Books have been my teachers who taught me how to live and thrive and continue to teach me so much more.
Whatever change I have seen in my life from how I was earlier to how I am now- I would credit a large part of it to the books that I read.
I am often asked to give book recommendations to my friends, and I am surprised that I never wrote a post about the books that changed my life.
So here it is now.
I have read many self-help books and inspirational books, and there are still so many I am yet to read, but today I want to share with you the 10 books that truly changed my life- in terms of my thinking, my habits, my creativity, how I see money and handle my finances and how to live my life in general.
But firstly I want to share why you should read books, particularly self-help.
Why You Should Read Books
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Anybody who doesn’t read books, or says they can’t read a book, I feel a lot of pity for them, for they miss out so much from life.
And to those who say I don’t read self-help books because I don’t think I can benefit from them, I feel sad for them too, for they are too self-righteous to think that they already know what’s going to be said in the book (which is actually far from true)
Such people can never be good students of life.
We all need help from one another.
We learned how to count because somebody taught us to. Now it may seem basic to count 10 plus 10, but if we hadn’t learned numbers we wouldn’t know.
Similarly, we think we already know how to live this life, or that others can’t teach us, but the truth is we don’t know properly, and we can all get a little help from each other.
And books are such a wonderful medium to seek help.
Today I just want to share the 10 books that changed my life and also a few more others.
P.S some of these links are affiliate links. If you purchase from my link, I’ll earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
10 Books That Changed My Life
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1. The monk who sold his Ferrari
This was the first book that I read that was self-help. Before that, I just didn’t know anything about how I should be leading my life.
I was simply spending my days before this book with no idea about how life must be led.
I was on the verge of breakdown during that time- demotivated, sad, directionless. I’ve written it more on my first ever blog post, 27 years of my life so far
But then a shift happened in my heart and I decided that I needed to change.
This was when I found this book, or it could be said that this book found me at the right time.
I didn’t even buy this book. My father had got this book from somewhere and it had been lying around for a long time.
So I started to read this book and I didn’t just read it, I started to apply everything the book said.
I built good habits, started exercising, started waking up a bit early created a morning routine and started spending my time more intentionally.
Soon I saw a shift happening in my life and I felt more motivated, happier and had a little purpose and direction in life.
So I can credit that the first book that ever changed my life was this book- the Monk who sold his Ferrari.
After this book, I have read many books by Robin Sharma which were all so great in changing my life in some way or the other.
I started waking up at 5 am after reading his 5 am club and that’s another book of his that changed my life too.
2. Man’s Search for Meaning
Written from his experiences at the concentration camp at Auswitz, Victor Frankl in ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’ writes about finding purpose and meaning even amid extreme suffering.
This book truly opened my eyes as to the meaning of our life and how if we have meaning, we will be able to surmount everything and even see our suffering with meaning and purpose.
This was the book that made me see life from a different perspective and changed how I viewed my suffering and how I viewed life.
It made me realise that nobody can take away our freedom to choose our attitude.
I truly feel that if you read just one book this year, it should be this.
3. Think and Grow Rich
This was the book that helped me change my mindset and the power of my thoughts to create my desired reality.
It was after reading this book that I set a goal of changing my financial situation and wrote down my goals for the specific sum of money that I wanted to have.
To my surprise, I was able to manifest it. With the help of this book and many others, I changed my money mindset, my beliefs, and my determination and slowly it helped me change my financial situation.
I now know I have all the potential in my mind to make anything happen and that slowly and surely, I will be able to achieve all of my dreams as I have until now.
If you want to know the secrets of success and change your life, read this book.
4. Discussions on Youth
In my 20s this book helped me gain a sense of purpose, direction and how I need to spend my youthful days with its various chapters on different topics such as friendship, consideration, relationships, prayer, goals etc.
I had come across Nichiren Buddhism from my parents who were the first ones to practice it, but I had still not taken up faith in it.
However, after reading this book from my mentor, Daisaku Ikeda, I decided to take up faith in Nichiren Buddhism and started practising chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.
I came across this book after I had watched one of Orlando Bloom’s interviews on how he started practising Nichiren Buddhism.
And I have not loved any book as much as I loved this one and I would recommend it to every youth, whether you are in your 20s, 30s or even 40s or regardless of whether you take up Nichiren Buddhism or not.
Youth is defined by how we live our lives young at heart and with a spirit of learning.
Sensei Ikeda never fails to inspire me and it was this book that gave me the courage to pursue my dreams, be more considerate, develop determination, and more compassion and work on my human revolution- which is another word for continuous self-improvement.
