5 Inspiring books to kickstart your 2022 with a bang!! Truth be told I’m not really a New Years resolution kinda girl. However, books, inspiration and small daily changes, well now that’s totally something I’m into!
A little backstory to my inspiring books selection
I’ve been an avid reader since I was young, devouring books wherever I could. However, life seem to get in the way, and somehow instead of a continuous practice I got into a kinda weird ‘all or nothing’ habit. Meaning I’d either be reading 5 books in 5 days or nothing for 5 months. Thankfully that changed this past year, with a little help from my friends, that is! Together with a small group of close friends I met in India (none of us live in the same country any longer) we started a small virtual book club! And it was as a result of this book club, that my passion for reading was reignited and once again became a daily practice. Remember, practice makes perfect!
The beauty of a book club?
Well, you are ‘forced’ to read books that may not usually be your ‘cup of tea’. However, after reading you suddenly find you have a new favourite brand of tea! As they say, variety is the fruit of life, but still so many stick to only apples! So as I mentioned, with a little help from my friends, I managed to read a total of 32 books last year. Some I loved, some not so much and others I found utterly life changing.
So this got me thinking, why not share the ones I loved and the ones I found utterly life changing? Who knows, at best, you too find them utterly life changing and at worst you’ve read a book!
Kickstart your 2022 with these 5 books
1. The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod
For a long time I’ve believed I’m neither a morning person nor a burn the midnight oil person. I believed I was a nine to five with an after lunch slump and collapse on the couch after the kids were in bed person. Hal Elrod changed all of that! I’m now a MIRACLE MORNING person and my day begins at 5am everyday (weekends included).
There’s no preaching or I know it all in the book, rather it’s a simple routine and structure that sets you up to literally suck the marrow out life! The Miracle Morning has literally been nothing short of a miracle for me!
2. Think Again by Adam Grant
Hmmm preconditioned beliefs and ideas, ideology that we live by but never question, values that do not necessarily serve us. Rather, we spend so much of lives seeking to validate our beliefs, prove that we are right and have conversations without ever actually listening. And ultimately this means we are trying to validate things that we may have ‘inherited’ or had instilled in us as children without any critical analysis ourselves. This is not to say that everything we believe is wrong! However, if scientists believed that every discovery had already been made or that every hypothesis was true. Well the earth would still be the centre of the solar system, it would still be flat and there would be no such thing as antibiotics!
Ultimately this book asks us to listen more and talk less. Because it is only when we truly listen, that we have the opportunity to really learn. Furthermore it is only then that we evolve and grow as individuals.
3. The Book of Joy by The Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu
Ah what a sadness to read of the passing of the great and inspiring Desmond Tutu recently! A man with the cheekiest and most infectious chuckle who inspired and sought joy always.
What I loved most about this book is distinguishing between happiness and joy. As humans I think we spend so much time depressed and miserable because our goal is to avoid suffering and challenges and trying live in a state of eternal happiness. Lets look at the definitions for a moment
Happiness:
the state of being happy.
Joy:
a feeling of great pleasure and happiness
a source or cause of great happiness : something or someone that gives joy to someone
If we take the definitions at face value, we would already realise how futile our pursuit of happiness is. In contrast, joy is quoted as a source. Meaning it could be a hug, a message from a friend, music or the smell of your coffee in the morning. And that if we pursue ‘the little things in life’ we may find the some of the ‘happiness’ that so many of the human population so mindlessly pursue.
Anyway I digress and would encourage you to read this book as it takes two vastly differing cultures and religions and two men who have experienced more than their fair share of adversity. And they have not only come through it, but, they have come through it without bitterness and always in service to others!
I wish I could quote the whole book but that would be plagiarism 😜. So instead I leave you with these two quotes.
“The Dalai Lama and the Archbishop are two of the great spiritual masters of our time, but they are also moral leaders who transcend their own traditions and speak always from a concern for humanity as a whole”
“The Dalai Lama and the Archbishop remind us that joy is in fact our birthright and even more fundamental than happiness”
4. The Obstacle is the way by Ryan Holiday
I think this book is the perfect follow on from the one I’ve just discussed. Because this book discusses how obstacles are in fact the very reason that we become better, become stronger and ultimately succeed. How the goal to avoiding suffering and challenges is the very reason that so many of our ‘New Years resolutions’ fail. The very existence of adversity separates the ‘girls’ from the ‘women’ and the ‘boys’ from the ‘men’.
For want of a simple and material example, if there were absolutely no challenges in life there would be no entrepreneurs, without entrepreneurs there would be little of modern civilisation as we know it today. And with that, no coffee you drink each morning, no bananas every parent shovels into their toddlers mouth or red soled shoes so many covet.
5. Make your Bed by William H. McRaven
Ahhhhh a beautifully succinct and ‘simple’ book. You can literally read it in a morning, and, one you should reread each year! Written by ex Navy Seal and Navy Seal commander William H. McRaven.
It is simple life lessons! Lessons about discipline, perseverance, honour and courage! In short, it begins with the simple act of making your bed each morning and making it well. A simple task, but an important one! A task that sets the tone and intention for day. And if you feel you have achieved nothing else, it serves to remind you that in fact you did achieve something that day! Meaning even if we achieve only something ‘small’ each day, it’s still something and it’s that something small that we build on. Importantly too, it’s about doing it consistently, it is then something to replicate and transmute into everything else in our lives.
Admittedly, we are all unique glorious humans with vastly different experiences, circumstances and things that inspire us! However, this is my list of 5 inspiring books and my take away from last year. Also, it features (I feel) uniquely different voices that I hope inspire and touch you as they did me.
HAPPY READING!! AND HERE’S TO STARTING THE FRANKFURT EDIT BOOK CLUB THIS YEAR!
**Final note: please be aware that I am in no way affiliated and earn no commission from these links and books. I include the links only for convenience.
