Here are 10 thought-provoking books that will challenge the way you think and help you spend your time on what truly matters. The post 10 Books That Will Change the Way You Think in 2025 appeared first on jeffbullas.com.
Recent studies indicate that Generation Z (Gen Z) spends an average of 7.3 hours on their smartphone per day reading and watching videos.
That adds up to 111 full 24-hour days per year—time that includes sleeping, working, and squeezing in whatever else you enjoy or can’t resist, like eating, gaming, doom scrolling, or even reading.
If we narrow it down to just waking hours, assuming 16 hours a day, the total jumps to a staggering 166 days a year spent on their phones
I don’t know about you. But to me, that data is disturbing!
Why it matters
How you spend your time in life matters. What you read matters.
You can never get time back. And you can’t buy time. And that raises the question: Do you want to waste your life or spend it on doing things that make a difference?
Going deeper
Spending time reading is a valuable investment in lifelong learning—but only if you’re reading content that truly matters.
Scrolling through TikTok videos and Instagram reels, filled with shallow reading (and viewing) and superficial entertainment, is merely a distraction. It’s a life wasted. 166 days a year or 45% of your life on dross is not an investment but a squandered life.
We rarely stop to consider what a reading life looks like anymore. If the data is any indication, it may be a fading habit. Yet, as Aristotle suggested, there are three purposes for reading: education and information, entertainment, and contemplation.
However, my rebellious wisdom warns: If your reading is purely for entertainment, the long-term consequences could lead to chaos.
10 books that will change the way you think
The following books provided education and information that led to contemplation for me.
In essence, contemplation is a form of deep, focused thought that often leads to greater understanding or appreciation of a subject and life. And a good life is a considered life. Socrates said. “The unexamined life is not worth living”.
Here are the 10 books that will change the way you think in 2025 that I had the privilege to read in 2024.
#1: End Times: Elites, Counter-Elites, and the Path of Political Disintegration
What Amazon said
Peter Turchin, one of the most interesting social scientists of our age, has infused the study of history with approaches and insights from other fields for more than a quarter century. End Times is the culmination of his work to understand what causes political communities to cohere and what causes them to fall apart, as applied to the current turmoil within the United States.
My key takeaway(s):
I was sitting in my hotel room in 2016 in Phoenix, Arizona while attending a mastermind conference when I was watching the American election where I witnessed on live TV the day Trump was elected. I have not been able to tear my eyes away from the reality show that is “Donald Trump” ever since. It is a tragic comedy and dystopian with a future promise aching to be utopian.
Entertainment meets politics.
The Hollywood myth intersects with reality.
Attention seeking at any cost.
As an Australian I have asked many questions about the “why” and “what” is happening to America.
So what does Peter Turchin reveal in a book that is an intersection of where history meets data science?….
- The masses need to be looked after or you will have a French style revolution that may mean burning of the elite at the stake or the beheading at the town square.
- Democracy is facade where the elite make the decisions but where the masses feel like they are making a difference
- Over production of the young and new elite (who may become the counter elite) will try to take down the old elite.
#2: Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets
What Amazon said
Fooled by Randomness is the word-of-mouth sensation that will change the way you think about business and the world. Nassim Nicholas Taleb–veteran trader, renowned risk expert, polymathic scholar, erudite raconteur, and New York Times bestselling author of The Black Swan–has written a modern classic that turns on its head what we believe about luck and skill.
This book is about luck–or more precisely, about how we perceive and deal with luck in life and business. Set against the backdrop of the most conspicuous forum in which luck is mistaken for skill–the world of trading–Fooled by Randomness provides captivating insight into one of the least understood factors in all our lives.
My key takeaway(s):
We all like to think we have control of our lives and great things happen to us because we are smart and clever and our life is what we have designed. On reflecting on this book and my life I have come to realize that luck and randomness have stood behind almost every success that has happened in my life. The movie “Sliding Doors” is maybe more truth than fiction.
One note from the book I highlighted sums up my key takeaway.
