3 books that all 40 year olds should read

This post is for people who are 40 or above. Or getting to 40.

Sharing 3 books that I have specifically recommended and gifted a lot to people who are 40 and above.

40 is almost like the halfway point of our life. The first half of our life allows us the luxury to make lots of mistakes. And learn from them. We have the power of youth. We have time on our side. Which helps us overcome everything.

But we don’t have the same luxury in the second half of our lives. So we need to be more deliberate about the second half of our lives. Plan it better. Most importantly learn from others. We can’t afford to learn from our mistakes.

These 3 books allow you to do that. They have influenced my thinking and the important choices that I have made in the last 3/4 years. The life I am trying to live now is an outcome of these books.

I highly recommend them. I really think they will help increase your chances of having a great second half of your life.

Some of you might be nowhere close to 40 and reading this out of curiosity. Share or gift these books to the 40 year olds that you know.

Here goes

Outlive by Peter Attia. This one is hugely popular. Most likely you have already read or heard of it. This one is about your health span ( different from life span ). About living a long and healthy life. About preventing diseases and not just treating them after they happen. Please don’t just read through the book. Read every chapter slowly and implement what Attia recommends. Each recommendation will take some time in execution. So. rushing through it defeats the whole point of reading this one. I have met people who read this a few years ago, followed it to the T and now their lives are fully transformed.

From Strength to Strength by Arthur C Brooks. This one is about work. About finding success and happiness and purpose in the second half of your life. Around the age of 40 a big change happens in our mental ability. There are two types of intelligence that humans have. Around about 40, Fluid intelligence deteriorates and Crystal intelligence becomes stronger. The success that you achieved in the first half of your life came from your Fluid intelligence. But you can no longer rely on it. It is time to embrace your Crystal intelligence and make adjustments in your professional life accordingly.

4000 Weeks by Oliver Burkeman. This one is about our life’s priorities. There is a good chance that you have already gone through some self realisation. If not, this is a good book to read. We generally live the first half of our life in a certain way. Chasing after certain things. Trying to get MORE done. Managing time and setting priorities accordingly. This book will explain the flaws in that approach. Why optimising for MORE is not ideal. And what could be a better approach. This book has almost a 100% hit rate. Everyone gets influenced by it.