10 Books That Changed My Life
Reading is important to me.
If you’ve checked out any of my previous articles, you know that I’m a huge fan of reading non-fiction, how-to-style books. I’ve even written a post about why I believe reading is so great. Over the last 2 years, I must have read somewhere in the region of 150–200 books.
I picked the following 10 books for many reasons, the main one being that they all played a major role in shaping my thinking.
Without a doubt, these are books that changed my life for the better.
Hopefully they’ll be of service to you, too.
1. Awareness — Anthony De Mello
This was probably the first spiritual book I ever read. Before reading it, I literally had no clue what spirituality was all about. I thought it was complete bullshit and woo-woo. Boy was I wrong. This book taught me what spirituality is really about: It’s about being at ease with yourself. About not giving a shit. About being carefree. About not being at the mercy of our thoughts, emotions, and circumstances.
To this day this is one of my all-time favorite books. It will teach you the basics of mindfulness (although Anthony De Mello doesn’t use the term), awareness, overcoming social conditionings, and much more.
2. Meditations — Marcus Aurelius
Very likely the #1 book on the ancient philosophy of Stoicism. And simultaneously one of the most recommended books I’ve personally ever encountered. Almost everyone who’s interested in personal growth has read it at least once. And for good reason. This is easily one of the most impactful books you’ll ever come across.
It will teach you about becoming a man of virtue, being part of the whole, not caring what other people think, and focusing on your development as a human being. And most importantly: It will teach you how to deal with all the dirt life will throw at you over the years. Drink deeply from this book and you’ll encounter life’s struggles solid as a rock. Equipped with Marcus’ philosophy of stoicism, nothing can shake you.
3. A New Earth — Eckhart Tolle
I have read and recommend all of Eckhart Tolle’s books. If I had to pick a favorite, though, this would be the one.
A New Earth describes the human condition as precisely as I’ve ever seen it. It will teach you about the inner workings of your mind and the minds of the people around you. You’ll come to understand your thought patterns, your actions, and your emotions a lot better. And you’ll suddenly get why you’re behaving in certain ways or why you’re feeling the way you’re feeling.
This book will help you deal with negative emotions — anger, sadness, self-pity, envy, jealousy, etc. — and lower their impact on you. You’ll become an overall less negative, more humble and down to earth, carefree, and much nicer person.
4. The Upside of Stress — Kelly McGonigal
Stress is inevitable in life. Instead of trying to eliminate it, read this book and learn how to change your mindset and use stress to improve your life and performance.
The book will show you why stress is actually good for you (and how to get good at it). Did you know, for example, that our brains are built to learn from stress? Or that stress can provide us with the necessary energy and focus to crush it in moments when it really counts? Or that stress helps us connect and improve our relationships? Or that there exist many different stress responses, not just the fight-or-flight response?
Above all, this book will give you a massive mindset upgrade. Instead of fearing stress and trying to avoid it, you’ll start embracing it — and that opens the door to a whole new world of fresh opportunities.
5. Authentic Happiness — Martin Seligman
Learning to become happier is an essential life skill. Not only does happiness feel great, but it also makes you a lot more successful in life. In fact, the research shows that being happy strengthens your immune system, makes you more sociable, helps you solve problems, brings your more satisfying relationships, boosts your productivity, and ultimately helps you live a longer and healthier life.
According to Shawn Achor, a leading researcher in the field, happiness literally primes our mind and body for peak performance, “It turns out that our brains are literally hardwired to perform at their best not when they are negative or even neutral, but when they are positive. Yet in today’s world, we ironically sacrifice happiness for success only to lower our brain’s success rates.”
Authentic Happiness will teach you all the basics on how to become happier. It’s a fairly quick read and easy to understand, too.
6. Transcending The Levels of Consciousness — David R. Hawkins
Another spiritual book and definitely not one I would recommend to everyone. It’s long, hard to read, and hard to understand.
If you’re into mindfulness, meditation, awareness, spirituality, and that kind of stuff, then check it out. The book basically goes through different emotions (or levels of consciousness) and explains them in great detail. Where do they come from? What do they feel like? How can we let go of them? Knowing more about emotions improves our awareness which will help us make better decisions.
7. The Magic of Thinking Big — David J. Schwartz
The Magic of Thinking Big was one of the first personal development books I’ve ever read and it’s still one of my favorites. This is a great read especially for people just starting out on their journey of self-growth.
The premise of the book is simple: Think big to live big. To achieve big things we need to think big things. David J. Schwartz explains that success has very little to do with having rich parents, being intelligent, or getting lucky. He claims that success is determined not so much by the size of one’s brain as it is by the size of one’s thinking. The book is all about teaching you strategies to upgrade your thinking.
8. Give and Take — Adam Grant
What makes people successful? Hard work, passion, and talent are factors that come to mind and certainly make a difference. But did you know that there’s another factor — your reciprocity style — that is just as important, if not more important?
This book will show you how being a kind and genuine person can make you more successful. If you still believe that nice guys finish last in business and life, read this book. It will prove you otherwise.
9. How to Win Friends and Influence People — Dale Carnegie
This is easily one of the most successful business and personal growth books of all time. Since its release in 1937 it has been sold over 15 million times.
As the title suggests, it’s all about developing great social skills to win friends and influence people. It will help you in any area of life where people are involved. It will help you convince people of your opinions and ideas. It will help you solve conflicts. It will make you a better leader. It will turn you into a conversation master. And frankly, it will make people like you a lot.
Seriously, people will love you when you apply the principles of this book. They will enjoy being around you and spending time with you. All because you will be one of very few people who actually know how to deal with people in a nice, genuine, and understanding way.
10. Living On Your Own Terms — OSHO
Osho was a highly controversial and provocative 20th century mystic, guru, and spiritual teacher. He splits the opinions of people like nobody else. Some love and adore him, others hate and despise him. I, for one, love his message and teachings. They’ve influenced my character quite heavily and I believe they made me a better person.
If you want a fresh perspective and new outlook on life, check out this book. It’s a great introduction to Osho’s worldview and way of living.
And there you have it — 10 books that changed my life for the better.
Now I’m curious…
What are some of the books that impacted your life?
