The Books That Changed My Life Forever, & They Can Do The Same For You

Now, I know what you’re thinking, “How in the world, can a book really change someone’s life?” To answer that question—they can’t. They can’t change your life, only if you don’t do anything with the information the books give you. Obviously if you read a book without integrating the actual teachings of the books, you’re life definitely isn‘t going to change much. You’re still going to be yourself when reading the book, before you read the book, after you read the book, you get the point? Well these books specifically helped me change various aspects of my life, and not only life itself, but how I approach it.

1. How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie

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This book, taken seriously, can rewire your entire address in interacting with the people around you. Not only that, but personally, it helped me gain new connections that I previously & most likely wouldn’t have made prior to reading this book. Now what is this book about? Well in all honesty, the title kinda gives it away don‘t you think? Yes, it is a book on how to win friends & influence people, but the title is a little misleading. When I first got this book I honestly thought it was gonna teach me how to become a master manipulator or something of that sort, but to my surprise, it enlightened me on the errors I unknowingly made whilst interacting with people and how I didn‘t properly bait the hook, to suit the fish. [People who’ve read the book know exactly what I’m talking about ;)] And how, while meshing with other people, I sometimes gave unnecessary & unsolicited criticism, yet not enough appreciation. Giving criticism, 9 times out of 10, creates hostility between two parties. Nobody wants to feel judged, or told what they did wrong, which is why this book presents a different approach. Coming to a person with the explanation on why they should take your advice, plan, or whatever fits your situation, is way more effective than shoving your opinion, and or, thoughts down their throat. For example, a manager at a warehouse facility noticed that the workers never wore their safety helmets, so the manager confronted the workers, scolding and yelling at the workers on why they should wear their helmets to prevent serious injury before it happens. The response from the workers changed nothing, if anything it only made the workers not want to wear their helmets even more. So the manager decided to take a different approach to things, he came to the workers with genuine concern and explained why it was important the workers needed to wear their helmets, even mentioning that he would hate to see them get hurt, and if they did, it would only cause trouble from the company that he didn’t want for them, or himself. The response from the workers, this time, was very different. They listened to the manager, and the very next day, the manager noticed the workers were wearing their helmets. When the manager came with a hostile, and or, aggressive/passive aggressive tone, notice how the workers didn’t even listen to what he was saying? It was because his approach aroused a defensiveness from the workers. When he finally decided to try to talk to them, equal-to-equal, the defensive guard of the workers was not there, leaving room to actually have an open discussion on why they should wear the helmets—for their own good. How did I integrate this into my life you ask? Well you see, if you don’t know me personally, then I‘d like to explain something to you. With all humility, I genuinely liked to argue. Especially online, arguing about my opinion, how I felt on certain topics, even over silly videos that should be enjoyable I would find something to argue about with somebody. And when they responded, do you think I actually wanted to hear what they had to say? No, I did not. I simply wanted peace of mind knowing that people I didn’t even know, knew my opinion on pretty irrelevant things. My point with this information is that I was the manager in this situation, I would yell and holler at these people—in real life, and online. And obviously their response was much similar to the ones of the workers, they were defensive and hostile. After reading this book, and taking the first advice of the first principle, which was to never criticize and when wanting to state your opinion, do so properly, not stating it as an “absolute fact“ with no room for discussion afterwards, I noticed I actually went so much deeper into conversations and actually had important discussions that I felt satisfied with after the fact. Before even beginning a conversation I take a mental note to not judge or criticize whoever I am conversating with, and to genuinely listen to their words. Seems simple, but you’d be surprised by how many people throw this all out the window as soon as they are offended or feel attacked. And obviously yes, I argue a lot less, if not, rarely at all. This book has forever changed the way I approach talking and interacting with people, a positive change I am proud of.

2. The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham

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The people interested in investing, stocks, & overall online financial gain are obviously gonna like this one. I haven't finished the book completely but so far the book has already expanded my mindset walking into becoming a newly started investor. With not too many family members educated on investing, or participating on investing themselves, having someone knowledgeable to guide through the seemingly scary process of investing actual money online calms your nerves tremendously. And this book is just that. Like the richer, successful father most of us didn't have the pleasure of being born with. Investing seems like a giant monster, and if you make a mistake it'll swallow you whole. It helps that this book is beginner friendly and relatively easy to interpret for the average reader. This book helps put into perspective what investing is, what you should expect it to be, and what you shouldn't. The majority of people would most likely believe in investing as putting in money, and then lots of money coming back in, somehow, magically? But that's not the case. Investing is somewhat complicated at first but only because you don't understand the depths of it right away. But that's essentially with anything in life, everything seems "difficult" until you actually do it for so long that you can do said thing with your eyes closed after some time. And it's essentially the same with investing. Don't expect to make easy money with investing because you'll be vastly disappointed. Most successful stocks blew up after some time, and the people who sold their stock before that, well obviously they missed out on all the fun. It can take months, years, to see the progress you want. This book will definitely help you see the bigger picture in investing, and how to master it, and making bank along the way 😉.