Here are 100 books that The Art of Resilience fans have personally recommended if you like
The Art of Resilience.
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What makes some people, communities and countries happier and healthier than others? I’m a personal growth author, speaker, and therapist with an A.B. in Biology from Harvard, M.D. from UCSD, and M.Phil. from Cambridge. For the past 12 years of calling myself a Happiness Engineer, I’ve traveled to 30+ countries and read 150 books a year to answer that question. The result: “The 5 Pillars of Human Thriving”, the irreducible requirements for health and happiness, namely Robust Relationships, Meaningful Work, Sound Sleep, Mental Fitness, and Physical Fitness. These books, drawn from a pool of thousands, represent the best works I’ve found for each Pillar. May you find them transformational!
This is the book I've re-read the most. It’s also the book I’ve gifted the most. Why? Because amongst the hundreds of personal growth books I’ve read, none laid out for me a clearer path to lasting inner peace and transcendence.
Singer identifies the central problem of human existence: we don’t feel right on the inside, so we rearrange the outside world to feel better on the inside. That ain’t ever gonna work. Instead, Singer guides us along the path of spiritual growth towards what does work: unclenching our way to true liberation from our own thoughts and blockages.
I try to re-read a chapter of this book daily as a reminder to apply its principles. It has profoundly enriched my life. Can’t recommend it highly enough.
Who are you? When you start to explore this question, you find out how elusive it really is. Are you a physical body? A collection of experiences and memories? A partner to relationships? Each time you consider aspects of yourself, you realize that there is much more to you than any of these can define. In this book, spiritual teacher Michael Singer explores the question of who we are and arrives at the conclusion that our identity is to be found in our consciousness, the fact of our ability to observe ourselves and the world around us. By tapping into…
A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.
German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…
As someone who has endured great challenges in life, I am fascinated by stories about overcoming obstacles and facing difficult challenges. We do not choose where we are born or to what circumstances ,but we do have the opportunity to rise above those challenges that we face on a daily basis. The human spirit and the desire for a better future is a universal gift we all share.
I love this book. As an avid reader and self-improvement enthusiast, this has been the most transformative book I've read. Goggins' honesty and drive for greatness touched me deeply. His journey from a troubled past to a Navy SEAL and ultra-endurance athlete is inspiring and motivating me to face my own limits.
The book's simple language and layout make the story accessible to more readers while maintaining its power. Goggins' story helps me embrace discomfort, confront fears, and build a strong mindset, changing my view on what I can achieve.
For David Goggins, childhood was a nightmare -- poverty, prejudice, and physical abuse colored his days and haunted his nights. But through self-discipline, mental toughness, and hard work, Goggins transformed himself from a depressed, overweight young man with no future into a U.S. Armed Forces icon and one of the world's top endurance athletes. The only man in history to complete elite training as a Navy SEAL, Army Ranger, and Air Force Tactical Air Controller, he went on to set records in numerous endurance events, inspiring Outside magazine to name…
I’m Michael Cupps, author of Time Bandit and creator of a framework that helps people take back their time through prioritization, habit building, and aligning their actions with what matters most. I’ve spent decades leading sales and operations teams in high-pressure environments, and I’ve seen how time either slips away or gets owned. I’m passionate about helping people cut through the noise, focus on what really matters, and build lives filled with purpose, not just productivity.
This book drills down into the power of clarity. By continually asking, “What’s the ONE thing I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?”, it teaches ruthless prioritization.
I’ve found this question to be one of the most powerful tools in my daily practice—and in coaching others.
YOU WANT LESS. You want fewer distractions and less on your plate. The daily barrage of e-mails, texts, tweets, messages, and meetings distract you and stress you out. The simultaneous demands of work and family are taking a toll. And what's the cost? Second-rate work, missed deadlines, smaller paychecks, fewer promotions-and lots of stress. AND YOU WANT MORE. You want more productivity from your work. More income for a better lifestyle. You want more satisfaction from life, and more time for yourself, your family, and your friends. NOW YOU CAN HAVE BOTH-LESS AND MORE. In The ONE Thing, you'll learn…
Separating the true stories from the myths, The Duty of Memory provides a deeper understanding of the diverse motivations that drove ordinary people to join an underground network of French Resistants despite terrible odds and horrifying consequences.
This book takes the reader inside the true story of men and women…
Embracing self-discipline has changed my life. I find deep pleasure in challenging myself and pushing my limits when practicing sports, learning, and experiencing adventures. I’ve learned that anything that’s worthwhile in life is the result of consistent, dedicated work, whether it’s building a business, developing a relationship, mastering a new skill, or any other personal growth pursuit. In my books I share my own personal experience of expanding my comfort zone and improving self-discipline.
Jesse Itzler loves learning how to be comfortable with being uncomfortable (hint: it’s a secret to all success). He hires a Navy SEAL (unnamed in the book but it’s actually David Goggins) to toughen him up. I loved this book because of the hilarious stories, incredibly difficult challenges the SEAL forces Jesse to do, and Jesse’s fun writing style. I find this book fascinating because it shows a huge difference in how two people can think about challenging themselves in life.
