3.5 books to turn your life around
Today I’m turning 35. In the last year, I read almost 40 books, and I thought I’d share with you the 3.5 most important ones. These books have helped me change my habits and live a better, more fulfilling life. I hope they’ll help you too.
1- The Bullet Journal Method: Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future by Ryder Carroll
I never kept a journal. I rarely wrote down on paper my to-do list. I never wrote down my goals. And then I discovered bulletjournal.com and got into the author’s videos, and in November I started keeping a journal, and my life has honestly changed.
Daily journaling is so much more than just writing on paper the tasks of the day.
It’s understanding the reasons behind the choices we make, the goals we follow, the values we believe in and the weaknesses & strengths we have. It’s reflecting on what happened today, last week, last month, and what we want to happen next.
“The Bullet Journal Method” is a book about living a better life. And I’m just scratching the top of the iceberg here.
This year there have been a lot of great books in my life, but this is the only one I’m confident it actually might change your life if you give it a try.
Also: I’m happy I purchased a hardcover copy: I’ve underlined many passages and go back to it a lot.
2- Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss.
A mix of thrilling hostage situations and smart business negotiations.
Some negotiations techniques sound ridiculous but I’ve used them already many times this past year, and the outcome has always been favorable. Based on my own experience: it works.
Worst case scenario: the FBI hostage situations are a fun read too.
A must read if you ever find yourself negotiating, being with children or with your boss.
3- Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds by David Goggins, narrated by Adam Skolnick
David Fucking Goggins. What a man.
I’ve listened to a lot of books, and this goes on the top3 right away. I will re-listen to it in a few months, and then again, I’m sure of it.
Not only the story is incredible, but I really enjoyed the way it’s been produced, with the author and the reader discussing after every chapter the contents and behind the scenes of the stories. It’s like a podcast and a book in one. It adds so much to biography to hear the person opening his emotions and sensations even further. Audible version of this is a MUST.
One takeaway: you’re always still in time to change something in your life and improve it and improve yourself on the way. The goal is to live a life well lived, at the full of our potential. All the motivation you ever look for is in this book.
3.5- 7 Strategies for Wealth & Happiness: Power Ideas from America’s Foremost Business Philosopher by Jim Rohn
I left the best one last. This is a “half” book because it’s a summary of the ideas and philosophies of Jim Rohn. And it’s a small booklet you can devour in a day. It’s so compact with good stuff, and I totally and completely loved it: no wonder this guy was Tony Robbins’ mentor.
The book really made me go from a wishful thinker to a knowledgeable doer. The chapter on goal settings is a game-changer (and my goals are all written down in that bullet journal we talked about a few lines above).
Jim Rohn ideas (or “strategies”) are simple, easy to believe in and honestly, easy to implement too if you just try.
Favorite quote:
“Everyone’s got his or her story. Someone says, “Yes, but you don’t understand the disappointments I’ve had.” Come on! Everyone has disappointments. Disappointments are not special gifts reserved for you. […] The question is, what are you going to do about them? It’s not what happens to a person that makes the difference in how his or her life turns out. Rather, it’s what he or she does with what happens that determines the outcome.”
