Growth Potential: Many, if not most people are caught between, on the one hand, their natural desires for pleasure, productivity, pride, worldly wealth and success, sexual satisfaction, and the right to choose their actions in service of their deepest happiness, and on the other, a moral code that tells them that such “self-ish” desires are immoral and evil, and that in order to be “good,” they must sacrifice their personal happiness to achieve the happiness of others. Caught between these their natural desires and the moral prohibitions they have been taught, they find themselves 1) acting half-heartedly to achieve their goals, as if they must apologize for their weakness of character, and 2) feeling guilty for their “self-ish-ness,” making them easy prey for preachers and politicians who want to manipulate them into supporting their programmes. By clarifying this dichotomy and offering a solid philosophical solution to it, Atlas Shrugged, as just one of its many gifts, supports human beings in passionately pursuing their highest vision and bringing their most precious gifts to the world.

Pop Potential: It is typically listed as one of the most important and popular books in the world. 50 years after its publication, it still sells hundreds of thousands of copies a year. It is currently being made into a movie and that will star Angelina Jolie.

“Get Real” Potential: Unfortunately, for all of its strengths, the novel is so demanding and unapologetic in its themes and philosophy that many people get turned off and angry, and stop reading rather than deal with the issues it raises. For this reason, the book has many detractors who have not actually read it, and those that have typically have a shallow understanding of it after only one reading.

What I Got out of it: This book is one of the most important books I have ever read, by far. Nothing else really comes close, except perhaps Sex, Ecology, and Spirituality by Ken Wilber. It completely transformed how I understood, my Self, Society, Sex, Philosophy, Politics, and pride. I have read it over 20 times, and every time I read it, I feel like it was a wise investment of my time because I get more inspired to bring my gifts to the world with my whole heart and soul, and to love life more fully than I have been, however much that is. It is an anthem to human possibility and the spirit of beauty that makes life worth living.

Learn more about Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Buy the book: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Growth Potential: The Power of Now focuses on the whole “be here now” concept in simple concrete terms. Tolle rams home the idea that life never occurs in the past and the future, only in this moment and that if you are not present to this moment, you are not truly alive. It encourages the reader to be more present to the moment regardless of the circumstances.
Pop Potential: I had a really interesting moment while actually reading the book on a crowded airliner, with babies screaming all around me. Instead of shutting down and trying to ignore the crowd and noise, I used the principles I was reading about at that moment to stay present and have a very interesting experience for the rest of the flight.
“Get Real” Potential: There are some concepts in the book that are pretty far out there. For instance, he writes about the “pain body” and how women’s menstrual cycles are past pain resurfacing. I’m not going to say that I disagree with these concepts, but I felt some of them were not based as much in real world understanding of things and are hard to accept as presented.
What I Got out of it: I found this book extremely enlightening on many levels, and now experience myself more aware and more present. I cannot recommend it enough.

Learn more about The Power Of Now

Learn more about The Game

What it is: The full title of the book, “A Spiritual Guide to Mastering the Challenges of Women, Work, and Sexual Desire” is a pretty damn good description. A ‘How To’ guide of sorts for men about the big 3 in life, told with an in-your-face honesty. Not for the weak of heart.

Growth Potential: A lot of people I know consider it the holy grail of personal growth for men. If a short bald guy with a goofy laugh can “open women to god,” imagine what it could do for you. This is the real deal.

Pop: What keeps this book from becoming a #1 bestseller? Its title. This book is often knee-jerk misunderstood to imply that “Men are Superior” as opposed to “Men can reach a superior version of themselves”

Get Real: Deida bottom-lines it: “If men and women are clinging to a politically correct sameness even in moments of intimacy, then sexual attraction disappears.”

What I Got: A new perspective on relating to women and a world of understanding about the polarities of masculine and feminine. I also got a really hot wife.

The Way of the Superior Man