5 books that made me grow the most

 

Sometimes, you read a book, and you never think about your life or the world same way again. These books introduced me to a world that I hadn’t considered. They expanded my mind, made my question the assumptions and beliefs I had held on to for a long time. Also, I read these books at a stage when I was ‘ready’ to be receptive to them. I suppose this is why everyone’s list of life-changing books is different. The right book that we read at the right time speaks us to us more deeply. Provokes deeper thinking. Provokes rethinking. Ignites new possibilities. Gives us hope. Makes us smarter, kinder, bolder, and generally more effective.

 

Superthinking : The Big book of mental models  -

"You can't really know anything if you just remember isolated facts. If the facts don't hang together on a latticework of theory, you don't have them in a usable form. You've got to have models in your head."

- Charlie Munger

 The book doesn’t go very deep, but is a great introduction to learning to think better. Once you get introduced to a model, you will find its application in numerous areas in your own life. Indeed, with this crystallized understanding, you can leverage these models to understand puzzling phenomenon and to generate valuable outcomes in your own life. This is a valuable book as it compiles information and ideas that are hard to find, in one place. Occams’s razor, the Eisenhower matrix , cognitive distortions –look out for all this goodness and a lot more in this super book !

‘A Short History of Nearly Everything’ – by Bill Bryson  - This book forced me discard my preconceived notions of what a popular science book must look like.  Bryson combines brilliance with wit in a truly unique way – many of the pages are laugh-out-loud funny. Bryson’s coverage of topics is awe-inspiring. And here’s the incredible part – This book was published when Bryson was 52 years old. He claims he knew very little about science before he began working on the book. And that’s the magic in this book – Someone demonstrating incredible powers of comprehension in mastering a new subject, and giving a new twist to the genre of popular science by combining good science with his own wit. How impressive is that ! ..  This book in fact inspired me to write a full review. 

 

Living the 7 habits  - by Stephen covey – I don’t know about you, but I found that ‘The Seven habits of highly effective people’ made for labored reading. You know that he is saying something valuable, and yet find yourself facing an inexplicable resistance to turning to the next page. Thankfully, Covey has remedied this by writing a perhaps lesser known, and yet, arguably a better book on the 7 habits – Living the 7 habits – Covey shares real –life stories which illustrate the habits in action. The choice of stories is truly wonderful – I found them thought –provoking, written with deep empathy, and uncovered for me, newer dimensions in effectiveness. This book increased not just my effectiveness, but also my emotional intelligence.

 

Feel the fear and do it anyway by Susan Jeffers – Every once in a way, you read a book, and wonder at your ignorance up to that point. You wonder how you got by in life for so many years being unaware of such valuable and life-changing information. The book was first published in 1987, but don’t let that dissuade you, for this book remains absolutely relevant to this day. Most of us are held back in life by fears of some sort. We cannot hope to conquer those fears until we first become aware of them, and have the courage to acknowledge them. I read this book at a time when I was ready for it. Someone said ‘Do not wish for easier lives. Pray to be a stronger person’. Read this book to figure out how to be stronger.

 

‘Atomic habits’ by James Clear  - there is a reason this book has sold over a million copies. The author breaks down the science of developing good habits. All the incredible tips that we learn about how to improve our life is useless – until, we learn how to incorporate that tip into our own life. Behavioural change is hard – some experts go so far as to say that behavior change is about the hardest thing that sentient beings can do. This book will give you practical ideas on how you can develop and maintain good habits over the long term.  I tested the books ideas on a few habits I myself wanted to develop, and a few that I was keen to get rid of.  Clear’s ideas worked perfectly. I was able to apply James’s suggestions to every single habit – coming up with a list of things that would dramatically raise the odds of my succeeding on my endeavors. Read this book to understanding how behavior change works, before you attempt to change your life. It will save you years of frustration and heartache.

 

The first two books made me smarter. The third one improved my sensitivity and effectiveness. The fourth one made me more courageous. And the last one taught me how to internalize all the great life-changing ideas that I encountered elsewhere.

 

PS : I wrote this article in June 2020. Finally got around to posting it !