Reading is one of my favourite past times, I spend a good portion of each day engaging in literature, predominantly of the non-fiction variety. Books that promote higher learning (I hate when people call them self-help) are some of my favourite. Here are THREE, which inspired this blog itself and notably improved the way I consumed information:

1. Flow by  Mihály Csíkszentmihályi

This is less of a book, but rather an entire new way of thinking. Summarized as: “the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity,” flow has become the accepted term to describe complete absorption in what one does. Learning is a dominant theme, but flow applies the experience as a whole. You’d be hard pressed to find a self-help book that doesn’t reference Csíkszentmihályi and his psychological break through.

2. The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin

The name undoubtedly speaks for itself, written by chess prodigy Josh Waitzkin, the star of the book and film “Searching for Bobby Fisher.” Although arguably less enigmatic than that of Bobby Fisher, Waitzkin also lived a life as a young chess prodigy, constant being paralleled to his older American counterpart (as is the context of the “Searching for Bobby Fisher,” written by Waitzkin’s father). The Art of Learning finally gives Josh the canvass, who provides some remarkable learning tools gathered in his chess journey, of which were successfully transferred to other facets of life, including a Thai Chai championship in minimal time. The techniques shared are unprecedented and Josh continues to push the frontier of learning in all of his life endeavours.

3. The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman

It took me a few years to get through this one, be warned, it can feel like a straight-up business textbook. However, as Josh states in the preface, skip around to the things that interest you. This book has an insatiable amount of knowledge packed into it, but it’s all incredibly condensed and concise. Kaufman doesn’t waste a word, something which isn’t an option when trying to condense the meat of an MBA degree into one book. By far my favourite part of the book was the section on productivity and ways to increase efficiency in both learning and getting things done. That being said, I’ve riddled this book with sticky notes and check back on it at least once a week.