Top 10 Books that Ignited my Dedication to Lifelong Learning

Once and while you find a book that you cannot put down… And once and a while, you get lucky and a book finds you, exactly when you need to read it. I love digging into a great book on a rainy day, whether its fiction or non-fiction, there are books that come into our lives at the perfect moment and impact us. I love reading but for a long time, that wasn’t always the case.

I was a late reader as a child. It wasn’t till I was nearly nine years old when I could finally read. When I was six years old, I was diagnosed with severe dyslexia, meaning I could write perfectly backwards. If you went to a mirror, you could read what I wrote. For the next three years, I was put in special English classes with one on one instruction to try and rewire the way my brain read and wrote… it was a struggle and I hated it… at one point they even pulled me out of my math and science classes, which I excelled at, to put more time and focus on my reading… this made me hate reading even more.

Nobody at any age wants to feel stupid nor inadequate and this is how I felt all day at school. Eventually, my father took matters into his own hands, sitting me down every day, reading the words I didn’t know and spelling them out loud into a tape recorder. He made me listen to the tapes, till I could read each and every story in my Grade 3 literature book, error free. Within three months, he had me reading at my grade level. Due to all this, I never enjoyed reading as a child and teenager; but fortunate enough in college, I picked up Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone as a break from my engineering studies, and my world of literature changed forever. 

Reading is a great way to learn, especially if you choose the books you read. I admire William Shakespeare and Ernest Hemingway, they were both excellent writers and I have personally read many pieces of their work, but I didn’t enjoy reading them in High School. I remember being forced to read The Old Man and the Sea, and literally thought the book was about an old man chasing a fish, the analogy and symbolism was lost on me. Being forced to read certain books, never brought the love of reading out of me and I imagine, I’m not the only one. Once I discovered the Harry Potter series, my love of reading was triggered. Then came Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones… to branching out to J.D. Salinger and Oscar Wilde, and then to non-fiction. My self-learning had begun.

I told the story of my dislike of reading and not appreciating classic literature, so all the teachers and parents reading this blog can ease up and relax, in case their children don’t enjoy reading. I was 22 years old when I started to enjoy reading, eventually this led to writing blogs, then to writing a book. In the last 2.5 years, I have written over 500,000 words. Don’t be discouraged if your child doesn’t enjoy reading, we all learn and develop at different paces. The important thing I learned from my journey from severe dyslexia to becoming a writer, is enjoying learning far exceeds any other form of education, whether it’s through discovery, reading, listening or all of the above, enjoying learning is critical to personal growth and development.

The purpose of this article is to amplify the benefits books and reading can have on your self-learning. A good book can assist with your development and growth; a great book can impact your heart and change your perspective, just like the Harry Potter series did for me. My friends and family laugh at the comedic nature of my love for Harry Potter, as it may just be a story of a young wizard to them, but to me, it’s the story that ignited my dream of being a writer. If I never discovered Harry Potter, I would have never started my Harry Potter blog, which got me writing every day. Once I started to write every day, I became a far better writer, which lead me to start writing a journal, which lead to my book, which lead me to Talent Development.  Sometimes your path to your calling, can start in the most unlikely of places. But if you decide now to dedicate yourself to lifelong learning (and reading is just one method to learn); you too may find your calling and the path to your destiny may become clearer. To help you find a place to start your dedication to lifelong learning, I have listed my top 10 books I’ve read and why they increased and benefitted my learning. I have listed them in chronological order in when I read them.

1.     The Harry Potter Series by J.K Rowling – To say I’m a Harry Potter fan, is an understatement. From writing a popular Harry Potter character analysis blog for years, to flying to London, England for the release of the 7th book, to having my family sorted into Harry Potter houses as our sitting arrangement at my wedding… I’m a huge Harry Potter fan. The Harry Potter series triggered my love of reading; which in turn transformed and evolved to my love of writing. If it wasn’t for these books, I may have never found my true calling. As a new mom, I cannot wait to read this series to my son. The characters are realistic, they struggle to do the right thing at times and make mistakes but in the end, it is a great story about love and friendship and doing what’s best for the world and not for personal gain. Just as Albus Dumbledore says, “Dark times lie ahead of us and there will be a time when we must choose between what is easy and what is right.”

2.     The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino – I recommend this book to anyone who is struggling in selling or finding their purpose, whether it is selling themselves, a product, pitching an idea or trying to find your passion. This book is a simple and quick read of a poor camel boy who reaches great success. It’s a story of why you must first give before you receive. It uses the concept of the legend of the ten scrolls, which are ten practices to assist in building a rich life. A beautiful story with a surprising ending that left me wanting to read it again, which I did. 

