A book that changed me

The inspiration for this blog post came from the Guardian site which encourages readers to contribute short blurbs about books that left them with a lasting impression.

For me, my choice would be non-fiction book “The Element” by educationalist Ken Robinson. I bought it during a long transit at London’s Heathrow airport to kill time but it turned out to be the right book, ‘speaking’ to me at a point in my life where I was standing at a crossroad after completing my undergraduate degree.

For many of us, graduation is a milestone in our lives where we are being thrust with the responsibility to decide how we are going to take our first steps into the real world. I thought long and hard, even when I was traveling, about various considerations mentioned in the book such as money, career and passion.

And I regretted. I started re-thinking about my acceptance into law school for postgraduate studies.

“Many people set aside their passions to pursue things they don’t care about for the sake of financial security. The fact is though, that the job you took because it “pays the bills” could easily move offshore in the coming decade. If you have never learned to think creatively and to explore your true capacity, what will you do then?”

I have no qualms about studying law but when I contemplated my interest in law and eventually becoming a lawyer, I faltered.

Robinson argues in his book your passion for life will occur when you are in your Element, ‘the meeting point between natural aptitude and personal passion.’ In another words, it is where the things you love to do and the things you are good at come together.

What I appreciated most about this book is in its specificity where Robinson illustrates his points with specific examples and his step-by-step procedures. More importantly, he was passionate about his work and you could get a sense of that through his writing.

It was a tough decision that I slept on it for days. I thought about all the big money I was going to wave goodbye to and the disappointments I would have to cope with but eventually, I concluded law school was not what I really wanted to do.

With hindsight, I would say it was a correct decision because I do not think I can be anywhere better than being in my Element. Click here for my full book review of ‘The Element.’

Do you have any books that inspired you or changed you? I would love to know so please share them with me in the comments box below!