Entrepreneur Jesse Itzler chronicles his month of living and extreme fitness training with a Navy SEAL in the New York Times and #1 LA Times bestseller Living With a Seal, now with two bonus chapters.
Entrepreneur Jesse Itzler will try almost anything. His life is about being bold and risky. So when Jesse felt himself drifting on autopilot, he hired a rather unconventional trainer to live with him for a month-an accomplished Navy SEAL widely considered to be "the toughest man on the planet"!
Living With a Seal is like a buddy movie if it starred the Fresh Prince of…
I became a long-distance swimmer in 2020 and have swum around 70 different islands in Tampa Bay, Florida, and beyond. I was the first person to swim around St. Pete Beach in 2022. At the age of 62, my tandem swim partner, Ken Morgan, and I were the Oldest Male-Female Tandem Swim Team to complete 20 Bridges around Manhattan Island. I intend to swim an open water 10K in all 50 states and have completed 19 so far. I want to discover what my body is capable of. I’m a U.S. Army veteran, mother of six, grandmother, and author of 13 books.
The determination required to complete elite swims, particularly the Oceans Seven, inspired me to consider possibilities.
Arguelles’ trials and triumphs, dreams, physical limits, and adaptation to challenging situations demonstrate verve and potential. At times, I felt I was along with him on his journey.
Well written and captivating, I read this book in a few days.
On August 3, 2017, Antonio Argüelles swam 35 kilometers from Northern Ireland to Scotland. When he arrived on the Scottish shore after a swim of nearly 14 hours through hypothermic currents wearing only a speedo, cap, and goggles, he became just the seventh person ever to conquer the Oceans Seven, an aquatic achievement on par with the Seven Summits. His feat made international news, in part because at 58 years old, he became the oldest athlete ever to complete the challenge. The Forever Swim illuminates key strategies anyone can utilize to pursue their own goals and reminds us that no…
I became a long-distance swimmer in 2020 and have swum around 70 different islands in Tampa Bay, Florida, and beyond. I was the first person to swim around St. Pete Beach in 2022. At the age of 62, my tandem swim partner, Ken Morgan, and I were the Oldest Male-Female Tandem Swim Team to complete 20 Bridges around Manhattan Island. I intend to swim an open water 10K in all 50 states and have completed 19 so far. I want to discover what my body is capable of. I’m a U.S. Army veteran, mother of six, grandmother, and author of 13 books.
From the intensity of her competitive pool swimming to long-distance swimming, what impacted me most was Becca's candid description of her mindset, feelings, shortcomings, and life as an athlete.
Becca admits that she traded a normal life in exchange for chasing her dreams, which required intensity. My favorite part was the story of her Hawaiian island channel crossings. She described her elation, serenity, sheer guts, and tenacity of what it takes to persevere in a difficult open water challenge.
She powered through with everything she had, fully to her limit. Some circumstances require us to push through extreme physical discomfort and unbearable mental challenges. This is a story of NEVER GIVING UP!
Becca Mann was born to swim. With a fierce determination and a passion for the water, she chased her dreams from the chlorine-soaked pools of her hometown to the elite ranks of the USA National Team. But after she poured her heart into the sport for decades, Becca's dreams came crashing down when she narrowly missed the Olympics three times.
In Outside the Lanes, Becca shares the highs and lows of her swimming career with unflinching honesty and a splash of humour. But this isn't just a story about swimming. It's a story about a girl who refused to be…
What were America's first prisons like? How did penal reformers, prison administrators, and politicians deal with the challenges of confining human beings in long-term captivity as punishment--what they saw as a humane intervention?
The Deviant Prison centers on one early prison: Eastern State Penitentiary. Built in Philadelphia, one of the…
I became a long-distance swimmer in 2020 and have swum around 70 different islands in Tampa Bay, Florida, and beyond. I was the first person to swim around St. Pete Beach in 2022. At the age of 62, my tandem swim partner, Ken Morgan, and I were the Oldest Male-Female Tandem Swim Team to complete 20 Bridges around Manhattan Island. I intend to swim an open water 10K in all 50 states and have completed 19 so far. I want to discover what my body is capable of. I’m a U.S. Army veteran, mother of six, grandmother, and author of 13 books.
Stories of 33 accomplished open water South African swimmers include history-making, record-breaking, courageous, outrageous, and sometimes dangerous swims. The stories show their preparation, training, why they challenge themselves, and how they completed the swims.
I couldn’t put the book down and read it within three days. I devoured each story. Kiki Marx swam across the Dead Sea. Herman Van Der Westhuizen swam several of the Oceans Seven routes and was close to drowning. He felt he challenged himself to the brink of his ability.
Harold Warrington’s advice on how to overcome fatigued muscles was to employ a 10-second rule: complain for 10 seconds and then no more.
