6 Books That Can Change Your Life
Or not, it’s up to you…
I read a lot, about 1 book a week. And for each book, I take notes which I use later to retain its content. So I’ve been able to read and absorb dozens and dozens of books, and some have particularly caught my attention because they contain very interesting ideas that can change your life.
Let me introduce them to you. Of course, my way of seeing things may be different from yours, so these books may not have the same impact on you.
Why We Sleep — Matthew Walker
We all know that sleep is important, but we don’t know how important. In this book, Matthew Walker demonstrates the importance of sleep, pointing out that it’s even more important than everything else (sport, diet…).
Without sleep, we don’t function properly, and our life expectancy is reduced if we don’t get enough sleep every night. We need to sleep at least 8 hours a night, and consistently, to stay healthy.
Matthew Walker talks about adenosine and caffeine. He explains that when we stay awake for a while, our adenosine level rises, and when it’s too high, we feel tired and need to sleep. Peak adenosine levels generally occur 12 to 13 hours after waking up. However, caffeine blocks the adenosine neurotransmitters, thus preventing the message that levels are high from being received. That’s why you shouldn’t drink coffee or tea before going to sleep.
It’s also important to remember that you can’t make up for missed sleep. Let’s say I normally sleep 8 hours, but I only got 6 hours last night, so I won’t be able to catch up on my sleep by sleeping 10 hours tomorrow. He explains that it takes several days to feel well again after a lack of sleep.
There’s also a section dedicated to dreams, where the author tries to explain why we dream, and how our sleep cycles are different from those of animals.
In short, I’m not going to say it all — you’ll just have to keep your eyes peeled for the book!
Thinking, Fast and Slow — Daniel Kahneman
Making the right decision is often complicated, and our choices are often influenced by cognitive biases against us. Daniel Kahneman explains why. This book is quite heavy in content, and quite complex. But it’s very interesting. He describes our way of thinking as separated into two systems: the first, which is fast and makes decisions somewhat by instinct, using past experience, and the second, which is slower, but can solve complex tasks. The first system is automatic, while the second requires mental effort to complete the thought process.
As a result, the first system is subject to many biases, so it’s easy to deceive our brain by using it, while the second system doubts everything.
A few examples of these biases: the law of small numbers — we tend to draw conclusions from a small sample size. Anchoring bias — we estimate the value of something by using a reference (an expensive house is more valuable). Cause-and-chance bias — we find a cause for everything, even for completely random events. Etc…
A long and dense book, which I’d probably have to reread to absorb its content properly, but it teaches you an enormous amount.
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
The reason I’m putting this book right after “Thinking, Fast and Slow” is that the two are somewhat related. Whereas the previous book was more science-oriented, explaining the two systems and the different biases, this one explains how to use these biases to achieve one’s ends, explaining more the psychological side.
It’s based on the premise that well-informed people who know about the brain’s biases can use them to make others perform actions in their interest. Sounds a lot like marketing, doesn’t it?
One example that I’ve remembered well and often apply: give-and-take. First of all, you have to understand the rule of reciprocity, which is that if you give something to someone, then they feel they owe you something. For example, if right now I offer you an ebook, you’re going to feel like you owe me something in return, whether it’s a comment, a donation, anything.
Reciprocal concessions consist of giving something of little value to someone, in order to obtain something of greater value from that person. This is because the person who gives first has an advantage over the person who hasn’t yet given, and is free to ask for something bigger later. A good strategy to sell you my ebook, would be to give you something of lower value first, that way when I offer you the ebook you’re more inclined to accept to please me.
This book is full of examples and rules in the same vein as give-and-take, and I strongly advise you to read it, even more so if you’re in business.
Deep Work — Cal Newport
You probably already know this book. What’s more, it’s not really very good, and when I read it I found it too heavy (I rated it 3/5). But it can really change your life.
Most people today don’t know how to work properly and concentrate. Simply because we live in a world full of distractions. To make the most of your intellectual capacities, you should practice what Cal Newport calls Deep Work.
Deep Work simply means working, without any distractions, for several hours at a time, in order to achieve a state of deep concentration. Although I didn’t necessarily like the way the book was written, I absolutely agree with the ideas it puts forward. In particular, it’s proven that you’ll never be able to concentrate with distrinctions, no matter how small. Even a simple e-mail will lose you not only the few seconds you need to read it, but almost 1 minute to get back to what you were doing.
In short, Deep Work is difficult to read, but well worth it.
21 Lessons for the 21st Century — Yuval Noah Harari
I love this author, who really manages to come up with books that tackle very complex subjects, but which are nevertheless perfectly understandable, given how well explained and written they are.
“21 Lessons for the 21st Century” tries to answer a lot of questions that could potentially be asked, and that require some thought to answer. How to stop terrorism? What should we teach our children? How do computers and robots change the meaning of being human?
The angle of approach is global: major social, political and technical issues are addressed here. At the same time, the author seeks to understand how these issues are linked to the individuals themselves, to their thoughts and emotions.
The book is ambitious, going so far as to raise the question of the meaning of existence in contemporary societies. But for Yuval Noah Harari, ambition is necessary, as it is becoming urgent to answer this fundamental question.
However, Yuval Noah Harari’s book should not be confused with an anti-liberal pamphlet. It isn’t, and it’s certainly not intended to serve as an endorsement for critics of illiberal regimes. What the author wants is first and foremost a renewal of liberal and democratic institutions. Even if this means criticizing them.
But above all, what the author wants is to make us aware of what’s at stake and introduce us to thinking about the world and ourselves.
This book was incredibly interesting and clear, organized in fairly short chapters. Many of the examples are fascinating and teach us a lot. On top of that, I personally love the author’s style, explaining with clarity sprinkled with touches of humor.
Atomic Habits — James Clear
Yes, I know, this is the book you think of by default when you think of books to change your life, but at the same time it’s very good.
The author explains that habits are the compound interest of self-improvement. The idea behind this concept is that repetition and regular self-improvement, even of 1%, bring significant results over the long term.
The history of British cycling is certainly one of the best examples to apply the book’s concept. Ten years ago, British athletes were rather mediocre. When coach Dave Brailsford took over, he introduced a new philosophy: improve one little thing every day. The cyclists made microscopic changes: optimizing the position on the bike, acquiring more high-end equipment, optimizing the duration of training sessions… . The result is that today, the British are among the best cyclists in the world.
One important thing to note is that this concept works very well the other way round. If you’re just a little bit less good each day than the last, the end result is disastrous.
The author explains that your habits define who you are, and vice versa. Research has shown that people who believe in a particular aspect of their identity are more likely to act consistently with that belief. The important point is that, when setting up a habit, it’s better to focus on who you want to become (your identity) rather than what you want to achieve.
He also explains how to change habits, so as to eventually get rid of negative habits and replace them with positive ones. This involves the 4 laws of change: signal, need, response and reward.
This is an excellent book, and I think a great self-help book if you’re just starting out.
Final Note
Basically, I would have liked to add a book or two to the list. But I simply haven’t found any books I’ve read that are as worthwhile as these.
Then of course there are books I found excellent and that changed my life, but which certainly don’t concern you (programming books, for example).
Finally, this list is based on a total of 74 books I’ve read (I’ve read more, but it’s only been since 74 books that I’ve been taking notes and really remembering the books) for your information.
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