I'm in my late 20's, working a boring government job and just need a little bit of direction.
Yes - people say to travel and buy properties etc which is fine but is not for everyone and I have done my fair share of travelling
I'm looking for any books or movies you may have read/seen that has changed your outlook on life or has had a big impact on your life. If there is such thing..
Looking for self-improvement/ spiritual/ financial or basically anything that will open my eyes a bit more.. Recommendations please!
Have You Ever Read a Book or Seen a Movie That Has Changed Your Life or Your Outlook on Life?
Comments
Yes!! This is the sort of thing I'm looking for! Thank you :)
Agree with skipping the secret.
And skip Rich Dad poor Dad. Has a bunch of tips with are vague, pretty unhelpful, and if I remember correctly the bloke who wrote it made more money off the book than any other business ventures.
The game is interesting as fiction, but neglects to understand that pretending to be someone you are not in order to win others approval is the definition of a beta male.
Barefoot investor is ok, but I prefer Mr money moustache.
Second Mr Money Moustache. Changed my life.
I Disagree, i really liked Rich Dad Poor Dad. it reads more like a novel at times with some financial tips. I find it more motivational, as in all of his financial tips while true are very vague.
The best take away i found from his book was Be, Do, Have. If you want to "BE" an amazing sports star, singer or businessman. You have to start "DOing" the things they do, ie train, work hard practice. Then you will start to "HAVE" what they have. (which im sure is echoed a lot of different way through other sayings but i found the 3 words, be, do, have a great simple mantra.
i think its worth a read. (i was in highschool then though.)As motivation, and perhaps an insight into mindset, sure. Nothing wrong with self help books. Srs.
Free Willy 2 - The Adventure Home made me the man I am today.
Illusions - The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, by Richard Bach.
If u have any brain these books are pointless
It's what affects you deep down
Watch apocalypse now at about age 14/15Then platoon
And you can Handle life
@carwashhair:
@TheCutter really pulled himself together after age 14/15 and is now and expert bomb technician.
Hi melehoohaha
What about this short video, have you seen it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnnSS0_-xoA
I find it profound…
- The Secret
I'd recommend you skip this one.
From Wikipedia - "It is based on the pseudo-scientific 'law of attraction' which claims that thoughts can change the world directly."
Fair enough. I've just heard of it and know the author was Aussie and is presumably laughing all the way to the bank (as would most of authors of these kinds of books).
Yep, the secret was just plain crap.
If you're looking for inspiration, I would definitely skip Eat Pray Love - it's truly awful and the main character is just a narcissist (edit: hilariously accurate review: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/reviews/article-1314713… ).
The most inspiring movie I've seen in recent years is The Social Network - and I don't only recommend that for tech entrepreneurs :)
Decades ago, the movie I found most inspiring in terms of career was "The Secret of My Success" with Michael J Fox.
Why did you find The Social Network inspiring?
Good question - had to think about my answer..
I find the portrayal of Zuckerberg very inspiring because 1) He had the skills and drive to create Facebook at exactly the right time in exactly the right place.. He wasn't the only one doing this at the time (e.g. MySpace and others), but his platform became dominant. 2) He has a bunch of personal rules that he follows to ensure the success of his creation: a) Exclusivity (initially only available to .harvard.edu email addresses - this turned out to be key) b) "Facebook can't go down - Facebook is the site that never goes down" . 3) I find the portrayal of his escalation from student to billionaire to be quite realistic and accurate, which is rare for movies in my experience
Eat, Pray, Love wasn't that great… it was for a boost in Bali tourism me thinks.
Also skip Rich Dad Poor Dad
The book itself might be okay (don't know) but seems to be a slippery slope into more and more progressively more expensive seminars.
Haha, I should just get my post deleted then! That's 3 already!
No I think your post way great. I might disagree those books are amazing, but I obviously thought they were good enough at some point… I read them too :)
@ozbjunkie: maybe the difference between stupid and smart is reading those books but then thinking they are actually good, rather than not reading them in the first place? Or maybe the latter is genius?
Mate I don't know what genius is, but I'm guessing if I don't know, I'm not it.
Socrates' comments on wisdom and ignorance come to mind.
Either way, better read than dead.
I disagree with this entirely. The book is great, and never did I feel unfluenced to attend a seminar.
Rich dad poor dad is a great book. Made me look at life differently and helped a lot from the advice I was getting from others.
Second The Barefoot Investor.
Pay it forward
I would instead recommend
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Think and grow rich by Napoleon Hill
Second that for:
Rich dad Poor dad.
And the PUA bookBooks I haven't seen mentioned yet:
The Ethical Slut (even if you have no inclination to polyamory - it is interesting to understand your monogamy as a conditioned choice versus absolute truth, and will improve your life in understanding/unlearning jealousy)
Enlightenment to Go
- The Subtle Art of Not Giving a (profanity)
- Ego is the Enemy
- Tools of Titans
Are you a woman?
When I was 11 years old, I read my first Penthouse magazine. That definitely changed my life!
(more the pictures than the story though!).will open my eyes a bit more
It'll more than just open your eyes a bit more!
sticky pages?
Secret sealed section ;)
LOL That would've opened your eyes!
Bhagavad Gita -well worth the read.
18 chapters of Hindi philosophy. it gives perspective.
Do you mean 'hindu' philosophy? My understanding is that 'Hindi' is the language.
Yes.
