The main idea of The Pathless Path is in the title itself. The Pathless Path: Imagining a New Story For Work and Life.
This one is pretty underrated among other self transformation books. The American dream and the expectations of those older than us can cloud our ideas of what our lives could look like if we decided to test the waters of aimless exploration.
In our society, productivity is king. And if you aren’t deemed productive in the way many would like to see, it is easy to view yourself or be seen as lazy or a failure. This book pushes that way of thinking and explores small and big ways of trying new things.
This book is for anyone who is considering a change of pace or who is unsatisfied with your current life and trajectory. This book is a beacon of hope and beautiful possibilities of what you can experience if you allow yourself a bit more freedom.
The Pathless Path is refreshing because of its realistic expectations of slow and baby stepped change. We often hear really intense stories of people who decided to take a huge leap of faith and end up flying, so we end up coming to the conclusion that we aren’t the sort to jump off a cliff.
But honestly, most people take it step by step and don’t bet their whole future on a single choice. This self transformation book is really helpful for those who dream big but are wise enough to not bet your life savings on a horse race.
Paul Millerd’s story involves walking away from the life he thought he wanted. He goes through his thoughts and feelings that led up to this moment as well as during and after. He talks about his experiences – the positive and the negative – and what it was like for him to struggle to defend and explain his actions as if he knew what he was doing.
Contained in this book are a lot of good questions to ask yourself, and a lot of opportunities to use your imagination on what your life could be like.
A lot of this book has to do with learning to be okay with feeling discomfort. A lot of people go through a life they hate just to avoid uncertainty. When you allow yourself to trust in the process of where life takes you, uncertainty can turn into freedom and excitement for your future.
Don’t let someone else’s goals for you get in the way of the life you truly want to live.
How do you want to live your life? Learning to embrace a bit of the absurdity in our world, at whatever point of life you are in, can bring blessings and adventure beyond your expectations or wildest dreams.
Atomic Habits by James Clear is one of the most famous self transformation books out there. Of course, there is a good reason as to why it is so appraised and hyped.
This book is for everyone regardless of what your life looks like or what your goals are.
In this book there are four laws of habit building.
Make it obvious
- This is the idea that if we don’t see it, it isn’t there. So, if you want to play guitar more often, don’t tuck it in the back of your closet. Put it somewhere visible and easily accessible.
Make it attractive
- Try to habit bundle by pairing something you really want to do with the habit you are trying to create. Also, try to focus on the positive aspects of the habit and associate it with something desirable. Like, if I go do my dishes, I can listen to my favorite songs or an enjoyable audiobook during it.
Make it easy
- Reduce the friction for doing a habit you are trying to practice. For example, if going to the gym is the habit you want to build, but first, you have 15 more steps to get ready before you go, try to figure out ways to simplify. You could pack a gym bag the night before so all you have to do is pick it up and go!
Make it satisfying
- Do something to positively visualize the progress you are making. Add marbles to a jar every time you complete your daily habit or use a habit tracker in Notion to give you that sense of accomplishment!
This book is all about hacking your brain and using your psychology to your advantage!
There is so much significance of 1% improvements over time. The littlest things make the biggest difference
Everything you do is a habit. It’s just a matter of changing them to create the life you actually want.
An example of the difference these concepts can make, add a graphic as well. Maybe use the biking example from the book
One really nice thing about this self transformation book is that in the Four Hour Work Week there are a lot of great resources! He has websites and companies and how-to’s for pretty much everything he talks about.
This book totally alters your idea of what is possible and achievable. It has also changed so many lives for the better and there are so many happy and successful people who vouch for it!
There is absolutely NOTHING stopping you. In our heads we make up these rules of things we can and cannot do. But this book is a really great eye opener that it really isn’t that serious and you CAN put yourself out there.
In this self transformation book, Tim Ferriss encourages trying things out just for the heck of it. Just to prove to yourself that you can, as well as to get used to any rejection you might face. Every failure and rejection is another step closer to a yes.
The Four Hour Work Week has a lot of built-in questions at the end of each chapter. These questions are things everyone should be asking themselves and can bring a huge amount of clarity when you sit down and write about them.
“It is impossible to bring more into your life if you are feeling ungrateful about what you have. Why? Because the thoughts and feelings you emit as you feel ungrateful are all negative emotions. ”
There are differences across cultures and beliefs of the same concept. Manifestation, placebo effect, prayers being answered, good karma. Regardless of how you look at or define it, to some extent it exists and is real
Your thoughts create your reality, and you are in charge of your thoughts (at least which ones you choose to focus on and repeat). Therefore you are in charge of your reality at all times.
Your thoughts, feelings, and words should be on the top of your priority list. What thoughts are you regularly thinking? How are those thoughts making you feel and what are those feelings trying to tell you?
One big question is to ask why. Why have so many people if not yourself convinced themselves that they are not worthy of a happy and easy life? To change your life all you have to do is change your mind.
The chapters of this book cover various problems people face such as: money, relationships, health, and more! So, if any of those topics are of interest to you, this self transformation book would be a great read!
This is a book that everyone should read. It isn’t specific to a certain lifestyle or type of person, just an assortment of helpful essays to open your mind about various topics.
This book goes over so many things and it’s best to read the whole thing yourself, but here are some good key takeaways.
Your perception is just as flawed as everyone else’s is and you are not inherently smarter than anyone else. A lot of this book has to do with acceptance of human nature and situations.
There is a chapter in this book called “20 Signs you’re doing Better than you think You Are” and it is incredibly comforting to say the least.
Everyone needs to be exposed to alternative ways of thinking in order to grow and improve their lives. This book has something very meaningful inside no matter who you are. The whole point of self transformation books is to open yourself up to change.
With this book, you can’t really go wrong. And again, there are many valuable parts in it for everyone.
This book helps you understand yourself better
It makes you seriously evaluate your own actions and mindset, and presents healthy ways of thinking and acting. It is the perfect balance between comforting and straightforward honesty on unhealthy behaviors.
