The 7 books I read over and over again (4 from Japan)

-

Today I want to share 7 books that I read over and over again, and it keeps helping me go through my struggles in life!

I also thought I try not to introduce the same books as everyone else on the internet, so I chose 4 that are from Japan that can be read in English!

Image from Unsplash


1.  Courage to be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi

I love talking to people from all around through my travels, and when I hear about their struggles, this book comes to mind.

It certainly has helped my struggles, and I read it over again occasionally, which gives me new learning, and sometimes more clarity.

To the givers that constantly get your time and energy away from takers, or people that have all the money in the world but still are somehow unhappy, or those who are confused with life and don't really know why I think this book has great hints.

2. One Piece by Soichiro Oda

One Piece is a manga about a pirate group on the search for "One Piece" or the treasure that a legendary king of the Pirates Gol D. Rogers left before his death. 

One piece is so interesting how it's loved by all genders and age groups in Japan.

The captain of the pirate ship and the main character, Luffy has a dream to find One Piece, and he is somewhat self-centered in that sense. But people around him are drawn to him being very imperfect and human, and how he can continue to win over big competitors that also fight for the only treasure.

Luffy has a very obvious reason he is not perfect, and he can't swim when he is a pirate. So he needs the help of others to make sure he reaches One Piece.

Leaders can especially learn how to build relationships with others. But not just leaders. We should focus on what we are good at, and ask for help on what we are not.

3. Happy Money by Ken Honda

I viewed money wrongly for a long time before reading a few of Ken Honda's books and making mistakes in life which finally taught me what the author is trying to share with the readers.

It's very strange that financial literacy is not taught in our education systems, while it's very important. Although I have more books from Ken that I love, the only one in English is this one. 

I listen to Ken's podcast in Japanese, and he is trying to put more time into catering to the international crowd. 

While we wait for his other books to be written in non-Japanese languages, this book is a really good starter to learn about how you should view money.

4. Bushido by Inazo Nitobe

Bushido 武士道 means the way of a warrior. I've grown up both in Japan and the U.S. and frequently feel that the way Japanese think and act is strangely different from those from other countries.

Samurai warriors are extinct but I feel that the spirit and teachings are still integrated into Japanese living, without even a Japanese realizing it. 

Reading the book, there were so many moments when I thought, "Oh that's why we are taught to do so." 

Our lives are not really about being rich and improving the quality of our lives, but more about how to improve our inner selves. 

Before comparing ourselves with others was nonsense, and it was to focus on your own growth. Our education system changed, and it is more about competition.

Although I do think that some aspects are intense and stressful to follow in the modern world, it might help you if you know how the Japanese built their form of life from its long history.

I'm very American than I'm Japanese, but learning Bushido is helping me a lot.

5. A technique for producing ideas by James Webb Young 

This book answers a good reason why I don't settle for living in one place but choose to be a digital nomad.

According to this book ideas are a combination of one component and another that already exists.

When I eat local food, talk to the locals, walk around the streets and see different buildings, cafes, restaurants, bars... Things are slightly different from country to country.

When I was a writer, I was always in a mental loop of "I need to come up with something new and interesting." But I was in so much ease when I read the book that I can combine two things to make it into something new.

The book told me to embrace that and helps me to be creative, and what my next step will be in life.

6. Who moved my cheese? Spencer Johnson M.D.

This is another short book that is somewhat related to Bushido.

The mouse found a chunk of cheese, but the cheese will of course go scarce. While some mice decide to semi-retire to find any more cheese, the others will look for the next cheese.

This book helps me to take the "cheese" or the good things in life as a treat. I reach a goal, then I move on to the next. 

The book helped me to learn that reaching goals, and the process is so enjoyable. And in order to enjoy the never-ending journey, I also need to know what my "cheese" is.

7. If you were to choose just 1 book to read. Atomic Habits by James Clear

Although the books mentioned above all helped me build great knowledge, I had trouble actually moving onto consistent action.

Atomic Habits helped me to actually structure how to break down my goals to "what should I do today?" and stick to the routine that will get me to where I want to be.

James Clear's free weekly newsletter is one of the only ones that I subscribe to, and I'm so thankful that I get so much energy from a short read.


What was inspirational to you?

I would love to hear how you think about any of these books mentioned or your personal recommendations!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why I will continue to invest in gold

-
Image
   My favorite investment is gold. But my best reason might be different from the answer you get from Google. During the pandemic, my financial situation wasn’t very good and I needed money to pay my workers. I was selling my belongings, which were sold for a fraction of the money I bought them.  It helped very little. Looking back it was a good experience learning that my belongings I thought were a lot less valuable than I thought it was. But the only one that were priced more than when I bought it, was gold. Gold on an emergency In Japan we have a saying, "有事の金" which can be translated to “gold during an emergency.” I remember gold coming down like every other investments during the pandemic, but then there was a timing when gold surged.  So like I said earlier, many things I thought were valuable lost its value during an economic slowdown.  But one good reason you need to sell your valuables is in a financial emergency. Gold was the only thing that increased...
Read more

How my view towards failing changed

-
Image
  My first business didn't work out well. It did take me a while for me to recover mentally and financially. But 3 years in and I look back that it's not a big deal to make mistakes. It actually helps you to reflect on it, and gives you hints on how you could improve. Without failing it's difficult to improve and become better. It's about how you view and act towards failure that is crucial.  The more mistakes you make earlier in life the better Before starting the business, I always seemed to have the pressure that I had to succeed. Or to be right and correct all the time. But actually it's the opposite. I need to make a lot of mistakes, and learn to get back up as fast as possible for the next challenge. I realized this when my mother kept repeating that "I failed my business" every time we talked on the phone. My mom sounded like it was the end of the world while I was beginning to think it might be the start of something new. Well, when you lose a lot ...
Read more

The one habit you need to get out of debt

-
Image
Deciding I need to cut my losses and close my company was the worst day of my life. I lost a lot of things I thought were valuable, and in return I had debt to pay off.  But after 3 years, it's no joke that it was one of the best experiences of my life. The reason is that I was able to gain a good habit to stay out of debt for the rest of my life. And if it weren't for the failure of my first business, I probably won't have the habit of keeping a surplus every month. Today I want to share my story about how I picked up the habit of staying on surplus every month. What I learned in the live-in construction job I needed to figure out how to get cash to pay off the debt, but at the time was during the pandemic so jobs had limitations. When I was searching online, I found a job opening for a live-in construction job. Pay is daily　which was what I needed so I picked up the phone and applied. Despite what I imagined the president of the company had a generous voice and told me th...
Read more