5. The Power of your Subconscious mind
Though this book is closely related to the things I had learned from The Secret, Think and Grow Rich and many other books on the law of attraction and manifestation, this book gave me a clearer idea of how our subconscious mind works and how we can use it for our benefit.
It helped me give up my limiting beliefs and how one can program our mind for success with visualisation, affirmations and belief.
Every thought and belief counts and this book changed my life because it made me realise how powerful our subconscious mind is and I still practice its techniques very carefully and intentionally in my life.
6. Old Path, White Clouds
I was a born Buddhist, but until I was 20 I didn’t know anything about Buddhism or what the Buddha’s true teachings were.
I only saw monks praying in our home and doing all the rituals and I used to think Buddhism is like any other religion.
But then I again came across a book on Buddhism (whose name I forgot) and that made me understand the true practice of Buddhism and the Buddha’s teachings.
There I learned about mindfulness for the first time and learned that Buddhism is so practical for modern life and also, so scientific.
But I still didn’t know much about the life of Buddha.
The book Old Path, White Clouds is a biography of Siddharth Gautama and his journey towards enlightenment written by Thich Nhat Hanh.
It is written in the simplest way and in a way that makes us see Buddha as just an ordinary human, which he was.
I loved this book so much that I have read it thrice even with the book’s thickness.
This book is what made me a fan of Buddha, and his heart and made me want to be a true Buddhist in my daily life.
7. Big Magic
This has to be one of the best books on creative living.
Even though I read this book after I had already started my creative journey, I got so much inspiration from it.
This book gave me a new perspective on how I do my creative work and how I should see the ideas that come to me.
This is such an encouraging book that I would recommend to any person wanting to start his/her creative journey but is too afraid for fear of judgement, failure or anything.
This book teaches us to embrace curiosity, how to see failure and how to support ourselves as creative people.
The writer Elizabeth Gilbert says that we are all creative people and we have the right to be creative to be happy and fulfilled in life.
8. The Richest Man in Babylon
Anybody who has started earning must read this book.
We’ve all heard the addle, “Money makes money”, but we don’t know how. This book teaches us how to do that- how to make money with money.
After reading this book, I applied its principles in my life- started saving 10% of my income just for investment purposes and slowly I could see that the 10% amount I used to save started increasing.
I started managing my money more carefully and soon the 10% amount I saved just for investment purposes far exceeded my total income that I used to have earlier.
My income exceeded by 5-6 folds and I was able to increase my income-earning ability I owe it a lot to the lessons I learned from this book.
I now keep a certain percentage of income every month also for donation, travel, self-enjoyment and this way I don’t find giving away my money hard, and instead I bless the money and myself for all the abundance I now have in my life.
This book truly was the starting point of how I changed my financial life.
9. The Miracle of Mindfulness
This small yet powerful book written by the Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh, helped me be more mindful and helped me learn how to use mindfulness in my daily life and be less overwhelmed and less stressed.
As with all other books written by Thich Hat Hanh, his words are so simple and it reaches right to the heart.
In just reading his lines and his book, I can feel myself becoming more present and calm even as I read each line, which doesn’t normally happen when reading other books.
If you want to practice the art of mindfulness and truly feel fulfilled in your daily ordinary life, read this book Miracle of Mindfulness and be inspired to be more mindful and thankful.
Other books I have loved by Thich Nhat Hanh
10. The Alchemist
The first time I read this book, I didn’t understand anything. But when I read it after many years, the book’s meaning was revealed to me and I have been so enchanted by it.
If you haven’t read this book yet, this is a sign that you must read it for the timeless tale it tells about perseverance, belief, love and the pursuit of following one’s heart’s calling.
It asks us to go after our intentions and truly believe because the Universe is also only waiting for when we will go after our dreams so that it can give us whatever we seek.
Other books that changed my life
- Many Lives, Many masters
- I am Malala
- The 4-hour workweek
- The Secret
- The Dairy of a Young Girl
- The Millionaire Fastlane
- The Power of Now
- Start with Why
- Steal like an Artist
- When Breath becomes air
So these were the books that changed my life
With time, I know I am going to add so many to the list, but until now, these are my favourites and they have for a large part shaped my thinking, my beliefs and I am so glad these books existed and that the writers wrote them and shared all their successes and learnings so freely.
For me, I am forever indebted to all the books that helped me change my life and I will continue reading throughout my life.
Thank you books.
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