Why personal development?

Ultimately, we develop our personal aspects holistically to be a better Muslim, serve others well, get closer to Allah s.w.t. and be hopeful for His rewards.

إِنَّ هَٰذَا كَانَ لَكُمْ جَزَاءً وَكَانَ سَعْيُكُم مَّشْكُورًا

"Indeed, this is for you a reward, and your effort has been appreciated."

(Surah Al-Insan 76:22)

Every effort and struggle we make counts. While there are countless lessons we can learn and appreciate from our own religious traditions, we can undoubtedly benefit from the wisdom of others as well:

الْكَلِمَةُ الْحِكْمَةُ ضَالَّةُ الْمُؤْمِنِ فَحَيْثُ وَجَدَهَا فَهُوَ أَحَقُّ بِهَا

"The wise statement (wisdom) is the lost property of the believer, so wherever he finds it, then he is more worthy of it."

(Sunan Ibn Majah)

Read: 5 Praiseworthy Traits To Develop

Here are five books to read on personal development. You will find several highlights and gems from these books, along with some of my personal reflections. A brief background about the author and links to access their works are also included for you to explore and benefit further.

Enjoy your learning and growing!
 
1. The Leader Who Had No Title – Robin Sharma

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You can borrow the eBook from NLB here or the audiobook here.

I was not much of a reader until I came across this book which somewhat ignited my passion. It was part of a set of books given as a gift by Singaporean officials who came to visit while I was studying, for our student clubhouse back in Egypt. Since then, I got hooked on my own personal development journey to be a better person and Muslim.

Probably because this book was an easy read, ‘A Modern Fable on Real Success in Business and in Life’ with a fascinating storyline. It includes persuasive strategies and practical tips. It highlights how everyone, no matter what role there are at, can in fact be a leader and that everyone can play and serve at a World-class level.
 
The ideas and teachings of this book are then expanded to the author’s other newer books like the 5AM Club – Own Your Morning. Elevate Your Life. (which made me reflect a lot on the Prophet’s daily Tahajjud night prayer practice), and his latest book The Everyday Hero Manifesto. I sincerely appreciate the author’s approach on a holistic improvement of our Mindset (Psychology), Heartset (Emotionality), Healthset (Physicality), and Soulset (Spirituality), which he breaks down pragmatically. I was baffled at how most of these teachings have already been taught by Rasulullah s.a.w. since centuries ago and have since then, always thought and reflected on the similar themes these writers and coaches also advocate for in terms of positive character and conduct.

Some of the ideas I like best and most resonated with me are: “better awareness leads to better choice which then leads to better result” and “small, daily, seemingly insignificant improvements when done consistently over time yield staggering result”.

The author Robin Sharma is one of the Top 5 Leadership Experts in the world. He advocates for “own your genius, lead your field, impact the world” and is the bestselling author of The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari with 20 million books sold. He actively contributes motivational reminders via his Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, as well as his online courses and podcast.

2. High Performance Habits – Brendon Buchard

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If you need references and research on habits and performance, this book is for you. The book dives deep into ‘How Extraordinary People Become That Way’ with various examples and case studies to look at.

It focuses on the following six powerful personal and social habits that extraordinary people do: seek clarity, generate energy, raise necessity, increase productivity, develop influence, and demonstrate courage. There are efficient performance prompts after every topic, questions for us to ponder, reflect and journal. I personally find these questions very useful to identify my strength and purpose.

Reading the book always made me reflect on our beloved prophet Muhammad s.a.w.’s notable daily habits.

أَحَبُّ الْأَعْمَالِ إِلَى الله أدومها وَإِن قل

The Prophet s.a.w. mentioned: “The acts most pleasing to God are those which are done most continuously, even if they amount to little.”

(Muttafaqun ‘alayh)

Rasulullah s.a.w. consistently performs his night prayers to practice gratitude, seek clarity and uplift his spiritual health. He eats healthily and moderately, taking short naps to maintain and generate energy. His social interaction with others and leading by example are exemplary, which made a huge positive impact not only within his community but far beyond as well. Indeed, these are some of the prophetic habits that we all should strive to achieve.

You can borrow the eBook from NLB here.

Read: Top health and fitness tips from Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.
 
According to Forbes, the author Brendon Burchard is the world’s leading high-performance coach, and a 3-time New York Times bestselling author. His life’s purpose is to live, love, matter. He contributes via daily doses of short motivational videos on his Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook with over 5 million followers, his many podcast episodes, and a community and personal development app Growth Day.

On habits, you may also find this article from MuslimSG to be helpful: 5 Ways To Build Good Habits and Break Bad One.

