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
The Up Series
The Alchemist
Life is beautifulThe Tawny Scrawny Lion.
Viktor Frankl's 'Man's Search for Meaning'.
Stuff books or films man, not at your age anyway…i know too many ppl who have read these dumb books and now think they know more to life than everyone else and walk around all high and mighty and love circle jerking with like minded ppl while disregarding anyone who has a different opinion or outlook on life.
If your dealing with a tremendous loss then yes definitely read up on all the spritiual stuff and try to give your resilience a big boost.
My tip is just excersise a lot, preferably in nature..do something in the ocean, hike up a mountain, go mountain biking, start running through a bush track a few times a week.
Don't listen to vegans
Be patientActually most people who disregard different opinions are those that DON'T read books.
I like some of the things you mentioned and they are helpful. However you assume your introspective views and what you have witnessed are global.
I reckon you are right about how some people walk around all high and mighty, but that isn't everyone.
Not knocking you, I follow most of what you said, however I read heaps and have learnt heaps which in turn has helped me.
Shiny Mew ^above^ suggested Viktor Frankl's 'Man's Search for Meaning'. This was a major influence in me giving up my life and a $300k take home salary in a different country. I now live on a small farm living off next to nothing but spending my time mountain biking, kitesurfing and doing yoga and meditation. Couldn't be happier with my decision. Almost entirely from reading and listening to other's perspectives.
I am officially jealous of both your life paths.
from reading your comments and thoughts on this thread, it sounds like you have a pretty good perspective on life too
Thanks. I try and live by the idea that the unexamined life is not worth living. Ends up I spend lots of time thinking, and less time doing.
But I live at relatively frugal and therefore free existence. I'm as happy as I'm getting for now :)
Yeah my problem is I do too much thinking….often ends up in a downward spiral. I always have to be aware of that and when I start to do it!!
Slipperypete, firstly good on ya, sounds like a pretty sweet set up you have going even tho like you said your living off next to nothing. Id prefer to surf everyday than drive around in a fancy car any day!
Anyway my comment was a bit tongue in cheek and obviously saying don't read any books should be taken with a grain of salt. My purpose was to provide the OP with an opposing view that he can take on board as there is no one answer, no one path. everyone is different.Yeah I totally get you and it's a good point. I also agree a lot of these books are just a cash in and I have read some absolute total rubbish which came highly recommended.
Despite everything, your point of getting outdoors and exercising, especially if it is something you can be passionate about, can be a godsend!! Being a surfer I'm sure you understand the connection with nature in a totally unique way. I used to do some volunteer work for a suicide helpline, it blew me away how, often due to circumstances, many people have a closed life of hell. They cannot see more than 2 foot in front of their face and their doomed fatalistic existence. I wish more people could have the opportunity to be able to experience these things.
The Holy Bible
Not a fan myself
I would give anything to have my life again and take seriously the commandments contained within this book, may the LORD have mercy on my soul.
Cosmos - Its a science documentary series
Makes you feel insignificant in the whole scheme of this universe we live.
Reminds me not to get stuck on things be it anger or happiness. Appreciate this lucky chance I got to live so far and to try & enjoy experiences that come my way.
Top Gun
Heartbreak Ridge
Blue MurderYes, The Notebook changed everything for me.
It's been mentioned elsewhere in this thread but I loved Yes Man (the book).
Great suggestions by many here.
My 1 cent:
Read this: Getting Results The Agile Way: A personal results system for work and life.
https://www.amazon.com.au/d/ebook/Getting-Results-Agile-Pers…I hope your mind(eyes) will open a bit more and you might realise so much we dream is achievable if only we add maturity in our thoughts, accountability in our deeds and define a strong process to get "there".
Mahatma Gandhi said - "Find purpose, means will follow". However sometimes its not easy. You see otherwise great ideas, great people failing even when they had right purpose. Why ? Because the means didn't quite follow. So here is some help.While this book will not help you find a purpose, but will tell you how to get there - lean and fast.
You might enjoy "work the system".
Loving this post, getting some really good suggestions.
I find myself in a similar situation, solid Government job, great pay and flexibility but sorta lacking an energy.
Taking 10 weeks off starting next week to reassess all my goals and see what happens.
Thanks for posting !The Tibetan Book of the Dead
Or the After-Death Experiences on the Bardo PlaneThe Method of the Siddhas
By developing your critical thinking skills your mind will be well equipped to understand what life throws at you. Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally about what to do or what to believe.
There's some excellent suggestions been made already, and a lot of them will help you build your critical thinking abilities, but recognizing it as a skill will help you benefit from the suggestions by being better equipped to understand what and why people believe the things they do.
