{"id":707,"date":"2026-01-07T08:07:56","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T00:07:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vassesc.com\/?p=707"},"modified":"2026-01-14T05:13:51","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T21:13:51","slug":"10-books-worth-reading-if-youre-serious-about-2026-i-think-you-will-be-suprised-by-the-selection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vassesc.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/07\/10-books-worth-reading-if-youre-serious-about-2026-i-think-you-will-be-suprised-by-the-selection\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Books Worth Reading If You\u2019re Serious About 2026! I Think You Will Be Suprised By The Selection!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Whether it\u2019s health, training, parenting, work, or leadership<\/strong>, many of us are trying to do the right thing without a clear framework for how to think or who to listen to. There\u2019s more information than ever, yet clarity feels harder to find.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we head into 2026, many people are looking for something simple yet solid, and for good reason. Better thinking, better habits, and a clearer way to live, train, and lead without getting lost in the noise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2020<\/strong>, when the world shifted, many of us were forced to take responsibility for things we had previously outsourced. We were introduced to what was called \u201cthe new normal,\u201d<\/strong> and whether we liked it or not, it demanded a different level of ownership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a coach, a father, and a business owner, I felt that responsibility deeply, not just for myself, but for the people who trusted me to guide them. That was the year I made a decision! That decision was that if you were willing to take an hour out of your day to train and work on yourself, then I owed it to you to be better equipped to help<\/strong>. Not just physically, but emotionally, mentally, and spiritually as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reading stopped being a hobby and became a responsibility.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, I\u2019ve read over 250 books and built a library of more than 400 \u2014 not because more information makes us wiser, but because the right<\/em> information helps us understand who we are, why we struggle, and what to do about it. As the saying goes,<\/strong> reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this blog, I\u2019m going to share 10 books I believe you should read in 2026<\/strong> if you want to level up the way you think, train, lead, and live. These aren\u2019t trendy reads or quick wins. They\u2019re books that help you build clarity, discipline, perspective, and a framework for becoming extraordinary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1) Transcend \u2014 Scott Barry Kaufman<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I’ll probably say this a few times, but I love this book. Ive read it 3 times!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kaufman takes Maslow\u2019s hierarchy of needs and modernises it. The big idea is that \u201cself-actualisation\u201d isn\u2019t the finish line. Real fulfilment comes from integration (knowing yourself honestly) and transcendence (contributing beyond yourself). It\u2019s psychology, but it reads like a blueprint for human development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most people are stuck in survival mode without realising it. They are chasing comfort, approval, certainty, or quick fixes. This book gives language to the difference between coping and thriving. It helps you identify what you\u2019re actually pursuing, and whether it\u2019s making you better or just busier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2) The Slight Edge \u2014 Jeff Olson<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Another multiple read for number 2. This is a book about how it\u2019s not your big decisions that shape your life. It\u2019s the tiny ones that feel like they don\u2019t matter, such as water or soft drink, train or skip, phone in bed or sleep, protein or snack. They\u2019re \u201ceasy to do\u201d and also \u201ceasy not to do,\u201d and that\u2019s why they decide everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This book helps us remove the lie that you need motivation, intensity, or a perfect plan. It shows you how results are built through compounding and how people accidentally compound the wrong things by underestimating the power of daily choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3) The Infinite Game \u2014 Simon Sinek<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This is a must if you struggle with competition. Some games are finite: rules are clear, there\u2019s a winner, and it ends. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But health, leadership, relationships, and business are infinite games. The game never ends. The goal is to keep playing, keep improving, and keep staying true to your values over the long haul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This book is well worth reading because it helps you avoid making short-term decisions that sabotage long-term success. Most people crash because they treat life like a sprint… get ripped fast, fix everything now, hustle until burnout. Infinite thinking shifts you into sustainability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you train like an infinite player, and approach life like an infinite player, you avoid stupid injuries, you recover properly, you build real capacity, and you stop measuring your worth by a single week or a single number on a barbell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4) Cult Status \u2014 Tim Duggan<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

How do brands become movements? What is your brand? And what do you stand for? Duggan breaks down what creates loyalty and belonging, in business and personally. How to find your clear identity, consistency, symbolism, shared language, shared rituals, and the feeling that \u201cthese are my people.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have always enjoyed reading this because it reinforces how your environment shapes you. If you want to become extraordinary, you need to be in a culture that rewards the right things. This book helps you see what makes communities strong, and what makes them fake. How to know which path you are on and how to stay on it, being loyal to yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VSC was built on Duggan’s sense of community and standards back in 2020. This book explains why that mattered so much to us, and how people don\u2019t transform alone but transform in a tribe of like-minded individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5) Built to Serve \u2014 Evan Carmichael<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This book changed how I saw my life and what it truly meant to be alive. Leadership isn\u2019t status. It\u2019s a service. Carmichael\u2019s core message is that people become powerful when they align with a mission bigger than themselves and organise their life around contribution, serving others, rather than expecting people to do as you say and follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This book was a direct punch in the face to my own modern selfishness, and came at the exact time I needed it. It shifted my whole view of business and personal contribution from \u201cHow do I win?