Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else  by Geoff Colvin 

The book goes into the smallest details of how professionals develop their skills and debunk the talent myth. In this book, the author offers new evidence that top performers in any field—from Tiger Woods and Winston Churchill to Warren Buffett and Jack Welch—are not determined by their inborn talents. Greatness doesn’t come from DNA but from practice and perseverance honed over decades. Geoff Colvin, is Fortune‘s senior editor-at-large and has written hundreds of articles for the magazine, including its popular column Value Driven. He lectures widely and is the regular lead moderator for the Fortune Global Forum. Colvin graduated Harvard cum laude with a B.A. in economics and received his M.B.A. from New York University’s Stern School.

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success – How we can learn to fulfill our potential by Carol S. Dweck 

This book is a mandatory read for everyone. It should be on the top of the list for parents, teachers, or anyone working with kids and young people to help them build the self-confidence they need to reach their full potential in life. This book will break a lot of prejudices and change your view of the world. The author, world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., discovered a simple but groundbreaking idea: the power of mindset. In this book, she shows how success in school, work, sports, the arts, and almost every area of human endeavor can be dramatically influenced by how we think about our talents and abilities.

If you decide to read this book, you will not be disappointed, I promise.

The Talent Code: Greatness Isn’t Born, It’s Grown  by Daniel Coyle 

„Talent. You’ve either got it or you haven’t.” Not true, actually. Forget about the talent and start putting in the dedicated effort, as all professionals do. The book about deep practice, myelin (I bet you have never heard of it), and a lot of other important parts of a successful career in sport and art. Daniel Coyle is the New York Times best-selling author of The Culture Code, The Secret Race, The Little Book of Talent, The Talent Code, Lance Armstrong’s War, Hardball: A Season in the Projects, and the novel Waking Samuel. Winner (with Tyler Hamilton) of the 2012 William Hill Sports Book of the Year Prize, he is a contributing editor for Outside magazine, and also works as a special advisor to the Cleveland Indians. 

Bounce: Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham, and the Science of Success by Matthew Syed 

Written by the table tennis Olympian and journalist Matthew Syed, this book will break prejudices related to success and discover many new things about genetics, psychology, and talent. If you really want to know what makes the difference and succeed in sport, this is the book for you. Matthew Syed is a sportswriter and columnist for the London Times. At the age of 24, he became the #1 British table tennis player, an achievement he initially attributed to his superior speed and agility. But in retrospect, he realizes that a combination of advantages—a mentor, good facilities nearby, and lots of time to hone his skills—set him up perfectly to become a star performer. 

The Practice of Practice: How to Boost Your Music Skills by Jonathan Harnum 

This is really one inspiring book, with all the links to videos, software, and all other useful stuff. Through the interviews with many successful musicians, the author discovers a lot of different ways to practice effectively. With the new approach, you will discover in this book, you will start enjoying your playing and start getting much better results. This book, together with Practice Like This is a result of over five years of intensive study, and more than thirty years of the author’s experience as both a musician and a teacher.
(Great offer – a free book: You can get the free copy of Practice Like This when you sign up for the author’s weekly newsletter “6-Bullet Saturday,” with the top six music- and practice-related finds of the week, at https://www.sol-ut.com/).

The Practicing Mind: Developing Focus and Discipline in Your Life, Master Any Skill or Challenge by Learning to Love the Process  by Thomas M.Sterner

The only way to be successful in anything you do is to learn to enjoy the process. This book will help you find the focus, patience, and discipline you need. Thomas M. Sterner is the founder and CEO of The Practicing Mind Institute. As a successful entrepreneur, he is considered an expert in Present Moment Functioning. In his free time, Tom is an accomplished musician, private pilot, avid sailor, and proficient golfer. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware, and enjoys spending time with his two daughters and in his recording studio.

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience  by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi 

When you immerse yourself in something you love, time doesn’t exist. Hungarian-American psychologist Mihaly Chiksentmihalyi defined it as “flow”—an entirely focused and highly productive state of mind. The more you do the things you love, this occurrence becomes something regular. During flow, people typically experience deep enjoyment, creativity, and a total involvement with life. 

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear 

This book is a life-changer. If you have trouble changing your habits or building a good one, you have to find the right system. This is the book that gives you tangible results as soon as you start using the described techniques. Everything written in the book has already been tested and proven. All that remains is for you to put the theory into practice. James Clear, one of the world’s leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results.

46 Rules of Genius: An Innovator’s Guide to Creativity  by Marty Neumeier (Amazon.com book link or Amazon.co.uk book link)

If you want to use your creativity to the fullest and develop your authentic style, this is the book for you.This book will help you activate your inner genius by teaching you how to ask yourself the right questions. If you want to learn to innovate and be original, here you will discover the way you need to think. Marty Neumeier is an author, designer, and brand adviser whose mission is to bring the principles and processes of design to business.

Metaskills: Five Talents for the Robotic Age – one more great book by Marty Neumeier (Amazon.com book link or Amazon.co.uk book link)

As Alvin Toffler said in Rethinking the Future, “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write…but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” 

This is one of the books that requires 100% focus. The concepts presented in this book are entirely different from everything that you have learned in school. Machines are taking over jobs that do not require creativity, humanity, or leadership. To effectively adapt to a rapidly changing world and technology, you will have to work on your five metaskills, which are:

FEELING: including empathy, intuition, and social intelligence.

SEEING: the ability to think whole thoughts, also known as systems thinking.

DREAMING: the metaskill of applied imagination.

MAKING: mastering the design process, including skills for devising prototypes.

LEARNING: the autodidactic ability to learn new skills at will. Learning is the “opposable thumb” of the five talents since it can be used in combination with the other four.