My Top 5 Non-Fiction Book Recommendations
In a team meeting recently, I was asked a question; ‘how do you maintain good emotional health?’ This was unexpected but refreshing, and worth a thoughtful response.
I tried with something like “I try to be active in the morning, do hard things first, read a lot,” but it felt a little bit under-cooked.
After the meeting I realised a better answer would include mentioning certain books, the ones I have re-read and recommended many times over the years. These have stood the test of time for me, with practical advice I have used and seen results from. They have each contributed to what amounts to my own Body Of Knowledge on how to live.
So here is my summary on the top five books I recommend everyone read - at least anyone interested in the sorts of things I am such as being creative and productive, happy, balanced, and leading a good life.
As an important caveat, I believe everyone must synthesise their own wisdom and learn through practice - the books below are mostly in alignment, although some might contain contradictory elements or even things I flat out don’t agree with or practice. I don’t believe in any one single method to lead ones life, but I do believe in reading widely (as well as living widely) and these are my top picks as of…now.
The Power Of Now
My parents introduced me to this book sometime in the mid 2000s. It’s an easy and powerful read. The central wisdom shared is difficult to refute, and also difficult to manifest. As I go through life I reflect often on the dichotomy of being at peace with what is while acting upon what might be. I certainly don’t find the balance as often as I would like. But, I always feel more centred and strong after a read-through of this.
“...the past gives you an identity and the future holds the promise of salvation, of fulfilment in whatever form. Both are illusions.”
The War Of Art
This book totally rocked my world and continues to do so. It might be my most-recommended book. It is a very quick read, in a sparse and open style. This book has a strong opinion and sticks to it. It helps shine a light on all the rationalisations and excuses my ego can produce, but does so in positive way and makes me want to instil professionalism in anything I attempt.
The concept of The Resistance is very useful. Creating a physical entity that encapsulates the forces which act against us, allows us to detach and deal with them.
“Resistance is always lying and always full of shit.”
Discipline Equals Freedom
This book has more than an opinion, it is an instructional work and the literary equivalent of a tough and rewarding personal training session. The author recommends taking full ownership of your actions, looking after yourself, subduing your ego and accepting no excuses. I fully admit to not embracing every nuance of this program all the time, but when things get tough I follow it to the letter until I am back on track.
“Stop researching every aspect of it and reading all about it and debating the pros and cons of it … Start doing it.”
Linchpin
I actually don’t own a physical copy of this book, but I listened to the audiobook many times in the late 2000s. It’s full of wisdom about how to thrive in the modern workplace without succumbing to the kind of resigned acceptance and loss of self we all fear.
As someone who loves Art in all forms, I found it transformative to hear someone explaining in very practical terms exactly why embracing our own differences and skills is actually the best strategy for overall success. This book, in effect, gave me the idea that I could be myself and still succeed in ‘the world’. That’s a powerful gift to receive.
“...treasure what it means to do a day’s work. It’s our one and only chance to do something productive today, and it’s certainly not available to someone merely because he is the high bidder. A day’s work is your chance to do art, to create a gift, to do something that matters. As your work gets better and your art becomes more important, competition for your gifts will increase and you’ll discover that you can be choosier about whom you give them to.”
Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction
This book presents an approach to using the scientific method in almost any endeavour, or at least, that’s how I interpreted it. I was actually a bit skeptical when picking this up, thinking it would lean heavily on ‘one way’ to approach forecasting. But, I found it helpful in shaping my overall approach to problem solving. Blending this style of meticulous research to inform decision making with the kind of ‘start doing it now and stop rationalising’ advice from some of the other books I have mentioned here is the basic loop of my days. For years I had this quote stuck on my wall where I worked:
“Unpack the question into components. Distinguish as sharply as you can between the known and unknown and leave no assumptions unscrutinized. Adopt the outside view and put the problem into a comparative perspective that downplays its uniqueness and treats it as a special case of a wider class of phenomena. Then adopt the inside view that plays up the uniqueness of the problem. Also explore the similarities and differences between your views and those of others—and pay special attention to prediction markets and other methods of extracting wisdom from crowds. Synthesize all these different views into a single vision as acute as that of a dragonfly. Finally, express your judgment as precisely as you can, using a finely grained scale of probability.”
There are, of course, many other books which deserve an honourable mention or are useful for specific purposes. I may cover some of these another time.
I hope you find these books interesting and are inspired to find your own set to guide you.