Purpose-driven life & career

Top 3 books for a well-lived fulfilling life – 2023

My top 3 list of life-changing books I’d recommend reading. They will guide you in finding your purpose, focusing on what matters, achieving your goals, and building a meaningful and fulfilling life.

As we step into a new year, what better way to set the tone for personal growth and fulfillment than with transformative reads? In this article, we’ll explore a carefully curated list of life-changing books that promise to shape your perspective and redefine your approach to the coming year.

My 2023 list of top 3 books for a fulfilling life

1. “Think Like a Monk” by Jay Shetty: Kicking off our transformative journey is Jay Shetty’s “Think Like a Monk.” Delve into the world of self-discovery and purpose as Shetty shares insights that guide readers towards a fulfilling life. Uncover the importance of understanding what truly matters and connecting with values that extend beyond oneself.

Shetty’s teachings on self-discovery and purpose serve as the foundational step. By understanding what truly matters and connecting with values beyond oneself, readers embark on a journey to unearth their purpose—the guiding light towards a more fulfilling life.

2. “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” by Mark Manson: Mark Manson’s no-nonsense approach takes center stage in “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck.” Explore the art of prioritization, overcoming insecurities, and building a balanced, confident, and meaningful life. Manson’s wisdom empowers readers to focus on what truly matters and discard the rest.

Manson’s no-nonsense approach amplifies the message of prioritization. As readers learn to discard the unnecessary and focus on what genuinely matters, they refine their priorities. The art of not giving a f*ck becomes a powerful tool for navigating life’s complexities with clarity and purpose.

3. “Can’t Hurt Me” by David Goggins: In “Can’t Hurt Me,” David Goggins invites readers to break free from a victim mindset. Take charge of your life, push your boundaries, and embrace responsibility. Goggins’s story serves as a powerful testament to the significance of mindset, process, and discipline in achieving our goals.

Goggins’s call to break free from a victim mindset becomes the catalyst for action. Taking charge, pushing boundaries, and embracing responsibility are not just motivational phrases but actionable steps toward execution. Goggins’s story inspires readers to adopt the mindset, process, courage, and discipline required to turn goals into achievements.

Some great quotes (I’m sure you’ll have your own list that resonates with you!):