3.     The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde – I read this classic during a camping trip, in which I couldn’t put it down. Mr. Wilde was a talented writer and his words jump out of the page and flow with such ease. This is a simple story of the downfall of Dorian Gray, who became consumed with outer beauty at the cost of inner peace. Mr. Gray gave into vanity and insecurity at a great cost to himself and the people closest to him. The book serves as a great lesson of what can happen when we allow material things to become our focus in life instead of love and happiness. Chasing vanity often ends in disaster and unfulfillment. Even with all his beauty and richness, Dorian Gray was an ugly person and even he, couldn’t cheat death and repercussions for his actions.

4.     Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki – When I entered my career, I had little to no financial knowledge. Rich Dad Poor Dad was the first financial book that got me to take my financial future seriously, while opening and challenging my own thoughts on investing. It helped me see a different perspective in investing for my future, while teaching me the true difference between an asset and a liability. There are better financial books out there, but this was the book that got me to see the perspective of what wealthy parents teach their children versus financially challenged parents. Books that challenge our perspective and open our eyes to understand other people’s motives, are always a win-win for me.

5.     The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho – A book about finding your destiny. Santiago first embarks on his journey to discover treasure; he ends up gaining so much more. I loved this book because it teaches us that a fulfilled life is one with love, caring friendships, which enrich our perspective. The book promotes the enjoyment of the journey instead of chasing a final destination. In life, sometimes, you need to trust and follow your instincts, and this requires you to leave your comfort zone. When you leave your comfort zone and put all your time, effort and energy into your dream, you often find some unforeseen rewarding results; as the book so elegantly states, “the whole universe will conspire so that your wish comes true.”

6.     How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie – The book may be nearly 100 years old, but everything written within it, is still as valid today as when it was written. Outside of a few selected books, this is one of the only books I’ve read more than once. In fact, I have made it a habit to read it once a year, to keep his lessons fresh and always at the forefront of the way I conduct business with others. Every chapter Mr. Carnegie writes in his book, is a valuable lesson in salesmanship and building long trusting relationships that can span an entire career. Every new graduate should read this book. This book has helped me more than any other business book I have read. The book goes into great detail on how to influence and get others to like you. Being likable is the first ingredient to getting people to want to help you; the second ingredient is being trustworthy. As he discusses, people rarely help people they don’t like and cannot trust. Every time I read this book; I learn something new.

7.     Why Him? Why Her? By Helen Fisher – This book primarily focuses on why you choose the person you love and you may be wondering why I have put it on the list, even though the primary focus of the book is on romantic relationships, the personality types she discusses in the book, are valid to professional relationships. Generally, you shouldn’t stereotype and assume people are a certain way, this is a big picture rule; but it isn’t always realistic, as sometimes, you need to make an informed opinion on people and sometimes, you need to do this quickly. Helen Fisher ‘personality type’ test is a great way to group people into categories; and this can help you understand and improve how to work with them. I have never been a big fan of the Myer Briggs personality test, as I feel they have some major gaps in their testing. I prefer Helen Fisher test, and this has assisted me in being able to better assess the people I work with, so I know if I need to curb my personality a little to create an ideal work environment.

8.     Start with Why? By Simon Sinek – I loved this book and couldn’t put it down when I read it. Simon Sinek ignited a passion within me after reading this book and helped me see how a proper functioning Organizations encourages, engages and motivates their employees. Great book to learn the ins and out of a great company culture.

9.     7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey – This is a classic and it’s a classic for a reason. Just like How to Win Friends and Influence People, I wish I had read this book earlier in my career. The book discusses how to be more effective and how to create improved habits that will not only benefit your career but your life. From improved time management to understanding your values and priorities, Mr. Covey gives practical examples and exercises that can assist you in being more effective with your time and how to establish realistic plans to reach your goals. A must read for all aspiring professionals.

10.  Crushing It by Gary Vaynerchuk – This book was recommended to me by one of my mentee’s. This is a great example of reverse mentoring; my mentee knew about my book and knew I wanted to market it but had no idea where to start. Crushing It gave me a play by play approach on how to build and promote a business through social media. The book goes into detail about how to build a personal brand and how that can be applied to a business. The book targets entrepreneurs but I believe it’s a must read for everyone. A personal brand is another word for reputation and a strong reputation will serve you through your entire career.

Being dedicated to lifelong learning will serve you through life and your entire career. When you are open to learning new things, you are generally open to learning new skills and leaving your comfort zone, where exponential learning can be found. If you are struggling to move forward in your career or struggling with cultivating your personal growth, reading can be a safe and affordable place to start. Reading, whether it’s a book, journal, article or blog, can be the quickest way to gather information. Information compounded with experience can equate to gained knowledge. Start today!