15 Perspective-Shifting Books That’ll Inspire Growth and Transform Every Area of Your Life

When is the last time a book fundamentally changed the way you think about the world? The way you think about yourself?

If you’re struggling to think of a book, maybe it’s time to explore some options that can provide a perspective shift. Don’t get me wrong, I love a Sophie Kinsella, a fantasy novel, or a biography as much as the next person, but I always try and keep a perspective-shifting book on my side table to make me think, help me grow and expand my mind. I usually try to read it first thing in the morning to feel like I’ve gained a little bit of perspective before I even get out of bed and some books have shifted my life in immeasurable ways that have lasted long after I’ve savored the last page.

There are a few important elements I’ve found to ensuring a profound perspective shift when reading these books:

1. Only Have One Teacher at a Time: Really delve into just one author and one book - if you’re shifting around to too many, the messages will get misconstrued or won’t resonate as deeply. It’s also possible you’ll get overwhelmed and stop entirely.

2. Read It Slowly: When we get to the point of wanting a perspective shift, typically we want it now. This can lead to an urgency in absorbing a book as quickly as possible but this can often lead to missing key messages in the book and not giving your mind time to reflect on the concepts you’re reading consciously and subconsciously. Take it slow, maybe a chapter a day for the best impact.

3. Share the Wealth: When you read a great book, share it! Whether you want to assign one for your book club, connect with people online, or post it on your Instagram, reading these perspective-shifting books is always more meaningful when you have someone to reflect on it with and continue the conversation.

With these in mind, I encourage you to pick up (or listen to) one of the books below if you’re looking for a perspective-shift as they have truly transformed my life and I hope they do the same for you. Please share in the comments any books that you think I should add to the list!

Becoming

by Michelle Obama

This isn’t probably what you would think would be on a perspective-shifting list but I could not put this book down and felt that it changed me in fundamental ways. Michelle Obama has this way in which she sees the world and stands in the full power of who she is that is inspiring and enviable and encouraged me to begin to pursue who I am. She has a way of connecting with people and understanding them that I think we can all learn from and be better for it.

The Power of Now

by Eckhart Tolle

This is the perspective-shifting book that started my perspective-shifting reading journey. Eckhart Tolle dives into the power of presence, the awareness of ego, and the need for human connection in this book that shook me to my core and helped me discover myself in new and profound ways.

THE MORE BEAUTIFUL WORLD OUR HEARTS KNOW IS POSSIBLE 

BY CHARLES EISENSTEIN

This is a book that demands you go slow and has really shifted how I see the world. Eisenstein makes a delineation between the world we live in now and all of its injustices and the potential world waiting for us if only we cultivate the more beautiful world we know is possible. He dismantles the very fabric of our systems and our thoughts, challenges our preconceived notions, and unravels our biases. It’s fantastic and dense and perspective-shifting to a new level.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck

by Mark Manson

Yes, this is the book that everyone recommends, but for good reason. So many of us love to people please and I am probably the queen of the people pleasing village (unless you want to be the queen, in which case, I’m so sorry! Go ahead! Please like me!). Manson throws out all the rules of our people pleasing culture and replaces them with suggestions that restore sanity, balance, and calm. It’s a short book (I read the whole thing on a flight from Dublin to NY) well worth the time it takes to read.

In the flo

BY ALISA VITTI

It is truly astounding to me that we don’t learn about our cycle or cycle syncing in school. Hormone health expert, Alisa Vitti, gives us the education through this book which shows how women can sync everything from their workdays to their workouts to their nutrition with the part of their cycle they’re in to optimize their health and wellbeing. This book made me so much more aware of tracking my cycle and I’ve made enormous changes in my workouts, in what I eat and how I function each week of the month. I’m so grateful for this book and recommend it as essential reading for every woman who has a cycle.

You Are The Placebo

by Joe Dispenza

Joe Dispenza is the guy you’ve probably heard of that constantly talks about the power of positive thinking. I was skeptical when I first started reading, but couldn’t have found the book more beneficial. Dispenza talks about the power of the mind to shape not only who we are and how we go through the world but how the world responds to us too.