Funnily enough, I quit my job after seeing Office Space, not a deep movie but was enough to shove me out of my seat of an awful job.
Into the Wild (book or movie) was fascinating for me and although the guy was at the extreme end of the spectrum I understood his wanderlust.
Wild (Cheryl Strayed) was also excellent. Book is far better than the movie
Thanks for the suggestions! So it pushed you to quit your office job.. what are you doing now?
He's doing 2 chicks at the same time, man.
I think if I were a millionaire I could hook that up.
He's doing nothing. Man you can nothing all day you don't need sh!t for that
He's still trying to work out what PC LOAD LETTER means
haha, now that's funny! :)
I moved states, wrote the news for a while, and kind of fell into an I.T role that I really love
Second to Office Space - it made me realise that job quality and job status don't have to be linked at all. That same film kicked started my decision to leave my job as well.
Dude I was literally watching Office Space 4 nights ago. How random.
If I'm after a bit of inspiration for change I look at the archives of Zen Habits which I have been reading for years.
https://zenhabits.net/archives/
You will find something to make you think or possibly even action, but in small manageable amounts without the time commitment or expense of an entire book.
Watched Tommy Wiseau's "The Room" while at a mate's house. Few months later, watched it again at a midnight screening at Cinema Nova on Lygon st.
It wasn't just a movie, it was an experience. And I loved it!
It's a great movie, but even better watched while drunk so we made up a drinking game for it back in college.
Rules included drink every time there's a framed picture of a spoon, every time someone sits on the ground and every time there's stock footage of San Fran.
Oh, hi Mark
The Secret Art of Not Giving a (The F Word)
The subtle* art of not giving a F
That's the one :-P
Read these books and recommend them all:
7 Habits of Highly Effective People
How to Win Friends and Influence People
Mindset : The New Psychology of SuccessI second the 7 Habits; also watch the short clips on the 8th Habit DVD.
Agree with both comments above.
I came across the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People when I was doing my Master of Engineering Management and 4 years later, still refer to it at work.
MEM at UTS by chance? we were goven the same book..wasnt too bad.
@gezza90:
that was a great class. by far my favourite mostly due to the lecturer. i had a terrible group but that taught me a lot. and i topped the class as a distance student :D@Cheshire Cat: Oh you're kidding! I did it in Autumn 2013 with Tom Anderson and got 88/100. Received a letter from Tom telling me I came equal third. Also for Judgement Decision making I came second. Small world…
Read 7 Habits and Mindset. Very good books with Mindset eclipsing 7 Habits I would say - I do like watching Carol Dweck's presentations as well.
Read all 3 of these! Great books
- An update on How to win friends and Influence people in the Digital ageThere's a YouTube channel that summarises these books well, I think it's called the journey?
Fight Mediocrity has heaps of good videos summarising motivational books and ideas. Check it out.
nope…Wish I could find something that did..Too cynical I guess..
Try reading or watching something outside of your usual preferences with an open mind. You could be in a bubble.
Do an MBA, join a large business, slash jobs and outsource everyone to drive up profits for a few quarters. Be the a$$hole everyone loves to hate.
Do an MBA, get in to crippling HECS debt, never find a job, lose your house, enjoy life living as a homeless person!
If you're doing an MBA in Australia, you're doing it wrong.
No, you only do an MBA if you can get work to fork out $50k+ and time off (e.g. off site residentials) for you.
Ridiculous!
An MBA isn't eligible for HECS
First you need to figure out what it is your asking? Your question is too vague for the responses you're after, for example even Harry Potter is a thought provoking book, doesnt make it a suitable recomendation. Are you trying to figure out the purpose of life?
"Looking for self-improvement/ spiritual/ financial or basically anything that will open my eyes a bit more.. Recommendations please!"
Which bit did you not understand?This bit doesn't make sense
"Looking for self-improvement/ spiritual/ financial"
Which one is it? Self improvement? Spiritual improvement? Financial improvement?
"basically anything that will open my eyes a bit more"
Anything? Really?
Open eyes/ open mind. I applaud his willingness to improve himself without imposing constraints.
@4sure: No constraints is not realistic, it only shows that you have no idea what you want BUT you will take or try anything until by chance something satisfies you. Given that your time is not infinite, is that really an effective outlook on life?
mein kamph
ROFL (I hope)
You've got to be in the reich mood to read that.
mein kamph
*Mein Kampf
The true Aryan has excellent spelling.
I can thoroughly recommend "Mein Camp" - AKA "The secret art of camping in the wilderness".
Very good for those members of Aryan groups(especially in the US) who have tried to read Mein Kampf and have become anti-government survivalists!
Not to be confused with: "Mein Camp - How To Take Care of Your Femboy".
For the lazy, it's available to hear for free on YouTube (book reading).
Fever Pitch
Clifford The Big Red Dog
I remember ordering this in primary because it was the cheapest and came with a free rubber.
That's definitely something I don't see enough of nowadays, free rubbers.
I dunno - pretty sure I've seen 2 separate offers on here recently …
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
It's only 200 easy to read pages, and you'll get at least something out of it every time you read it.
I think it'll help you OP
I second this. It didn't "change my life" but definitely bettered it.
I found this book extremely overrated and I wouldn't recommend it. It is however very popular, so maybe it's just me.
Have not read all of these personally, but are you referring to things like:
- The Secret
- Eat, Pray, Love
- Yes Man
- The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists
- The Barefoot Investor
- Rich Dad Poor Dad