I'll add a few honorable mentions that I don't think have been made already:
Tim Minchin's Storm the Animated Movie - Just 10 minutes long, could start to change your life and be the best thing you'll ever see on YouTube - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhGuXCuDb1U
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; Douglas Adams - The first in an increasingly inaccurately named trilogy of books that with extraordinary humor will have you considering what is possible and possibly important in life.
Skeptics Guide to the Universe - A long running weekly podcast hosted by a panel of skeptics discussing current topics in largely in science and medicine in layman's terms with equally healthy doses of humor and scepticism. The show also includes discussions of myths, conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, the paranormal, and many general forms of superstition, from the point of view of scientific skepticism.
I was just reading an article about how critical thinking is worth more than IQ and I couldn't agree more.
The question is really vague. And people draw inspiration from books, movies, life experiences, sports, etc. We have to keep in mind that the same ones that inspired someone might not work out at all for others. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the following books and watching the movies below that affected the decisions I took later in my life.
Books:
Most of the books by Charles Dickens, Michael Lewis, George Orwell, Bill Bryson, Daniel Silva, Stephen King etc
Movies:
Fight Club, Man from earth, Pursuit of Happiness, Imitation Club, Man who knew infinity, Big Short, Margin Call, etc
Step 1) read the book Be So Good They Can't Ignore You
Step 2) pick a thing to be good at. This step doesn't complete unless you spend so many hours on it that you literally dream about it. Can be work related, e.g. become a SME in something that makes you feel fulfilled and is useful to your workplace / career development. Workplaces may be draining but business theory can get really philosophical
Step 3) Watch the movie 'Whiplash'
Step 4) Give up your aspirations for loveOptional: rediscover your aspirations years later, realise there's only so far you can go with the time you have left, decide whether you'll spend the remainder of your life being OK with that or being bitter and full of regret
Just on the topic of making life better / changing perspective… Ideas are great, and my book recommendations are above.
But what really changes me is experiences of beauty, and humour - hence my love of music, and comedy.
Obviously music is personal, if you want some idm recommendations let me know.
For comedy, I recommend Bill Burr, Dave Chappelle, Jim Jefferies, Doug Stanhope, Louis ck, Brendan burns, Dave hughs, Carl baron. Sometimes comedians are the best (or most palatable) philosophers.
Try The Secret Life of Walter Mitty OP.
I've found the movie pretty inspiring.
Movies: John Carter, The Matrix - original movie, Limitless, Inception, A Cure for wellness, The Green Mile, Avatar
Glengarry Glen Ross made me never ever want to work in sales.
This David Foster Wallace essay sums up why you'll never achieve happiness from money or possessions: https://harpers.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/HarpersMagazi…
And this commencement speech he gave is pretty generally inspirational too: https://web.ics.purdue.edu/~drkelly/DFWKenyonAddress2005.pdf
Yes I agree with of the comments and read most of the books mentioned in this thread. But my personal favorite is "You can win" - winners don't do different things, they do things differently. By Shiv Khera
And I would like to at "Who moved my cheese"
As I fact before every job I changes I read and reread this book 😊
Powerful metaphors and analogiesnot so much a book, but a lifestyle experience: had a cousin, about 10 yrs older than me, the golden child: perfect in uni, accepted into high flying corporate jobs straight afterwards. went from a cool guy, to a snob look at me i drive a bmw work for kpgm type. did nothing but work. all that stress, long hours, more stress etc eventually led to burnout which eventually led to him taking his own life. this showed me very early on that money, and a high stress job, isnt everything and isnt worth it. like others have said, i would much rather live a simple and happy life, than one where externally i look all rich and powerfull, however internally am miserable.
if your interested, google jason brown. used to be a very highly payed nfl player in america, now is a potato farmer (by choice). money isnt everything.
Getting married did the job more than any book or movie ever did it could do in re evaluating how I live my life, whatever is left of it
Care to elaborate? Changed for better or worse etc? What would you have done differently?
Not get married I suppose >_<
I lolled, I initially thought you were part of the real men get married brigade.
Hope life is more peaceful now friend.
Oldies are Kung Fu tv series from 1970's, with David Carradine.
And the original Star Trek series.Suggest you read right thru history, a little of each era, and a lot of philosophy. Kant, Nietzsche, Chinese and Indian etc.
You will find/see/enrich yourself I expect through this exercise. Cheers.Your Money or Your Life, Joe Dominguez.
Mr Money Moustache blogs.
