Podcast script 3: 7 books I wish I had read sooner. what did I learn?

Hello, if you're listening to this, it means 2 things- one, you're a reader and you're looking for book recs to add to your list, two, you want to start reading and you're wondering where to start. Either way, I promise you this episode is worth your time. I have listed 7 books that I wish I had read sooner, because they are so amazing! There is both fiction and non fiction in the list and some books are famous and the others not so famous, but equally mind blowing. I also talk about how I applied the lessons I learned from these books in my life. Before getting into the list of books, I will tell you my reading story. Stay tuned till the end because at the end of the episode, I give you tips to become a reader, even if you hate reading! Okay, here is my story. in childhood I was an introvert, book nerd, boring kid. I didn't like playing, seriously PET periods were hell for me, especially when the teacher was forcing to go and play. I liked sitting alone in my room, with no disturbance and just stay there. There were no smart phones to scroll through, so what else to do in room? Yeah reading was the only option! (Although there was TV, my grandma used to occupy that!) . So I just read read and read. I read only kannada books. I used to read only entertainment, not to learn anything, maybe sometimes some self help books for motivation. I used to get lost in adventurous stories, nature stories, love stories, thriller novles and what not. whenever there was a book stall, I loved going there, shuffle through books, read the first page of many books and then finally buying. Those books are one of my most priced possessions! But as I went on to college, then to my graduation, post graduation, without realising I stopped reading. I dont know why, maybe because I got a smart phone, orkut, facebook, or maybe because I got lost in academics , I dont know. Even I dont remember reading any article or blogs online even after getting a laptop. Then I went to do my phd, there I got really busy and really caught up some bad habits like self criticising, overthinking and what not. I didnt even remember about reading. Even if sometimes I thought about reading, I was confused what to read, where to get the books which I like.

And one day suddenly I came across this app called storytel (this is not a sponsored episode, I wish some day they will come to me for sposoring ). So, I just wanted to try it out and the first book I listened to, was 'the happiness project'. After listening to it, I suddenly remembered how happy and accomplished i used to feel after readin a book and how much im missing it. Then I discovered good reads, good reads is a platform where we can find book reviews, you can also meet other readers, authors. So this solved the problem of 'what to read' . There are thousands of books you can choose according to your taste. Hence, started my 2nd journey of reading. Okay without further adue, here are 7 books that I wish i had read sooner.

1. The art of saying NO- In my PhD days, there was no boundary on what people would expect. Bosses didn't have boundaries, almost everyone was overworking and there was no concpet sayong NO. One of my colleagues used to expect me to work at night till 11-12 AM. I take my sleep very seriously and I follow a sleep routine very religiously. So, whenever that colleague told me 'we need to work on this till late night today', it used to disrupt my whole routine for days. But I couldnt say NO. Even when sometimes I managed to say NO, I used to feel terrible guilt. So, even when I was not working in the night, I couldnt sleep peacefully!

Reading this book, 'the art of saying NO' changed this attitude of mine. The author in this book, gives a lot of tips on how to say NO politely but unapollogetically, how not to feel guilty about it, and WHY you NEED to say No to certain things. After reading this book, it became a little easier for me to say NO. I stopped feeling guilty about saying NO because I knew that I'm making time for more important thinhgs and that's okay. You know earler when I said NO the other person could feel my guilt and they used to encash on that, they used to push me a little and evetually get aYEs from me. But now I say no politely but firmly. Because I dont feel guilty, the other person cannot play games with me. If you are someone who struggles to say NO, pick up this book right now!

2. Feeling good the new mood therapy- I have gone through severe anxiety and depression and all the time I felt my situations are responsible for what I was feeling. Be it my boss, the hostel food, friends I always blamed others. But after going to many therapists, learning techniques I realized it's my own thoughts that's troubling me.

This book also tell the same thing- whatever you're feeling, those feelings are originated from your thoughts. It's all in your head. Just by chnaging how you think, you can change the way you feel. That is the simple message this book gives. Okay, but how DO I change those thoughts? There is a profound therapy called CBT. This book talks in detail about CBT, and very simple journaling techniques you can use in your daily life to feel better and for a good mood. I have been implementing the lessons from this book till today and it works every single time, trust me! It's really hard to explain those techniques in this episode, so I would love you to read this book for yourself.

