The most important thing is curiosity.
If you are curious enough about life and the seemingly endless complexities it entails, you will never stop finding things to pique that curiosity. It took me some time to rediscover an interest in reading, but I’m extremely happy that I did.
I benefited from other people’s recommendations, so I decided to make a list of the books I would recommend to myself if I was starting from the beginning.
Out of the 50 books I read in 2017, I picked the 10 books I found to be the most impactful for me, personally. These are books I will revisit in the future and continue to draw inspiration and understanding from.
For the sake of organization, I listed them in descending order (and split the list into two posts because I don’t have the attention span to read everything in one go).
But in reality, all these books are fantastic and it would be much too difficult to try to order them in terms of impact. Not every book will be for everyone, but I invite you to give at least one of them a read.
10. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck – Mark Manson
Let’s begin with the book I recommended most in 2017.
I think it’s the most accessible book on this list to the average person that doesn’t read many (or any) books. Beyond its provocative delivery, which contains a plethora of fantastic, up-to-date cultural references, this book is packed with hard-hitting principles on the many pitfalls present in our contemporary western culture. It also offers sound advice for the ways in which a person should go about avoiding or rectifying those issues.
Manson attacks preconceived notions of what society deems important and tells you exactly why they don’t matter. He showcases the many ways that our culture tries to draw your attention and keep you focused on things that are out of your control and serve no purpose in your life. He argues that to become more like the person you want to be, you have to stop caring about stuff that doesn’t matter and start caring more about the stuff that does.
He offers a refreshing take on self-improvement based on the idea that human beings are all flawed in one way or another, and the sooner we stop looking at life through an Instagram filter the better off we’ll be.
If you feel as though your life sucks compared to everyone you see on social media, read this book. It will serve you as a good reminder that we’re all a little fucked up and that is perfectly okay.
For an introduction to Mark Manson, check out his blog. I stumbled across it sometime last year and greatly enjoyed his no-bullshit philosophy on life. I was thrilled with what I found in his book because it’s a deeper dive into more of the same themes.
A quote to ponder:
“You and everyone you know are going to be dead soon. And in the short amount of time between here and there, you have a limited amount of fucks to give. Very few, in fact. And if you go around giving a fuck about everything and everyone without conscious thought or choice – well, then you’re going to get fucked.”
9. The War of Art – Steven Pressfield
I read The War of Art for the first time in 2016. I read it again twice in 2017 so it still makes the list.
This is an essential book for anybody attempting a creative endeavor. It doesn’t have to be writing, painting, or making music. It can be starting a diet or making a big life decision. This is a guidebook for anyone who finds themselves stuck procrastinating something that they know they should be doing in life.
Pressfield writes that most of us have two lives. The life we live and the life we wish we were living. In between those two lives is a force of nature working against us that he calls Resistance.
If you’ve ever started something and then couldn’t seem to stick with it no matter how much you seem to want it, then you know what Resistance is. Resistance is anything that gets in the way of doing what you need to do to help move you towards success, whether it be drug addiction or too much time spent on social media.
Pressfield offers a very simple formula for getting past Resistance: do the work.
More important than anything is waking up every day and doing the work you need to do. Because Resistance never goes away; you just get better at facing it.
A quote to ponder:
“Procrastination is the most common manifestation of Resistance because it’s the easiest to rationalize. We don’t tell ourselves, “I’m never going to write my symphony.” Instead, we say, “I’m going to write my symphony; I’m just going to start tomorrow.”
8. How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big – Scott Adams
This is a story of perseverance and playing the long game. Scott Adams outlines his journey from bank teller to world-renowned cartoonist and the many failures in between. He explains how he viewed every job he had as an opportunity to develop skills that would serve him later in life.
He argues that to be successful you don’t necessarily need to be great at one thing, but rather pretty good at a few different things.
His formula for success is good + good > excellent. Applying the formula to himself, he says that he’s not the best illustrator or the best writer, but he is above average in both disciplines, so when he combined the two he created a successful niche.
My biggest takeaway from this book was his argument for utilizing systems rather than goals, which I outlined here.
A quote to ponder:
“If you think your odds of solving your problem are bad, don’t rule out the possibility that what is really happening is that you are bad at estimating odds.”
7. The Magic of Thinking Big – Dr. David J. Schwartz
This book was published in 1959. As such, some of the analogies and platitudes are dated. Even with that caveat there are golden nuggets of wisdom and inspiration found on almost every page.
The core principle of this book is simple: you create your reality through what you can imagine, so you might as well aim high.
If you believe something is possible, you will begin to formulate solutions rather than roadblocks. Schwartz argues that optimism and belief in yourself are the factors that will propel you forward; whereas pessimism and indecision will take you nowhere.
I came across a quote from late-night host Conan O’Brien that has absolutely nothing to do with this book, yet it sums it up the book’s message almost perfectly: “It is our failure to become our perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique.”
Believe big and see where it will take you.
A quote to ponder:
“To accomplish something, we must plan to accomplish something”
6. Man’s Search For Meaning – Viktor Frankl
This book is incredibly powerful and should be read by everyone. Especially those going through a struggle or crisis in their lives. It offers an objective perspective on suffering that’s unlike anything else I have come across.
Written in just 9 days, this book chronicles Viktor Frankl’s experiences in four different concentration camps during World War II. He recounts the staggering amount of loss that he endured and how he coped with that loss without losing his humanity.
Frankl writes that a person doesn’t always have a choice as to what happens to them in life, but they can always choose how they let circumstance affect them. He writes that in life suffering is inevitable, but there is always a choice in how you deal with your suffering.
This book only $8 on Amazon and just over 100 pages in length. It will serve as a great reference for those times in life when the walls seem to be caving in all at once.
It will remind you that you are ultimately the master of yourself. You can always choose who you want to be, moment to moment.
A quote to ponder:
“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.”
Man’s Search For Meaning was the most recommended book in Tim Ferriss’ Tribe of Mentors, which I highlight in Part 2 of this list.
Originally written & published Feb 18, 2018
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