Ikigai: the Japanese secret to a long and happy life - By Héctor García and Francesc Miralles

Date Finished: 20th April 2022 How strongly I recommend it: 9/10

Ikigai means the reason why you wake up everyday, your goal in life, the meaning of your existence. In this book, we take a look at the secret to the unusually long lives of the people of Okinawa, Japan. It is an easy-to-read book with some insightful takeaways.

Details and review: Amazon Page

My Notes:

Whatever you do, don’t retire!

One surprising thing you notice, living in Japan, is how active people remain after they retire. In fact, many Japanese people never really retire—they keep doing what they love for as long as their health allows. The 80 percent secret

One of the most common sayings in Japan is “Hara hachi bu,” which is repeated before or after eating and means something like “Fill your belly to 80 percent.”

Moai: Connected for life

It is customary in Okinawa to form close bonds within local communities. A moai is an informal group of people with common interests who look out for one another. For many, serving the community becomes part of...

The Art of Happiness - By 14th Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler

Date Finished: 29th March 2022 How strongly I recommend it: 10/10

In this book, Dalai Lama shares the secret to finding happiness based on his Buddhist philosophy and spirituality. Howard Cutler does an great job of highlighting scientific findings that back the Dalai Lama’s claims.

Personally, I loved his discussion on patience and tolerance. Happy reading!

Details and review: Amazon Page

My Notes:

Introduction

I think that in modern Western society, there seems to be a powerful cultural conditioning that is based on science. But in some instances, the basic premises and parameters set up by Western science can limit your ability to deal with certain realities.

Underlying all the Dalai Lama’s methods there is a set of basic beliefs that act as a substrate for all his actions: a belief in the fundamental gentleness and goodness of all human beings, a belief in the value of compassion, a belief in a policy of kindness, and a sense of commonality among all living creatures.

The Right to Happiness

The purpose of our existence is to seek happiness. It...

The Alchemist - By Paulo Coelho

Date Finished: 24th April 2021 How strongly I recommend it: 10/10

I read this book some time ago, but very recently, I found myself reading my highlights of this book. Hence, posting it now!

This book takes us on a journey which is much like our life. A story to get inspired for life, and get motivated to keep pursuing our dreams.

Details and review: Amazon Page

My Notes:

“My heart is a traitor,” the boy said to the alchemist, when they had paused to rest the horses. “It doesn’t want me to go on.” “That makes sense,” the alchemist answered. “Naturally it’s afraid that, in pursuing your dream, you might lose everything you’ve won.” “Well, then, why should I listen to my heart?” “Because you will never again be able to keep it quiet. Even if you pretend not to have heard what it tells you, it will always be there inside you, repeating to you what you’re thinking about life and about the world.” “You mean I should listen, even if it’s treasonous?” “Treason is a blow that comes unexpectedly....

You 2: A High Velocity Formula for Multiplying Your Personal Effectiveness in Quantum Leaps

Date Finished: 19th December 2021 How strongly I recommend it: 10/10

An immense push of motivation for success in a bundle of 40 pages. The author Price Pritchett, Ph.D. shares some deep insights and gives key takeaways for achieving our goals and some blockers in our pathway. All we need to do is make the quantum leap - go beyond our comfort zone, and claim all that is ours.

Details and review: Amazon Page

My Notes:

When we are trying to achieve something (our goals) and failing, the general wisdom suggests - “Try harder”. The fly the tries to break through the closed window follows this. It’s efforts are futile and ultimately it will get killed (or die) at the window pane. Why is it hard for it to realize that just 10 feet away the door is open and flying through it will get it the same freedom for much less effort? No doubt trying to break the window makes complete sense to the fly but it’s just its...

My Journey: Transforming Dreams into Actions - By Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

Date Finished: 12th October 2021 How strongly I recommend it: 8/10

This book includes some short stories from Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam’s life and how the teachings from these experiences made an impact on his life. A good read with a simple writing style and easy to undertand language.

Details and review: Amazon Page

My Notes:

Dreams are not those that we see in our sleep, they should be the ones that never let us sleep.

When troubles come, try to understand the relevance of your sufferings. Adversity always presents opportunities for introspection. His advice meant that in the many setbacks and defeats that destiny had handed me, I have always been able to look writhing for strength.

