Below are a list of books that I have found to be very impactful on my thinking. I’ll keep adding to this list as I read more and remember more influential books.
Sometimes I'm anxious or afraid that I'm not smart enough to learn something. I think about how I'm not a child prodigy or how I missed the magical young age of plasticity where children learn like sponges. This book has helped to dispel some misconceptions I held about how the brain learns and, more importantly, how this learning changes as we get older. Our brains are amazing and remain keen on learning new information as we get older. While I don't always believe in myself, no matter what I'm doing or how difficult it seems, this book has helped me always believe in my brain. Because my brain, your brain, all of our brains, are super clever and capable.
This book isn't just for people who don't think they're doing well in life. It's for everyone that want's to do better and believes that they can benefit from increased self-discipline. I personal believe that self-discipline is one of the key ingredients to doing better and maintaining happiness.
The book isn't about working longer hours or being more efficient in your work (more efficiency is Deep Work by Cal Newport book). It's about understanding how your brain works so you instinctively do things that are good for you, whatever they are. Like reading everyday, going to the gym, eating well etc. And having these good habits (and others) spill over into other parts of your life and generally improve your quality of life.
The book also describes how habits drive behaviors in larger social groups and organizations we are a part of. While we may be aware of the habits we lack (like going to the gym), we're less aware of the habits we do have, especially those that exist at larger scales. (For this, it's useful to think about it in the context of Carl Jung's collective subconscious, where we as a society develop behavioral patterns that work towards commonly held goals or some composition of them). For example, social structures, and implicit and explicit power dynamics, may drive many of our responses and actions within our job. Being aware of this is useful for choosing to accept it and reject it and its impact on your life.
To be Filled
To be Filled
