Which book has influenced your perspective on life the most, and how has it shaped your thinking?

9 comments

1. Jonathan Livingston Seagull. I think I first read it when I was like 6 or 7.

   I’ve read more…serious books, like Common Sense by John Locke, Liberty Defined by Ron Paul, and many others…but that one book sort of set the stage for me. Keep trying to be my best, and if I don’t become budda in this life then next time around I’ll be a little bit closer.

2. James Clear – Atomic Habits
   Introduced me to making small changes instead of going all in at once.

   Dare to Lead – Brené Brown
   Helped me realize that all people are just human beings trying to do their stuff. It taught the importance of vulnerability and empathy and that working on having those qualities are important. It talks about having those hard conversations with people and that having them makes people more at ease and willing to listen.

3. Think and grow rich

4. 1984 by George Orwell, even though a work of fiction. It’s a warning of what ever increasing radical power can do. It only became relevant in this modern day. It shaped me to be adverse to the suppression of people and the importance of personal freedoms. I.e just because I don’t agree with someone, doesn’t mean they can’t have an opinion and definitely don’t deserve to be silenced.

5. Jurassic Park

6. A book about economic, generational and imperial cycles. That put *a lot* of things into a perspective that made decision making prcoesses much easier for me.

7. The Four Agreements.

   I’ve never had a book transform me in such a paradigmatic way. Particularly the agreement of: never take anything personally. It really shifted my thinking and ability to empathize with the actions of others.

   There’s a lot of hokey spiritual shit I didn’t buy into, but there are still nuggets in there that are useful for everyday life.

8. Congrats OP on it being your turn to ask this frequently asked question in this subreddit!

   It’s every other day at this point.

9. The Bible honestly, though that’s weird because I’m an atheist now. The New Testament gives great lessons in how people should treat each other if you can get past the God part.