4 Books That Transformed My Way Of Thinking

I’ve been reading a book per week lately. Some longer than others, but all books. I’ve gotten better at mixing in personal development books with BookTok’s favorite romance novels (and I’m all the better for it). As we start inching towards a new season, I know that the “back to school” feeling isn’t limited to kids. As adults, we ache for something that helps us determine a before-after or helps propel us to the next chapter.

These four books all helped transform my way of thinking, and being. They spoke to different areas of my life, but collectively I think form a pretty great “I’m loving who I am and believing in my own potential” starter pack.

Be A Triangle by Lilly Singh

At 112 pages, this book is palm-sized, easy to carry, and a quick read. Singh lays out a formula for the call to “be a triangle” and how shifting your mentality to a triangle mindset can actually help create more balance in your career and life. It’s part self-help, part career development. I think this would be a great book for any recent grad or if you’re inching towards a new season of your own career and want to switch things up. I read her book, but I can imagine that Singh reading her audiobook must be so great.

Atomic Habits by James Clear

I read 3 other books while also reading Atomic Habits by James Clear. While the book can be one you read cover to cover in a sitting, I found it most valuable to pick it up and put it down. I was using what I was learning about forming new habits (or breaking old ones) to test theories in real time and once I mastered one aspect would read ahead to learn more about how I could continue to implement it. I believe the hype around Clear’s book now. It’s a resource manual to life and healthy habit building that I know I’ll turn to often. This book’s for you if you want to start a new habit, stick to a healthy habit, or break an old one. I’ve already seen it reap benefits in my life and career.

It Didn’t Start With You by Mark Wolynn

Of this list, Wolynn’s book blew my mind the most. I walked into therapy more than once and talked in depth about what I had learned reading It Didn’t Start With You. Wolynn’s exploration of intergenerational trauma is thorough and offers first hand accounts that make you wonder what’s reality and whether it matters to define reality anyway. I think if you’re reading this book, you’re not wrong if you take some of the stories with a grain of salt or a giant heaping of skepticism. I know I did. And yet, I found so much value in how well he helps you draw the line from who you are to who your ancestors are. It’s an interesting read, but not a Bible, and as long as you take it as such, you’ll really enjoy Wolynn’s researched point of view.

I Hope This Finds You Well: Poems by Kate Bear

Another short and powerful read on my list of 4 books that totally blew my mind. Kate Bear is a favorite of mine and I was excited to read through her collection of poems in I Hope This Finds You Well. Bear is known for blacking out certain words and creating poems out of existing phrases. This time around she took hateful comments and put them on their head. I’ve been struggling a lot with comparison and imposter syndrome, this felt like a cathartic way to burn down the bad thoughts without actually starting a fire, ya know?

What have you been reading lately? If you’re looking for more book suggestion, I published this Summer Reading List earlier this summer that you still have a lot of summer to take a go at.