5 Books That Will Change Your Life

Reading helps you see life differently. The new ideas and perspectives presented in books can help you become unstuck in those problematic areas of your life.

When I was broke and deep in debt in my twenties, I read at least 25 books about financial wealth, budgeting, and abundance. A lot of those books were garbage, but the real gems changed my relationship with money.

Of course, I had to do the work and apply the author’s teachings. But just reading a different perspective about money opened new possibilities for transformation.

Another benefit from reading lots of books is that you become much more interesting. With the loads of knowledge packed in your head, you can bring up interesting dinner party conversations. You can also exercise your boldness and challenge the perspectives of your friends and family members. Just make sure you don’t have too many glasses of bourbon in you.

I could go on and on about the benefits of reading. I think at minimum you should crank out 8 to 12 books per year. Right now, I average about 12 books per year, but would like to increase that amount to over 50. Yes…50. But that number is nothing compared to others I know of who read well over a hundred books per year. Wowzer!

I keep track of my reading at this website called Italic Type. This social book club is in the early phases of launching. There’s a lot of promise to this app so I hope they get a solid community and financial support. If they implement the community suggestions, I think this book club could be something awesome. We shall see.

Okay, enough of me babbling about books. To date, below are the top five books that had a profound impact on my life. Enjoy!

1. The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle

The Power of Now was the first book I read about spirituality. I read this book in a unique way. I would read a couple of pages and then put the book down and observe the present moment. I would watch my thoughts and feelings; I would become mindful of the sounds in the room.

I read this book in one sitting, and in that mindful style, from 4 PM to 4 AM. I’m not kidding. I pulled an all-nighter. I didn’t have the goal to read The Power of Now into the wee hours of the morning, it just organically happened.

My life changed after reading The Power of Now. I had a Kensho experience, which is what Zen Buddhists call “a glimpse into your true nature.” For the first time in my life I had separation from my thoughts and feelings. If anger would arise, I could see the anger play out in my mind and body.

This gave me tremendous amounts of power because I could choose to act out the anger or just let it subside. I wasn’t perfect with observing my thoughts and feelings. But having this gap of awareness allowed me to make new decisions for my life. My whole life trajectory changed after reading this book. I’m deeply grateful that The Power of Now came into existence.

Throughout the book, Author Eckhart Tolle gives you pointers to the present moment. Here are my two favorites:

“What, at this moment, is lacking”

“If not now, when?”

All you do is recite those present moment pointers and observe this moment, as it is.

2. Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, by Shunryu Suzuki

When I became a Zen Buddhist almost a decade ago, this was the first book I read on the topic. I still read Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind today. It’s a short read, but a profound one.

This book helped me deepen my trust with reality and taught me the essence of meditation. It also shows you how to live with appropriate wisdom and compassion. Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind is one of those timeless books that reveal new insights every time you read it.

3. The Art of Possibility, by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander

Most personal growth approaches are about setting goals, taking action, and achieving results; it’s a push oriented approach to getting what you want in life. The problem with constant pushing is that you’re resisting what life wants to bring you; therefore, change becomes difficult.

The Art of Possibility takes a different approach: change the context or relationship and a new world of possibility opens. This book is laid out in 12 practices, each of which is designed to help you create more possibilities so you can change your life.

Here’s my favorite quote from the book:

“In the measurement world, you set a goal and strive for it. In the universe of possibility, you set the context and let life unfold.”

The Art of Possibility

4. Sacred Economics, by Charles Eisenstein

Sacred Economics helped me understand how money and capitalism drive scarcity, creates alienation, and destroys the things we hold sacred: relationships, community, time, and nature. This book was an eye opener, and I’ve read it several times. Not only does Author Charles Eisenstein accurately present the dysfunction of money, capital, and property, he lays out a path for changing the money system and creating harmony.

Here’s an excerpt from his website that best describes the book:

Revised as of 2020, Sacred Economics traces the history of money from ancient gift economies to modern capitalism, revealing how the money system has contributed to alienation, competition, and scarcity, destroyed community, and necessitated endless growth. Today, these trends have reached their extreme—but in the wake of their collapse, we may find great opportunity to transition to a more connected, ecological, and sustainable way of being.

This book is about how the money system can change to embody this transition, and how we might change in tandem. A broadly integrated synthesis of theory, policy, and practice, Sacred Economics explores avant-garde concepts of the New Economics, including negative-interest currencies, local currencies, gift economics, and the restoration of the commons.

5. Your Money or Your Life, by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez

Most books about money are geared towards how to accumulate more, budgeting, real estate, investments, and law of attraction abundance techniques. The pitfalls to those books is that they really don’t teach you anything about money. Those books are either written by millionaires or billionaires, so you can’t even apply their advice; or the books are based on magical thinking and attraction.

What I like about Your Money or Your Life is that the Authors aim to transform your relationship with money. The goal is to help you stand in your financial truth and learn how to have enough rather than endlessly seek more. Their perspective is that money is something you trade your life energy for.

So the idea is to become conscious about how you’re using your life energy. Are you trading your life energy with a job you hate? Are you trading your life energy with debt and accumulating things? If you’re looking to improve your relationship with money and have freedom, I would read this book.

You can certainly read all of those books within one year. Where do you start? With whatever one interests you. Go to Amazon-or even better your local bookstore-look at the covers and pick the book that speaks to you. That’s how I choose my books.

Happy reading!