Books and Influences

Leadership and Self-Deception

by The Arbinger Institute

This book introduced me to the concept of self-deception—the tendency to justify our own behavior while blaming others for the results. Often it begins with something small: a moment when we feel the impulse to help someone and then choose not to. To make that decision feel acceptable, we unconsciously start seeing the other person as difficult, lazy, or undeserving.

The book also introduced the idea of being “in the box,” which describes the moment we begin seeing another person as an obstacle or a problem instead of as a human being. What we genuinely feel toward people matters more than the tone we use or the words we choose. People can sense when our concern for them is real and when it isn’t, and that difference shapes the outcome of almost every interaction.

The Four Agreements

by Don Miguel Ruiz

This book presents a simple framework for living with greater personal freedom and integrity. Drawing on ideas from the Toltec tradition, Don Miguel Ruiz explains how many of our struggles come from unconscious agreements we’ve made with ourselves and with society about who we are and how we should behave. By becoming aware of those agreements, we gain the ability to question them and choose new ones that better reflect our true values.

The four principles themselves are straightforward but powerful: be impeccable with your word, don’t take anything personally, don’t make assumptions, and always do your best. Together they encourage honesty in communication, humility in relationships, curiosity instead of judgment, and compassion toward ourselves when we inevitably fall short. The simplicity of these ideas makes them easy to remember, but applying them consistently can transform the way we relate to both ourselves and the people around us.

The Comfort Crisis

by Michael Easter

This book explores the idea that many of the problems people experience in modern life stem from living in environments that are far more comfortable than those our bodies and minds evolved for. Michael Easter argues that humans are built to face challenges—physical effort, uncertainty, hunger, cold, and other forms of temporary discomfort—and that removing these experiences entirely can lead to anxiety, restlessness, and a lack of meaning.

The book also brought a lot of attention to rucking—walking with weight in a backpack—as a simple way to reintroduce challenge and movement into daily life. After reading it, my boss started rucking and encouraged others in his life to try it. That’s what got me started as well, and it quickly became one of my favorite ways to combine exercise, time outdoors, and reflection. It’s a simple practice that perfectly illustrates the book’s central idea: growth often begins when we voluntarily step outside our comfort zone.

Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art

by James Nestor

This book explores the surprising role that breathing plays in our health, energy, and overall well-being. Drawing on scientific research as well as ancient breathing traditions, James Nestor explains how modern habits—such as chronic mouth breathing and shallow respiration—can negatively affect sleep, anxiety, posture, and physical performance. The book shows that something as simple and automatic as breathing has a far greater impact on the body than most people realize.

For me, this book helped connect the breathing practices I had already begun exploring with a deeper scientific understanding of why they work. It also introduced me to the Tibetan Rites, a simple series of movements sometimes described as a form of moving meditation. Practicing them became the starting point for my own yoga journey and opened the door to a deeper interest in breath, movement, and embodiment.

The Wim Hof Method

by Wim Hof

This book explores the connection between breathing, cold exposure, and the body’s ability to regulate stress and inflammation. Wim Hof describes how controlled breathing techniques, combined with deliberate exposure to cold, can help people influence parts of their physiology that were long believed to be outside conscious control. The ideas are supported by both personal experimentation and a growing body of scientific research into the nervous and immune systems.

For me, this book reinforced the idea that the body and mind are far more adaptable than we often assume. Practices like breathwork and cold exposure became simple ways to train resilience and awareness in everyday life. Like rucking in The Comfort Crisis, it’s another reminder that deliberately stepping into controlled discomfort can strengthen both the body and the mind.

The Wisdom of Your Cells

by Bruce H. Lipton

This book explores the relationship between our beliefs, perceptions, and the biology of our bodies. Drawing from his background in cellular biology, Bruce Lipton argues that the environment a cell experiences—including the signals it receives from the mind and nervous system—can influence how genes are expressed. The idea challenges the common assumption that our biology is entirely predetermined and instead suggests that our thoughts, beliefs, and experiences play a meaningful role in shaping our physical health and well-being.

