Happy New Year! I hope you all had fun and safe celebrations last night. Since we’ve officially enter 2019 now, I thought I would dedicate my first post of the year to a subject I’ve talked about quite a bit in this blog: books. In this case, I’m going to focus on the 5 books that I think gave me what I needed to make 2018 the best year of my life. These books helped me, among other things, improve my communication, make better use of my time, improve my mindsets, have inner peace, and take control of my habits. I have no doubt that they’ll help you tremendously with whatever you want to do this year, so I highly encourage you to check them out if you haven’t already. Without further ado, here they are.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
This book contains so much good stuff. Of all the books on this list, this one covers the most ground and comes the closest to being a how-to guide for life. Stephen Covey absolutely knocked it out of the park with this one, especially since he included a quick-reference index near the end of the book so you can quickly and easily find anything you’re looking for. Any one of these habits can improve your life and adopting all of them can take you to the next level. This year, if you only read one of the books I’ve mentioned at some point, consider choosing this one.
Another book about habits, this one explains why we develop habits, how we can change them, and how even seemingly insignificant changes can lead to huge improvements. If you have some New Year’s resolutions, this book can help you stick with them and make them part of your regular routine. It’s full of interesting stories and simple explanations of some complex processes, which makes it an intriguing and valuable read from beginning to end.
Having the proper perspective in life is incredibly freeing. This book talks about different mindsets: some trap us in despair while others offer us the freedom to live our best lives. It’s much easier to change how you react in any given situation than it is to change how other people act. There’s a lot of stuff in this book that shows you how to do this and paints a picture of the life you can have by following the four agreements.
Can you be free of thought if you want? Do you have the ability to control your thinking? If not, this book will show you how to do so. Mindfulness and presence have done me a world of good since I started practicing them. In this book, Eckhart Tolle explores the mind, consciousness, ego, suffering, death, the present moment, and several other subjects in this fascinating book. This is one of the most helpful books I’ve ever read. If you’re looking for ways to relieve stress, increase your focus, and live in the present moment, this is the book for you.
Gary Chapman explores different ways to show and receive love in this great little book. Family members, friends, married couples, and virtually everyone else can benefit from learning how other people feel loved and showing them love in that way. Several of the stories in the book demonstrate that there’s no need to wait for someone else to change; one person taking the initiative to communicate in the other’s love language on a regular basis can be the starting point for turning a broken relationship into a thriving one. Good communication is essential for properly interacting with others and this book contains a lot of wisdom in that area.
