Books That Will Encourage You to Expand Your Perspective (and Why You Need Them in a Pandemic)
When I’ve exhausted my energy on social media, netflix, and overthinking, it takes a lot more for me to muster the strength to shift my perspective. And when I can’t seem to defeat myself, I like to turn to books that will challenge me instead. With everything going on these days, it is easy to get sucked into an energy drain that leaves us feeling angry, annoyed, depressed, anxious, and frustrated. This is why I’ve put together a list of books that can help you understand your own mind, take control, and expand your perspectives in this pandemic.
Stretch: Unlock the power of less and achieve more than you ever imagined by Scott Sonenshein
“If we find ourselves too regularly on autopilot”, Sonenshein says, “it might be time to scramble our back rows. There is comfort in habits, but it’s critical to avoid being complacent with how things are, closing off the possibility of imagining how things might be better.” Stretch is the best book to pick up when you don’t feel like you have enough or are enough. The author opens the book by stating the clear difference between chasers and stretchers. Stretchers, he says, “ask what more they can do with what they have, instead of asking what’s missing.” It’s a really good way to put the gratitude practice into perspective if you ask me. And I personally love how he challenges perspective taking, mindset, values, and core beliefs.
Mindset: The new psychology of success by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D.
I personally enjoy a book that’s backed up by a ton of psych research. So when I dug into Mindset, it was thrilling to see how limitations and growth perspectives affected human beings in their work and in their relationships. The growth mindset, she says, “is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts, your strategies, and help from others.” So do you have a fixed or growth mindset? And in what ways do you think they come out? If you’re curious to find out, I highly recommend that you read this.
The School of Life: An emotional education by Alain de Botton
The back cover literally reads, “this is a book about everything you were never taught at school. It’s about how to understand your emotions, find and sustain love, succeed in your career, fail well and overcome shame and guilt.” If there was one book I truly enjoyed taking my time through in the pandemic, it was this. Alain de Botton just gives you so much to think about. “Much anxiety”, he says, “surrounds the question of how good the next generation will be at maths; very little around their abilities at marriage or kindness.” I have always enjoyed how he weaves in science and philosophy, pushing the boundary a little further each time to get us to think, re-think, and re-consider our perspectives. And what better time to learn how to live and be human than in a pandemic, right?
