We all have that stack of books, maybe on the nightstand by the bed, or the shelf in the living room, that mysteriously grows instead of shrinks.

You’ll find any number of books-you-should-read lists and what I’ve noticed is that they start to sound the same when you’re thinking about productivity or self-betterment.

I’m here to dish up five books that are probably not in your reading stack or list.

Burn out is the ultimate form of mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion. It’s associated with stress, particularly from an unbalanced work or personal obligation load. Too much of anything becomes a bad thing and I had been relentlessly pursuing the general notion of betterment for years through courses, books, articles, communities, and newsletters. I learned the hard way that an overly aggressive development path on a near constant basis - essentially addiction to improvement - can also cause burnout.

Mentors in games are a mechanism to guide you when you need to map your literal path, to teach you the controls, and take a deliberate role in shaping your Hero’s Journey. In the business world, a mentor is a person who helps you along your career path.