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

Book description

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…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

2 authors picked It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want to Be as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

The only time my old agency gave everybody a book it was this one. It was incredibly popular because it was so short, punchy, and beautiful. It was the book that inspired me to write my second about how to survive and thrive in work.

Paul Arden was the creative director at Saatchi's, and he has the most wonderful gift of communicating. The book has no wasted words or square millimeters of design space. It really was created magnificently.

Yes, the content is clear and accessible, but the way it's presented is beyond sublime. The advice that I got from…

From Chris' list on get your energy right.

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.

If you love It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want to Be...

Book cover of The Rosewood Penny

The Rosewood Penny by J.S. Fields,

2023 Queer Indie Award Nominee!

The dragons of Yuro have been hunted to extinction.

On a small, isolated island, in a reclusive forest, lives bandit leader Marani and her brother Jacks. With their outlaw band they rob from the rich to feed themselves, raiding carriages and dodging the occasional vindictive…

Want books like It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want to Be?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want to Be.

Browse books like It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want to Be

Book cover of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
Book cover of On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Book cover of Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,343

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want to Be, you might also like...

Portrait of an Artist as a Young Woman by Alexis Krasilovsky,

Book cover of Portrait of an Artist as a Young Woman

Kate from Jules et Jim meets I Love Dick.

A young woman filmmaker’s journey of self-discovery, set against a backdrop of the sexual liberation movement of the 1970s and 1980s. In Portrait of an Artist as a Young Woman, we follow Ana Fried as she faces the ultimate…

Malcolm Before X by Patrick Parr,

Book cover of Malcolm Before X

Malcolm Before X is about finding a way to continue moving forward after everything has been taken from you. While in prison, Malcolm Little discovered the power of reading and found a way to transform his character and become a better man. This half-biography focuses on that transformation, especially his…

5 book lists we think you will like!