The 4-Hour Workweek

I expect I'll get a lot of flak for this one, but I'd like to suggest the "4 hour work week" by Tim Ferriss. I've read it at about the same age and it had a profound effect on me. Another book I'd suggest is the Enchiridion of Epictetus. If you ever intend to have kids, "Summerhill" by A.S.Neill is a good choice.

4 Hour Work Week, it gave me some perspective on the 9-5 job I wish I had given more thought to earlier in my life when I had more time. 80/20 principle, while mentioned in the 4 hour work week, it really has a lot more to offer in the book. How you should go about leveraging your time. There was a real gem in there about how books are really the best way to acquire knowledge and a great way to approach reading in the university. There was a speed readying and studying book I came across from a friend that owns a book store that really helped me. I wish I had that book before I entered high school. I can never recall the name, but I will try to find it.

IMHO to really change your whole life perspective, you must experience a traumatic event, not reading a book. Anyway I would say that a book can trigger a change of perspective on a particular aspect of your life: '4-hour workweek' - Tim Ferriss (on lifestyle) 'Get Things Done' - David Allen (on organization and productivity) 'The Way of the Superior Man' - David Deida (on relationships) 'The prince' - Machiavelli' (on business and strategy) 'The little prince' - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (on meaning of life) 'The Feynman Lectures on Physics' - Richard Feynman' (to remember you to be humble) A lot of other books had broaden my perspective of life even if they weren't enough to trigger a change. That list would be immense.

Here's my usual list of recommendations, the best books I've read in the past 5 years. Fiction: - Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality If you know nothing about this book you might naturally hesitate to read "Harry Potter fanfiction" and assume that it's dumb/horrbile, but it's not. Just suspend your disbelief and read the first 5-10 chapters. Trust me, it's brilliant, hilarious, and life-changing. - Atlas Shrugged Controversial, I know, a lot of people here hate it for some reason, but it was incredibly influential on me, inspired my passion for entrepreneurship and science and philosophy. Still is one of the best books I am aware of. Nonfiction: - Hackers and Painters by Paul Graham Also a collection of his essays that you can find on github. He is one of the most clever writers I am aware of, but I assume you know that, since you're on HN. - "On Intelligence" by Jeff Hawkins This book explains in simple terms a very awesome and elegant theory on how mind works. Incredibly fascinating, I've learned a lot from it and it explains a lot of things, and will change the way you think about thinking process. - The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins…

The Personal MBA - Josh Kaufman The First 20 Hours - Josh Kaufman So Good They Can't Ignore You - Cal Newport The 4-Hour Workweek - Tim Ferriss The 4-Hour Body - Tim Ferriss Stop Acting Rich - Thomas J. Stanley James Altucher - Choose Yourself

I was once a 13-year-old girl and loved writing short stories and learning about business. Some books that worked for me: - The 4-Hour Work Week, by Tim Ferriss - Rich Dad, Poor Dad, by Guy Kawasaki - The Magic of Thinking Big, by David. J Schwartz - Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey One not super related to business but a great short read: Vagabonding by Rolf Potts. That book taught me to think creatively about my goals and not to allow traditional expectations to stop me from accomplishing them.

It's not that you should read and implement it verbatim. It's a great read in terms of getting you into different mindset.

That book only applies to you if you have a very flexible schedule.

The 4 Hour Workweek http://www.amazon.com/The-4-Hour-Workweek-Anywhere-Expanded/... (http://www.amazon.com/The-4-Hour-Workweek-Anywhere-Expanded/dp/0307465357)

Here's a few I've really liked that have a broader subject matter than only what you asked for. I figure that if you like to read you'd like these books. --- NON-FICTION --- Darkness Visible A Mathemematician's Apology Omnivore's Dilemma Fermat's Enigma The Code Book Born to Run Judgement of Paris Siddhartha Killing Pablo The Victorian Internet Lone Survivor I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman Papillon Into Thin Air Born on a Blue Day Touching the Void Got Fight The Conquest of Happiness --- FICTION --- Switch Bitch Lost Horizon The Cuckoo's Egg The Simlarillion The Time Traveler's Wife The Alchemist The Count of Monte Cristo A Canticle for Leibowitz Neverwhere My Uncle Oswald Stories of Your Life and Others Invisible Cities Life of Pi Atlas Shrugged --- WALL STREET / FINANCE --- When Genius Failed Liar's Poker Buffett (Lowenstein) Bull! Black-Scholes and Beyond (textbook) Fixed Income Securities (textbook) The Road to Serfdom The Smartest Guys in the Room Fortune's Formula The Fourth Turning Inside the House of Money --- ENTREPRENEURSHIP / COMPUTERS (non-textbook) --- Masters of Doom It's Not About the Bike Dot. Bomb Founders at Work The PayPal Wars…

I assume you're asking about books for startup people. Paul's essays couldn't hurt. I am not a karma whore. ;-) Mindset, by Carol Dweck. It'll change the way you think about the way you think. Incredibly relevant for justifying your yes-I-can attitude. The Four-Hour Work Week, by Tim Ferriss. You've never thought about life and how to live it quite the way Tim does.