Books are no less than gurus. They are our best of friends, patient enough to be with us during hard times and the one to guide us at all times.
Reading has played an important role in my life and I'd forever be indebted to those great and long forgotten writers and the contemporary ones as well whose words and ideas are relevant till date; it's almost like a friend advising me during the time of need.
Here below is the list of 7 books, which I feel are an essential read for all of us who are willing to achieve 'Personal Mastery.'
1. Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life by someone who has been there by Cheryl Strayed
You will learn a lot about yourself if you stretch in the direction of goodness, of bigness, of kindness, of forgiveness, of emotional bravery. Be a warrior for love.
Tiny Beautiful Things, this book is a compilation of all the replies by Cheryl Strayed, which she received from people who sought an advice from her and a list of published/unpublished columns. She has given advice to a plethora of people; broken-hearts, traumatised teens, wives dealing with midlife crisis and a couple in a middle of a divorce and so on. Her compassionate pieces of advices and her sensitivity while addressing their problems and boldness in her attitude are something that is admirable. Do read this book if you wish to weep with a smile on your face at the same time!
2. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill.
Story of a seagull in search of techniques to achieve mastery in flying, the book is a novella whose each and every word brims with wisdom. Written simply and covering the life-lessons, it would be my personal favourite when it comes to self-help books.
3. Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.
Written during and edited after the release of the psychiatrist, Viktor E. Frankl from Auschwitz concentration camp, this book is a marvel in its own right. One of the most powerful survival stories, Mr. Frankl says that there were prisoners all around, some were traumatised and died worrying about their fate in and outside concentration camp while he developed a strong mental attitude of mindfulness and was survived by the hope to see his wife. According to Frankl, one is driven by meaning and hence, you can find a short introduction to it in the second part of the book, Logo therapy. It’s a compact book full of inspiration.
4. Who moved my cheese? by Dr. Spencer Johnson
The fear you let build up in your mind is worse than the situation that actually exists.
The most famous book to date on adapting to changing environment, the book is a story of two mice looking for cheese. It is metaphorical, the cage is the immediate environment we are in, be it home or our company, and the cheese symbolises one’s happiness. This book was one of the first business books to introduce the concept, to attach your happiness to a ‘thing’ or a ‘situation’ as the moment the situation changes or the thing disappears you’re bound to get emotionally affected by it. A must read!
5. Tough Times Never Last But Tough People Do! by Robert H. Schuller
Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. Wait. Be patient. The storm will pass. The spring will come.
One of the few books, which I read when I was braving my engineering years in college. This book helped me avoid taking a permanent decision based on a temporary and ephemeral emotion. I don’t regard it as one of the best books that I’ve read but certainly which helped me during tough times.
6. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery
And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.
Le Petite Prince is one of the most popular and widely read books of all times. It contains priceless wisdom, it’s not only children’s book, it has life-lessons for adult as well, which according to the author have a lesser power to perceive things in comparison to children and rightly so. It’s one of the most eccentric works of the aviator turned writer, Antoine de Saint Exupery.
7. Walden by Henry David Thoreau
Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.
Classic. Priceless Wisdom. Literary Masterpiece.
What couldn’t have been said about this book that I should convey? Only one message, its relevance still holds. And, that solitude is the way to bring you closer to the higher energy.
These were my personal favourites. Which books changed your lives?
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