For me, this book was one of the first that helped bridge the gap between science and the more intuitive or spiritual ideas I had been exploring. It suggested that the mind and body are not separate systems but deeply interconnected parts of a larger whole. That perspective opened the door for me to consider how changing the way we think, perceive, and relate to our experiences might influence not only our psychology but our biology as well.

The Myth of Normal

by Gabor Maté

In this book, Gabor Maté explores how many of the emotional and physical struggles people experience are not simply personal failures but understandable responses to the environments and experiences that shape us. He argues that what our culture often considers “normal” can actually be deeply unhealthy, and that trauma, stress, and emotional disconnection can quietly influence our behavior, relationships, and even our physical health.

For me, this book deepened my understanding of how important it is to acknowledge our inner emotional landscape. It reinforced the idea that healing and personal growth often begin with recognizing the patterns we’ve developed in response to life’s challenges. By bringing awareness and compassion to those patterns, we create the possibility of responding to our experiences more consciously instead of simply reacting to them.

Loving What Is

by Byron Katie

In this book, Byron Katie introduces a simple method of self-inquiry she calls “The Work.” The process involves examining the thoughts and beliefs that cause us stress and asking a series of questions that help reveal whether those thoughts are actually true. The practice encourages people to look directly at the stories they tell themselves about their lives, their relationships, and their circumstances.

For me, this book reinforced the powerful idea that much of our suffering comes from unquestioned thoughts rather than from reality itself. Learning to pause and examine those thoughts creates space for a different perspective and often a greater sense of peace. It echoes a theme that appears in many of the other influences on this list: we don’t always have to believe everything our minds tell us.

How to Change Your Mind

by Michael Pollan

In this book, Michael Pollan explores the history, science, and cultural impact of psychedelic substances. Through a combination of journalism, scientific research, and personal exploration, he describes how compounds like psilocybin and LSD have been studied for their potential to help people confront depression, addiction, anxiety, and other deeply rooted patterns of thought. Pollan presents the topic with curiosity and caution, grounding the conversation in both neuroscience and psychology.

For me, this book helped reframe the role psychedelics could play in personal growth. Instead of seeing them as recreational experiences or curiosities, Pollan’s work suggested that they could be approached more intentionally—as tools for self-exploration and transformation when used thoughtfully and with respect. That perspective helped shape how I later approached my own experiences and the insights that followed.

More Recommended Reading & Listening

The books featured above are some of the works that had the greatest influence on A Book About Being. The list below goes much further—a collection of books and audio programs that have influenced my thinking, challenged my assumptions, or helped shape the way I approach life.

I don’t necessarily agree with every idea in every title, but each of these gave me something worth thinking about, learning from, or exploring further.

Format Key
P — Print
E — Ebook / Kindle
A — Audiobook / audio program

Personal Growth & Psychology

Adam Grant — Hidden Potential — P / E / A
Adam Grant — Think Again — P / E / A

Albert Ellis & Raymond Chip Tafrate — How to Control Your Anger Before It Controls You — P / E / A

Alison Wood Brooks — Talk — P / E / A

Angela Duckworth — Grit — P / E / A

Anna Lembke — Dopamine Nation — P / E / A

Bessel van der Kolk — The Body Keeps the Score — P / E / A

BJ Fogg — Tiny Habits — P / E / A

Bob Bowman — The Golden Rules — P / E / A

Bob Burg & John David Mann — The Go-Giver — P / E / A

Brené Brown — Atlas of the Heart — P / E / A

Brené Brown — Braving the Wilderness — P / E / A

Brian Johnson — Arete: Activate Your Heroic Potential — P / E / A

Cal Newport — Deep Work — P / E / A

Charles Duhigg — The Power of Habit — P / E / A
Charles Duhigg — Supercommunicators — P / E / A

Dale Carnegie — How to Win Friends & Influence People — P / E / A

Dan Harris & Jeff Warren — Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics — P / E / A

David Goggins — Can’t Hurt Me — P / E / A

Derren Brown — Happy — P / E / A

Eckhart Tolle — Breaking the Habit of Negative Thinking and Self-Talk — P / E / A

