony weeabo anime self-harming asexual faggots everywhere.
Your grandfather, even if he was the most beta fag amongst his peer group, would chew up most men today and spit them out.
He literally pissed out excess testosterone.
But he was of a different time and place.
Meaningful life?
If 'getting more sex' and 'being more attractive to women AND men (socially)' is not more well-rounded, what is?
Do you disagree with Maslow?
<<
>>36442175
I was messing with ya lad. We all have our own joys.
>>36442068
>>36442081
What is your definition of Alpha?
>someone admired by many men? Whether alive or dead?
Check.
>admired and adored by women?
Check.
>someone capable of extreme influence and power?
Check.
>someone with money? Status? Swag?
Check, check, check.
>a self-made man?
Check.
>an interest in the arts and literature?
Check.
>in control of his own beliefs, philosophy, motivation?
Checkmate.
I'm imposing my beliefs here, so feel free to define or elaborate.
It's not so much what Hitler actually was, but what he managed to project onto others, despite his shortcomings.
>>36442053
>hitler was alpha
FUCKING LMAO. I'm not talking about /pol/tier "MUH LEADER" bullshit, I'm talking about being ATTRACTIVE TO PRIME HQNP WOMEN, which is what /fit/ thinks reading these books will make them. It's all complete bullshit. You're either BORN ALPHA or NOT. There's no "becoming alpha".
>>36442229
No such thing as a self-made man.
the best self improvement you could ever hope for is a good perspective and the courage to do what you know you need to do.
self improvement (especially the american self improvement industry) is as big a joke as mike chang's sixpackshortcuts, seriously.
>>36441885
>supreme gentleman
>cringe
>Daodejing
>Practical Programming
>Buddha shit
>Plato
>Plutarch
>supreme gentleman
>cringe
>>36442308
Great post mate
>>36442055
>some other greeks
you mean Romans right?
Holy shit this thread really took off. Thanks guys. I'm still doing research to see which ones I should tackle first.
>>36442265
To be clear, I don't care about being alpha or chad. I want power and success so for my purposes Hitler is a better role model than a guy who can have sex with a lot of women (no interest in this and have ignored all books related to it).
>>36442089
I feel like there's an inspiring story here.
>>36442265
Any chick in Germany would have been on Hitler's dick, one testicle or not.
This is where game theory got interesting for me.
I thought it was all about impressing women, which I thought was ironically beta, since you are defining yourself by women's approval.
But it goes deeper than that.
In all the books, the point is related that it is a 'positive feedback loop'
-imply alpha status = more respect from men AND women.
Guys and girls BOTH make fun of 40-year old virgins and beta 'wizards'
- if you impress and attract women, you will attract men into your social sphere who want to associate with you, or learn from you.
Similarly, if you impress and attract men, for any reason, women will be attracted to you via your status.
I managed the second part - I slowly learned to win over guys and attract women by default.
But the point reminds that without a framework to visualize where I stand with a certain girl,
I would run out of steam or say something stupid and blow my chances.
Attraction is not a one-shot deal, it's a continual game.
Think of guys you admire, and they probably are attractive to women, not as a defining quality, but as a side effect of other qualities.
But even many of these so-called womanizers and Alphas and studs, had some natural qualities they never consciously nurtured, so once their natural game wears off, they can't define or explain why they were successful with a certain girl bit couldn't marry them, or why they were successful with one girl but not another, etc
They don't know what they are doing right.
So are ironically even more cucked and confused and destroyed by women in the long run.
Charlie Sheen, Warren Beatty, etc - take your pick,
They all seem to end up damaged.
I Just treat as a hobby and a fallback option if I find myself talking to a chick, I have a method to test, it's just a game.
- it doesn't just relate to women.
It relates to anything - success, wealth, confidence, fitness, etc
>>36442680
How did you learn to win over guys?
>>36437938
Art of Manliness and The Art of Charm have a lot of self-improvement podcasts if you can get over the hosts being dorks. The guests those guys get on and the topics they cover are usually pretty great.
>>36442265
Alpha male = leader of pack or group
What are you saying?
That leadership qualities cannot be learned?
Or being attractive to women cannot be learned?
Because I disagree on both parts.
Incidentally, they are similar qualities.
Think of some men you respect or admire,
And there's a good chance girls get wet when you say their names.
Can you see the overlap there?
Who do you imagine most girls would be attracted to?
The guy who has several people hanging on his every word?
Who always seems to be at the centre of a group?
Who seems to control the energy of that group?
Or some fucking weaboo sitting on the sidelines or in a corner, alone?
The first guy, (even if he is poor, fat and ugly) projects social proof, confidence, influence, qualities attractive to all women.
The second guy projects 'potential rapist/serial killer/terrorist'
All women are biologically programmed to respond to a leader of a tribe.
That's just one lesson.
Debate me.
Attraction is not a choice.
You are saying, what?
These qualities cannot be achieved, or emulated?
You may think that only winning team respect of Alphas matters.
Well, The Fonz was an Alpha, despite the fact every other guy who admired him was a Beta.
>>36442781
>>36442745
In what context?
Generally?
The same 'weapons of influence' used to win over girls, can be used to win over guys.
It is a recurring theme in all PUA books that most guys can be won over for the rest of the night by buying them a beer.
How many straight guys do that for a guy they hardly know?
Yet women have chumps lining up to buy drinks.
Most guys can be won over by throwing them a bone and helping them out or showing them something.
Also, most guys compete rather than co-operate due to caveman primal brains.
They brag, they take sly digs, they argue, they assert themselves.
You can come in under the radar.
Give a guy a 'takeway' if asked - genuine honest feedback on their appearance - constructive criticism. A lesson. Something you learned.
Always credit who or where you learned it.
Guys are easier, especially IRL.
The insecure, fake alpha thinks we're still living in caveman times, so most of their limited responses are laughably awkward outside of an artificial setting like college or high school or a bar or club.
Most of the responses are obvious -
It's easy to puff up your chest, give someone a dirty look, make a cheap insult, to get a quick win.
A well-considered witty, original remark takes mental effort.
A long-term game plan also takes mental effort,
So does seeing yourself from an imagined camera filming the scene.
Which is why their lmited response is to fight or challenge,
Without thinking of he consequences of being barred, beaten up by bouncers, arrested, etc
Look at 80% of responses on this board, especially a chan site like this.
Literally 80-90% of posts will be knee-jerk weak arguments and memes, or personal attacks.
>>36442822
Exhibit A.
This is supposed to be saying, what?
I probably laughed louder than the guy who posted that.
Perhaps I'll show it to the two girls licking my balls later on...
