I knew I had a problem.
But I didn’t have $1999 to buy courses and afford life coaching programs.
I was a college student, living off my pocket money.
Back then, even psychotherapy wasn’t too mainstream. Now we do have free therapy apps.
But yeah, I did have access to books. And I knew I could easily buy a book or two every month out of my pocket money.
That’s what I did. I looked for answers to my problems in books.
People who are dead (Charles Bukowski) taught me how to write.
People who are alive (Ryan Holiday, James Altucher) taught me how to live better.
And they probably don’t even know they influenced my life so much.
Books changed my life. They enabled me and empowered me to learn new skills, be a part of new groups, challenge myself to be better every day.
After reading 250-300 books in the past 5 years, I look back and see I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for these books.
If you want to let books change your life too, here are 14 books you might want to read.
These 14 books have the power to change your life if taken seriously.
The Magic
Rhonda Byrne has written 4 books in “The Secret” series –
i) The Secret ii) The Power iii) The Magic iv) The Hero.
Out of all these 4 books, the third one “The Magic” has been the most effective one for me.
The book is more of a workbook with daily assignments mentioned in the book.
The main focus of the book is the practical manifestation of the Law of Attraction.
The Law of Attraction is the belief that positive or negative thoughts bring positive or negative experiences into a person’s life.
Wikipedia
If you’re not having a good time in life, I would recommend you start here.
The book demands 15 minutes of your time every day for 28 days. And trust me, it’s worth it.
Click here to check out this book on Amazon.
Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life
Ikigai is a Japanese concept that means “a reason for being”. The word refers to having a direction or purpose in life, that which makes one’s life worthwhile, and towards which an individual takes spontaneous and willing actions giving them satisfaction and a sense of meaning to life.
Wikipedia
I am purpose coach. And this is the trend-setting book to find the purpose of your life. Well, that must have said a lot.
It’s a short book, with lots and lots of simple and enriching points. This is the new book I love gifting others now.
You may also like to read: How to find the purpose of your life
Click here to check out this book on Amazon.
The 10X Rule
I am not an audiobook kind of person. However, while working out in the gym, I listened to this book by Grant Cardone. And damn, the message is so powerful from this book.
The 10X Rule says —>
1) you should set targets for yourself that are 10X greater than what you believe you can achieve and
2) you should take actions that are 10X greater than what you believe is necessary to achieve your goals. The biggest mistake most people make in life is not setting goals high enough.
(Source: James Clear Blog)
Click here to check out this book on Amazon.
Atomic Habits
I have been a regular reader of James Clear’s blog for a few years now. He writes tips about habits, productivity, creativity – backed by science and personal experiences.
He took years to compile his blog post concepts to write this one book. And it’s breaking the bestselling records now.
Whenever you want to change your behaviour, ask yourself:
- How can I make it obvious?
- How can I make it attractive?
- How can I make it easy?
- How can I make it satisfying?
You may also like to read: The ultimate guide to making new habits
Click here to check out this book on Amazon.
Mind Full to Mindful
This book is written by a monk Om Swami. While reading this book, with the kind of wisdom it has, I judged the author might be in his 60s or 70s.
But guess what? Om Swami turned 40 last year.
What’s the craziest thing a book has made you do?
I visited the Ashram of the author Om Swami – Badrika Ashram- because of his super captivating writing style.
This book did such magic on me, that I had to personally go and check the author.
In 2000, Swami graduated with a Bachelor of Business from University of Western Sydney and later, in 2002, acquired Master of Business Administration at University of Technology Sydney. Later he started a software business in Australia and expanded its operations to the USA, Canada, UK and India over the next six years. In 2010, he renounced his material wealth and left for his spiritual journey.
Wikipedia
This particular book is full of wisdom, wit, and solutions. I literally found myself laughing out loud while reading this book.
You may also like to read: 5 ways you can meditate despite your busy schedule
Click here to check out this book on Amazon.
EGO IS THE ENEMY
Out of Ryan Holiday’s recent trilogy 1) The obstacle is the way 2) Ego is the enemy 3) Stillness is the key – this one is my most favourite.
Ego is an unhealthy belief in our self-importance.
Ryan holiday
My favourite 3 lessons from this book?
- A true student is like a sponge. Absorbing what goes on around him, filtering it, latching on to what he can hold. A student is self-critical and self-motivated, always trying to improve his understanding so that he can move on to the next topic, the next challenge. A real student is also his own teacher and his own critic. There is no room for the ego there.
- Don’t fake it till you make it. Make it so you don’t have to fake it.
- Instead of pretending that we are living some great story, we must remain focused on the execution—and on executing with excellence. We must shun the false crown and continue working on what got us here.
For Top 15 lessons from this book, visit: Ego is the Enemy: Book Summary
Click here to check out this book on Amazon.
Big Magic
This book is so close to my heart for all the amazing points it has to offer for a creative person.
Earlier in January’19, I was crying in a public restroom because I didn’t think whatever I was writing was good enough.
But then I bought this book.
And to be honest, this book is the reason how my creativity survived (and also bloomed) in 2019.
If I could just hug one person right now, it’d be the author – Elizabeth Gilbert.
It’s a 10/10 book for me. If you are a creative person, don’t think twice before buying it.
Click here to check out this book on Amazon.
A Monk’s Guide to a Clean House and Mind
Cleaning is a spiritual practice.
After reading this minimalistic and effective book, I started a daily practice of cleaning my washroom – some days the floor, other days the sink or commode.
And yes, it’s a life-altering habit to clean your mind and become more forgiving in nature.
This book is a guide to Buddhist practices and explains how cleaning needs to be an integral ritual of someone’s daily lives.
Click here to check out this book on Amazon.
