Books I Adore

Good books are hard to come across. In our lifetime, we would have read countless of books (and still reading) but only few have a long lasting impression and message that could sometimes … change our perspective in life.

In this piece, I share the few books I particularly adore of its contents and have gone back to refer to it from time-to-time. (The listing is of random sequence and doesn’t represent my personal favourite in sequence, just in case you are wondering. ??

Here we go!

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin S. Sharma

This was the second book published by Robin Sharma on the life of a successful lawyer, Julian Mantle whose life is out of balanced as he hungers for more: more prestige, more glory and more money. Then one day, he collapsed in the courtroom from a massive heart attack. It was this incident that got Julian selling off his material possession and headed for India where his journey has given him a refreshing perspective on the true meaning of life. 

This book gives a fresh breath on life without close attachment to our material possessions that could lead to life attainment that can never be traded with money.

The Book of Mistakes by Skip Richards

In this self-help book, Skip Richards shares the following 9 mistakes that prevent most of us from achieving what we want in life:

1. Working on Someone Else’s Dream
2. Allowing someone else to Define Your Value
3. Accepting Excuses
4. Surrounding Yourself with the Wrong People
5. Staying in Your Comfort Zone
6. Allowing Temporary Setbacks to become Permanent Failures
7. Trying to Blend In instead of Standing Out
8. Thinking that there is a Fixed and Limited Amount of Success Available
9. Believing You Have All the Time in the World

Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday

All humans have ego and depending on how we view ego, this book gives a perspective on how we behave when ego gets in the way in our everyday lives; how we approach certain decisions in certain circumstances & how we view situations amongst others. It also aims to help us be:

·      Humble in our aspirations

·      Gracious in our success

·      Resilient in our failures

Entrepreneurial You by Dorie Clark

In this book, Dorie shares her own real-life examples as well as stories of other successful entrepreneurs on how to monetize expertise and build a sustainable, thriving business in the new economy. She also shares some hand-on advice which we can follow.

“To diversify and maximise your income, first think BROADLY about how to provide value to others.”

The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down by Haemin Sunim

I love how this book is designed. Every chapter begins with a short essay to be followed by a series of short messages relevant to the chapter. What perks up the joy of reading this book is the art that accompanied every chapter in the pages. With art and the simple straight-forward messages combined, it makes it so easy to read with powerful message that it brings across.

Although I was tempted to complete this book in just couple of days, but the first chapter told me that I needed over more than that short number of days because of the messages which call for self-reflection.

The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh

This book holds the essence of meditation which help us understand the importance of stillness and calmness through awareness in almost everything we do. From washing dishes to drinking tea to walking, etc.

Meditation is more than just sitting with your eyes closed and seeking a peace of mind. Mindfulness and awareness give meaning to meditation.

How to Practise the Way to a Meaningful Life by His Holiness The Dalai Lama

We all seek for meaningful life and we all have different definition to what meaningful life looks like. This books encourages the development of good heart and mind through moral attitude and an understanding of reality. It also reminds us that the highest aim of practice is transformation of attitude towards peacefulness, compassion, calm focus and wisdom. The ‘Summaries for Daily Practise’ at the end of each chapter of this book offers step-by-step practise towards achieving awareness thus enlightenment.

So there you go! These books have helped shift in my perspective towards many aspects of my life. As a learning person, I am intrigued and excited learning the essence of practices that resonate as I face the different challenges throughout the phases in life.

Through these books, I learnt that we don’t need big changes. Small changes cumulatively will make a big change in life particularly from the mind shift perspective on how we view things, situations, people, circumstances through more kindness and compassion. I call this an opportunity to be a better version on myself.

Will there be more books that resonate as time goes by? Of course there will be. ??

Happy reading, everyone!