Book Recommendations — New Possibilities, Healing, Love, Connection, and More

In this post, I briefly describe a handful of books that has made so much impact in my life in 2020 and 2021. I consider these books for life to revisit many times.

The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life: I don’t exactly remember how I got introduced to this book. But it’s a gem. I couldn’t connect to this book when I first picked up, I think it was in 2019. You know, sometimes you get to be patient with the book and with yourself. I keep coming back to this book even when I didn’t grasp some stories and ideas — perhaps, I wasn’t ready. Eventually, it turned out to be very useful during the first few months in the podcasting. There are some areas it was very helpful and still is — “How to handle rejections? How to enroll people in your vision? How to live life from a place of contribution? How to take things less personally? How to create possibilities in every situation?”, and much more.

I’ve read this book many a times and flooded with underlines and asterisks(*) as a reminder. I am sure you will learn a lot from this Goldie and Oldie. Be patient with this book.

Excerpt from this book:

“I settled on a game called “I am a contribution”. Unlike success and failure, contribution has no other side. It’s not arrived at by comparison. All at once I found out that the fearful question, “Is it enough”, and the even more fearful question, “Am I loved for who I am, or what I have accomplished?” could both be replaced by the joyful question, “How will be a contribution today?”

“If we were to take a “no” less personally, and ourselves less seriously, we might hear something else. We might hear someone saying,”I don’t see any new possibility here, so I think I’ll stick with my usual way of doing things”

Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes: We all are transitioning from thing to another, one phase in life to another, from singlehood to being committed, from one job to another job, and including many other transitions. This book explains in detail how to navigate different transitions with ease. It actually explains a 3 part framework. I have got many breakthroughs from this book —such as saying yes to go to Sun Valley, Idaho after interviewing this amazing human Denise Shull, yes to hiring a career coach, and yes to join an esteemed mastermind group. How do you “end” things and “start” new things in life? This book explains that there is a “Neutral” zone we get to embrace after something ends and before something new starts. A must read.

Also, I recently gifted this book to a friend and recommended to others on many occasions. If you’re interested in learning more about Decision Making process using emotions and feelings, then Listen to my interview with Denise Shull on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, or on your favorite platform.

Excerpt from this book:

“Think of what would be unlived in your life if it ended today”. You might actually write the obituary  – it’s a revealing exercises – but if you don’t want to do that , at least pause for a few moments and jot down notes on a piece of paper.”

Dying To Be Me: My Journey from Cancer, to Near Death, to True Healing: Honestly, It took me a couple of months to entirely read this book. It’s such a simple read and you can literally finish it off in a week. Why it took me that long to complete this book? My goal of reading is to really “study” and “embody” the learnings. I was reading in random bits and pieces. My initial thought was “who’s interested in someone’s story growing up in Hong Kong in an Indian family”. This book really becomes a healing power as you keep going.

I got to know about this book from one of the Wayne Dyer’s audio The Secret & The Law of Attraction. He’s been my #1 spiritual mentor and wrote a foreword in this book. Of course, I got to get this book, right? The truth is that I was window shopping in a book store(my favorite time pass) and suddenly my eyes gazed on this book. The name seemed familiar as I had already listened to The Secret & The Law of Attraction many times in which he mentions about this book and bought this powerful healing manifesto.

There is one specific chapter on “Allowing, letting go and surrendering” (paraphrasing) which I have read dozens of times. I only carried this book with me while spending two weeks in the mountains of Idaho in the August/September 2021, and and reread it over and over to just “let it go” and practice living from a place of surrender.

Excerpt from this book:

“When I awoke into my infinite self, I was amazed to understand that my life could be dramatically different just by realizing that I am Love, and I always have been. I don’t have to do anything to deserve it. Understanding this means that I am working with life force energy, whereas performing at being loving is working against it. Realizing that I am love was the most important lesson I learned, allowing me to realize all fear, and that’s the key that saved my life.”

Clarity & Connection: Awesome book written by Yung Pueblo in a poem format. I am not a fan of reading poetries. However, it’s a simple read with so much depth. You can read one paragraph and meditate upon it. This book was actually gifted to me by a dear friend Katherine. I always find so much peace and clarity in reading this powerful book . It’s a new book and so much worth to read it. You won’t regret.

Excerpt from this book:

“Overcomplicating your healing is something to watch out for. You do not need to overthink your past and repeatedly reimagine each trauma. Self-awareness has more to do with the present moment – if you can see yourself clearly now, you are more likely to act wisely. The best way to access and heal your past is by not running away from yourself in the present moment.”

“It’s not about faking calm when you feel turbulent emotions; it’s about accepting what has come up without adding more tension to it. This is a sign that you are walking onto the path of emotional maturity.”

“At some point you just have to put your foot down and say, “I am going to move in this new direction and no person or situation is going to stop me.” Great transformations just need a small beginning.”

Getting the Love You Want: A Guide for Couples: If you desire to have a conscious loving romantic relationship, then get this book. It talks about how we choose our partners based on relationship with our parents. “What is unconscious marriage/relationship?” There are many practices that a couple can incorporate in their relationship to cultivate more depth. Here is the catch: if there are issues already in your partnership, the practices will be worth trying it, but will take time. Any conscious relationship takes effort from both parties.

The Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream: It’s a simple read in a story format. I think everyone would know about this book who likes to read non-fiction self-help, personal development, and spiritual books. I have read it once and have reviewed certain parts more than once. When I picked up this book, it didn’t resonate with me and kept it aside for some good long time. Whenever a book doesn’t resonate with me, I don’t try to push the reading to the last page. My realization is that either I’m not matured enough at that point to grasp the book or I get to bridge the understanding gap — no judgment on my part here.

Fast forward, Romi Mushtaq mentioned this book in our podcast and it was a reminder to me. I picked up this book and able to finish it off to the end. I strongly believe that there is a right time for everything. If you’d like to listen to my full interview with Romi Mushtaq, then Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, YouTube or on your favorite platform.

Now, I read books to study not for the sake of reading and meeting the numbers to feed my ego.

If you find this post useful, please share with others. Thank you.

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