  • “Life is not going to go your way. You have to go your way and take life with you.” ― Jay Shetty, Think Like a Monk
  • “To live intentionally, we must dig to the deepest why behind the want.” ― Jay Shetty, Think Like a Monk
  • “Success doesn’t guarantee happiness, and happiness doesn’t require success. They can feed each other, and we can have them at the same time, but they are not intertwined.” ― Jay Shetty, Think Like a Monk
  • “Life’s too short to live without purpose, to lose our chance to serve, to let our dreams and aspirations die with us.” ― Jay Shetty, Think Like a Monk
  • “When you are hired for a job, take a moment to reflect on all the lost jobs and/or failed interviews that led to this victory. You can think of them as necessary challenges along the way. When we learn to stop segmenting experiences and periods of our life and instead see them as scenes and acts in a larger narrative, we gain perspective that helps us deal with fear.” ― Jay Shetty, Think Like a Monk
  • “Real greatness is when you use your own achievements to teach others, and they learn how to teach others, and the greatness that you’ve accomplished expands exponentially.” ― Jay Shetty, Think Like a Monk
  • “Society’s definition of a happy life is everybody’s and nobody’s. The only way to build a meaningful life is to filter out that noise and look within.” ― Jay Shetty, Think Like a Monk
  • “Passion + Expertise + Usefulness = Dharma.” ― Jay Shetty, Think Like a Monk
  • “Living your Dharma means using your skills to better the world, which is a sure route to fulfillment.” ― Jay Shetty, Think Like a Monk
  • “The first step in discovering who you are and what you value is to reduce the outer “noise” by letting go of materials possessions, ideas, even people, if necessary” ― Jay Shetty, Think Like a Monk
  • “Many people become so obsessed with being “right” about their life that they never end up actually living it.” — Mark Manson
  • “The key to living a good life is not giving a fck about more; it’s giving a fck about less, giving a f*ck about only what is true and immediate and important.” — Mark Manson
  • “No matter where you go, there’s a five-hundred-pound load of shit waiting for you. And that’s perfectly fine. The point isn’t to get away from the shit. The point is to find the shit you enjoy dealing with.” — Mark Manson
  • “To be happy we need something to solve. Happiness is therefore a form of action. True happiness occurs only when you find the problems you enjoy having and enjoy solving.” — Mark Manson
  • “It turns out that adversity and failure are actually useful and even necessary for developing strong-minded and successful adults.” — Mark Manson
  • “Yet, in a bizarre, backwards way, death is the light by which the shadow of all of life’s meaning is measured. Without death, everything would feel inconsequential, all experience arbitrary, all metrics and values suddenly zero.” — Mark Manson
  • “We all love to take responsibility for success and happiness. Hell, we often fight over who gets to be responsible for success and happiness. But taking responsibility for our problems is far more important, because that’s where the real learning comes from. That’s where the real-life improvement comes from” — Mark Manson
  • “Don’t just sit there. Do something. The answers will follow.” — Mark Manson
  • “Life is about not knowing and then doing something anyway.” — Mark Manson
  • “You are in danger of living a life so comfortable and soft that you will die without ever realizing your true potential.” ― David Goggins, “Can’t Hurt Me”
  • “The most important conversations you’ll ever have are the ones you’ll have with yourself.” ― David Goggins, “Can’t Hurt Me”
  • “No one is going to come help you. No one’s coming to save you.” ― David Goggins, “Can’t Hurt Me”
  • “You can be born in a fucking sewer and still be the baddest motherfucker on earth.” ― David Goggins, “Can’t Hurt Me”
  • “And the reason I got there was because I’d put in the work.” ― David Goggins, “Can’t Hurt Me”
  • “Doing things—even small things—that make you uncomfortable will help make you strong. The more often you get uncomfortable the stronger you’ll become, and soon you’ll develop a more productive, can-do dialogue with yourself in stressful situations.” ― David Goggins, “Can’t Hurt Me”
  • “Whatever your goal, you’ll need to hold yourself accountable for the small steps it will take to get there. Self-improvement takes dedication and self-discipline.” ― David Goggins, “Can’t Hurt Me”
  • “Analyze your schedule, kill your empty habits, burn out the bullshit, and see what’s left.” ― David Goggins, “Can’t Hurt Me”
  • “Most wars are won or lost in our own heads.” ― David Goggins, “Can’t Hurt Me”
  • “It takes great strength to be vulnerable enough to put your ass on the line, in public, and work toward a dream that feels like it’s slipping away.” ― David Goggins, “Can’t Hurt Me”
  • “Always be ready to adjust, recalibrate, and stay after it to become better, somehow.” ― David Goggins, “Can’t Hurt Me”
  • “We can’t control all the variables in our lives. It’s about what we do with opportunities revoked or presented to us that determine how a story ends.” ― David Goggins, “Can’t Hurt Me”

Conclusion

As we wrap up our exploration of these life-changing books, it’s clear that each offers a unique perspective on purposeful living. Whether it’s Shetty’s monk mindset, Manson’s art of not giving a f*ck, or Goggins’s call to overcome, these reads provide a roadmap to personal growth and fulfillment.

Share your top three life-changing books in the comments below. Let’s create a collective reading list that inspires and motivates us throughout the year. Remember, the journey to a purposeful life begins with the turn of a page. Your thoughts contribute to the collective wisdom we’re building together. Let’s continue this transformative conversation, supporting each other on our journey to a purposeful and fulfilling life.


Further reading:

Our recent articles about Sustainable living and Purpose-driven life & career.

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Olena G.

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