Here are readings which I enjoyed, which encouraged me to think about life and career in general.
Books
The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness (Free PDF)
By Eric Jorgenson
This book is a compilation of AngelList CEO Naval's insights and reflections on 3 main topics: Wealth, Happiness and Philosophy. It's one of the most insightful books that encourages entrepreneurship and a positive mindset towards approaching every day happiness. (I hardly reread books, but this was a keeper for me!)
By Carl Sagan
Cosmology, in simple terms, is the study of how the world works. It is very much an unspoken topic among many, but super important to have a basic awareness about. It creates this realisation that life is incredibly short and we should make the best use of it. While it is not directly related to career prospecting, I believe it is important to gain an additional perspective on the purpose of life, to better understand how one looks at his/her career path.
No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention
By Reed Hastings, Erin Meyer
Get an understanding of what a high performing positive culture looks like, and find opportunities to place yourself in similar environments (or create them!). Netflix's high performing culture are based off mainly 3 factors: 1. Creating high-density talent, 2. Transparency & Candor of feedback, 3. Giving autonomy to its employees
Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High
By Kerry Patterson
In your life, you will need to have uncomfortable and tough conversations with your boss, team mates, and even friends and family. Crucial Conversations provides you with a framework on how to address difficult topics and achieve a win-win situation for both sides.
By Chris Voss
Another good read on dealing with people when the stakes are high, Chris Voss is a former FBI hostage negotiator who has gone through negotiating for hostages' lives. I got to know about him through MasterClass and thought the information provided a pretty solid foundation on how you should go about negotiating with someone.
Articles
I didn't want to restrict readings to just books, as articles can be as equally insightful.
Sam Altman
Sam is the previous president of Y Combinator (YC), one of the world's most successful startup accelerators. In this article, he talks about how you can achieve outlier success if you are looking for a way to. Check out his other articles for equally good reads on starting your own startup.
Paul Graham is the co-founder of Y Combinator, and in his blog, he shares many essays on life, tech, startups. Start with 'Life is short'.
Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
I don't remember where I exactly found this essay, but it was a 'final examination' given by a professor to her students. When I saw this, it was in an image format, so I took the liberty to type it all out. It touches upon how you can choose to lead your life, amidst chaotic and insincere times.
Note:
You'll probably come across many writings and references on life and philosophy on this blog.
I thought you are helping me to choose a career? Why such topics?
I believe what you choose to do as a career is a reflection of how you view the meaning of your own life. The topics on life and philosophy are intended to help you contemplate what you want out of your short time on Earth. I believe that a career shouldn't just be a job, but it should be a reflection of what you believe in. If your career aligns with your own personal values, then it would be much easier to look forward to work every day.