The 20 Most Influential Books I’ve Read in the Past 10 Years
Ten years ago, my wife and I packed our bags and moved to Costa Rica. She had landed a job with an innovative international school, a professional move that built upon her impressive career and education in international development. I was a freshly minted MBA who horrified the career services people when I told them I was moving to Central America to “uhhhmmm…. surf and find a job.”
I’d entered business school at the peak of a white-hot economy, with the single-minded goal of becoming a real estate developer. Full scholarship, heavy coursework in finance, fancy internship at a publicly traded REIT, the works. So it was understandably quite a surprise to my fellow classmates and professors when I abruptly announced that I was going to be “a professional surfer with one sponsor: my wife.”
An abnormal career move for sure, but this was an abnormal time in my life. Just a year earlier, during my fancy internship, I suffered a serious health scare that shocked the shit out of me and upended many of my personal and professional priorities. As I recovered during the ensuing months (fall of ’08), the Great Recession wrecked the economy, tanking the real estate markets and bankrupting many of the wannabe real estate barons whom I’d envied before grad school. Approaching graduation, I was confused and directionless.
Thanks to my wife’s brains and badass job opportunities (and my scholarship and resulting lack of debt), we decided to try our luck in Costa Rica. It’s not like I was missing anything here in the States— the only profitable jobs in real estate involved foreclosing on houses.
I could (and probably will) write a book about that year in Costa Rica and what a formative experience it was for me, our marriage, and my general outlook on life. Of the many personal transformations that occurred during that year, one of the most important was my becoming a fully committed, almost-maniacal reader. I had always enjoyed reading, but in a half-assed, do-it-when-the-mood-strikes kind of way. In Costa Rica, I locked in on books. The lack of distractions, my search for meaning in the aftermath of the health scare, and the uncertainty around my career aspirations created an environment ripe for becoming addicted to big, new, deep ideas—ideas that can only be derived from books, and lots of them.
The books I read during that year in Costa Rica, and in the years since, have immeasurably shaped my career, priorities, friendships, family, work ethic, and ideas about community. Books helped guide me through what was a very uncertain period of my life and allowed me to emerge with a clear set of values and ideals for work, play, and even politics. More concretely, these books led to the creation of the podcast, my obsession with ultra-endurance, and a fulfilling career in conservation—twists and turns in my life’s path that I could’ve never predicted.
Of the hundreds of books that I’ve read during the past ten years, below, in no particular order, are the most influential—the ones that triggered specific changes in my perspective that led to lasting improvements in all aspects of my life. These books—and the habit of reading a lot—has proven to be the second-most important* influence on my vocation, avocations, creativity, relationships, and spiritual pursuits.
I hope you find a few titles below that shake up your thinking, as they did mine. Perhaps some of these ideas will lead you down a new path, toward an exciting and fulfilling destination you don’t even know exists.
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris – The most important book I’ve ever read. TR’s boundless energy and optimism, combined with his laser-focused sense of purpose, showed me what can happen when a person chooses to push beyond the boundaries of what conventional wisdom says is possible.
Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? by Seth Godin – This was the first Seth Godin book I read, and I’ve since almost read everything he’s written. Linchpin redefined my approach to work, an approach that flew in the face of what I had been taught throughout my early career and formal business education.
Don’t Bite the Hook: Finding Freedom from Anger, Resentment, and Other Destructive Emotions by Pema Chodron – Daily mediation has proven to be the most important and impactful practice of my entire life. I’ve read dozens of books on meditation, but Pema’s work is hands-down the best. This is my favorite of all of her life-changing books, and I listen to the audio version repeatedly.
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport – Nothing beats old-fashioned concentration, but unfortunately, our ability to focus is being compromised by overwhelming electronic distraction. This book helped me learn to block out the bullshit and get to work.
The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield – Pressfield’s idea of “The Resistance” and his thoughts on how to fight it continue to guide me in all of my professional and personal endeavors.
Blood and Thunder: The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West by Hampton Sides – This master class in narrative history kickstarted my obsession with the history of the American West and laid the groundwork for the podcast and its many associated side projects.
What to Do When It’s Your Turn (and It’s Always Your Turn) by Seth Godin – I started my book recommendations email and podcast soon after reading this book, two decisions that were nerve-wracking at the time, but have since led to opportunities that I would’ve never once thought possible.
Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin – The book’s basic premise is, “You are responsible for everything, and everything is your fault.” Adopting this mindset has been one of the best perspective shifts of my life.
Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger – I think about this book daily and have given it to countless friends. It woke me up to the importance of purpose and community, and how we humans must have both if we want to thrive.
For the Love of Land: Global Case Studies of Grazing in Nature’s Image by Jim Howell – This book sparked my “ah-ha” moment around the importance of grasslands and the invaluable role that grazing can play in everything from ecosystem biodiversity to carbon sequestration.
Free Will by Sam Harris – Harris makes a damn good argument that there is no such thing as free will, that we are simply the product of our past experiences and genetics. This seemed crazy and depressing to me at first glance but has actually led to my being more compassionate to others and myself.
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall – Like many people, this book piqued my interest in ultrarunning. Even though I’d never run more than 18 miles, I signed up for a 50-miler soon after reading it, which started my obsession with endurance sports and led to some of the most rewarding experiences of my life.
My Green Manifesto: Down the Charles River in Pursuit of a New Environmentalism by David Gessner – One quote in particular has stuck with me for years after reading this book: “It is not my place to offer pep talks, aphorisms, or dictums. But if I had to give one piece of practical advice it would be this: Find something that you love that they’re fucking with and then fight for it. If everyone did that–imagine the difference.”
How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence by Michael Pollan – Building on my well-established meditation practice, this book introduced me to unfairly maligned tools that allow for a deeper understanding of consciousness and offer a solution for improving mental health.
Theodore Roosevelt’s Letters to His Children by Theodore Roosevelt – I consider this compilation to be the best parenting book ever written. A shining example of how a man can simultaneously be professionally ambitious and hardworking while also being a dedicated and loving father.
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Tim Ferriss – Despite its disgustingly cheesy title and horse shit self-help flavor, this book drastically shifted my thinking around how I use my time. It also caused a paradigm shift in my thinking around what I need out of a “job.”
It All Turns on Affection: The Jefferson Lecture and Other Essays by Wendell Berry – The idea of “boomers” and “stickers” caused me to reexamine my professional priorities and goals, and put a specific name to the types of people I don’t and do want to spend time with. It also gave me a deeper appreciation for my family’s multigenerational roots in eastern North Carolina.
Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War by Robert Coram – One of the most influential soldiers in the history of our modern military was impactful because he refused to follow bullshit rules or be distracted by silly conventions. Once again, most innovators are rebellious.
Saltwater Buddha: A Surfer’s Quest to Find Zen on the Sea by Jaimal Yogis – Both surfing and meditation have led to significant transformations in my life—this book combines both. A wonderful read all the way around, but Yogis’ brilliant analogy of paddling and samsara has stuck with me for years.
The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America by Douglas Brinkley – A dense, sometimes challenging read, but my most important takeaway is that there have always been powerful forces trying to ruin our natural places in the name of profit… and there always will be. One person can make a difference in fighting off these economic and political interests and protecting important places.
*The first-most positive influence is my patient, kind, calm, level-headed, genius wife.
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