It’s a message we receive from children’s books and superhero movies alike: Believe in yourself. It’s a simple idea, one almost taken for granted, but it’s connected to a second, crucial piece of wisdom: If you don’t believe in yourself, who will?
In other words, you are your own greatest ally in the pursuit of success. So if you’re ready to start betting on yourself, making smart decisions, and getting ahead, we recommend checking out the seven stellar reads below.
Download the Next Big Idea App for “Book Bite” summaries of hundreds of new nonfiction books like these.
Perfectly Confident: How to Calibrate Your Decisions Wisely
By Don A. Moore
An expert on the psychology of decision-making at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business helps readers calibrate their confidence, arguing that some confidence is good, but overconfidence can hinder growth. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Don A. Moore, in the Next Big Idea App
You Are What You Risk: The New Art and Science of Navigating an Uncertain World
By Michele Wucker
The #1 international bestselling author of The Gray Rhino offers a bold new framework for understanding and re-shaping our relationship with risk and uncertainty to live more productive and successful lives. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Michele Wucker, in the Next Big Idea App
Radical Uncertainty: Decision-Making Beyond the Numbers
By John Kay and Mervyn King
Much economic advice is bogus quantification, warn two leading experts in this essential book. Invented numbers offer false security; we need instead robust narratives that yield the confidence to manage uncertainty. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by authors John Kay and Mervyn King, in the Next Big Idea App
Dream First, Details Later: How to Quit Overthinking & Make It Happen!
By Ellen Marie Bennett
The author shares her incredible journey from young line cook to the founder and CEO of Hedley & Bennett, an apron and kitchen gear brand that outfits the world’s best chefs. Her guidebook will help anyone who’s procrastinating on a goal, career change, or business idea to stop the obsessive worrying and leap into action. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Ellen Marie Bennett, in the Next Big Idea App
Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries
By Safi Bahcall
Using examples that range from the spread of fires in forests to the hunt for terrorists online, and stories of thieves and geniuses and kings, physicist and entrepreneur Safi Bahcall shows how a new kind of science can help us become the initiators, rather than the victims, of innovative surprise. Watch an excerpt from our video e-course, taught by author Safi Bahcall
Risk Forward: Embrace the Unknown and Unlock Your Hidden Genius
By Victoria Labalme
In this brief, easy-to-read, full color book “experience,” acclaimed keynote speaker and performance coach Victoria Labalme shares a series of strategies that are practical, reassuring, and radically freeing. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Victoria Labalme, in the Next Big Idea App
Think for Yourself: Restoring Common Sense in an Age of Experts and Artificial Intelligence
By Vikram Mansharamani
A Harvard lecturer and global trend watcher shows how our complex, data-flooded world has made us ever more reliant on experts, protocols, and technology—and that it’s time to reclaim our autonomy. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Vikram Mansharamani, in the Next Big Idea App
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