Books that had Influenced my Life

The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday & Stephen Hanselman

If you do not already have the habit of reading daily, this book only requires a commitment of reading a single page daily so it is perfect for building a reading habit. Each page is organized by date with knowledge from one of the ancient Greek philosophers.

Not only did this book help me build a reading habit, but it also got me to start journalling and building that habit. It conveniently has a journalling book companion, The Daily Stoic Journal, to make it even easier.

It is also important that I mention that Stoicism is a practice that has helped me stay grounded. If the idea of 'practicing' this philosophy turns you off in a way, it does not even have to have a label. The insights from the daily readings will guarantee to get you thinking for the better.

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

"Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have."

Short but powerful line in the book. As a person that tend to think forwards way too much, this book had anchored me and made me realize the very fact of just that. Not being in the moment. The author has such as simple message but I geniunely believe it... that living in the now is the key to happiness. You may think that the author just milks this throughout the whole book but no. He has a way of delivering clearly through writing about what it is to exactly be "living in the now."

Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon

This book set me free from the insecurities that are common in stopping anybody from sharing anything out in the world. It gave me a different perspective as to how I thought about sharing stuff in general. If I had not read this book, I probably would still be self-contained, never really showing anyone what I am up to unless it is done, let alone share anything at all. Without this book, I would still be stuck in my head, obsessing over ideas silently.

The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey

This book has the stuff we really don't learn at school. It is clear that the book is about personal finance and it does well in providing real actionable steps to become financially healthy but I was able to gain more than that from it. Financially struggling or not, I believe that it is important to continually educate ourselves in handling money at least once a year as a reset and not forget to give our priorities a financial lens, given all the shiny distracting objects in this world.

The Way of the Superior Man by David Deida

Not just for men. This book covers the masculine and feminine energy plus how both are present within all of us so it can prove useful to anybody. Personally, I struggled balancing these energies and often went extreme one way or the other. As you can guess, this book has helped guide me in finding the middle.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson

I am one of those people who fell prey into the self-help world. If I was going through tough times, I would consume some self-help book or video as if my life was going to get better just by doing so. That is generally fine but this 'good' habit of learning suddenly became an escape and a reason for inaction. I thank this book for that realization and is only amongst the many reasons why I recommend this read.

How To Win Friends And Influence People by Dale Carnegie

First impression, I was turned off by the title of this book. In my head, I think to myself that I don't need to win friends and I don't need to convince people. Blah blah blah. Nah. The title of this book does not do it justice. It details the smaller picture of the insights I personally gained from reading the book. It is popular for a reason and goes for as little as 0.99 CAD so hey...

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

The title of the book says it all. After learning about the power of habits, it had me thinking of the habits I currently have, the habits I should drop, and the habits I should adopt. It got me thinking systematically about how one habit of mine can affect areas of my life and how I could make sure that its effect is for the better. Also, I have to mention that the book may tend to get science-y but the examples given to prove a point is well done. It goes in depth but it did not feel like I was reading a research paper.