“This book is about luck disguised and perceived as non-luck (that is, skills) and, more generally, randomness disguised and perceived as non-randomness (that is, determinism). It manifests itself in the shape of the lucky fool, defined as a person who benefited from a disproportionate share of luck but attributes his success to some other, generally very precise, reason.”
Just being born in a wealthy country to wealthy parents is maybe all the luck you need. And you have no choice in that.
But you do need to seize your opportunities and recognize good luck when it shines a light across your doorway. And act on them.
#3: Happy: Why More or Less Everything is Absolutely Fine
What Amazon said
In his book “Happy”, Derren Brown explores changing concepts of happiness – from the surprisingly modern wisdom of the Stoics and Epicureans in classical times right up until today, when the self-help industry has attempted to claim happiness as its own.
He shows how many of self-help’s suggested routes to happiness and success –such as positive thinking, self-belief and setting goals – can be disastrous to follow and, indeed, actually cause anxiety.
Happy aims to reclaim happiness and to enable us to appreciate the good things in life, in all their transient glory.
By taking control of the stories we tell ourselves, by remembering that ‘everything’s fine’ even when it might not feel that way, we can allow ourselves to flourish and to live more happily.
My key takeaway(s):
His last few chapters take a closer look at death and its collaboration with flourishing and living a life imagined.
Didn’t see that happening in a happiness book!
But when looking at death’s presence, it’s sitting on your shoulder as a reality.
This highlighted section makes the point about this:
“Epictetus suggested we bring to mind, as we kiss our daughter goodnight, that she might not be alive in the morning. What sounds at first like a morbid idea soon reveals its power as we consider it. By reminding ourselves that our loved ones are not immortal, and that they might be taken from us at any point, we not only mitigate the shock if and when they do die, but we remember to value them more in the present.”
So..to be reminded of our mortality, can free us to enjoy our moments more…Allowing us to choose happiness and live in the moment.
#4: Digital Dharma: How AI Can Elevate Spiritual Intelligence and Personal Well-Being
What Amazon said
In a world captivated yet bewildered by artificial intelligence, spiritual icon Deepak Chopra, MD, illuminates AI’s untapped potential to unravel the enigma of consciousness, positioning AI not as a threat but as a catalyst for personal and collective growth. In Digital Dharma, Chopra navigates the balance between technology and expanded awareness, explaining that while AI cannot duplicate human intelligence, it can vastly enhance personal and spiritual growth.
Chopra shows readers how the most popular, freely available chatbots can serve as guides through every level of human potential—survival and safety, emotional connection, self-worth, abundance, creativity, wisdom, and the infinite possibilities of cosmic consciousness. AI chatbots offer information, advice, and exploratory avenues of untapped potential about any aspect of human awareness.
In practical terms, making AI your ally and guide depends on the art of the prompt, the questions a user poses to a chatbot. As Chopra shows in detail, by asking the right questions, you can bring AI into your inner world, which is where personal growth happens. Chopra provides a personal assessment for you to better understand yourself and exercises to help you expand your awareness in any part of your life.
My key takeaway(s):
Artificial intelligence is not artificial but it is human wisdom and intelligence that has been captured by the machine.
It is the distillation of the expressed consciousness of the 8 billion people on the planet and the other 100 billion that have lived before us that has been captured in writing, art and books and recorded and published on the web and at our fingertips is we ask the right questions and prompts.
So we have an “Oracle” at our beck and call and Deepak shows us some insights, prompts and questions that enable us to use that resource to help make us happier and improve our health.
#5: The Creativity Code: Art and Innovation in the Age of AI
What Amazon said
What does it mean to be creative? Can creativity be trained? Is it uniquely human, or could AI be considered creative?
Mathematical genius and exuberant polymath Marcus du Sautoy plunges us into the world of artificial intelligence and algorithmic learning in this essential guide to the future of creativity.
He considers the role of pattern and imitation in the creative process and sets out to investigate the programs and programmers—from Deep Mind and the Flow Machine to Botnik and WHIM—who are seeking to rival or surpass human innovation in gaming, music, art, and language. A thrilling tour of the landscape of invention, The Creativity Code explores the new face of creativity and the mysteries of the human code.
