Books every student should read
Self-motivation is your mighty guidance during graduate and undergraduate time. And it goes without saying that without a solid self-motivation finding a reason to start and finish studies (studies refer to graduate and undergraduate studies throughout the article) could be quite challenging. But the question is, is self-motivation enough to guide through your journey and protect you from going off course? Probably not.
Though self-motivation pushes you forward and reminds you of the reasons you are studying, e.g. to peruse an academic career, or what you will get at the end, e.g. becoming a qualified engineer or researcher, or that simply you love contributing to the scientific community, it doesn’t provide you the tool to tackle issues that you will encounter at one point or another. Therefore, you might have a solid self-motivation but you’d still find yourself burnt out from the countless hours of working in the lab, repeating experiments, reading and evaluating data, writing proposals and manuscripts, etc. And on top of that, some students have to move to new cities while others even have to move to a new country.
One of the aforementioned reasons is enough to knock you off course and disturb you really bad. Hence, in order to eliminate such inevitable issues or at least lessen their impact, a student should be mentally prepared. What is meant by being mentally prepared is that new students should enter their journeys, or at least at one point during the journey, with a mindset that shields them, unconsciously, from the inevitable, discussed above. In another word, this mindset of yours should be based on your daily habits, the way you approach daily issues and how you solve them, the perspective you perceive the world around you, and being aware of how much you have control over situations. If you are anything like me, you could establish your mindset with the help of the following books.
Networking for Nerds: Find, Access and Land Hidden Game-changing Career Opportunities Everywhere
As the title of the book suggests, the main theme of the book revolves around the importance of networking for finding tailored job positions. It goes as far as saying that without a solid network you will end up accepting a position that you don’t like because you have to pay the bills that the rest of your life will likely depend on. It also emphasizes on hidden opportunities a network possesses that normally you wouldn’t think of or dare to think that they even exist. This begs the question: What is in it for you as a student? Well, two things. First, obviously, the book tells you why and how you should have a plan for building a network, which will definitely assist you later to find a job in academia or in industry, especially if you are not an outgoing type of person. Hence, during your years of study, it’s the perfect time to take advantage of that to start enlarging your network, especially for PhD students. The second thing is the importance of having more than one monitor. It basically says that you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket. In another word, you should consider having more than one monitor beside your actual one, the supervisor. This way, you could rely on the most qualified person for advice especially while you are seeking career guidance. To me, the notion of having more than one monitor is just fascinating and very helpful to guide someone through their studies in an unconventional but fruitful way.
“ Some people think that “networking” is a single, finite action that takes place at an event, like a conference.— Alaina Levine, Networking for Nerds
"Regardless of age, the core strategy for self-control is to [...] push the temptation in front of you far away in space and time, and bring the distant consequences closer in your mind."— Walter Mischel, The Marshmallow Test
The Marshmallow Test: Mastering Self-Control
This book is a real treasure, and everyone should read this book at least once in their lives. If you are already a student or about to embark on your journey, this book introduces you to the science and the smartly designed experiments behind being able to resist unwanted things from toxic thoughts to bad habits. It shows you that delaying gratification is necessary to exert self-control, and also shows that distraction is a very precious tool that teaches you to avoid things and deal with them at a later time. For example, for some, it’s very dull to piece data together and find a connection with the existing huge literature, so you might find yourself instead tempted to skip this part and do something else like conducting an experiment, which is not a bad thing. But the thing is the timing is not right, and perhaps according to the conclusion you otherwise would have gotten from the data, the experiment you did was redundant and a waste of time. And after a while, you’d find yourself stuck in a non-ending vicious cycle. But if you add the distraction technique to your repertoire, and keep a sharp mind to navigate through small things effectively, ultimately delaying gratification, you’d be in a position allowing to avoid this vicious cycle without even knowing it. The Marshmallow Test is meant to teach you more about cognitive science, which is something all students need to help them know more about themselves, thus, they can make more informed decisions without wasting precious time.
The Art of Thinking Clearly
The book introduces the reader to a very rich list of fallacies some of us take them for granted, and even some of us use them as their guide in life. Knowing some of these errors can tell you if you have fallen victim to some of them, therefore, maybe now by being aware of them you could avoid such situations in the future. And if you are still learning about who you are, knowing some of these fallacies can help you avoid burning out during your studies. As you read through the book you’d learn that the author, Rolf Dobelli, was inspired by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the author of The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable. In fact, Rolf, throughout his book, on multiple occasions refers to The Black Swan as a reference for the readers to further expand on these fallacies. So definitely you should add The Black Swan to your list.
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
The healthier your daily routine the easier for you to be productive and to avoid burn out. This routine doesn’t have to be related to your actions toward you’re your own studies. So, let’s say that you like to hit the gym every now and then, and you’re conscious about keeping a lean body but you keep postponing it. By reading The Power of Habit you get to learn some science and examples about how to put down bad habits, e.g. procrastination, and slip, instead, constructive habits, e.g. finding regular time to hit the gym. Constructing such daily habits could go a long way toward building up your daily or weekly energy that will help suppress, unconsciously, anything that might lead to burning out while you’re working on your studies.
Lifespan: Why We Age—and Why We Don't Have To
I know what you’re thinking and you might be probably asking: How on earth by increasing my lifespan that could help me during my studies? First, part of the book introduces you to ways to practice amazing healthy habits, such as intermittent fasting, and another part tells you why you would want to follow such habits. Generally speaking, most students have control over their time, so not only adopting such habits could be easy, but also they would help you to sustain a healthy physique that in turn helps you keep a sharp mind day in, day out. Consequently, when it comes to your studies, you’d find yourself making better decisions or maybe dealing with your daily tasks with a sharper mind than you used to.
"When a man tells you that he knows the exact truth about anything you are safe in inferring that he is an inexact man."— Bertrand Russell, The Scientific Outlook
The Scientific Outlook
Everyone should read at least one book of Bertrand Russell’s books. If you haven’t yet read any book of his, The Scientific Outlook is a highly recommended one. Russell discusses the essence of the scientific method on multiple levels. So no doubt it’s a helpful book to be acquainted with and with Russell’s perspective on science and on other aspects of life to help you build your own unique perspective of the world. Needless to say that Bertrand Russell, who was awarded a Nobel Prize in Literature, is considered one of the most important philosophers of the last century.
Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space
I’m basically just looking for an excuse to recommend this book. Just let me say this, I think, the introduction of this book is the most elegant written thing in the history of human mankind that with no doubt will let you rethink your position on planet earth. The introduction written by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan (Sagan’s spouse) was stolen from God’s speech when he addresses people in the aftermath of Armageddon.
All in all, the healthier your mindset the easier your life is during your studies. What is a better way to satisfy your intellectual need with books written by the best?! Of course, the above list of books is not intended to be the “only” list but it’s more of a suggestion for you to be critical of your current mindset and edit what needs to be edited. Your list should be tailored to your own personal goals.