Faith G. Harper — Unfck Your Anger* — P / E / A
Faith G. Harper — Unfck Your Brain* — P / E / A

Gabor Maté — In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts — P / E / A
Gabor Maté — When the Body Says No — P / E / A

James Clear — Atomic Habits — P / E / A

Jason M. Satterfield — Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Techniques for Retraining Your Brain — P / E / A

Jay Shetty — Think Like a Monk — P / E / A

Jenn Granneman & Andre Sólo — Too Sensitive — P / E / A

John Delony — Building a Non-Anxious Life — P / E / A

Jonathan Haidt — The Anxious Generation — P / E / A
Jonathan Haidt — The Happiness Hypothesis — P / E / A
Jonathan Haidt & Catherine Price — The Amazing Generation — P / E / A

Jordan B. Peterson — 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos — P / E / A
Jordan B. Peterson — Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life — P / E / A

Kamal Ravikant — Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends on It — P / E / A

Leidy Klotz — Subtract — P / E / A

Lori Gottlieb — Maybe You Should Talk to Someone — P / E / A

Malcolm Gladwell — Blink — P / E / A
Malcolm Gladwell — Outliers — P / E / A
Malcolm Gladwell — Revenge of the Tipping Point — P / E / A
Malcolm Gladwell — Talking to Strangers — P / E / A

Marc Brackett — Permission to Feel — P / E / A

Mark Divine — Unbeatable Mind — P / E / A

Mark Manson — The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fck* — P / E / A

Martin Seligman — Flourish — P / E / A

Matthew McConaughey — Greenlights — P / E / A

Mel Robbins — The Let Them Theory — P / E / A

Michael Easter — Embrace Discomfort — P / E / A
Michael Easter — Scarcity Brain — P / E / A

Norman Doidge — The Brain That Changes Itself — P / E / A

Phil Stutz — Lessons for Living — P / E / A
Phil Stutz & Barry Michels — The Tools — P / E / A

Richard C. Schwartz — Greater Than the Sum of Our Parts — P / E / A

Rick Rubin — The Creative Act — P / E / A

Robert Greene — The Laws of Human Nature — P / E / A

Robert Waldinger & Marc Schulz — The Good Life — P / E / A

Robin Sharma — The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari — P / E / A

Ryan Holiday — Courage Is Calling — P / E / A
Ryan Holiday — Discipline Is Destiny — P / E / A
Ryan Holiday — Right Thing, Right Now — P / E / A
Ryan Holiday — Wisdom Takes Work — P / E / A

Sahil Bloom — The 5 Types of Wealth — P / E / A

Scott Barry Kaufman — Transcend — P / E / A

Shane Parrish — Clear Thinking — P / E / A

Shankar Vedantam — The Hidden Brain — P / E / A

Simon Sinek — Start with Why — P / E / A

Stephen R. Covey — The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People — P / E / A

Steven Pinker — Rationality — P / E / A
Steven Pinker — When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows — P / E / A

Steven Pressfield — The War of Art — P / E / A
Steven Pressfield — Turning Pro — P / E / A

The Arbinger Institute — The Anatomy of Peace — P / E / A
The Arbinger Institute — The Outward Mindset — P / E / A

Todd Rose — Collective Illusions — P / E / A

Health, Fitness & Embodiment

Allen Carr — The Easy Way to Control Alcohol — P / E / A

Andrew Huberman — Protocols — P / E / A

B.K.S. Iyengar — Light on Yoga — P / E

Bill Bryson — The Body — P / E / A

Bruce H. Lipton — The Biology of Belief — P / E / A

Casey Means — Good Energy — P / E / A

David A. Sinclair & Matthew D. LaPlante — Lifespan — P / E / A

David Swenson — Ashtanga Yoga: The Practice Manual — P

Doug McGuff & John Little — Body by Science — P / E / A

Ed Yong — I Contain Multitudes — P / E / A

Florence Williams — The Nature Fix — P / E / A

Georgia Ede — Change Your Diet, Change Your Mind — P / E / A

Gwendolyn Bounds — Not Too Late — P / E / A

Heather Heying & Bret Weinstein — A Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century — P / E / A

