Great books that changed my life
From young age I am an avid reader. I have big and never ending curiosity to question everything and understand everything. When I started out in the school there was no internet or Google for me to find out information with a click of a button. Most of my questions will go unanswered by the adults due to their own lack of knowledge. It is not their fault as they also did not have access to information. To satisfy my curiosity I turned to books. I gobbled lot of books from my school days and still doing it.
Some books were interesting and some were down right boring. Some books disappeared almost immediately from my mind and some stood the time test. I will mention here some of the great books that had profound impact on my life. I remember these books and will remember for a long time to come as it changed my life for ever.
1. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie ![]()
This classic self help book published in 1937 by Dale Carnegie. This book is simple to read and understand. Success in life comes with success in relationship with people. If you cannot be friendly and influential be prepared for a mediocre life.
2. The magic of thinking big – David J. Schwartz
Another self help classic. I like this book because it is both simple and powerful in
explaining how our thoughts influence everything we experience. Easy to read and remember.
3. The Mind map book – Tony Buzan
Eye opener for anyone stuck and frustrated with organizing thoughts and information in traditional list based structure. Mind map makes it easy to take notes, remember
information and generate new information. Mind map is so easy and natural because it is a representation of our thoughts in picture format. Mind map closely resembles our organic thinking which branches in all directions. If you have mastered mind maps, it is a great tool to create notes, organize massive information and create new ideas. I finished my entire MBA course using Mind mapping technique
4. Awaken the Giant within – Anthony Robbins
Great book to understand on how we can guide our mind to success.
It explains basic fact of mind workings and how we can make it work for goals. While reading this book I got answer to lot of my questions. This is not a pure motivational book, but a motivational plus techniques book.
5. The 4-Hour Workweek – Timothy Ferriss
This book is about how to spend less time working and more time living. Though it may not be possible for everyone to follow Timothy Ferriss principle, it is still a great book in
understanding how we should live our life as opposed to how we are living now. We all spend 30% to 60% of our day working and we postpone our enjoyment either to weekends or until retirement. Life is not all work, there are lot other things in life pass by unnoticed as we are too narrowly focused on our work. This is again a techniques book, providing techniques to untangle yourself from heavy work and breathe some fresh air in to life.
6. The Richest Man in Babylon – George S. Clason
This book is about earning, saving and investing money for financial wealth. The power
of this book is its narrative style. There are no charts or complicated mathematical analysis. The book is a like your grandma telling interesting and compelling stories. It is more interesting when you listen this book through audio.
7. The Millionaire Next Door – Thomas J. Stanley
Do you think Millionaires live in style and spend excessive amount of money ?. Read this
book to find out how real millionaire lead their life. You will be convinced that people living in big houses and having flashy cars may not be wealthy as they look. Real millionaires are more humble and lead a stable but satisfying life. When you read this book you will understand millionaire lifestyle and you will know it is not same as what you had in mind.
