Shelfie Challange
What I Read and Why I Read Them
Not too long ago, Squeeze the Avocado invited me to join the shelfie challenge. It is a unique way to delve into someone’s mind without peeking at their phone on the train.
I wished everyone was kind enough to ask for my bookshelf instead of looking through my feed whilst sitting next to them on the central line. Anyways, I am happy to be a part of the challenge. And I am hoping to share it with my network.
I am someone who is hoping to add value through advancing knowledge in society. Currently, I am on the path to completing a doctorate in organisational behaviour to increase my knowledge in the business, economics and psychological world.
I hope to combine all three to get a better understanding of humans as a whole. My main issue is that I can be overly curious at times. And that can often lead me down very windy and bendy paths.
So, I hope to gather knowledge from diverse fields and bring them together to add value to others. So it should come as no surprise that I also want to be a modern-day polymath.
The best way to explain my reading list is to take you through a journey of it. In this short article, I will reveal to you my growth through my reading. Not to mention how I began my pursuit to becoming an intellect.
Self-Help Books
My journey of reading started with self-help books. I received my first book at the beginning of my masters in leadership at the age of 14. The book was titled: “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”.
At first, I was scared to read it because it was so thick. However, I had a feeling it would be good for me and would probably help me with my masters. So, I wrestled through it and became hungry for more.
After reading the book and applying it, my grades improved massively in school. And I thought to myself, why is everyone still reading fiction books. Remember, I was only 14 at the time and did not appreciate the art of storytelling. So, please do not hate me.
So, I started reading tonnes of self-help books until it dawned on me. These books are a bit repetitive. Yes, I said it. They all quote the same psychological studies to prove their points, and they all cover in some way or other similar things.
At this point, I wanted to learn where these theories and self-help people were coming from. And after doing some digging, I landed on smart thinking books.
Smart Thinking Books
It was whilst reading these type of books I realised that self-help books were grounded here. These books were written by professors who had a lot more to say.
I found their test interesting and their groundbreaking studies revolutionary. It was here I grew a passion for the fields of psychology and philosophy. My conversations with my friends became better, and these books gave me direction for what I wanted to do in life.
By combining the ideas from smart thinking books, I come up with ideas of my own. However, I also use one more source that helps me form ideas that are grounded in fact. And that is academic books.
Academic Books
I have only recently started journeying down reading these books. I search on university websites for their reading lists to see what they want their students to read.
Although these books can be content-heavy, I appreciate the vast amount of thought that goes into them. These books are the grounding facts that produce blossoming ideas.
I hope to continue my journey through academic books to gain further appreciation for the subjects I write on.
In Closing
I would like to close this article by getting more people involved with this challenge. From a personal perspective, it was great to see my growth through my books. It was also interesting to see the amount of knowledge I had consumed.
From a writing perspective, it is great to see the minds of other people on this platform. People all connect dots differently and uniquely see things. And the books we read can be interpreted in other ways to our own.
So, jump on board the challenge to learn more about yourself and others. Who knows, you may find a book that helps you form your next set of ideas.
I am going to invite you to take part in this challenge. Specifically, I would love to see what the great minds below read:
Michelle Loucadoux, MBA Bill Abbate Taylor Foreman Matt Ray Erik Brown Terry Mansfield Sahil Patel AM Costanzo Ysabeau Britni Pepper Milan Kordestani Maria Rattray Quy Ma Dr Mehmet Yildiz
Here are some ideas I have written that may be of interest to you:
