I find that books have an incredible power to shift your perspective and really impact how you feel. Have you ever had that moment when you’ve finished reading a life-changing book and realized that it has changed your mindset forever? A book that has stayed with you and you often look back on, and when you do look back on it those feelings come straight back to you? This is one of the most amazing things about reading – some books have the ability to impact you so deeply and profoundly, that they can alter the course of your life forever.
“Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly.” Sir Francis Bacon
The best books can open your eyes to lived experiences and advice, far beyond your own perspective. Books can change lives, whether they are written with the intention of being inspirational, or they just find you at the moment when you need them the most.
If you are looking for some incredible life-changing books to help you find meaning, here are my top 5 recommendations. Add these super inspiring and life-changing books to your reading list this year.
If you struggle to find time to read, then I definitely recommend that you listen to these as audiobooks while commuting, cooking, looking after family, working out… whatever keeps you busy!
- The Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream by Paulo Coelho
A global phenomenon, The Alchemist has been read and loved by over 62 million readers and changed the lives of its readers forever. A beautiful parable about learning to listen to your heart, read the omens strewn along life’s path, and, above all, follow your dreams.
Santiago, a young shepherd living in the hills of Andalucia, feels that there is more to life than his humble home and his flock. One day he finds the courage to follow his dreams into distant lands, each step galvanized by the knowledge that he is following the right path: his own. The people he meets along the way, the things he sees, and the wisdom he learns are life-changing.
With Paulo Coelho‘s visionary blend of spirituality, magical realism, and folklore, The Alchemist is a story with the power to inspire nations and change people’s lives.
Favorite quote:
“When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.”
- The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living by Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler
In this unique and important book, one of the world’s great spiritual leaders offers his practical wisdom and advice on how we can overcome everyday human problems and achieve lasting happiness.
The Art of Happiness presents Buddhist thought as a comprehensive framework for ethical self-improvement. Combining the Dalai Lama’s eastern spiritual tradition with psychiatrist Dr. Howard C. Cutler’s western perspective. Covering all key areas of human experience, they offer an effective psychological, philosophical, and spiritual framework for transforming the self, above all through practicing compassion. In fact, the Dalai Lama declares kindness the very essence of his religion.
For the many who wish to understand more about the Dalai Lama’s approach to living, there has never been a book that brings his beliefs so vividly into the real world.
Favorite quote:
“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”
- Aristotle’s Way: How Ancient Wisdom Can Change Your Life by Edith Hall
The Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 BCE) believed that happiness is the ultimate goal of human life and our highest good. Moreover, it requires the fulfilment of our potential and the actualization of our highest human capacity. Edith Hall first discovered Aristotle when she was twenty, and he changed her life forever.
In this handbook to his timeless teachings, Professor Edith Hall shows how ancient thinking is precisely what you need today. In ten practical lessons, you can learn how to make good decisions, how to ace an interview, how to choose a partner and how to face death. It can also function as a powerful guide to the meaning of life.
Favorite quote:
“Aristotle believed that if you train yourself to be good, by working on your virtues and controlling your vices, you will discover that a happy state of mind comes from habitually doing the right thing.”
- Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
Man’s Search for Meaning is a 1946 book by Viktor Frankl chronicling his experiences as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps during World War II, and describing his psychotherapeutic method, which involved identifying a purpose in life to feel positive about, and then immersively imagining that outcome. A prominent Viennese psychiatrist before the war, Viktor Frankl was uniquely able to observe the way that both he and others in Auschwitz coped (or didn’t) with the experience.
He noticed that it was the men who comforted others and who gave away their last piece of bread who survived the longest – and who offered proof that everything can be taken away from us except the ability to choose our attitude in any given set of circumstances. The sort of person the concentration camp prisoner became was the result of an inner decision and not of camp influences alone.
Frankl came to believe man’s deepest desire is to search for meaning and purpose. This outstanding work offers you a way to transcend suffering and find significance in the art of living. You have to read this book.
Favorite quote:
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
- The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*CK by Mark Manson
In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be “positive” all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people. Life is simple unless you make it difficult. There are so many things in life that you just don’t need to give time to, this book shows you how.
For decades, we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. “F**k positivity,” Mark Manson says. In a world where everything, even advice, is sugar-coated, this book teaches you how to not really care about the things that don’t matter to you and live your life on your own terms.
Favorite quote:
“If you want to change how you see your problems, you have to change what you value and/or how you measure failure/success.”
Expanding your mind and acquiring new knowledge helps you in finding meaning and understanding your perspective on the world.
This list contains life-changing books that allowed me to see the world in many different ways. I hope that you also find inspiration in their pages!