Kelly Starrett — Deskbound — P / E / A
Kelly Starrett & Juliet Starrett — Built to Move — P / E / A

Kino MacGregor — The Power of Ashtanga Yoga — P / E

Mark Sloan — Red Light Therapy: Miracle Medicine — P / E / A

Matthew Walker — Why We Sleep — P / E / A

Merlin Sheldrake — Entangled Life — P / E / A

Michael Easter — Walk with Weight — P / E / A

Neil Shubin — Some Assembly Required — P / E / A

Paul Stamets — Mycelium Running — P / E / A

Peter Attia — Outlive — P / E / A

Philip Shepherd & Andrei Yakovenko — Deep Fitness — P / E / A

Richard Freeman — The Mirror of Yoga — P / E / A
Richard Freeman — The Yoga Matrix — P / E / A

Suzanne Simard — Finding the Mother Tree — P / E / A

Swami Satchidananda — Integral Yoga Hatha — P / E

William J. Broad — The Science of Yoga — P / E / A

Philosophy & Spirituality

Alan Watts — Just So — P / E / A
Alan Watts — Leave It Be — A
Alan Watts — Out of Your Mind — P / E / A
Alan Watts — The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are — P / E / A
Alan Watts — The Way of Zen — P / E / A
Alan Watts — The Wisdom of Insecurity — P / E / A
Alan Watts — You’re It — A

Anodea Judith — Eastern Body, Western Mind — P / E / A

Anonymous / Traditional — The Vedas: Rig, Yajur, Sama & Atharva — P / E

Anthony de Mello — Awareness — P / E / A

Bruce H. Lipton — The Spontaneous Evolution Experience — A

Carl Jung — Modern Man in Search of a Soul — P / E / A

Chris Niebauer — No Self, No Problem — P / E / A

Dan Carlin — The End Is Always Near — P / E / A

David R. Hawkins — Letting Go — P / E / A

Don Miguel Ruiz & Don Jose Ruiz — The Fifth Agreement — P / E / A

Eben Alexander — Proof of Heaven — P / E / A

Eckhart Tolle — The Power of Now — P / E / A

Eknath Easwaran — The Bhagavad Gita — P / E / A

Ervin Laszlo — Reconnecting to the Source — P / E / A
Ervin Laszlo — What Is Reality? — P / E

Graham Hancock — Magicians of the Gods — P / E / A

Grant L. Voth — Great Mythologies of the World — A

Gregg Braden — The Gregg Braden Audio Collection — A
Gregg Braden — The Science of Self-Empowerment — P / E / A

Ian Stevenson — Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation — P

Jack Kornfield — Buddhism for Beginners — P / E / A

Joseph Campbell — The Hero’s Journey — P / E / A
Joseph Campbell — The Hero with a Thousand Faces — P / E / A

Joseph LeDoux — The Deep History of Ourselves — P / E / A

Ken Wilber — A Theory of Everything — P / E / A
Ken Wilber — Finding Radical Wholeness — P / E / A
Ken Wilber — Kosmic Consciousness: From Dirt to Divinity — A

Kiran Atma & Jai Krishna Ponnappan — The Vedas: An Introduction to Hinduism’s Ancient Scriptures — A

Lao Tzu, translated by Stephen Mitchell — Tao Te Ching — P / E / A

Manly P. Hall — The Secret Teachings of All Ages — P / E / A

Margarita Alcantara — Chakra Healing — P / E / A

Matt Taibbi — Hate Inc. — P / E / A

Michael A. Singer — Living Untethered — P / E / A
Michael A. Singer — The Surrender Experiment — P / E / A
Michael A. Singer — The Untethered Soul — P / E / A
Michael A. Singer — Wisdom Untethered — P / E / A

