The Defining Decade is a nonfiction book written by clinical psychologist Meg Jay. The book explores the significance of the twenties as a crucial period for personal and professional development and offers advice on facing this important phase of life. Why do your twenties matter, and how to make the most of them now? This book’s cool because it’s tailored to the twenty crowds but not specific to those. Many universal skills, tools, and tips go far beyond that. You’ll still get a lot out of it, young or older. If you are in your twenty-something, this book is worth picking up.
Author Meg Jay breaks it down into work, love, brain, and body. Meg had a client that was struggling with all these choices. She talked about how you can customize how you want your life to be as you go. You can adapt and choose different parts that don’t fit a particular mold. You can create whatever molds you want to do or create. We’re all multidimensional, have multiple parts of our personality, and it’s okay to follow various passions.
Books like The Defining Decade emphasize the importance of personal growth and self-discovery during the twenties. They explore the significance of career choices and professional development during the twenties. They also cover friendships, romantic relationships, family dynamics, and other aspects of social connections.
5 Books Like The Defining Decade (Psychology & Motivation)
The Defining Decade describes picking your family, the cohabitation effect, dating down, and being in like, and she uses the antidotes from some of her. The author talks about how between ages 20 and 30, your brain is the most flexible and has the most neuroplasticity. That doesn’t mean if you’re past 30, there’s no hope for you’re stuck. It means you can still make those changes.
When you want to focus on what habits you want to develop long-term, which is incredible because that’s a lot of stuff we discuss in this book. Now I will talk about five books similar to The Defining Decade. They offer practical advice, encouragement, and insights to help you make the most of your twenties and set a foundation for a fulfilling future. Let’s go!
1. The Psychology Book
The Psychology Book introduces you to psychology, its background, and the early psychologists. It goes through behaviorism and cognitive psychology. So all the main areas went through all the key psychologists over time in those days. Those areas went across time based on what was happening in society. Behaviorism came first, and then it was more cognitive with the introduction of computers. So it is chronological, but it’s not because many areas overlap.
Negative reinforcement is the removal of something unpleasant. If you know nothing about psychology, it is good because it mentions most psychologists you would come across with a psychology degree. It does talk about what they did and what their contribution was. Like The Defining Decade, these entries are based on a scientific journal.
Author: Joannah Ginsburg, Voula Grand, Merrin Lazyan
Average Rating: 4.6/5
Category: History of Psychology, Psychology Reference
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle
2. Tuesdays With Morrie
Tuesdays With Morrie never once stated that it was based on a true story or about the author’s life, similar to The Defining Decade. The main character is Mitch Albom. The majority of this book is based on transcripts of Mitch-Morrie’s conversations. This book is about Morrie Schwartz, who is a professor of sociology. He’s very in touch with his emotional side. Mitch Albom was his student for a long time until Morrie was diagnosed with ALS (motor neuron disease).
Als has recently gotten some attention in the media because of this ice bucket challenge by celebrities. So these celebrities donate more to the cause than their obligatory ten dollars plus nominating ten other people. But certainly, it’s gotten awareness about the disease, also called Lou Gehrig’s disease, after a baseball player who was afflicted. It’s the disease that Stephen Hawking has. When Morrie finds out he has it, he decides to use the time he has left on Earth for the best.
So he ends up on television, on a Dateline show, where Mitch sees his old professor, realizes that he wants to reconnect with him, and looks him up. They get together to write their last thesis about life, death, love, life lessons, and spirituality. They sit down every Tuesday, and they have a deeply emotional conversation that meets records with a tape recorder and then goes home and transcribes and turns into this book.
Author: Mitch Albom
Average Rating: 4.8/5
Category: Friendship, Educator Biographies (Best Seller)
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle
3. 101 Secrets For Your Twenties
Like The Defining Decade, 101 Secrets For Your Twenties is a great read for anybody approaching their twenties and would make an excellent college graduation gift. The book is filled with wisdom on everything from dating to career to following your dreams and keeping the right attitude. So you can best navigate those waters of being a young adult by reading from the book. Paul says this book is not meant to be a step-by-step plan but a conversation starter and an instigator to prompt us to think, speak and believe differently about lives.