This book features the accounts of 33 open water swimmers: their highs and lows, their successes and failures. There are stories of swims done all over the world - including the iconic English Channel and Robben Island crossings - and accounts of record-breaking swims. There are common threads that run through the narratives. From a physical perspective, there's the commitment to hours and hours of training, there the perseverance, tenacity and sometimes discomfort which goes along with that. More importantly, though, it's more often than not the mental aspect that is critical. How else do swimmers go the distance in…
I became a long-distance swimmer in 2020 and have swum around 70 different islands in Tampa Bay, Florida, and beyond. I was the first person to swim around St. Pete Beach in 2022. At the age of 62, my tandem swim partner, Ken Morgan, and I were the Oldest Male-Female Tandem Swim Team to complete 20 Bridges around Manhattan Island. I intend to swim an open water 10K in all 50 states and have completed 19 so far. I want to discover what my body is capable of. I’m a U.S. Army veteran, mother of six, grandmother, and author of 13 books.
Comprehensive description of the Maui Nui, a 30-mile marathon swim endurance challenge over the course of three days.
Jonathan is an excellent storyteller and takes us on a detailed journey of the trials and tribulations of the unpredictability and complexity of his open water challenge in Hawaii. Things don’t often go according to the original plan, and he shows how we must be flexible when the intended start time is delayed, the escort boat breaks down, or when the weather and water conditions are rough.
He shares the safe and unsafe challenges that may arise. This is all part of long-distance swimming. I appreciated the details he provided on feeds, logistics, successes, challenges, and teamwork.
Chasing Limits is the gripping account of an epic four day open ocean adventure known as the Maui Nui; three consecutive stage swims spanning 30 miles in the challenging and unpredictable waters of Hawaii. From the grueling physical preparation to the periods of self-doubt, this book explores the thought process of a relative newcomer to open ocean swimming, attempting to go beyond his comfort limits in order to achieve the impossible. With unforeseen challenges and fierce battles with Mother Nature, the reader will get a true sense of what hard work, commitment, and curiosity can lead to when faced with…
I think that we’re all a Work In Progress whatever our relative levels of success so I’m drawn to people who share that belief, are way out there and are still working on their own stuff. Especially if they’ve managed to do so without becoming a righteous arse in the process.
‘Cos I want reasons to be reminded how incredible it can be to use as much of what we’ve been given and be ALIVE in every sense of the word. I want to keep learning and growing and getting stronger and faster and more bombproof and compassionate and connected as I moved through my fifth decade and beyond. These books really resonate with me – I hope they will for you too.
Once again this is about so much more than the incredible physical feat involved in swimming a lap of Great Britain. Ross Edgley is also a student of the world with the smarts and courage to write his own rule book. Once again this is an engaging mix of the deeply personal, science, philosophy, and the humanity of community that has to come together to make extraordinary stuff possible.
'Incredible individual, incredible book, incredible story.' CHRIS HEMSWORTH
'A hero who is as humble as he is resilient... testament to a "never give up" spirit!' BEAR GRYLLS
'From reading this book, the message that comes shining through is this: you can achieve anything.' ANT MIDDLETON
Bestselling author and award-winning adventurer Ross Edgley has been studying the art of resilience for years, applying all he has learned to become the first person in history to swim around Great Britain, breaking multiple world records. Now Ross focuses on mental strength, stoicism and the training needed to create an unbreakable…
Pioneer Paddles of the Colonial South
by
William D. Auman,
Award-winning novelist William Auman, author of If Trees Could Testify..., takes the reader on a time-traveling odyssey featuring 345 bodies of water in six states within the historical context through which they unfold.
Journey into remaining Colonial-era wilderness with stories of pirate treasure, epic frontiersmen, Indigenous Peoples, and Revolutionary…
I followed the call of the North from Germany to Alaska in 1989—too much Jack London in my formative years, you might say. After living in a cabin without running water and getting a degree in anthropology in Fairbanks, I drifted into the world of wilderness guiding and outdoors instructing, which for the next twenty-five years determined the course of my life. Human-powered travel, on foot or skis, by raft, canoe, or kayak, has fascinated me ever since. At the same time I became immersed in wildlife and natural history, which, despite threats to the Arctic, still largely play out as they did thousands of years ago.
I know this book’s journalist co-author, so I may be a bit biased. But I’ve also had scary grizzly encounters—many during my arctic traverse—and few books capture the terror as does this account of a twenty-five-year-old blinded permanently in a bear attack.
Dan Bigley had not embarked on a grand adventure; he was on a trail through the woods, returning from a day of salmon fishing. Like me, Dan used to take troubled kids into the outdoors, so I easily identify with him. His true adventure, and true courage, shows in how he mended his life and even gave it new meaning.
After five reconstructive surgeries, he reconnected with a woman he’d fallen for just before the trauma and resumed his role as a caring member of his community.
A 25-year-old backcountry wanderer, a man happiest exploring wild places with his dog, Dan Bigley woke up one midsummer morning to a day full of promise. Before it was over, after a stellar day of salmon fishing along Alaska's Kenai and Russian rivers, a grizzly came tearing around a corner in the trail. Dan barely had time for "bear charging" to register before it had him on the ground, altering his life forever. "Upper nose, eyes, forehead anatomy unrecognizable," as the medevac report put it. Until then, one thing after another had fallen into place in Dan's life. He had…
