19 Best Motivational Books and Apps That Don’t Just Motivate but Push You to Take Action
There is no denying that education can sometimes be boring. Studying texts books. Reading charts and graphs. Dissecting old literature. This can be a chore and make studying difficult! Your work and education don’t have to be boring though – you just have to know where to look! Here are the best motivational books and apps.
Are you addicted to gadgets? Then you are not alone! According to a report by Common Sense Media, 50 percent of teens feel they are addicted to their phones. Addiction to gadgets affect lives in many adverse ways. Not only does it lead to a number of health related problems, it also leads to daily conflicts in homes. Moreover, spending too much time with the digital gadgets can harm learning and performance. Therefore, it is important for people to develop habits that encourage healthy living and lead a meaningful life.
12 Best Motivational Books
However, you do not need to attend motivational classes to change your life. Just grab a few motivational books that will inspire you to take actions and make life more meaningful. Reading is known to offer mental stimulation which enhances creativity and problem-solving skills, reduce stress, and improve knowledge. But most books are just for entertainment; they do not have any real message. If you really want to get inspired to do something worthwhile, here are 12 books that you must consider reading:
1. Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in Our Busy Lives
Sabbath time differs with every individual – for some, it is an hour of a specific day, for some it is a Sabbath walk and for some it might be a specific day. In today’s work everyone is running after success. In doing so, we constantly feel tired and exhausted. We long for spending time with friends, family members and people who matter to us the most. In the book “Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in Our Busy Lives”, the author makes an attempt to teach people how to create time for rest, delight, and renewal.
By keeping some time aside for refreshment, we can purify our mind, body and soul and restore our creativity, focus and regain happiness in life.
2. Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives
Our habits are the key to success, so we need to know how to change habits and what habits to develop to become successful in life. The book “Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives” presents a practical framework that allows readers to understand their habits and motivates them to change the habits for good. The author Gretchen Rubin uses a compelling voice and extensive research to inspire readers. He also cites examples of lives that have been transformed in a humorous way. So if your habits are stopping you from achieving your goals, this book is a must read.
3. 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People
If you are looking for the ultimate self-development book, then 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey is the perfect book for you. The book includes everything (more than just the seven habits) that is needed to build a strong character and become effective in life. It offers solutions to your personal and professional problems. The book teaches people how to live life with dignity and adapt to change and how to take advantage of the opportunities created by the change to make life happier.
4. As A Man Thinketh
As James Allen, the author of the book says, ‘Out of a clean heart comes a clean life and a clean body.’ Recommended by people associated with self-improvement, the book talks about how pure minds can never fail and how our thoughts create our circumstances. Our mind guides our footsteps as we progress along the pathway of life. It will help you identify your flaws and improve them and make you more conscious of your thoughts.
5. Getting Things Done
David Allen, a veteran coach and management consultant shares the most effective methods of stress-free performance in his book ‘Getting Things Done’, which has helped millions of people get motivated to achieve their dreams and goals. According to the author, we can achieve effective productivity and unleash our creative potential, only when our minds are clear and our thoughts are organized.
6. Eat That Frog
Procrastination is the biggest roadblock towards success. We are faced with numerous challenges every day and we need to tackle them tactfully. But instead of being proactive, we tend to procrastinate and make things even more complicated. Eat That Frog by Brain Tracy offers a compilation of 21 most effective ways to overcome procrastination and become more proactive and productive. The recent version has been updated and includes ne information as to how to stop technology from dominating our time.
7. Think and Grow Rich
There are few motivational books like ‘Think and Grow Rich’ by Napoleon Hill. It actually teaches people about ways to increase their income and succeed in any line of work. The author closely studied more than five hundred of the most successful individuals of his time and included his findings in this one of the best motivational books. Even though the book was published way back in 1937, it offers solutions to many modern day issues as well.
8. The Art of War
Don’t know how to overcome challenges? The book ‘The Art of War’ by Sun Tzu motivates readers to think differently about conflict and overcoming challenges. The book indicates the importance of strategy, timing, preparedness and the ability to take advantage of opportunities immediately. Readers have agreed that after reading this powerful book, they have seen their approach towards the pursuit of dreams change completely. So no you can become victorious without any battle.
9. The Power of Positive Thinking
The author of ‘The Power of Positive Thinking’, Norman Vincent Peale was strongly (accused of being a crank) by psychologists and theologians. But the book turned out to be one of the best motivational books of all times. In fact, science has supported the concept brought forward by the book that ‘being optimistic makes you healthier and happier and thus more likely to succeed in life.’
The book has helped millions of people across the world achieve fulfillment in their lives. The author has outlined practical techniques with which people can energize their lives and take initiatives to achieve their dreams and ambitions.
The best quote you’ll find in the book – ‘Action is a great restorer and builder of confidence. Inaction is not only the result but the cause, of fear. Perhaps the action you take will be successful; perhaps different action or adjustments will have to follow. But any action is better than no action at all.’