The author does it effectively, and he weaves a great sense of humor through every page of the book. So rather than feeling like you’re being lectured about these 101 secrets, you feel like hanging out with an older friend helping you laugh as you digest a lot of wisdom-filled nuggets.
We must sail our ship instead of drowning, trying to swim to everyone else’s. This is good stuff in the working world. The biggest risk of your twenties would never be taking any risks. If you’re going to have a lot of fun while you digest a lot of insightful, wisdom-filled nuggets, recommend the book.
Author: Paul Angone
Average Rating: 4.6/5
Category: Business Motivation & Self-Improvement, Leadership & Professional Humor
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Kindle | Audio CD
4. Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art
Breath highlights the significant role proper breathing can play in improving our physical health, mental clarity, athletic performance, and overall quality of life. The author, James Nestor, has packed this book with the latest research on reading. He talks about paranoia, yoga, and people who’ve cured themselves of various ailments by changing how they breathe. Breathing is something that is supposed to be natural to us.
We take 25,000 breaths on average every day. Yet, Nestor says most of us are not breathing correctly. He says this is because of evolution. Our skulls and nasal cavities have become smaller as we’ve evolved, leading to respiratory problems. While we can’t change that, we can make subtle changes in our breathing to improve our health.
There are two that the author recommends. The first, he says, when it comes to breathing, shut your mouth, breathe only from your nose. In fact, he put himself up for an experiment at Stanford, where his nasal cavity was plugged for ten days. He could breathe only from his mouth, and specific parameters were measured. His blood pressure increased by 13 points. His heart rate variability plummeted, putting him in a state of hypertension when he could breathe from his nose. Things went back to normal.
Scientists say this is because our noses act as filters. They want the air, the moisture in the air. The second thing, he says, is that we need to breathe less. He means that we need to breathe slower and softer, has longer exhalations, and increase the pauses between exhales and exhales. Also, he talks about the ancient yogis from India, the planning and techniques, and the primary methods that achieve that.
While he speaks about many, he mentions two, in particular Ujjain, where you make a horse sound at the back of the throat while breathing, and primary, where you make a humming noise, and bravery, in particular, is known to increase the nitric oxide levels. It is antibacterial, and it’s a neurotransmitter that helps us relax. You will know about many health and psychological tips similar to The Defining Decade.
Author: James Nestor
Average Rating: 4.7/5
Category: Health, Fitness & Dieting, Anatomy (Best Seller)
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Spiral-bound
5. Attached
Attached is the new science of adult attachment and how it can help you find and keep love. It enables you to understand why people are the way they are in the relationship and why they are needy in some relationships, not others.
So it’s based on the fact that each person falls under one of three attachment styles. Some anxious, secure, avoidant, and anxious people love intimacy. They love to be with a partner all the time, but they’re quick to doubt the relationship as soon as someone shows signs of avoidance.
An anxious attachment style wants to be very close to their partner. They want to know where they stand in the relationship, and their anxiety is activated when they have doubts. It’s not until they get reassurance or confirmation that a relationship is okay that they feel less anxious again. So there’s another way better description in the book.
Relationships can seem a vast part of your life, and people with an anxious attachment style tend to be very sensitive to what goes on in the relationship. Then the next attachment style is security, so secure people know how to cope with their feelings.
They’re usually excellent at communicating what they need and want no relationship. They crave intimacy. So people with avoidant attachment styles need to be self-sufficient. This book helps you identify your attachment style, similar to The Defining Decade.
Author: Amir Levine, Rachel Heller
Average Rating: 4.7/5
Category: Love, Dating & Attraction, Communication & Social Skills
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Spiral-bound
Last Words
Suppose you are interested in psychology and enjoy books that blend research with practical advice to understand and face life transitions. In that case, you might find these psychology or personal development books appealing.
More Self-help & Psychology Books:
Books Similar To The Power Of Now
Books Like Maybe You Should Talk To Someone
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