Know that there is a larger energy and force that can crush our ambitions and plans in the blink of an eye. The only way to survive is face your troubles and rebuild your life.

Making the problem go away without letting it grow and fester is the essence of good management in any situation.

It must always...

Steve Jobs - By Walter Isaacson

Date Finished: 3rd October 2021 How strongly I recommend it: 10/10

This books takes us on a fascinating and one-of-a-kind life journey - the life of Steve Jobs - who started with the goal of building great products that we want to use and built the world’s most valuable company. Walter Isaacson has done a phenomenal job of portraying this charismatic yet quirky genius. His writing keeps us glued to the book just like how Jobs sucked people into his Reality Distortion Field (read the book, you’ll know what this means!)

Today, as I publish this article, it is 5th October 2021. This day exactly a decade ago, Steve Jobs breathed his last. For the legacy he has built, he will always be remembered as the greatest business executive of our era. He put wonderful products in our hands that we never knew we wanted and changed the world. “Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do”.

Details and review: Amazon Page

My Notes:

The main thing in our (product’s) design...

How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking – for Students, Academics and Nonfiction Book Writers - By Sonke Ahrens

Date Finished: 29th August 2021 How strongly I recommend it: 9/10

This book is based on Niklas Luhmann’s note taking system - Zettelkasten (slip-box), a unique and effective note-taking system ideal for students and researchers. Author Sonke Ahrens has done a great job of connecting topics like manuscript writing, how we understand things, and the psychology behind producing great work. I would definitly recommend this book if you are a researcher or wish to pursue any kind of writing in th future.

Details and review: Amazon Page

My Notes:

Note-taking is an important part of any process be it academic (writing papers, studying, etc) or professional. But the fear of facing a blank screen drains most of our energy and we produce poor results. Thus, we need to change that. For this, it is important to realize that the process of writing doesn’t start with a blank paper, but an efficient note-taking system to keep our ideas in an organized collection.

Developing and coming up with new ideas can be challenging, especially when we’re raising the bar for ourselves....

The Power of Your Subconscious Mind - By Dr. Joseph Murphy

Date Finished: 29th August 2021 How strongly I recommend it: 10/10

In my opinion, it’s the best book to start with understanding the powers of our subconscious mind. Dr. Joseph Murphy explains what our subconscious mind is and then goes on to share techniques on how to use it and manifest whatever we desire. Moreover, it helps us find our incorrect mental makeups and teaches us how to rectify them.

Details and review: Amazon Page

My Notes:

The treasure house is within you

It is not what we believe in that gets what we want. How our subconscious mind reacts to what we believe is what fulfills our prayers.

Belief = Mental Picture = Thought in mind

Therefore, what we think about gets manifested and not what we claim we want. So, we must think about what we want. This is important to highlight as it can be the case that the fear of not getting what we want can dominate our thoughts, and that is what gets manifested.

To get started it is important...

Deep Work - By Cal Newport

Date Finished: 5th July 2021 How strongly I recommend it: 10/10

An amazing book by Cal Newport. In this book he shares the idea of doing deep work. All of us are now so engaged in doing shallow work, that it has severely affected our concentration and ability to do intense work for stretch of a few hours. This book discusses the advantages of going deep and shares the kind of results it can produce. The author further highlights some powerful points and techniques to improve our productivity and produce exceptional results.

Details and review: Amazon Page

My Notes:

Deep Work means professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate.

The ubiquity of deep work among influential individuals is important to emphasize because it stands in sharp contrast to the behavior of most modern knowledge workers (someone who uses his/her mental capabilities rather than physical strength) — a group that’s rapidly forgetting the value of going deep.

In an age...

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life - By Mark Manson

Date Finished: 20th March 2021 How strongly I recommend it: 8/10

With an amazing and casual writing style, the author, Mark Manson, seeks out to bring some of the mental makeups that we have to our notice. A good read on how we should decide to prioritize what to pay attention to (in his words, give a f*ck about). I personally loved his concept of metrics to measure success and failure.

Details and review: Amazon Page

My Notes:

Self-improvement and success often occur together. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re the same thing.

The key to a good life is not giving a f*ck about more; it’s giving a f*ck about less, giving a f*ck about only what is true and immediate and important.

You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.

Everything worthwhile in life is won through surmounting the associated negative experience.

Subtlety #1: Not giving a f*ck does not mean being indifferent; it...