The War Of Art

– Steven Pressfield

This is THE book I recommend to anyone who is trying to achieve something important.

If you are struggling to choose between your dreams and life, it is for you. Steven Pressfield explain the concept of Resistance, also known as Saboteurs, or, well, excuses, that exist to sabotage you and your dreams.

“The more important a call or action is to our soul’s evolution, the more Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it”

You will learn that Resistance is what comes between the life you live and the unlived life within you and how to tune it down and take actions towards your dreams.

The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down

– Haemin Sunim

This book explains beautifully how important it is to take the time to enjoy life and be grateful for what you have.

First of all, I particularly enjoy it because it brings a clear and calm perspective of life. Then it forces you to reflect on what really matters to you. The author shares inspiring personal stories and adds pages filled with motivational quotes or messages. This way, you can also just open your book once in a while and read just what you need.

And it includes beautiful illustrations from Young-Cheol Lee too!

Love For Imperfect Things

– Haemin Sunim

From the same author as above, this book takes you on a journey to learn how to accept yourself the way you are. Through acceptance, self-care and gratefulness you have the power within you to reach inner peace and happiness. Indeed, this very powerful book enables you to deepen your learning, take a step back and decide how you want to live your life.

As the previous one, it contains very inspirational stories and short quotes and messages. It can be read over and over again!

Search Inside Yourself

– Chade-Meng Tan

This book was written by an engineer at Google, who wants to bring success and happiness to as many people as possible and potentially achieve world peace!

It is for me the most fundamental book you need to have before exploring mindfulness and meditation. It explains in detail the fundamentals of mindfulness and how to practice meditation with great concrete and funny examples.

By blending ancient practices with modern emotional intelligence, it enables the general audience to understand their mind patterns and emotional reactions and that they have the choice to make a positive change in their lives.

The Little Book of Hygge

– Meik Wiking

This cute book is less philosophical but gives you a clear and concrete glimpse on the fundamentals of Danish coziness. The author shares plenty of examples to apply on your day to day life, at home, with your friends, on vacation, etc.

Written by a researcher in the Happiness Research Institute, this book shows that small improvements in your quality of life (on all aspects: personal, professional, social…) has a direct impact on your level of Happiness and life satisfaction.

What learning will you implement in your life?

Dealing with people you can’t stand

– Dr. Rick Brinkman and Dr. Rick Kirschner

This book is a bit different from all the advisory / self improvement books that you can find. It explains with a touch of humor how to make the best of difficult situations with difficult people, such as Know-it-alls, Whiners or Meddlers…

Moreover, it offers you a clear descriptive of all you need to know to communication effectively and effortlessly with different profiles of demanding people.

Finally, all the techniques, learning and tips can be applied just as good at work as at home!

Ikigai

– Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles

This easy-to-read book presents the different aspects of life to nurture in order to live a happy, long and fulfilling life. Indeed, it describes the habits and reason for being of the oldest people on Earth.

Rather than explaining how to find the right career for you, it demonstrates the importance of finding your purpose, developing your passions and taking care of the people around you.

Learn to live the moment for a happy long life!

Happiness

– Matthieu Ricard

Matthieu Ricard is known to be “the happiest man on Earth” and participated in many studies to explain the effets of Buddhist practices through modern science. In this book, he gives the keys to review your priorities and reach what is defined as an optimal state of being.

On top of that, you learn through theories and exercices how to manage your thoughts and emotions, deal with pain or limiting beliefs and how to find freedom of mind, inner-calmness and ultimately, happiness.

The Art Of Happiness

– His Holiness The Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler

This insightful book takes us into a rich discussion between His Holiness The Dalai Lama and the psychiatrist Howard Cutler. They discuss how our Western world can put into practice Eastern philosophies and principles. Indeed, they address it as the way to find Happiness and purpose in life.

Moreover, His Holiness The Dalai Lama explains how to train the mind, develop compassion, manage one’s emotions, transform suffering and adding the spiritual dimension for a happier life.

This book is so full of wisdom that I like to refer to it every now and then!

The Happiness Hypothesis

– Jonathan Haidt

The author made a remarkable effort to compile the greatest ancient insights. In his book, he provides us with scientific and sociological explanations. It studies the human behaviors and how managing your mind can show you the path to Happiness that comes from within.

The Happiness formula from positive psychology is described as “H = S + C + V”. It represents “the level of Happiness that you actually experience (H) is determined by your biological set point (S) plus the condition of your life (C) plus the voluntary activities (V) you do.”