STATE CHANGE

BY ROBIN BERZIN

What if we could support our mental health by focusing on our body instead of our mind? What if we could mitigate burnout and protect against stress through nutrition? Founder of Parsley Health, Robin Berzin, MD makes some incredibly compelling points on how our body can drive everything from our moods to our energy levels with suggestions to implement a plan for yourself. As a longterm member of Parsley Health, I loved Robin’s perspective and she gave me some great suggestions to speak with my doctor about.

No More Dirty Looks

by Alexandra Spunt and Siobhan O’Connor

This book kicked off my clean beauty journey and my search for non-toxic household products. As someone who has had autoimmune issues for a long time, No More Dirty Looks taught me about the impact of the products I was using on my nervous system. The book explains the lack of rules and regulations in the industry, the impact of current products on our body, our home, and our environment, and provides tangible and bite-sized solutions to make meaningful changes.

The Mind Gut Connection

by Emeran Mayer

Do you know that 90% of your serotonin, your body’s happy hormone, exists in your stomach? Neither did I until I read Mayer’s book. Mayer’s Mind Gut Connection provides and examination and illumination of the inextricable link between the mind and the gut (often called the second brain) and how the two influence each other. This book inspired me to make changes in my mental health care and my diet for a better mind-gut connection.

Quench

by Dana Cohen and Gina Bria

How important is water? Pretty damn important says Cohen and Bria. These two provide an analysis on our chronically dehydrated population, how our day-to-day activities add to our dehydration and what you can do to increase your hydration and ultimately live a healthier and happier life. I’ve made major changes since reading this book in my home and my diet that have significantly helped my well-being.

The Untethered Soul

by Michael Alan Singer

We are often so scared to examine who we are and our inner worlds - fearful of what we’ll find and need to work through. The Untethered Soul helps us to make that journey into self and provides mindfulness based tips and tools to be able to do this exploration in a way that makes us better. So grateful for my sisters who gifted me with this book for my birthday a few years ago.

1001 Ways to Slow Down

by Barbara Ann Kipfer

This is a tiny book with a big impact. At first glance it looks like a coffee table book or maybe something you’d discard from a White Elephant party. But, if you look a little closer, what you’ll discover is a myriad of ways to cultivate slow living and ultimately to improve the way you go through your day. I try to read a page of this a day with suggestions for slow cooking activities, dancing barefoot in the grass, or taking 8 deep breaths before transitioning into a new activity, these little nuggets of wisdom are absolute gold.

THE GOSPEL OF WELLNESS

BY RINA RAPHAEL

As a lover of all things wellness, this book was extremely challenging but extremely enlightening for me. Rina breaks down the cult of wellness, questioning who these wellness trends are really for, how the wellness industry covers up systemic societal issues through the promise of health and happiness and deinfluences many trends through shocking statistics and history. It’s a really important read for anyone who has ever been influenced by the wellness industry which provides an important perspective we should all keep in mind whenever thinking about how to obtain true wellness.

The Soul of Money

by LYNNE TWIST

This is my most recent read and one I would say is essential for evaluating your relationship with money. I came across it because I was doing a lot of deep work and thinking around what wealth truly means, what is enough and how to align the way I spend with my values. Lynne Twist, who spent years as a fundraiser for The Hunger Project and has met the poorest of the poor and the richest of the rich discusses how to live a rich life regardless of your wealth and how to energize the money you spend with a purpose. It’s made me really rethink my spending habits with so much wisdom and so many resources for continuing the learning journey.

Braiding Sweetgrass

by Robin Wall Kimmerer

If you’re feeling disconnected from nature, this book will give you all the wisdom you need to reconnect. Robin is a trained botanist and also a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation - she combines indigenous wisdom and science to explain in absolutely poetic prose the intuitive intelligence and beauty of plant life. From Milkweed Publishing: “Kimmerer shows how other living beings—asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass—offer us gifts and lessons, even if we’ve forgotten how to hear their voices.” This book was better than medicine for me this summer.

What are your favorite perspective shifting books? Drop them in the comments below!