Where to start your journey?

Sometimes it's hard to know where to start, but let me encourage you with a few tips. Firstly, remember that is not so important where you begin your journey to growth, but rather that you start somewhere and that you keep trying - especially when it gets tough.

Most of us are born curious and thirsty to learn. Children are famous for being sponges for languages and information, always asking question after question. Unfortunately, much of this curiosity gets lost in our education systems and as we grow older we learn to follow rules, rather than question authority.

I was not particularly good at doing what I was told, mainly because I was off daydreaming in class about something tangentially relevant to the subject in question. I remember desperately holding onto my curiosity after my “why” questions were repeatedly deflected by my teachers in their well-intentioned desire to keep me - and the rest of the class - focused on that year’s syllabus. However, I was not always respectful to (what my 14-year-old brain determined as) nonsensical logic and their argument of ‘you will learn why next year’ would often infuriate me - rather than comfort. In this sense, I observed as most students went from being genuinely interested to complacent over the course of our upbringing. Those that followed the rules and did what was asked of them did best, while the rest grew disinterested, frustrated or distracted.

'And what is the use of a book,' thought Alice, 'without pictures or conversations?'

- Lewis Carroll

Well in my twenties, I am still learning how to nurture my child-like curiosity and keep ignited my desire for discovery and I found a series of books that kept me actively engaged in my personal growth. I started this blog to share some discoveries and form a community that is equally passionate or interested in leveling up their self-development game.

At levol we believe that the best investment you can make is in your education. Learning should be life-long and growth shamelessly endless. I thought these three books helped kick-start my journey and helped me refocus my energy and redesign my goals.

I often get intimidated by big lists - so I thought I spare you that potential stress and start you off easy. I am not a big reader as words get muddled up in my head and I frequently wander off in thought. This makes focusing rather energy consuming and it is not uncommon for me to wake up with my face planted between the creases of books. Growing up and throughout university I much preferred reading textbooks, encyclopedias, journal articles and legal case studies because I found that to be more interesting and a better use of my time as I could directly benefit from it. While other literature was a luxury I had no time or energy for.

So here I am, sharing with you my top three books that helped me embark on this journey. I hope you find them as inspirational as I did and that they challenge you to learn something new and improve your well-being in at least one way.

Motivation Myth by Jeff Haden

This was one of the first books that I read after finishing university and remains one of my favourites because it challenged how I understand motivation and productivity.

Not only did this book make me rethink the whole concept of ‘motivation’ and how it is overrated - it literally helped me design a healthier lifestyle for myself filled with healthy habits and a sustainable routine. Many self-help books are too focused on momentary feel-good messages and boosts of encouragement and ‘self-esteem’, however, Harden proves that this is not a productive approach to productivity. He provides you with tools for a life-long path to success and lessons that you can keep coming back to and apply them directly in your life. Personally, I have returned to this book on countless occasions to reassess my priorities, rethink my goals and redesign my habits.

Key takeaway: There are no shortcuts to success and the path to my happiness is in taking all the big and small steps that will lead me to achieve all my goals. I vote yes to being a serial achiever!

Mastery by Robert Greene

A classic. In my opinion this should have been a must-read book in school. As a young person still finding my way into a career-path, I believe this is another book I will inevitably return to as I transcend through the three stages that Greene identifies: (1) Apprenticeship, (2) Creative, and (3) Mastery.

Supported by numerous anecdotal stories of famous and successful people, the book is highly inspirational and fascinating. It is highly insightful and demands self-reflection from the reader. As a young person, still at the very start of her career-path I cannot attest to the success of his advice and the factuality of his claims. However, I can comfortably recommend this book to anyone who is uncertain in their path and desires inspiration from the brightest minds.

Key takeaway: Pay attention to where your interests align and intersect to identify a niche in which you can then dominate and contribute something original.

High Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard

I low-key respect the simple structure and straightforwardness of this book. Written in a manner to focus on the scientific findings and ample research collected over the course of a decade, this book almost feels like a hack to being successful. While some things are oversimplified in my perspective, I accept that it is almost impossible to cover all that is worthy in one volume.

I think the biggest value this book provides is that it proves in multiple ways that success is not only possible for anyone anywhere, but that it does so convincingly. Far too often people focus on talent and privilege, which according to Burchard are insignificant compared to effort and habit. While we can argue on this subject extensively and disagree with Burchard on multiple grounds - at the end of the day he has a strong point. Not that talent and privilege are insignificant, but instead that they are beyond your control and focusing on these factors is debilitating. Instead Burchard challenges you to focus on what you can change - your behaviour and attitude. He proposes six habits that anyone can adopt and that are consistently behaviors practiced by the most successful people in various fields with all levels of talent, background and social standing.

Key takeaway: High performance is about being comfortable with the uncomfortable and consistently challenging oneself to deploy better habits and behaviours.

The secret of getting ahead is getting started.

- Mark Twain