The barefoot investor's guide.Whilst I haven't taken everything fully on board I have taken enough from these to set myself on a better path.
i read the barefoot investor, it seems to be aimed at the (no offence) working class man who has absolutely no financial knowledge. this is fine is you fall into that category, however if your after more advanced knowledge, save your money. the barefoot investor in a nutshell is: put some money aside each month, make a budget, get rid of your credit card, pay off your debts.
I agree it is straight forward if you already get it but there are many people out there who dont. There are many people out there who are trying to budget and track everything and failing to get anywhere so I agree with his simplified technique, it will be easier to adhere to.
Myself, I had already turned myself around by the time I got to reading his book, it was actually thru this forum many years ago when YNAB4 was on steam sale for $15.
When I think about it, I probably gleaned more inspiration from those blogs and forums posts and their links to Mr Money Moustache than any of the books.
The books do help to reinforce and generally they may have one or two ideas that resonated with me.
I would recommend two books if you love business readings. Both are Indian books but popular globally:
1) Business Maharajas (topic: general business)
https://www.google.com/search?q=business+maharajas
2) We are like that only (topic: consumer marketing)
https://www.google.com/search?q=because+we+are+like+that+onl…
Both books talk about Indian global businesses/scenarios but they are equally applicable to any other place.
this is on Audible (not sure where else) ….
https://markmanson.net/not-giving-a-(profanity)
The Truman Show really had me thinking about the world around me for awhile.
The first rule of Fight Club is: You do not talk about Fight Club.
The second rule of Fight Club is: You do not talk about Fight Club!I am Jack's wasted life.
Get busy living or get busy dying. Shawshank Redemption is a life changer for me.
starwars…. woke the jedi religion in me.
What is the cheapest way to buy a book these days? Is it still via Booktopia?
Tried Amazon but shipping kills it! Have not bought a book for a while. Can anyone point me to the right direction?
Not a big fan of e-book unfortunately.
Booko.com.au
I find book depository to be generally cheapest.
how to train your potato
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace.
It's fiction and a tough read but kind of a book to read when having an existential crisis. It's a bit dark but I read it while grieving and it helped a lot.Daytripper by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba. Fiction, graphic novel. Story about life and legacy.
Maybe not what you're after but I couldn't recommend them enough.
lol, Breaking Bad.
Try joining in local activities or volunteer somewhere. You can meet new people and also maybe learn new skills. Being of service to others can be extremely fulfilling, you learn about yourself and from others and who knows where it might lead whilst you are finding yourself. Good luck!
After finishing 1984 I was quite depressed for a while. Mood was very low for a few weeks.
I thought of it as political hyperbole as I read it but it still felt incredibly heavy to finish.
Not much else affected me similarly. Funnily, it is cited more than the bible lately. Getting obsessed with its narrative is silly but powerful bait for doubt and fear.Going off the vagueness of the original question- The younger me cherished Narnia. If I was a religious man then the final book would've made dealing with death much easier. It was beautiful to me as a child.
My personal favourite is Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. A dystopian novel which pictures a totalitarian future quite well. If you have an interest in social science/politics give this one a go!
OK, maybe not what you'd expect and more of a realist perspective rather than a spiritual journey but here goes:
Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell. basically most things Malcolm Gladwell writes are worth reading. He has a knack for making complex things easy to understand. I loved this book because it took many of the things that we consider to be 'gifts' or divine talents that people have or display and which many people use as a justification to excuse their own failures (im not as good as him/her, they were born with a 'gift') and showed how most of the time people dont have a 'gift' at all, there is something else at play. I love how he showed that being born from Jan - March is the best way to become an elite athlete. No gift of sporting prowess bestowed, just the way that junior sport all over the world is organised and setup! Also loved his other books 'Blink' and 'What the Dog Saw'. He uses short stories and interesting anecdotes to bring out great lessons.
Freakonomics - Dubner and Levitt. Unbelievably a very entertaining book by a couple of economists. once again they cut through the BS we are all fed to show how market forces are at play in most things we have going on in life. i love how they showed that the drug/pimp trade in some US cities was a pure economic model. Sounds dry but it is anything but, very funny in parts and a great read, both books. it is written as a series of short stories.
How Chance and Stupidity have changed History - Erik Durschmied. Once again great stories used to illustrate powerful lessons. He points out many things that have been recorded as glorious battles or brave events when in fact sometimes in reality some idiot got drunk and left the backdoor to the castle unlocked etc. Taught me to question things and not always accept something just because it was the popular sentiment to believe it.
Malcolm X Autobiography
1984 George Orwell
I am currently taking part in this.
It is informative, educational and challenging some of my long held beliefs.
Don't bother looking if you don't have a high IQ.
http://themeaningoflife.tv/
The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*** by Mark Manson.