Written on Bismah Mirza
I have dedicated a small amount of my daily time into reading and this year it was my goal to revive my reading habits. From being a person who enjoyed reading what I could literally lay my hands on; fiction, magazines, reports, non-fiction and even newspapers, I have become a person who only reads emails and updates. There was a time if I didn’t read a newspaper, I would get anxious and now I am satisfied with just scrolling. But this year I made a conscious effort to read books and here are my top 3 reads of 2022.
Following are my reads:
- The 5 am club by Robin Sharma All changes are difficult in the beginning, messy in the middle and beautiful in the end! I heard a lot about this book and thought to give it a try. In the book, the author discusses the lives of a painter and entrepreneur both stuck in their professional and personal life. They have made something out of their lives but could not move ahead.
What makes this book interesting is the story telling style of the author to cultivate the habits of a better future. These two individuals embark on a journey of greatness by taking a 21 days Challenge of 5am Club. All those who find reading difficult will enjoy reading this book of its storytelling style.
- Atomic Habits by James Clear: I think by far one of the best books to understand why we do what we do. Again the author starts with a scenario where he is being rushed to the hospital. He shares his life misfortunes in such a successful way because of the habits he developed and turned himself into a success.
His journey from being a sportsman to a writer is based on how he used the resources at hand and turned himself into a success. In the book he explains the concept, ‘How habits are formed & can be changed?’ in a fiction style. He explains complex concepts with a lot of relatable examples and simple writing styles. A must read!
- How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie: If you want to understand why we fail to communicate effectively then this book helps you to do it. I am on the last section of the book and I find it difficult to put it down. The only time I do so is when I need to reflect on the concepts or debate it with my own thoughts.
The concepts taught are nothing new under the sun but it explains what we have learned, observed and practiced earlier with examples and authenticity. This is how this book is unique. It helps to explain why we struggle while communicating despite being a success in our professions or why we fail at home or personal life and it also restores your faith in communication. Not only the book makes you realize that communication is not a rocket science and that we all can excel in it. Some time, we don’t know when to read with mobile in our hands and an easy way to start is to start small and build on it. Set a timer for 5 minutes and read just in that time. The next best option is to develop interest and you can do that through book summaries. All the books mentioned have been summarized in numerous languages but once you read it you reflect it and internalize it much better. The inspiration of this article goes to a colleague of mine, Faiza Yousuf.