3. Big magic- Most of my life, I have been in academia but it's true that I have thought about doing something creative once in a while. Many times, thoughts like 'im not creative' ;people will laugh at me if they read what I've written' 'why should I be creative if its not going pay me any moeny' these thoughts have stopped me from doing something I liked. But after reading this book, my attitude changed.

Big magic is a book written mainly for writers and the people who want to pusrsue something creative. There is a brilliant idea the author shares in the book about how to get creative ideas, how to save them, how wonderful it feels when an nspiration hits you and you work on it. The author urges all of us to write or paint or do music irrespective of what the world says. She says, Don't write to change someones' life, but write for yourself, get lost in the flow and enjoy any creative process. That's what I have been doing after reading this book. When I feel demotivated no one is reading my articles, no one is listening to pidcast, I remind myslef, I'm doing this for myself. I'm just letting my creative juices flow. So, this is a book you must read especially if you want to do creative stuff.

4. Stolen focus- What is the longest period of time you can focus? How long it will be before you pick up your phone to just look at it, in the middle of some work or while reading a book? Researches have shown focus and attention has reduced from 11 seconds to 8.5 seconds in 15 years. And this is becasue of a lot of reasons.

Stolen focus by Johann Hari Talks about what is the reason we as a society are losing our power to focus and how can we restore it and think deeply again. I have started reading the book and it's got me hooked to it. Already I'm trying to stay away from screens, slowing down a bit and implementing other lessons from the book. Whether you're a student or a business owner or a working professional, You NEED to read this book because focusing for a longer time is the best hack of productivity. Now we move on to 3 fiction books.

5. Life is what you make it- This is a story of a girl who seemed pretty normal and suddenly after 6 months, gets admitted to a mental hospital. Why does she end up there? How does she make her way up from there is a very inspiring story. When I was struggling with anxiety and a borderline depression, this book gave me strength, it gave me hope. Wherver you are in your life, this book is worth your time.

6. The girl with seven names- Have you ever felt there is nothing to be grateful in your life? Everyting is going wrong and you cant see any light around the darkness? I felt like that sometimes. You know my boss is an idiot, my coworkers are shitty, family is not understanding what you're going through, stuck in traffic, client is giving a hard time, there is so much work to do oh the list never ends. But after reading this book, I felt what a privilege it is, to live in a peaceful country, peaceful city and not to struggle for just staying alive!

A girl from north Korea wants to escape from her country because it's so difficult to live in her country but it's more difficult to easpe from there. She lives in China constantly changing her name and identity, in a constant fear of dying or being tortured. Can we ever imagine such a life? Her whole family goes through SO MUCH, I was angry at the universe for making that happen. I was frustrated like 'enough already! How much should they suffer?!' From that day, I promised myself I will complain less about my life and always try to be grateful for the little things. You need to read this book if you want to understand how priviledges you are, we all are actually.

7. Harry Potter- Hello Potter heads, you will laugh at me if I say I read the harry potter book series when I was 28 years old. Yeah this is a children book but it has a lot of life lessons of love, friendship, strnegth. More than that, it makes you get lost in the world of fantasy and adventure. Trust me this book is no less than a netflix show. I seriously dont know didnt i read it sonner! So, if you havnt read it yet, pleas pls pls go pick it up now.

Okay that was about 7 books I wish I had read sooner. Now its time for tips for becoming a reader-

Pick what you like. Doesnt matter if its a childrens book, or a thriller, or a cheesy love story doesnt matter. Just start with whatever you like.

You will have to keep your phone away. As I said earlier, phones and screens and sm they all distractyous and they reduce your attention. So keep your phone away during breaks, instead take a book and just read 1 page, thats enough.

Fix a reading routine. If youre someone who wakes up and rushes to work, read at night. If youre tired at night and cant focus, read in the morning. Or evening. There's no rule you must read at this time of the day. Make your own reading routine.

If you want any help regarding reading or if you like to have a chat about reading, you know where to find me, just drop me a DM on my instagra,. Okay see you in the next episode.