44 Brutal Truths I Wish I Knew at 24

In The Way of the SEAL, retired Navy SEAL Commander Mark Divine outlines strategies adapted from his military experience to help business leaders master the challenges of today’s rapidly evolving world of work. The explosion of technology has forever altered the corporate landscape. Leaders must have a balanced, flexible, forward-driving mindset to navigate the change.

Divine blends SEAL strategies, yoga, and martial arts to create mind-body training techniques to build powerful leaders. After publishing The Way of the SEAL in 2013, he authored Staring Down the Wolf and Unbeatable Mind. Divine founded six multimillion-dollar businesses, including SEALFIT and Unbeatable.

In this guide, we’ll discuss modern work world challenges that resemble a SEAL battlefield and examine Divine’s strategies to identify your values, focus on your goals, embrace uncertainty, and harness your mental strengths. We’ll look at actions leaders can take to lead and succeed in a complex business world. Finally, we’ll provide views from leadership, military, and mental health experts that support, counter, and contextualize Divine’s ideas.

Shooting selfies on vacation. Posting Facebook updates on our kid's graduation from pre-school. Garnering awards and promotions to add to our LinkedIn profiles. Guess what, America? We've become self-obsessed. In David Brooks’s The Road to Character, the New York Times columnist suggests we take a good hard look at ourselves and remember that we weren't always so narcissistic.

Brooks outlines the moral shift that took place after World War II when we transitioned from honoring humility, self-discipline, and public service to worshiping at the altar of "the Big Me." He also reminds us that our current self-focus isn't even making us happy. To help us recalibrate our moral compasses, Brooks details the lives of war heroes, civil rights activists, advocates for the poor, writers, and deep thinkers who've tackled the work of building moral character, then outlines a 15-point plan to help us live more virtuous—and ultimately happier—lives.

In Happy Sexy Millionaire, Steven Bartlett calls out the myth that you can find happiness, love, and wealth if you just follow three simple steps and a hack or two. Bartlett says the internet, social media, and algorithms have dazzled us into believing that we can have the perfect life if we just chase the “right” dreams—a lie that pulls us off the path of genuine contentment, meaning, and fulfillment.

Bartlett, a social media mogul and public speaker, was born in Botswana to a Nigerian mother and British father and raised in a predominantly white area in England. A university dropout, once so poor that he scavenged for food, Bartlett founded the successful internet company Social Chain at age 21 and was by all objective accounts “living the dream.” But when wealth and fame didn’t bring him happiness, Bartlett reevaluated his priorities. He wrote Happy Sexy Millionaire to warn against chasing false idols and encourage others to find contentment and success by being themselves and doing what has meaning to them.

Have you struggled to maintain discipline in your daily routine? In The Science of Self-Discipline, Peter Hollins explains how to build sustainable discipline through science-based habits and strategies. Hollins argues that changing your habits takes far more than forcing yourself to perform a rigid routine—it requires a shift in your mindset, reasonable expectations, and a transformation of your external surroundings.

Hollins is a psychology researcher and the author of several self-improvement books. After experiencing the benefits of discipline during his own body transformation, he researched how to optimize discipline for every area of his life. In this guide, we’ll explain his science-based approach to discipline, as well as his internal and external strategies, which you can use to improve your daily habits and reach long-term goals. We’ll also compare his ideas to those in similar books, such as Discipline Equals Freedom, and add more tips to improve your discipline.

Do you want to achieve greater personal and professional success? In Million Dollar Habits, entrepreneur and motivational speaker Brian Tracy outlines proven strategies and habits that can propel you toward your goals. Whether you're seeking financial independence, a more rewarding career, or a heightened sense of well-being, Tracy's insights offer a clear roadmap to amplify your influence and impact.

In this guide, we’ll explore how a positive mindset and self-concept promote success. We’ll also discuss the role of good habits in building a successful life. Finally, we’ll dive into Tracy’s specific advice for achieving financial and personal success. In our commentary, we’ll look at other perspectives on what it means to be successful and delve deeper into the psychology behind habits.

Become a great boss through the straightforward, deeply human lessons of Radical Candor. These techniques maintain high employee satisfaction and drive stellar results that you’d never be able to accomplish otherwise. With the two guiding principles of radical candor—caring personally and challenging directly—you’ll build stronger relationships within your team and create a culture of sincere and helpful guidance, inspiring your team members to bring their best and most motivated selves to their work and their collaborations, every day.

What would happen if you faced your fears and said “yes” to everything outside your comfort zone for a whole year? In Year of Yes, Shonda Rhimes, the celebrated television screenwriter and producer of the hit series “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal,” answers that very question. Rhimes recounts her journey of personal growth and transformation as she embarks on a year-long experiment to say "yes" to everything that scares her. From giving public speeches to prioritizing playtime with her daughters, Rhimes pushes herself out of her comfort zone and learns to embrace new experiences.

In this guide, we’ll explore Rhimes’s journey from a life of merely surviving to full-hearted thriving and outline the meaningful lessons she wishes to pass on to her readers so they, too, can reclaim their lives from fear. Along the way, we’ll compare the author's ideas to those of other similar self-help writers and provide additional context from sociology and psychology experts to help you better understand and apply Rhimes’s insights to your life.

Do you ever wonder if there's more to success than just reaching the finish line? In Chop Wood Carry Water—a story of a young man’s journey toward becoming a samurai warrior—mental performance coach Joshua Medcalf reveals how authentic success comes from embracing the process of growth rather than fixating on end results. Medcalf argues that cultivating a positive mindset, focusing on daily practice, and reframing challenges as opportunities can lead to both success and a more fulfilling life.

This guide distills Medcalf's wisdom into practical methods that will help you clarify your goals, feel more positive and engaged as you work toward them, and stay motivated through setbacks. Additionally, we’ll supplement Medcalf's ideas with psychological research and actionable methods from other self-improvement authors and practitioners.

In Happy Sexy Millionaire, Steven Bartlett calls out the myth that you can find happiness, love, and wealth if you just follow three simple steps and a hack or two. Bartlett says the internet, social media, and algorithms have dazzled us into believing that we can have the perfect life if we just chase the “right” dreams—a lie that pulls us off the path of genuine contentment, meaning, and fulfillment.

Bartlett, a social media mogul and public speaker, was born in Botswana to a Nigerian mother and British father and raised in a predominantly white area in England. A university dropout, once so poor that he scavenged for food, Bartlett founded the successful internet company Social Chain at age 21 and was by all objective accounts “living the dream.” But when wealth and fame didn’t bring him happiness, Bartlett reevaluated his priorities. He wrote Happy Sexy Millionaire to warn against chasing false idols and encourage others to find contentment and success by being themselves and doing what has meaning to them.

Do you ever feel stuck—like you’re just going through the motions instead of doing something really meaningful? Have you recently experienced upheaval in your life and don’t know what to do now? In Built Through Courage, motivational speaker, CEO, and former Disney executive Dave Hollis offers a solution to these common problems. According to Hollis, the key to living a happy and fulfilled life is achieving your unique purpose—a specific role you’re meant to fill.

In this guide, we’ll explore what purpose is, how to identify yours, and how to achieve it. We’ll compare Hollis’s ideas to those of other self-help authors like Tony Robbins, Mark Manson, and Greg McKeown, and we’ll examine the neuroscience behind Hollis’s ideas.