Knowledge is power.
I have outlined below a few of my favourite books on key topics. These books have shaped the way I think and have given me inspiration. It gives me great pleasure to share them with you in the hopes that they too will expand your knowledge and influence you positively.
Man's Search for Meaning / Viktor Frankl
If you have not yet read this book, scroll no further.
The fundamental step of expanding your knowledge or skill is focus. And to do that, you must understand your 'WHY'. Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl's memoir is unlike anything you will ever read with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Between 1942 and 1945 Frankl labored in four different camps, including Auschwitz, while his parents, brother, and pregnant wife perished. Based on his own experience and the experiences of others he treated later in his practice, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose. Frankl's theory-known as logotherapy, from the Greek word logos ("meaning")-holds that our primary drive in life is not pleasure, as Freud maintained, but the discovery and pursuit of what we personally find meaningful.
At the time of Frankl's death in 1997, Man's Search for Meaning had sold more than 10 million copies in twenty-four languages. A 1991 reader survey for the Library of Congress that asked readers to name a "book that made a difference in your life" found Man's Search for Meaning among the ten most influential books in America.
Or in other words - READ IT!
I carry a copy of this book with me everywhere I go.
Understanding Violence
The Gift of Fear / Gavin de Becker
On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society / Lt. Col. Dave Grossman
On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace / Lt. Col. Dave Grossman
When Violence is the Answer / Tim Larkin
Leadership
The Mission, The Men, And Me: Lessons from a Former Delta Force Commander / Pete Blaber
Israel (History & Politics)
6 Days of War - Michal Oren
The Case for Israel / Alan Dershowitz
Mossad: The Greatest Missions of the Israeli Secret Service / Michael Bar Zohar & Nissim Mishal
The Lions Gate: On the Front Lines of the Six Day War / Steven Pressfield
Warrior: An Autobiography / Ariel Sharon
No Mission Is Impossible: The Death Defying Missions of the Israeli Special Forces / Michael Bar Zohar & Nissim Mishal