My takeaway(s):
Since I discovered and started using ChatGPT and Generative AI in late 2022, I have been in awe of its capabilities. It has raised the question constantly that has challenged my humanity. “Will AI replace me?
And I have come to the conclusion that it will amplify, enhance and increase the velocity of learning and creativity. The final highlight that I captured right at the end of the book has become what I believe is the role of AI in the ongoing human pursuit of creativity “Until a machine has become conscious, it cannot be more than a tool for extending human creativity”.
#6: Poor Charlie’s Alamnack: The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger
What Amazon said
From the legendary vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, lessons in investment strategy, philanthropy, and living a rational and ethical life.
“Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up,” Charles T. Munger advises in Poor Charlie’s Almanack. Originally published in 2005, this compendium of eleven talks delivered by the legendary Berkshire Hathaway vice-chairman between 1986 and 2007 has become a touchstone for a generation of investors and entrepreneurs seeking to absorb the enduring wit and wisdom of one of the great minds of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Edited by Peter D. Kaufman, chairman and CEO of Glenair and longtime friend of Charlie Munger—whom he calls “this generation’s answer to Benjamin Franklin”.
Poor Charlie’s Almanack draws on Munger’s encyclopedic knowledge of business, finance, history, philosophy, physics, and ethics—and more besides—to introduce the latticework of mental models that underpin his rational and rigorous approach to life, learning, and decision-making..
My key takeaway(s):
Charlie Munger was a big believer in mental models and was said to have over 90 of them to help him make wise decisions for life and for large investment decisions.
One of those mental models was “compound interest”. But another one that caught my eye was “Inversion”: Munger often advises solving problems by thinking in reverse: instead of asking how to succeed, he asks how to avoid failure, then avoids those pitfalls.
#7: Show Your Work: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered
What Amazon said
In his New York Times bestseller Steal Like an Artist, Austin Kleon showed readers how to unlock their creativity by “stealing” from the community of other movers and shakers. Now, in an even more forward-thinking and necessary book, he shows how to take that critical next step on a creative journey―getting known.
Show Your Work! is about why generosity trumps genius. It’s about getting findable, about using the network instead of wasting time “networking.” It’s not self-promotion, it’s self-discovery―let others into your process, then let them steal from you. Filled with illustrations, quotes, stories, and examples, Show Your Work! offers ten transformative rules for being open, generous, brave, productive.
In chapters such as You Don’t Have to Be a Genius; Share Something Small Every Day; and Stick Around, Kleon creates a user’s manual for embracing the communal nature of creativity― what he calls the “ecology of talent.” From broader life lessons about work (you can’t find your voice if you don’t use it) to the etiquette of sharing―and the dangers of oversharing―to the practicalities of Internet life (build a good domain name; give credit when credit is due), it’s an inspiring manifesto for succeeding as any kind of artist or entrepreneur in the digital age.
My key takeaway(s):
Showing your work is where an idea and art becomes visible. An artist that never exhibits will never be seen. A writer that takes a manuscript and hides it in a filing cabinet is doomed to be anonymous. Getting known is the difference between making a difference and building a legacy or being a tragic unknown artist.
But “Showing your work” in a digital age needs two key activities. Publishing it online (your own blog or website) and then letting people know you have done that (sharing it on social media).
Don’t mix those two up.
If you think that publishing is uploading to TikTok then it may end in tears. Two things can happen, Social media bans you or the platform gets shut down through loss of viability (not making money) or a government intervention. And the current TikTok ban situation reveals that fragility.
Any publishing on social media is built on rented land. A website on your domain name is something you own.
#8: The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine will Remake Our World
What Amazon said
This book is recommended by Bill Gates and is a thought-provoking and wide-ranging exploration of machine learning and the race to build computer intelligences as flexible as our own
In the world’s top research labs and universities, the race is on to invent the ultimate learning algorithm: one capable of discovering any knowledge from data, and doing anything we want, before we even ask. In The Master Algorithm, Pedro Domingos lifts the veil to give us a peek inside the learning machines that power Google, Amazon, and your smartphone. He assembles a blueprint for the future universal learner–the Master Algorithm–and discusses what it will mean for business, science, and society. If data-ism is today’s philosophy, this book is its bible.
