List three books that have had an impact on you. Why?
*1. The power of your subconscious mind by Joseph Morphy.
This book explores a principle that helps all other self-development tools work better: The idea that our experiences, actions, and circumstances are produced by our subconscious minds in response to the information we feed our conscious minds and what we focus on.
Most influential part:
I love the part on “autosuggestion” and have used this principle in my own life for many years. It’s also known as “affirmations” or “self-talk.” Although there may be slight variations among these, it’s essentially the idea that you can reprogram your subconscious mind by intentionally and repeatedly feeding your conscious mind specific messages. Since your subconscious mind has a lot to do with your behavior and perception, this practice has the power to create change in your life.
Don’t let the title fool you, it’s actually a really insightful read. Main idea of the book is that you need to decide what is truly important to you and stop giving your precious energy and time to everything that isn’t.
*2. The Subtle Art of Giving A F*ck by Mark Manson
Most influential part:
One of the best ideas I got from this book is actually a derivation of a Buddhist concept: the idea that suffering is unavoidable. This isn’t depressing, it’s actually empowering if you apply it practically. In the case of this book, it’s that everyone — regardless how successful they are — has problems. The solution of one problem is the creation of another. Life isn’t about not having problems or avoiding problems. It’s about choosing problems you enjoy dealing with. (e.g. the problems that come with exercising versus the problems that come with being out of shape).
*3. meditation by Marcus Aurelius
Stoic wisdom at its finest. This is the personal diary of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. It contains notes to himself about how to deal with difficult people, success, failure and a whole bunch of other real life stuff.
Most influential part:
There’s a part where he talks about dealing with difficult people and it’s a mindset that I’ve found super helpful to adopt. At its core, it is basically the idea that you need to mentally prepare yourself for difficult people so that they are not a surprise. Secondly, it’s the realization that you can choose to not be affected by them because you know who you are and what you value.
“Begin each day by telling yourself: Today I shall be meeting with interference, ingratitude, insolence, disloyalty, ill-will, and selfishness – all of them due to the offenders’ ignorance of what is good or evil. But for my part I have long perceived the nature of good and its nobility, the nature of evil and its meanness, and also the nature of the culprit himself, who is my brother…therefore none of those things can injure me, for nobody can implicate me in what is degrading.” –Marcus Aurelius