Today I want to tell you about the books that made a big impact on me. But before I share the list, I would like to mention that I didn’t just read these books. I studied them, I highlighted passages that impacted me and printed them out, I have reread those highlights tens of times, I reread some of the books a couple of times, I took notes and sentences and repeated them daily etc.
So It’s not just about reading. It’s about being influenced by amazing people that wrote these books. It’s about the wisdom behind the words and letting yourself be guided by them. They are not ordered by their importance as they played a role in different areas of my life in different periods so it would be impossible to prioritize.
Now to the list:
1. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People – Steven Covey
A classic with so many amazing concepts that I could be talking about them all the time. With 7 habits I found it even more important to reread it often to really grasp the concepts and make a plan on how to put them into your life.
2. Psycho cybernetics – Maxwell Maltz
The most important concept in the book for me: “You are not a failure, you just failed at something.” Your internal goal striving mechanism is leading you either to success or failure, depending on what you think about yourself. You cannot act differently than you believe about yourself. This one and so many other learnings will definitely not leave you indifferent.
3. The Untethered Soul – Micheal Singer
Basic book to understand you are not your thoughts, you are not your emotions. You are the consciousness listening to this mental chatter with the power to choose.
4. The Four Agreements – Miguel Ruiz
Simple and powerful lessons to bring to your everyday life.
5. Man’s Search For Meaning – Viktor Frankl
A must-read. The power of words and the message in this book is simply mind-blowing. I would like the share the most famous passage that deserves its place in history: “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
6. The Universe Has Your Back – Gabrielle Bernstein
We are guided. We are free. We can let go. This book helped me understand faith, helped me trust and see the beauty in life
7. A Return To Love – Marianne Williamson
A simply amazing reminder that everything is just love. There is love in all people. Even people you may find difficult. Life becomes so much simpler and more beautiful with this book.
8. It’s Not Always Depression – Hilary Jacobs Hendel
As someone who was proud of being completely rational, this was my first contact with understanding my emotions and that is why it played a huge difference in my life.
Hope I gave you some ideas for your reading list for the rest of the year.
I am sure I will return to the topic of books many times but I wanted to share this list with you now.
You can find my whole reading list on Goodreads.
All the best!
Lan
