3 Books That Kept Me Going During the Pandemic

I never thought of being a writer, but the pandemic changed it all. As the lockdowns began and I started to work from home, I was blessed with a little more time on hand.

Being an avid reader, and a trainer to new recruits in my office, I always love telling stories during my training to keep the audience interested in those boring financial topics.

So, when I came across Medium, the idea of writing stories for bigger global audiences fascinated me.

But, as I started writing, I realized that it was easier said than done, and started facing writer's block after a few stories and falling short of topics.

I realized that writing with existing knowledge and expertise can only help you so much. But, if you want to take up writing as a career, and write in different niches, then it's essential to keep upgrading, and for that, you need to keep reading. This is when my habit of reading gave me an advantage.

Today, nearly 11 months into writing on Medium, the habit of reading is the single most reason I was able to keep writing.

Over this year, I would have read multiple books on varied topics. All these books have provided me knowledge in some form or other, but there are a few of them, that inspired me so much that I felt I need to share them with a bigger group.

These books helped me become a better version of myself. They made me realize that reading is an outstanding experience, and trust me if you cultivate this habit, you can look back and say that it has changed my life.

So if you are extremely serious about personal growth, and if you want to experience the next version of yourself, I'm sharing with you three books along with a reason why you should read that book and one tip on how to read it, so that you can extract the best out of it.

I am also including my affiliate link on each book name, in case you have no time to read and want to listen to the free audiobook version from the audible platform (refer to affiliate disclosure at the end).

Book #1) "Start With Why"

This is a beautiful book by Simen Sinek. The only reason why I liked this book is that it teaches you the most valuable skill in the 21st century in the simplest possible manner.

Unlike other books that tell you hypothetical motivational BS, this book gives you a concrete call to action.

In case, you want to understand the value of this book in monetary terms; Simen Sinek charges $100,000 to deliver a one-hour keynote presentation. Start With Why is a book wherein Simen will speak to you for more than eight hours, and you can acquire his insights on leadership whenever you want. Now calculate the value yourself.

This book was one of the reasons I was able to lead my team through some challenging storms during the pandemic.

So, the professional value of this book is that it can teach you to extract not just the best from yourself, but also from forty to fifty other people from your team.

And in the 21st century, if you can lead a team of forty to fifty, you already have a CEO-level quality within yourself.

My pro-tip for you - watch Simen's TEDx talk here, and you will fall in love with his intellect.

Book # 2) "The Wellness Sense"

Written by a monk named Om Swami, the book will give you a great insight into your physical self.

Jack ma once said, "if you put a dozen bananas and a bag full of money in front of a monkey, the monkey will always choose a dozen of bananas, because the monkey doesn't realize that using the bag full of money, he can buy countless bananas."

Similarly, when you put a bag full of money on one side and health on the other, humans will often choose a bag full of cash because they don't realize that using good health you can always earn wealth, and without good health, no matter how much wealth you have, you will never be able to cherish life.

So if you are somebody who wants to live life better by taking care of your body, if you want to enjoy the wealth that you have to the best possible extent, then this book is for you.

This book will give you a step-by-step guide to take care of your body or to eat well in such a way that you will begin to realize all those crimes that you've been committing throughout these days upon your body.

And once you become mindful about the bad things that you do, you will automatically begin to incorporate good nutritional eating habits to take care of your body, eventually to live life a little bit better.

Now, one pro-tip that helped me is that, after the end of every chapter, reflect upon yourself and try to understand the changes you are supposed to make in your life.

Because once you begin to take notes of those things, you will become mindful of your habits. Eventually, those habits will become such an innate part of your lifestyle that you will not realize the massive transition you are making to your own life.

And when health and nutrition habits become entirely effortless to apply, that is when their actual value comes up. Otherwise, you will use that for ten to fifteen days, and then they'll vanish off.

After reading this book, I completely changed my eating habits, and over ten months, I lost almost 40 pounds, which made my body lighter, and I can do tasks that earlier felt exhausting.

Book # 3) "Ram"

Written by one of my favorite authors, "Amish Tripathy," the book is categorized as a novel. But that is the best part I like about his writing. He provides you with learnings through his stories, which are easier to consume.

This book has given me life lessons that I've never been able to find in most philosophical books I have read.

When you read this book, try to understand the life lesson that every chapter is giving you. Take notes of those life lessons and, just like The Wellness Sense, begin to incorporate those life lessons. While the problems in your life might not decrease, I bet your perspective on those problems will change so drastically that you will begin to find more peace in the way you lead your life.

And if you are using social media, you need to understand this human lesson that there is nothing called black or white. Everything is grey in this world, and human beings are complicated.

If you read this book, you will begin to understand how complicated human beings are; in fact; you will cultivate a deeper understanding of the people in your life. So, if you want to understand the people around you or develop a deeper understanding of the world you live in, then this book is for you.

Here is a podcast from Amish that you can check out, and once you begin to listen to that, you will fall in love with Amish's intellect and start to read all of his books.

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Affiliate Disclosure :

I have provided my affiliate links on the book names if you want to buy or listen to it free on audible. Using these links will not disadvantage you with any extra charges or offers but will help me with a small commission if you use them for purchases.

Sources : https://medium.com/writers-blokke/3-selfhelp-books-that-helped-me-stay-healthy-during-the-pandemic-d34c27c13d9c