3. Limitless – Jim Kwik

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As Muslims, we are grateful for the guidance from the holy Quran and the teachings of our beloved Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. Other than these religious boundaries for our own benefit, I personally believe that we can achieve almost anything in life if we stop being the ones that are limiting ourselves to reach our fullest potential. 

This book breaks down how unconsciously we limit ourselves and what, why and how to remove these limits through mindset, motivation, and methods. It teaches us step by step how to ‘upgrade our brain, learn anything faster, and unlock our exceptional life’.

Other than safeguarding faith, life, lineage and wealth, one of the Maqasid al-Shariah is also to protect our intellect (read What You Need to Know About Maqasid Al-Shariah to find out more). This book also provides strategies on how to maximize our brain capacity better. It covers the four stages of the flow state and five ways to get them, methods to enhance speed reading which I personally love, how to remember names and others.

You can borrow the eBook from NLB here or the audiobook here.

Read: Preserving the Intellect in the Digital Age: Challenges and Recommendations

The author Jim Kwik Jim was once known as the “boy with the broken brain” due to a childhood head injury at age five that left him struggling in school. But after 3 decades of deep research, hard work and teaching students worldwide, including Fortune 500 CEOs, today he is known as the world's #1 brain performance coach. He has over 1.6 million followers on Instagram and contributes via his daily reminder tips and podcast.

4. The Four Tendencies – Gretchen Rubin

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There are many personal profiling tools out there that serve different purposes, this framework is one of them. Other than the 5 Love Languages and its quiz, I personally find understanding our own four tendencies and other’s to be life-changing. It can change how we view ourselves and others, improve at accepting our differences and communicate with different individuals using more effective approaches with specific words, styles, and sentences.

You may take The Four Tendencies quiz here.
 
The book and framework ask one simple question, “How do I respond to expectations?”. Each one of us apparently, respond to inner and outer expectations differently. Understanding this can be the key that unlocks our ability to create healthy habits and harmonious relationships. In summary, “Upholders” want to know what should be done. “Questioners” want justifications. “Obligers” need accountability. And “Rebels” want the freedom to do something their own way.

You can search for the book availability at our NLB here.

The author Gretchen Rubin is one of today’s most influential and thought-provoking observers of happiness and human nature. She is also a five-time New York Times bestselling author, including Outer Order, Inner Calm, Better Than Before, and The Happiness Project. She also actively contributes via her podcast and blog posts.

While applying this four tendencies framework, I reflected on the Prophet s.a.w.’s highest form of manners and character. He would similarly use different styles and approaches for his diverse target audiences and individuals. From children, teens, adults to leaders, companions, enemies, Bedouins, those oppressed and others. 

وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ

" And indeed, you are of a great moral character."

(Surah Al-Qalam, 68:4)

There is also an excellent book titled “Prophet Muhammad s.a.w: The Teacher” by Shaykh Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghuddah. This skill of understanding the importance of different approaches to unique individuals is an aspect of personal development and mastery that one should not miss!

5. Start with Why – Simon Sinek

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This book is a global bestseller on how great leaders inspire everyone to take action. 

إِنَّمَا الأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّةِ وَإِنَّمَا لاِمْرِئٍ مَا نَوَى

“(The value of) an action depends on the intention behind it. A man will be rewarded only for what he intended.”

(Sahih Muslim)

As Muslims, we know how vital our niyyah or intention is. It is the answer to the question “why do we do it”. It is the one that differentiates between the different prayers that we perform (obligatory or sunnah prayers) or the acts of giving (between zakat, charity or wakaf), which ultimately affect the rewards that we will receive thereafter.

Well, this book can help you appreciate the power and importance of starting with “Why” and applying it in our leadership role whether at work, for our business, or even for setting goals for our family. It highlights why some people and organisations are more inventive and successful than others and are able to repeat their success again and again.

Reflecting on Rasulullah s.a.w, he undeniably has deep clarity and clear goals of why he did what he did, such as to spread and restore peace, eliminate all forms of injustices, and ultimately bring this message to the world to ensure peace and harmony, which we continually enjoy and embrace until today. Starting with why is really that powerful!

You can borrow the eBook from NLB here or the audiobook here.

The author Simon Sinek regarded himself as an unshakable optimist who believes in a bright future and our ability to build it together. He advocates for “Let us all choose to be the leaders we wish we had”, with a vision to inspire people to do the things that inspire them so that, together, each of us can change our world for the better. His TED talk reached over 57 million staggering views. He is also the bestselling author of Leaders Eat Last, Together is Better, Find Your Why and The Infinite Game. He actively posts daily motivational reminders on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook along with his podcast.
 
Hope these will benefit you and may Allah s.w.t. make us all better people and Muslims, Ameen!

Let me know what’s your favourite personal development books too via my LinkedIn or Instagram accounts. 

And Allah knows best!