My key takeaway(s):
Since I launched my own website and blog in 2009 and signed up to social media in the same year and built nearly 1 million followers, I have learned that your website visibility is dependent on an algorithm that is controlled by Google. That complex equation is known in the industry as SEO. (Search Engine Optimization).
I have also noticed that visibility and attention on social media are also based on algorithms. They were optimized for providing information and connection the users wanted until they flipped the switch to give you the information they wanted (Ads).
This book is designed to help us navigate the algorithms and use them to our advantage. Instead of being taken advantage of by the platforms to serve their interests.
The distilled phrase that I discovered inside this book was this.
“If all knowledge—past, present, and future—can be derived from data by a single, universal learning algorithm. I call this learner the Master Algorithm. If such an algorithm is possible, inventing it would be one of the greatest scientific achievements of all time”
That is the ultimate goal of the AI technology and the AI platforms.
#9: God, Human, Animal, Machine: Technology, Metaphor, and the Search for Meaning
What Amazon said
For most of human history the world was a magical and enchanted place ruled by forces beyond our understanding. The rise of science and Descartes’s division of mind from the world of materialism was our ruling paradigm, in the process asking whether our own consciousness—i.e., souls—might be illusions.
Now the inexorable rise of technology, with artificial intelligences that surpass our comprehension and control, and the spread of digital metaphors for self-understanding, the core questions of existence—identity, knowledge, the very nature and purpose of life itself—urgently require rethinking.
Meghan O’Gieblyn draws deeply and sometimes humorously from her own personal experience as a formerly religious believer still haunted by questions of faith, and she serves as the best possible guide to navigating the territory we are all entering.
My key takeaway(s):
The author Meaghan O’Gieblyn started out in life as a religious believer. She believed in “God”. Truth was handed down on high from the pulpit. Faith was knowledge. We were also told that the mortal “Human” was created in the image of God. Then Darwin proposed in his theory of evolution that humans were really descendants of “Animals”.
But is the Internet (the world’s library, information collection machine) that feeds AI (the distillation and answer Machine) providing answers from the collective consciousness of all of humanities (past and current) information, wisdom and creativity (superconsciousness) replacing religion and humans as our source of truth and finding answers that were previously lost in myth and legend?
Quick personal story: I now know that the dating apps that use algorithms and have started using AI have made a better job of finding partners than I did as an imperfect human decision machine in my first two marriages
#10: Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
What Amazon said
“Essentialism holds the keys to solving one of the great puzzles of life: How can we do less but accomplish more?”—Adam Grant, bestselling author of Think Again
Essentialism isn’t about getting more done in less time. It’s about getting only the right things done.
- Have you ever found yourself stretched too thin?
- Are you often busy but not productive?
- Do you feel like your time is constantly being hijacked?
If you answered yes to any of these, the way out is the Way of the Essentialist. Essentialism is more than a time-management technique. It is a systematic discipline for discerning what is absolutely essential, then eliminating everything that is not, so we can make the highest possible contribution toward the things that really matter.
By forcing us to apply more selective criteria for where to spend our precious time and energy, the disciplined pursuit of less empowers us to reclaim control of our own choices, instead of giving others the implicit permission to choose for us.
Essentialism is not one more thing to do. It’s a whole new way of doing less, but better, in every area of our lives.
My key takeaways
I am over being busy and frantic. So this book title caught my attention. And this one phrase I highlighted at the end of the book sums up the key takeaway for me. “Whatever decision or challenge or crossroads you face in your life, simply ask yourself, what is essential?. Eliminate everything else”.
The bottom line
I have come to realize that one of the reasons I read is to find the truth. To discover answers I was seeking within the pages of books and to unearth solutions I didn’t have answers to. I have now realized that the truth unearthed from a writer is where “your” discovery and “your” truth begins.
“The end of the author’s wisdom is but the beginning of ours.”
– Proust
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