\u201d to \u201cHow do I become useful?\u201d And started me down the path of servitude as a leader, taking responsibility for who I am and what I was doing in this world, and, most importantly, what, from my past, contributed to who this person is writing this blog today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life is servitude. Great coaches serve. Great members also serve by contributing energy, encouragement, accountability, and raising standards. This book deepens the identity we\u2019re trying to build at VSC and what we have become in 2025 and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6) Boundaries \u2014 Henry Cloud & John Townsend<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I’m a big believer and actioner of Boundaries. If you don\u2019t set boundaries, you\u2019ll either become resentful, burnt out, or controlled by other people\u2019s expectations. Boundaries are not selfish; they\u2019re the structure required for a healthy life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because most people don\u2019t have a time problem, they have a permission problem<\/strong>. They say yes when they mean no. They overgive. They overwork. They overtrain. And then they wonder why they\u2019re exhausted and inconsistent. And if this resonates with you, you NEED to read this book this year!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7) How to Think Like Socrates \u2014 Donald Robertson<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Socratic thinking isn\u2019t about being clever. It\u2019s about learning how to question your assumptions, examine your beliefs, and develop wisdom and calm through reasoned thinking. It connects philosophy to real-life decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I had a dollar for the number of people I know who are being emotionally dragged around by their thoughts, I’d probably have $100. This book teaches you how to slow down and ask: Is this true? Is this approach helpful? What would a wiser version of me do right now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8) Big Magic \u2014 Elizabeth Gilbert<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Yep, this is the lady who wrote Eat Pray Love, but she also wrote a nonfiction book. Gilbert discusses in this book how creativity isn\u2019t a personality trait. It\u2019s a practice. Gilbert teaches that fear is normal, but fear doesn\u2019t drive. The goal isn\u2019t perfection, it\u2019s participation and courage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because self-consciousness is the biggest killer of progress, people don\u2019t start. Don\u2019t try. Don\u2019t commit. They wait to feel ready. This book helps people act despite fear. Becoming extraordinary requires experimenting! New habits, new identity, new training standards. If you\u2019re paralysed by fear of failure or looking silly, you\u2019ll stay average… Don’t ignore the call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9) Unreasonable Hospitality \u2014 Will Guidara<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This book is where VSc changed to the business it is today. A book my mother-in-law was told is excellent by a man at an airport who sells wine as a rep. I was hesitant, but glad I picked it up! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a book that takes you on a journey about how excellence isn\u2019t an abstract value; it\u2019s a thousand small decisions, and that everything you do in your business should be about how you make people feel. Guidara shows how world-class experiences are created through attention, care, and going beyond expectations, and how important it is to make people feel special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because \u201cgood enough\u201d is the silent enemy of extraordinary. This book upgrades your standards; it upgraded mine. It makes you notice details. It makes you ask: What would it look like to do this properly?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10) 12 Rules for Life \u2014 Jordan Peterson<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

What<\/strong> this book is really about is order, responsibility, meaning, and truth. Peterson\u2019s argument is that life is suffering, but it becomes bearable and purposeful when you take responsibility, speak truth, aim upward, and carry your load.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, we all know life doesn\u2019t pamper you. It challenges you. You have to confront chaos and start to build order, build structure, and stop lying to yourself. For a lot of people, that\u2019s exactly what they need. This book reinforces that training is a responsibility in physical form. You don\u2019t get strong by wishing. You get strong by doing what\u2019s required. This book supports the same ethic: discipline, truth, standards, and self-respect. Solid!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a saying that the person who can read and chooses not to is no better off than the person who cannot read at all<\/em>. We already understand the value of working on ourselves physically. That training builds strength, confidence, resilience, and it absolutely supports our mental health. But learning to work on our emotional intelligence<\/strong>, our thinking, and our understanding of who we are adds an entirely different layer to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Books allow us to borrow the lessons, mistakes, and wisdom of others, helping us make sense of ourselves and the world around us. They give us language for things we feel but can\u2019t quite explain. And over time, they quietly shape how we respond to pressure, challenge, relationships, and responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These ten books are not the only ones worth reading. But they\u2019re a very good place to start. If 2026 is the year you want to become stronger, clearer, more grounded, and more capable, not just physically, but mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, start here, and see where your reading journey takes you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get up. Get after it. BECOME EXTRAORDINARY!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whether it\u2019s health, training, parenting, work, or leadership, many of us are trying to do the right thing without a clear framework for how to think or who to listen to. There\u2019s more information than ever, yet clarity feels harder to find. As we head into 2026, many people are looking for something simple yet […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vassesc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vassesc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vassesc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vassesc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vassesc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=707"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/vassesc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":721,"href":"https:\/\/vassesc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707\/revisions\/721"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vassesc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vassesc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vassesc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vassesc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}