“A half-read book is a half-finished love affair.” – David Mitchell.
When you are reading a book, it is like another world. In these life-changing books, you are in someone else’s world, and you are in their imagination, and you feel what the writer is making you feel. The writer has the ability to make you feel the tiny raindrops on your skin just by the power of his descriptions. You fall in love with the characters, and when you are finally on the last page, that absence you feel is so real. Reading a book is the perfect way to escape reality and free your mind from all the burdens it has.
There are books everywhere and of all kinds. Books that motivate you and inspire you, books that increase your intellect or make you curious about the history this world has been through. And then, there are books that not only speak to all those parts but also touch and speaks to your heart and soul.
These are life-changing books, and they make you question everything. They alter your view of the world; they alter your thinking towards the smallest things and make you feel grateful for the full life you are living. These one-of-a-kind, life-changing books stay with you in your heart and mind all your life.
6 Life-Changing Books You Need to Read
Some of our top suggestion when it comes to life-changing books are:
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The Alchemist
The top suggestion in our life-changing books is The Alchemist, which is written by Paulo Coelho. Originally written in Portuguese by the Brazilian author in 1988 which became a bestseller around the globe and got widely translated in all languages.
The inspiring novel is about a shepherd boy named Santiago who is out on a literal quest for fortune and a treasure. He keeps having a recurring dream about this treasure that is in the Egyptian Pyramids. The book is about the journey Santiago is on and about the life lessons he learns on the way.
These life lessons he learns will stay with the readers long after you finish that book. These life-changing books help you learn how to follow your dreams and listen to your heart. The Alchemist’s main theme is finding one’s destiny, and it is a highly descriptive book and has so many powerful quotes to live by. The lessons don’t just stop there, and it also helps you learn how to channel your courage for the future path you are onto.
Recently the classic novel had a renewal on its 25th anniversary. Coelho said that it only took him 2 weeks to write this book, and he had this pace only because the book was already written in his soul.
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A Road Less Travelled
“Every journey took always includes the path not taken, the detour through hell, the crossroads of indecision, and the long way home.”
Written by M. Scott Peck, this book is known as his best work to date. The book has sold 10 million copies and was New York Times Bestseller for personal development growth. This life-changing book is a cross between psychology and spirituality.
A road less traveled consists of four distinct stages of human spiritual development along the path of self-realization. In the first part, Peck discusses the notions of “discipline.” He considers discipline is important for emotional, spiritual, and psychological health.
The second part of the book is about the nature of “love.” Peck considers that love is the driving force behind any spiritual growth. The third part of the book is about “religion” and the common viewpoints and conceptions accepted about religion.
The last and the fourth part of the book talks about “grace.” This part nurtures the spiritual growth of human beings. In the end, Peck says that the four parts indicate that our growth as human beings are being assisted by a force that is other than our conscious will, and that is how he concludes his book. Reading and understanding the depth of his words on all four aspects is how the reader’s life changes.
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The Happiness Project
The next suggestion on our life-changing books is the #1 New York bestselling book, The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. The book records the author’s one-year experience and the long journey to discover true happiness in life. In this life-changing book, she reveals her secrets on how to live a happier life.
This little report on her results from experiments to live a happier life talks about three ways.
- Declutter your house and your brain. Because all the clutter wears you down.
- Accept these two things to build a better and healthy relationship. First, you can’t change your partner, but you can change yourself. Second, the thing you do every day matters more than what you occasionally do.
- Money is like health. It means that if you have money, it won’t guarantee you happiness, but not worrying about money makes life a lot easier.
This book is a fun, life-changing book where you can pick an experiment you want and see if it works for you.
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Flow: The Psychology Of Optimal Experience
Written by one of the world’s most renowned psychologists Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in 2013. Studying this concept for over two decades, Csikszentmihalyi reveals that the optimal experiences in our lives are not vacations or relaxing. The optimal experiences in our lives are when we are giving our best for our self-directed goals.
His work in this book includes contemporary psychology, talking about art, family issues, or sports, and then finally answering the big question – how to make our life meaningful and create flow?
There are 8 characteristics to keep in mind to create flow, and that is:
- Complete concentration
- Clear goals and instant feedback
- Speed up or down according to the situation
- Experience is rewarding
- Effortlessness
- A balance between challenge and skills
- Action and awareness are merged
- Control over the task
This life-changing book by Csikszentmihalyi helps you identify the times or moments you are genuinely happy and then how to channel that ‘flow’ of happiness to maximize it.
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Think Like A Monk
Written by viral content creator and motivational speaker Jay Shetty in 2020. Think Like A Monk is a combination of Jay Shetty’s experiences and ancient wisdom. The writer spent three years of his life at the age of 22, traveling across India and Europe as a monk. He spent half of that time meditating, and today, he aims to help people apply the lessons he learned in his monk’s life into their busy city life.
The book is divided into three parts:
- Let go
- Grow
- Give
This life-changing book helps you clear the obstacles you encounter by overcoming your negative thoughts, applying stillness in your life, and creating true purpose. Shetty also advises on how to reduce stress, improve focus self-discipline and also, how to maintain relationships in this modern world. It contemplates the importance of detaching yourself yet being present in every moment. The prime focus of the book is on meditation and stabilizing the restless mind.
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Conversations With God: An Uncommon Dialogue
First published in 1995 and staying a New York Best Seller for 137 weeks straight, this book became a publishing phenomenon.
This life-changing book – Conversations With God, is a trilogy of books by Neale Donald Walsch. These books are dialogue books in which Walsch asks God questions, and God answers. All three books have fascinating back and forth dialogue between the author and God. Topics such as education, religion, love, and spirituality are discussed.
In an interview, the author described how the trilogy came into paper. Walsch answered that he wrote an angry letter to God asking questions about why was not anything working in his favor during a very low period of his life. After writing all the questions, he heard a voice behind his, saying, “do you really want an answer to all the questions, or are you just venting?”. When he turned around, he saw no one there, but the answers he was getting were making sense and filling his mind. So, he decided to write them down, and that is how the life-changing book for millions came into existence.
The journey begins after the Walsch is in a car accident. This results in him losing his job, and now he turns into a homeless man who barely has anything to survive. The emotional battle readers observe Walsch going through to eat a mere meal, have company or regain the life he had. After trying everything, nothing seems to go his way which frustrates him, and then, he demands some answers from God. And to his surprise, he receives his answers, and the conversation that follows is said to change many lives.
Regardless of your beliefs in God, these books are inspirational, which challenges your thought process and forces you to think about the world around you and your existence in this very world.
All these life-changing books touch different topics. Some talk about personal growth, religion, or motivation and push you to do that one exciting thing you have been stalling forever. These books are a must-read in our eyes, and they really help you enhance the life you are living today.
Last Updated on by ritukhare
i was so moved, inspired and motivated from the books which is mentioned in this article. I was actually a bit sad and ;looking for good quote books but i found this article instead and i think it was a help from god himself when i needed the positive energy. By the way this article is good