My Top 2022 Reads
I had a commitment for 2022 to read more - actual books, ones you can hold in your hands! Personally, I love book recommendations so I thought I would share my top 2022 reads, which I'll bring up during our newly formed bookclub at Paysend!
The Power of Now - we were surrounded by uncertainty in 2022 and every minute we spent worrying about the future or regretting the past was a minute lost, because all we really have to live in is the present. Published 20 years ago Tolle shares actionable strategies that apply, even today, to start living every minute as it occurs.
Four Thousand Weeks - not an easy concept to accept, but it's just a fact of life. Time on earth is brief - we have only around four thousand weeks each. The book helped me learn how to use my (our) limited time wisely and I definitely stopped cramming too much into my life. I realised I will only get more anxious when I can’t do everything and I now have much better boundaries on deciding what not to do.
I May Be Wrong - something my mother wouldn't comprehend, but she doesn't need to change at her age! Björn's book got me into mindfulness meditation and I couldn't be more grateful. I don't think one can ever master all their feelings or emotions, but I feel I made improvements on letting go of the small stuff (my 14 year old daughter beating me in Chess), accepting the things you cannot control (Germany not winning the World Cup anymore), finding stillness at busy times and most importantly facing yourself - and others - without judgment - that's a tough one.
The Rise of Superman - can't remember how I stumbled across Steve's book, but I do have a soft spot for superheroes or anything to do with human performance. I wish I'd read his book during my early Tennis years as it gives useful guidance and examines how top athletes enter and stay in a state of flow, to achieve their greatest feats. Flow is a state in which we are one with our surroundings, completely in the zone, do a great job and are 100% focused on our work. The book takes it apart and looks at how we can all achieve it more often.
Helgoland - not Legoland in Windsor, which we still need to visit! This book was a personal recommendation so I do endeavour to fully comprehend it, which is proving challenging.
Emotional - any book with a smashed Tennis racquet on its cover had to be bought and I've no regrets. “We can’t make decisions, or even think, without being influenced by our emotions,” writes Mlodinow. The book's main focus is to convince the reader that we don't need to necessarily master our emotions and think rationally to succeed, because cutting-edge science now shows that feelings are every bit as important to our success as thinking.
I didn't find all my hard copies (I must have passed some to others) so there's a bonus recommendation - The Uninhabitable Earth, by David Wallace Wells. It explains how humanity's complacency and negligence have put this world on a course to soon be unlivable.
