5 books that changed how I approach life

Five recommended books, especially for fresh grads and young professionals

I’ve read many terrific books, but I notice there is a handful of books that I keep recommending to friends and colleagues. These books have profoundly changed the way I approach life and could be worthwhile read for you.

1. Awaken the Giant Within, by Tony Robbins. The book encourages you to break all limiting assumptions and beliefs about yourself, design the life that you want and keep moving towards that direction. It is as inspirational as it is practical: I got useful insights on why I should architect my life, build positive habits and dare to make short-term sacrifices. The book will change what you think is possible in your life.
2. The Lean Startup, by Eric Ries. The Lean Startup is a bible for many people in the tech industry, but the lessons are so universal that I believe everyone should read this book. The Lean Method is about starting small, do what you can and keep learning and building from there. You don’t need to know everything or have the perfect plan to be successful. You just need to be action-oriented, build a continuous learning loop, and progress bit by bit. The Lean Method is a cure for perfectionists, a way of life for entrepreneurs, and a zen problem-solving philosophy when you don’t know much or don’t know where to start. Thanks to this book, I manage my teams with the mantras: “Let’s try.” “Let’s test.” “Let’s measure.”
3. How to Love, by Thich Nhat Hanh. Thich Nhat Hanh is a world-renowned Zen master who teaches you how to be better people and lovers. Through simple anecdotes and short reflections, Thich teaches that understanding, empathy and kindness are the core of love. This is the book I have gifted the most because it has helped so many of my friends improve the quality of their relationships in life. It is an extremely short book full of memorable, life-changing quotes.
4. Difficult Conversations, by Bruce Patton, Douglas Stone, and Sheila Heen. Increasingly, I realize the most useful skills at work are the abilities to disagree productively, bridge different perspectives, negotiate, and build consensus. While there is no substitute for the wisdom of experience, as a young person, I find it useful to have this highly instructive guide in approaching difficult conversations. Based on fifteen years of research from the Harvard Negotation Project, the book teaches you that difficult conversations are often about differences in perceptions, interpretations, and values, rather than about differences in facts. Hence, it is important to avoid blame, explore the other person’s perspective and make the other person feel heard.
5. Factfulness, by Hans Rosling. Anais Nin once wrote, “We don’t see things as they are, we see things as we are.” The abundance of information in a world of 24-hour news cycle hasn’t necessarily made us more knowledgeable about our world. Opinions and emotions color our interpretations of facts and data. As if debunking a magician’s sleight of hand, Hans skillfully guides us through unhelpful human instincts that have been nurtured and capitalized by the media. By recognizing our instincts — such as the gap instinct, the generalization instinct, the fear instinct — and learning to combat them, we can be less gullible to negative and overdramatic stories and see our world more clearly. A neat summary of Factfulness is available through this link.

This article was originally published on November 11, 2018