Reinvent Yourself
Book summary in 5 points:
- Every day you reinvent yourself. You’re always in motion. But you decide every day: forward or backward.
- Reinvention will boost every healthy chemical in your body: serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin.
- You’re the average of the five habits you do, the five things you eat, the five people you spend most of your time with.
- 200-500 books equal one good mentor.
- Every day, ask yourself, “Who did I help today?”
It takes 5 years to reinvent yourself from scratch. Here’s the breakdown of these 5 years from the book-
Year One: you’re flailing and reading everything and just starting to do.
Year Two: you know who you need to talk to and network with. You’re Doing every day. You finally know what the monopoly board looks like in your new endeavours.
Year Three: you’re good enough to start making money. It might not be a living yet.
Year Four: you’re making a good living.
Year Five: you’re making wealth.
Sometimes I get frustrated in years 1-4. I say, “why isn’t it happening yet?” and I punch the floor and hurt my hand and throw a coconut on the floor in a weird ritual.
That’s ok. Just keep going. Or stop and pick a new field. Changing is never bad. It means you learned enough from one thing and now you are ready for the next.
Life is not made of consistency. That’s how you die one day at a time. Life is made of changes, memories, and evil plans, and the pleasure that comes from freedom.
James Altucher
Here is the original post by the author himself: The ultimate guide to Reinvent Yourself
YOU CAN SELL
Creative people (usually) have issues setting up their businesses.
To be honest, creative people (usually) suck at sales.
And I’m not talking about just a perspective, it’s actually what I have seen while being in a network of a lot of creative people.
You can sell by Shiv Kheda is a wonderful book that can help anyone get good at sales.
Check out the book blurb below-
Anyone who sells a product, service or an idea is a salesperson.
Who is not selling?
• candidate at a job interview
• a boy and girl proposing to get married
• a politician making speeches to get votes
• a lawyer arguing his client’s case in court.
Aren’t we all selling?
YOU CAN SELL addresses time-tested principles which make a successful sales professional. The word used is ‘principles’ and not ‘tactics’. Because tactics are manipulative whereas principles are based on the foundation of integrity.
Many times you hear people saying that to succeed you need to learn the ‘tricks of the trade’. This is not true. This book is different! Good professionals learn the trade, and that’s what YOU CAN SELL is all about! Become Unstoppable and Sell Your Way to SUCCESS.
Click here to check this book on Amazon
The 80/20 Principle
Book summary in 5 points:
1. What is the 80/20 principle?
The minority, 20% of causes, inputs, or effort usually leads to a majority, 80% of the results.
2. 20% of choices.
The ones that have a massive impact.
Eg. You probably can recall a few critical turning points in your life that brought you to your current self.
3. 20% of efforts.
Find the critical efforts that lead to the majority of results.
Eg. Many ventures oftentimes rely on a few key missions to succeed.
4. Conduct an 80/20 analysis. Find out what you can optimise. To maximise your effectiveness, focus only on what matters most.
5. So, what you can do about it? “Eliminate or reduce the 80% of efforts that produce poor results, there are many ways to waste your time and resources.”
Bonus point- 20% of People cause 80% of problems in our lives.
And, 20% of people are the reason for 80% of our happiness.
Click here to check this book on Amazon.
THE 4 HOUR WORK WEEK
Full Summary: The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris (Book Summary)
Book summary in 5 points-
- Doing something unimportant well won’t make it important.
- Earning 65,000$ by working 60 hours a week is better than earning 1,00,000$ by working 95 hours a week. (Relative Income)
- If you really love your work, why’d you retire? And if you never liked what you do for a living, why were you even working your whole life? The idea is to have mini-retirements throughout your life, where you can go for vacations for 3/4/5 months, without being worried about your work.
- 20% of your problems cause 80% of stress in your life. Cut out that crap. (Pareto’s Principle)
- Force yourself to work in a hard deadline, and you’d see your productivity increasing manifolds. (Parkinson’s Principle)
You can heal your life
The best part of this book is the flow chart where Louise Hay has mentioned how our physical illnesses are actually symptoms of deep-rooted psychological issues.
About the book:
‘You Can Heal Your Life’ is practical and insightful books which help in evaluating the dos and don’ts of life. Your mind plays an important role in the well-being of the body. The book is appreciated by various people for its content. The writer provides guidance towards the right path to heal your life. The author has been able to explain just how our negative thoughts and beliefs about ourselves are able to lead to various health conditions and emotional issues that can ruin our lives.
The right thought pattern can heal anything, change the way of thinking and your body will be fit and fine. The book is all about the in-depth relationship between the body and the mind. You Can Heal Your Life is a gift from the author Louise L. Hay. Let us give this gift to ourselves and our dear ones in order to keep them fin and healthy always. Stay away from the negative thoughts and negative beliefs and see the change into your life. Just by simple healing techniques make your dreams come true and create a truly happily ever after life.
Click here to check out this book on Amazon.
Spark A Fire
Expected time to read and implement: 25 minutes
This book is a result of working with 150+ coaching clients in the first half of 2020.
In a 5-step process, I have mentioned various activities you can do in order to stay self-motivated.
You can read the book for free. CLICK HERE.
Disclaimer:
Bear in mind that the links in this post are Amazon Affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I’ll totally blow on buying and reading more books.
Here are the 14 books that have the power to change your life, if taken seriously.
- The Magic
- Ikigai
- The 10X Rule
- Atomic Habits
- Mind full to mindful
- Ego is the enemy
- Big Magic
- A monk’s guide to a clean house and mind
- Reinvent yourself
- You can sell
- The 80/20 Principle
- 4-hour workweek
- You can heal your life
- Spark a fire
Trannum Gupta says
Gonna bookmark this blogpost ????✌
Dipanshu Rawal says
Enjoy your reading 🙂