Michael S. A. Graziano — A World Appears — P / E / A

Pema Chödrön — From Fear to Fearlessness — A
Pema Chödrön — Start Where You Are — P / E / A
Pema Chödrön — When Things Fall Apart — P / E / A

Philip Shepherd — New Self, New World — P / E / A
Philip Shepherd — Radical Wholeness — P / E / A

Rajan Patel — The Four Vedas for Beginners — P / E / A

Ram Dass — Becoming Nobody — A

Ray Kurzweil — The Singularity Is Nearer — P / E / A

Raymond A. Moody Jr. — Life After Life — P / E / A

Rebecca Keating — The Ultimate Guide to Shamanism — P / E

Richard Holloway — A Little History of Religion — P / E / A

Richard Rohr — Falling Upward — P / E / A

Rupert Sheldrake — Human Mind/Animal Mind — A
Rupert Sheldrake — Science and Spiritual Practices — P / E / A
Rupert Sheldrake — Science Set Free — P / E / A
Rupert Sheldrake — The Past Is Present — A
Rupert Sheldrake — Ways to Go Beyond and Why They Work — P / E / A

Sadhguru — Inner Engineering — P / E / A

Sam Harris — Waking Up — P / E / A

Sri Swami Satchidananda — The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali — P / E / A

Swami Vivekananda — Patanjali Yoga Sutras — P / E / A

Thich Nhat Hanh — Being Peace — P / E / A

Traditional Tibetan text / Robert Thurman translation — The Tibetan Book of the Dead — P / E / A

Valerie Tejeda — Self Care by the Signs — P / E / A

Vernon Katz & Thomas Egenes — The Upanishads — P / E / A

Viktor E. Frankl — Man’s Search for Meaning — P / E / A

Ward Farnsworth — The Practicing Stoic — P / E / A

William Strauss & Neil Howe — The Fourth Turning — P / E / A

Yuval Noah Harari — Nexus — P / E / A
Yuval Noah Harari — Sapiens — P / E / A

Psychedelics & Altered States

Albert Hofmann — LSD: My Problem Child — P / E / A

Alexander Beiner — The Bigger Picture — P / E / A

Alexander Shulgin & Ann Shulgin — The Nature of Drugs, Volume One — P / E / A

Brian C. Muraresku — The Immortality Key — P / E / A

Carl L. Hart — Drug Use for Grown-Ups — P / E / A

Daniel Pinchbeck & Sophia Rokhlin — When Plants Dream — P / E / A

Françoise Bourzat & Kristina Hunter — Consciousness Medicine — P / E / A

Graham Hancock — Supernatural — P / E / A
Graham Hancock — The Divine Spark — P / E / A
Graham Hancock — Visionary — P / E / A

James Fadiman — The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide — P / E / A

Jeremy Narby — The Cosmic Serpent — P / E / A
Jeremy Narby & Rafael Chanchari Pizuri — Plant Teachers — P / E / A

John M. Allegro — The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross — P / E / A

Michael Pollan — This Is Your Mind on Plants — P / E / A

Paul Stamets — Fantastic Fungi — P / E

R. Gordon Wasson, Albert Hofmann & Carl A. P. Ruck — The Road to Eleusis — P / E / A

Ralph Metzner — The Toad and the Jaguar — P / E

Richard Louis Miller — Psychedelic Medicine — P / E / A

Rick Strassman — DMT: The Spirit Molecule — P / E / A

Stanislav Grof — Realms of the Human Unconscious — P / E
Stanislav Grof — The Transpersonal Vision — A
Stanislav Grof — The Way of the Psychonaut, Volumes 1 and 2 — P / E / A

Terence McKenna — True Hallucinations — P / E / A

Thomas Hatsis — LSD — The Wonder Child — P / E / A
Thomas Hatsis — Psychedelic Mystery Traditions — P / E / A
Thomas Hatsis — The Witches’ Ointment — P / E / A

Tim Read & Maria Papaspyrou, editors — Psychedelics and Psychotherapy — P / E / A

Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner & Richard Alpert — The Psychedelic Experience — P / E / A

Books & Influences