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5 Non-Fiction Books To Read Before You Die | Mind Cafe

James White 9-12 minutes 1/27/2023

Read them as soon as possible

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“Read 500 pages every day,” said Warren Buffet. “That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest. All of you can do it, but I guarantee not many of you will do it.”

Like Warren Buffett, I spend a lot of time reading. It’s a habit that helped me to become happier, wealthier, and more successful. That’s why I want to share several non-fiction books to read before you die.

Let’s dive right in!

Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl

Page Count: 165
Rating on Goodreads: 4.37

I’ve recommended Man’s Search For Meaning hundreds of times. It’s sold millions of copies and is also one of the most inspiring books ever written. So, if you only read one book from this article, make sure it’s this one.

Viktor Frankl wrote it in a Nazi concentration camp. He says humans cannot avoid suffering, but we can always find meaning, purpose, and move forward with renewed purpose.

It’s a beautiful book!

Goodreads

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:

  • “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”
  • “No man should judge unless he asks himself in absolute honesty whether in a similar situation he might not have done the same.”
  • “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
  • “Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.”
  • “Don’t aim at success. The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself.”

12 Rules For Life by Jordan Peterson

Page Count: 409
Rating on Goodreads: 3.93

This book is a bestseller for a reason: it’s absolutely brilliant.

In 12 Rules For Life, Jordan provides a science-backed framework for living a happier life. He also discusses the importance of self-care, strong relationships, and realistic goals.

I’d be lying to you if I said Jordan Peterson wasn’t a moderately controversial figure. But it’s important to read books by people who have different perspectives on life. Otherwise, you’ll trap yourself in an echo chamber — refusing to challenge or question your own beliefs.

Goodreads

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:

  • “To suffer terribly and to know yourself as the cause: that is Hell.”
  • “You can only find out what you actually believe (rather than what you think you believe) by watching how you act. You simply don’t know what you believe, before that. You are too complex to understand yourself.”
  • “You must determine where you are going in your life, because you cannot get there unless you move in that direction. Random wandering will not move you forward. It will instead disappoint and frustrate you and make you anxious and unhappy and hard to get along with (and then resentful, and then vengeful, and then worse).”
  • “Don’t underestimate the power of vision and direction. These are irresistible forces, able to transform what might appear to be unconquerable obstacles into traversable pathways and expanding opportunities. Strengthen the individual. Start with yourself. Take care with yourself. Define who you are. Refine your personality. Choose your destination and articulate your Being.”
  • “To stand up straight with your shoulders back is to accept the terrible responsibility of life, with eyes wide open. It means deciding to voluntarily transform the chaos of potential into the realities of habitable order. It means adopting the burden of self-conscious vulnerability, and accepting the end of the unconscious paradise of childhood, where finitude and mortality are only dimly comprehended. It means willingly undertaking the sacrifices necessary to generate a productive and meaningful reality.”

Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before by Julie Smith

Page Count: 368
Rating on Goodreads: 3.97

This is (by far) the best book about mental health I’ve ever read!

Dr. Julie Smith provides strategies to take back control of your mental health and emotional well-being. She also explains how to manage grief, depression, anxiety, and many other things.

“Your mental well-being is just as important as your physical well-being,” per Goodreads. “Packed with proven strategies, Dr. Julie Smith’s empathetic guide offers a deeper understanding of how your mind works and gives you the insights and help you need to nurture your mental health every day.”

Read this book as soon as possible!

Goodreads

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:

  • “When we focus on trying to fix the problem, it is easy to underestimate the power of simply being there.”
  • “The thing about the human brain is that, when you believe something, the brain will scan the environment for any signs that the belief is true.”
  • “Thoughts are not facts. They are a mix of opinions, judgements, stories, memories, theories, interpretations, and predictions about the future.”
  • “When we feel anxious about something, the most natural human response is to avoid it. We know that if we stay away, we’ll feel safe, for now. But avoidance not only maintains anxiety, it makes it worse over time.”
  • “If we don’t do the work to develop self-acceptance, we set ourselves up to live a life in which we may need constant reassurance, get trapped in jobs we hate or relationships that cause us harm, or find ourselves living with resentment.”

A Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide To The 21st Century by Bret Weinstein & Heather Heying

Page Count: 320
Rating on Goodreads: 3.81

The authors are evolutionary biologists. In A Hunter Gatherer’s Guide To The 21st Century, Bret & Heather unpack 20+ years of research to explain how the modern world is out of sync with our ancient brains & bodies.

“We are living through the most prosperous age in all of human history,” per the book’s description. “Yet, we are listless, divided and miserable. Wealth and comfort are unparalleled, but our political landscape is unmoored, and rates of suicide, loneliness and chronic illness continue to skyrocket. How do we explain the gap between these truths? And how should we respond?”

Read this book to find out!

Goodreads

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:

  • “Modernity is doing something to us at a deeply fundamental level, and the fact that we don’t understand it is alarming.”
  • “Seek authorities who are willing to both show you how they arrived at their conclusions and admit when they have made mistakes.”
  • “Humans deserve a night sky, a sky full of possibilities — sometimes of clouds, often the moon, occasionally planets, nearly always stars and the Milky Way in which we live.”
  • “Like all social, long-lived organisms with long childhoods and overlap between our generations, we need to learn how to be adults. That is different, however, from needing to be taught.”
  • “It is important to know what the group thinks, but that is not the same as believing or reinforcing what the group thinks. In a time of rapid change in particular, then, it is important to be willing to be the lone voice. Be the person who never conforms to patently wrong statements in order to fit in with the crowd.”

Discipline Is Destiny by Ryan Holiday

Page Count: 312
Rating on Goodreads: 4.36

If I had to describe Discipline Is Destiny in one word, it would be “transformative.” That’s not an exaggeration. After reading Discipline Is Destiny, I became 10x more productive and rapidly improved several aspects of my life.

Let me explain…

I currently wake up at the same time each morning. I also avoid procrastinating, making excuses, and doing anything else that might delay the completion of a task on my schedule.

Put another way, I have enough discipline to finish everything on my to-do list and make consistent progress toward a better life. Because when you think about it, that’s the only thing that matters.

Goodreads

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:

  • “Why are we so damn unhappy? Because we mistake liberty for license. Freedom, as Eisenhower famously said, is actually only the opportunity for self-discipline.”
  • “You have to do your best while you still have a chance. Life is short. You never know when the game, when your body, will be taken away from you. Don’t waste it!”
  • “To procrastinate is to be entitled. It is arrogant. It assumes there will be a later. It assumes you’ll have the discipline to get to it later (despite not having the discipline now).”
  • “A person who lives below their means has far more latitude than a person who can’t. That’s why Michelangelo, the artist, didn’t live as austerely as Cato but he avoided the gifts dangled by his wealthy patrons. He didn’t want to owe anyone. Real wealth, he understood, was autonomy.”
  • “Only you know what it will look like to train in your art like a samurai, an Olympic athlete, a master in pursuit of excellence. Only you will know what you need to practice from morning until night, what to repeat ten thousand times. It won’t be easy, but in that burden is also freedom and confidence. The pleasure of the flow state. The rhythm of second nature. The quiet calmness of knowing that, from the practice, you’ll know exactly what to do when it counts …. the pride and the dependability of doing it too.”

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