10. Awaken the Giant Within
The book describes the most effective strategies and techniques for controlling your body, emotions, relationships, finances and your overall life. The author emphasizes on the fact that people already have the power to achieve whatever they want or desire, they only need to unleash their potentials. “Awaken the Giant Within” offers the readers with all the information they need to start building the life they want. The author Tony Robbins speaks about his own struggles and discusses what he did to overcome the challenges so that people can take inspirations and make life more meaningful.
11. Creative Confidence
A book by Tom Kelley and David Kelley, is designated for people who have lost their innate ability to create. The book talks about unleashing the creative potentials within ourselves. People often undervalue their potentials and stick to only one thing in life. By reading “Creative Confidence” people understand that they can divert their potentials to other unrelated fields and achieve greater goals.
12. I am Malala: The Girl who Stood up for Education and Changed the World
Written by Malala Yousafzai, it is an incredible story of strength and tremendous bravery of a girl who fought the world to make things happen. Malala has campaigned for women’s rights to education across the world since her recovery (after being shot by the Talibans in 2012). She has even spoken at the UN and won the Nobel peace prize. Her autobiography is an inspiration for people who want to bring about change in the world. Her story is an example that no matter what comes into your way, you must never stop pursuing your dreams.
For those who love gadgets, even the best motivational books may be not enough. Here are a few apps to speed up your learning process.
How To Gamify And Motivate Yourself With Innovative Educational Apps
By gamify, we mean applying elements of game playing – turning something relatively boring into a fun game. As you will see, there is a myriad of educational apps that utilize gamification. These apps can help give motivation, and make learning an enjoyable experience:
1. Duolingo
Learning a language can be one of the most difficult tasks a student can encounter. It can be frustrating and tedious. Duolingo looks to address this and make learning a language a fun experience.
This is a free learning service for languages and boasts a user base of over 80 million students and teachers. It is actually the largest mobile learning app in the world. Students can make use of fun games and tasks and learn a new language in a fun and exciting way. The app is available for iOS, Android, and Windows and caters to many different languages.
2. Minecraft Edu
Minecraft is one of the most popular online games in the world. This game has two modes – survival and creator mode. Creator mode allows you to explore your imagination and build practically whatever you can think of – castles, cities, and entire worlds if you wish.
The popularity of Minecraft has of course been transferred into education. There is a whole Minecraft Edu section available. Within this section of the game, you can find whole lessons that allow students to learn but have fun with the building and crafting mechanics at the same time.
3. Socrative
Socrative is one of the best-known online learning platforms with gamification. This platform provides several different modes that give a diverse learning structure for both teachers and students.
The modes include a simple question and answer system, the space race, and exit ticket to tie up lessons. The space race is the most fun aspect – students must guide their spaceship through space and past asteroids – they do so by answering questions.
This game mode is so much fun – students can enjoy the beautiful space graphics but also improve their knowledge at the same time.
4. Kahoot!
Kahoot! Is one of the most fun gamification educational apps we have found. The sounds, music, colors and graphics used are superb. This company really knows how to make learning fun for students. The interface is fantastic and teachers can easily use this platform to create interesting lessons. A game pin is required to use Kahoot! And this is provided when you sign up to the platform.
To make things more interesting, there is a point system – this promotes friendly competition between students and gives rewards to those who continually excel. Students can learn about anything from natural elements and animals, to geography and times tables – every subject is catered for!
5. Tinycards
Tinycards is actually an app created by Duolingo so you know that it is going to be amazing quality! This app and website allow you to create useful flash cards. These flashcards are fantastic as they provide a visual depiction of what you are studying. For example, there is a set of cards relating to architectural styles and periods – each card features a well-known building together with the time period the style arose.
You can find cards for hundreds of different subjects. Furthermore, you can create your own cards and add your own images. The cards really are useful and can help improve your learning process. Examples of other cards include colors, famous monuments, and flags of world countries.
6. Zondle
Zondle is actually a free website that has a host of resources that students can enjoy. This site is completely free to use and contains hundreds of different educational games. The selection really is fantastic and every type of game category is covered – from puzzles to arcade games. What makes this site even more amazing is that you can actually create your own games too! This site was created in 2011 and since then has amassed a huge catalog of games for students and teachers.
7. Virtonomics
This is actually a game that is made for higher education students who are studying business and economics. It has a huge following and is played by millions of people around the world. Everyone from entrepreneurs and businesswomen to college students can take part. What is this game about? It is a game of online business. Virtonomics contains a fully realized virtual economy that utilizes AI technology. The economy evolves and users must work together to make it successful. It really is a great concept and one of the most interesting apps in this list.
Why not give some of these awesome apps a try today? Don’t let your education be a slog! Both students and teachers can make use of these amazing apps. They can turn education into something fun and ultimately benefit from an enjoyable experience.
Conclusion
On some days we feel immensely motivated, while on other days we feel very low. In order to live a balanced life, you need to know how to control emotions and unleash your powers. However, it is not easy to take control of your life. But that does not mean you need to live life just as it is. By reading a few motivational books you can change the way of your life and make it more meaningful. Here we discuss some of the motivational books that have moved the world. Now it is your time, grab them and start reading for a better tomorrow.
