Here's the list of books I've personally found to be most useful:
Psycho-Cybernetics (Maxwell Maltz)
One of the granddaddy books of how to change what you'd like to change about yourself and get things done. A few 1960-isms to trip over, but still crystal clear.
Refuse to Choose (
Barbara Sher)
If the idea of doing any single thing for the rest of your life sounds like hell to you, maybe you're "one of us..."
Also see
Wishcraft by the same author, generously made freely downloadable with the author's blessing.
Pain Free: A Revolutionary Method for Stopping Chronic Pain (
Pete Egoscue)
Knocked out my migraines in a week, so I can't recommend this highly enough! Why didn't I find this in high school? (Aside from the fact that it hadn't been published yet, I mean...)
Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life (
Byron Katie)
Leaves me with the same problems as before, but they just don't bug me anymore so I can think more clearly, actually take care of the things I can, and blissfully ignore the things I can't.
Is Your Genius At Work?: 4 Key Questions to Ask Before Your Next Career Move (
Dick Richards)
Very nice for establishing a clearer view of your own predilections. "So
that's what I've been doing all my life!" (As seen on a website near you...)
Ask And It Is Given (
Esther and Jerry Hicks)
Abraham says, "Feel good, and good will feel you back!"
One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way (Robert Maurer)
About how even trivially-small changes in behavior can be highly effective.
The Einstein Factor: A Proven New Method for Increasing Your Intelligence (
Win Wenger)
Don't know about increasing intelligence, but I sure get nifty visualizations doing the author's
Image Streaming technique. Whenever I actually sit down and do it...
(Mine is the paperback version rather than the hardcover linked here...but where did that version go, Amazon?)
On specific topics:
The Right To Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life (
Julia Cameron)
Essays on writing that always re-ignite my enthusiasm for any creative work, writing or otherwise. Reading one a day keeps a slow fire burning under my creativity, even in otherwise non-creative times.
How To Learn Any Language (Barry Farber)
When you learn a language you learn how to think in a completely different manner, so your entire stock of mental software gets a rewrite. This guy makes the whole thing fun!
Pres