The year 2020 presented us with a complete turnaround in the way we
conduct our daily routines. COVID-19 pandemic slapped limitations and confined
us inside our houses for extended periods of the day. It also paved way for
many learning opportunities and since I saved significant time on my commute to
work, I got a chance to revisit my old hobby with a full throttle – reading.
With this, I have decided to enlist my 5 most-recommended reads of 2020.
Over the course of time, I will try my best to build up this list further.
So here are my top 5 reading picks for the year 2020
1) Surrender experiment (by Micheal Singer): When majority of the people stand by ‘hard-work’ as the only success mantra, former software programmer and a founder of mediation institute, Michael Singer devised an experiment which was a complete opposite to the hard-work theory. Named after the title of the book, Surrender experiment is an act of complete submission to the forces of universe and a corresponding faith that these forces will help manifest one’s desires. Formerly a hippie and drug addict in his teens, Micheal Singer brought a complete metamorphosis to his life by taking to intense meditation practices and getting into frequent flow states. This book will initiate the readers to act of surrender and spiritual practices which can lead to fulfilment of one’s goals.
2) Sapiens (by Yuval Noah Harari): Amongst my highly recommended list, this book deserves multiple reads. Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens helps the reader discover the ancient roots of human evolution. It is not a factual book reiterating the previously discovered theories of biologist and anthropologists. Instead, it challenges the facts we think we know about being human. This book will surely tickle the curiosity of the readers covering a wide spectrum of topics including the development of human cognition, agricultural revolution, advent of money, emergence of religions, inception of war and much more.
3) Business Sutra (by Devdutt Pattanaik): Being the former Chief Belief Officer at Future Group, Devdutt Pattanaik has a tremendous knack of weaving lessons learned from the mythological stories into business management. Picked up as a subject in Indian School of Business, Business Sutra is strong reminder of the fact that management is deep-rooted in Indian mythology. Indian style of doing business is empathetic and largely focusses on employee satisfaction rather than increasing the shareholder value. This book narrates short stories from Indian mythology and applies these first-principles to the modern-day corporate
4) The Buddha and the Badass (by Vishen Lakhiani): Vishen Lakhiani, the founder of the famous personal development company – Mindvalley, had written this book with an objective to introduce spirituality to boost performance at workplace. As the title suggests, Buddha is a person who navigates through his environment with fluidity, nailing complex projects with a smile on his face whereas the Baddas is the modern-day innovator and disruptor who breaks new normal ever single day. The book sets up the codified actionable steps which can help the reader merge his own Buddha and the Badass to grow at the workplace.
5)
The Power of your subconscious mind (by Dr. Joseph Murphy): To be honest,
this was not the first time I have picked up this book. In fact, I had read it
multiple times before and honestly, I have even lost the count. This book is one
of the most underrated and my personal favorite when it comes to touching upon
the concept of ‘Law of Attraction’. This book conveys the mechanics of the
human mind and how one can tap into the infinite potential of the subconscious
mind to access abundance. Backed up by strong research, this book explains how
our current life events are shaped out of our own mental structures and how we
can use tried-and-tested methods to alter the reality around us.
