It is time to let the cat out of the bag.

I’m writing a book. And not just any book, an amazingly helpful book.

I can’t divulge many details just yet, but once I get the OK from my publisher, I’ll let you all know more.

What I can tell you is that, essentially, I am writing The Purpose Driven Life for today’s world. Back in 2002 when Pastor Rick Warren published The Purpose Driven Life, it sold 60 million copies and continues to be THE book when it comes to spiritual realization from a Christian worldview.

Since 2002, a lot has changed. One of the most significant of those changes is the development of smartphones and how they have managed to enslave us to ourselves. There are currently 2.4 billion smartphone users around the world and each and every one of them has questioned at some point:

Is my phone healthy for me? Or am I better off without it?

My book is going to answer those questions. It aims to guide the reader toward a deeper understanding of their mission in life and their phone’s place in their story of salvation.

I had such a great time reading about how technology affects us physically, mentally, and spiritually that I wanted to share with you some of the books I read while writing my own.

While you wait for my book to launch, why not take a look at some of the titles that helped mold it?

The Purpose Driven Life: What On Earth am I Here For? (Zondervan, 2002) by Rick Warren is undoubtedly the greatest self-help book to ever be written at 60 million copies sold to date. This shows that people have a hunger to regain their focus and understand their purpose through Christianity. Since its publication, however, new technological distractions such as cell phones, social media, and a myriad of streaming video platforms (just to name a few) have blurred our sense of purpose. My book takes this focus and juxtaposes it to call readers toward living a happy life by sacrificing their screens in order to realize not only their purpose, but how technology should fit into their lives instead of pulling them away from their God-given mission.

The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Souls (W. W. Norton & Company 2011) by Nicholas Carr was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. The book provides the best scientific and biological assessment of how technology, specifically the Internet, has changed the ways our minds work for the worse. It analyzes current research and historical proofs of how the human mind has evolved when advances in technology occur and the fundamental thesis claims that or current state is one of distraction, addiction, and loneliness. My book builds upon Carr’s research and provides up-to-date scientific research to aid the reader in understanding advantages and disadvantages of technology when it comes to their mind, body, and soul.

Hamlet’s Blackberry: Building a Good Life in the Digital Age (Harper Perennial, 2011) by William Powers is another New York Times best seller. It is an autobiographical/ historical piece that puts Powers’ own smartphone addiction at the forefront of his writing career. He analyzes what happened to him in order to connect with the wider audience that shares his addictive inclinations. Then, he provides examples of historical parallels, figures in history whose advances in technology altered the way humanity strove for excellence. My book is similar in that it speaks to a very wide audience in easy-to-understand language, but it differs in that it provides a more precise philosophical and theological approach to dealing with devices. In short, it speaks more to the soul than to a lifestyle, which is the primary focus of Powers’ book.

Living Forward: A Proven Plan to Stop Drifting and Get the Life You Want (Baker Books, 2016) by Michel Hyatt and Daniel Harkavy is a at the top of the Amazon best selling books in the category of “Work Life Balance.” It doesn’t deal too much with technology, but it does highlight the basic tenets of living a good life and how to achieve the life you desire by intentionally planning it. As part of my book deals with life-planning, I wanted to place this book as a competitor because it parallels some of the points I make. What their book lacks, however, is the inclusion of the Christian’s mission of building God’s Kingdom as part of one’s life plan.

The War of Art (Black Irish Entertainment, LLC, 2012) by Steven Pressfield is a cult-classic for creatives. It is short, readable, and it speaks to the creative spirit within all of humanity. It establishes that the root of our lack of progress as people is Resistance and analyzes it from a myriad of personal, communal, and philosophical angles. Pressfield then shows us how to overcome Resistance. My book is different in that it joins the human’s will with the power of God to help overcome technological, as well as the spiritual, forms of Resistance in order to live lives of virtue, which result in true joy.

Off Balance: Getting Beyond the Work-Life Balance Myth to Personal and Professional Satisfaction (Avery, 2011) by Matthew Kelly is another top-of-the-list book for the category of “Work life Balance” on Amazon.com. Kelly is the CEO of three Fortune 500 companies and he also runs a successful religious ministry. I saw him speak once and purchased a few of his books and found that he has a similar mission in life, namely to help people live the joy of the Gospel in every aspect of their lives. This book give great advice on how to do that. Interestingly enough, given Kelly is a religious man, this book is written in a secular voice. My book takes his advice and unites it with Catholic ideals.

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity (Penguin Books, 2015 revised) by David Allen is the #1 best seller in the category of Personal Time Management. For some it is labeled “The Bible” of personal productivity. My book, however, actually uses the actual Bible for personal productivity. While Allen’s book is by far the most successful when it comes to managing one’s life, my book takes a step further by managing one’s soul.

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracting World (Grand Central Publishing, 2016) by Cal Newport is a New York Times best-seller that teaches the reader how to focus. It is the quintessential book for everyone who finds themselves distracted at or by work, diversion, technology, or any other stimuli. For a secular book, it actually does a decent job of educating the reader with good, philosophical undertones. However, it misses the mark on many spiritual points, especially concerning the human will as “destructible”. My book takes a more orthodox approach providing the reader with the richness and fullness of the Catholic philosophical tradition (especially Thomism).

Those are just a few of the books that went in to creating my own. I wanted to highlight these because they made a tremendous impact on my life and I wanted them to do the same for you.

What about you, what books have you read in the last year that were life-changing?

Please share in the comments below.