Reading list

The books that shaped Michael.

Michael Black’s five favourite books of all time: on mindset, grit, fear, legacy and choosing your own reality.

  1. Cover of The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale

    01 · 1952

    The Power of Positive Thinking

    Norman Vincent Peale

    “Belief comes before achievement.”

    One of the best-selling self-help books ever written. Peale argues that confidence, optimism and a disciplined mind are practical tools, and that the way you talk to yourself shapes what you are able to do.

  2. Cover of Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

    02 · 2016

    Shoe Dog

    Phil Knight

    “Build it before anyone believes in it.”

    Nike’s co-founder tells the raw, early story of the company, from selling running shoes out of his car to near-bankruptcy and back. It is a founder’s memoir about risk, grit and the people who stayed with him when it was hard.

  3. Cover of Outwitting the Devil by Napoleon Hill

    03 · Written 1938 · Published 2011

    Outwitting the Devil

    Napoleon Hill

    “Fear and drifting are the real enemies.”

    Written after Think and Grow Rich but kept unpublished for more than seventy years, this is Hill’s imagined interview with the Devil. It exposes fear, procrastination and “drifting” through life as the forces that hold people back.

  4. Cover of 38 Letters from John D. Rockefeller to His Son by John D. Rockefeller

    04

    38 Letters from John D. Rockefeller to His Son

    Attributed to John D. Rockefeller

    “Wealth is built on character.”

    A collection of letters of advice, attributed to Rockefeller and written as if to his son, on work, opportunity, money, responsibility and leaving a legacy. The letters’ authorship is debated by historians; their lessons are why readers keep returning to them.

  5. Cover of Reality Transurfing by Vadim Zeland

    05 · 2004

    Reality Transurfing

    Vadim Zeland

    “Choose your reality, don’t fight it.”

    A best-seller first published in Russian, Zeland’s series offers a model for pursuing goals with less struggle. It covers intention, letting go of excess importance, and moving with life rather than against it.

And one more

Michael’s own book: Millionaire Tutor.

Part memoir, part blueprint: the real story of building Success Tutoring from a spare room, and the system behind it.

Speaking · Media · Partnerships

Bring Michael to your stage.

Keynotes, panels, workshops and media: an energetic, practical voice on entrepreneurship, franchising, youth motivation and the future of education.