The Best Books That Changed My Life In 2015
I’ve done an unhealthy amount of reading these last 12 months. The books I’ve come across have opened my mind to new ideas, strategies, angles, and a different way to live an effective life. You undoubtedly are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. Shouldn’t we carry that into other areas of life of where we can learn from the greatest minds of our existence?
If I didn’t explore into the realm of curiosity, I may have missed that crucial part that exists in everyone of us….the desire to learn something more meaningful.
Maybe we didn’t get everything we wanted out of our formal education.
Maybe we yearn to hear the stories of the past that have not come across us today.
We all may partake in sudden excuses to not have “the time” to read. My answer to this is, “wouldn’t you make time for such an activity that benefits your health in all aspects of your human life?” Perhaps so.
Maybe something on this list will open your mind too.
Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War by Robert Coram
“To be somebody or do something. In life there is often a roll call. That’s when you will have to make a decision. To be or to do? Which way will you go?”
Creativity: The Psychology of Discovery and Invention by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
“What really matters is not whether your name has been attached to a recognized discovery, but whether you have lived a full and creative life.”
Asylum by William Seabrook
“A man hopes to do well at his trade, and doesn’t do as well as he had hoped, and begins, after blaming other things, to doubt his own ability, begins to be afraid he hasn’t got it. I don’t see why this shouldn’t be the same in all trades, and I doubt whether seeming success, comparative real success, or failure has much bearing on it.”
Getting There: A Book Of Mentors by Gillian Zoe Segal
“It’s never too late to improve. It’s never too late to try something new. It’s never too late to discover something about yourself.”
Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield
“The amateur believes that she must have all her ducks in a row before she can launch her start-up or compose her symphony or design her iPhone app. The professional knows better. Keep writing. Keep composing. Keep shooting film. Athletes play hurt. Warriors fight scared. The Professional takes two aspirin and keeps on truckin’.”
“There’s only way to be happy and that’s to make the most of life. Eating, drinking, spending the money that’s been left to you, that’s what I call living — and that’s what I call not forgetting that you’ve got to die some day, too.”
The Black Hand: The Story of Rene “Boxer” Enriquez and His Life in the Mexican Mafia by Chris Blatchford
The complete and shocking underworld of the Mexican Mafia. One cannot even imagine of what such a criminal organization is capable of. “The Black Hand is still tattooed boldly on his chest, but it now reminds him of what he was-not what he is trying to be.”
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris
“You have the mind but you do not have the body, and without the help of the body the mind cannot go as far as it should. You must make your body. It is hard drudgery to make one’s body, but I know you will do it.”
An Astronaut’s Guide To Life On Earth by Col. Chris Hadfield
“I’ve learned as an astronaut: to value the wisdom of humility, as well as the sense of perspective it gives you.”
Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig
“Man is the measure of all things. Man is not the source of all things.”
“Having eyes, but not seeing beauty; having ears, but not hearing music, having minds, but not perceiving truth; having hearts that are never moved and therefore never set on fire, These are the things to fear.”
“It is the sober, thinking slave who is dangerous, and needs the vigilance of his master, to keep him a slave.”
Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, A Young Man, and life’s greatest lesson by Mitch Albom
“But if Professor Morris Schwartz taught me anything at all, it was this: there is no such thing as “too late” in life. He was changing until the day he said good-bye.”
The Art of Work by Jeff Goins
“When we share our life’s work, when we accept that we are not done until we’re dead, we not only realize our own potential but we also help others do the same. Because in the end, success isn’t so much what you do with your life; it’s what you leave behind. Which may be what a calling is all about: leaving a legacy that matters.”
Hurricane: The Life of Rubin Carter, Fighter by James S. Hirsch
“We are who we are because of who we were.”
When I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead: Useful Stories From A Persuasive Man by Jerry Weintraub with Rich Cohen
“Most importantly, I was never afraid to fail, which meant I was never afraid to try. I was never afraid to look silly, which meant I was never threatened by a new idea. I see the road ahead, too, a stretch that bends into the undergrowth. I do not know what will be there, but I do know, whatever it is, I will rush to meet it with joy.”
Most importantly, what are your favorite books this year?
Read more from the author… Thomas Ulibarri. He discusses the creative process of thought leaders and luminaries in his personal blog at ThomasUlibarri.org
