“How can you read so much?”
“Where do you find the time to read?”
“Reading books on your free time? Why do that — the course literature is enough.”
People seem to think that the university has a monopoly on education. They think they’ll learn everything they need in school. Is this true?
I think not.
I think public education is way too narrow.
So I read as much as I can on my free time!
For me, a real education means self-education. No one will “give me” education. Not even the university.
In a few months I’ll be graduating from university, getting my degree. Just like many others. Will this make my degree less valuable? Should I be worried about the competition?
–I’m not.
But I understand why many people think like that. And maybe they should think like that. . . . because many of them don’t have any real knowledge.
A degree is just a piece of paper. Just because someone hands you a piece of paper doesn’t automatically mean that you’re smart or important. Nor does it entitle you to a high wage.
But if you read lots of good books, learn useful things and know how to which things in what context–then you’re onto something. (Keeping a book summary book is a great way for doing this.)
I feel like my peers read maybe 1-5 popular books per year to keep up with the trends. They read silly detective stories. Compare that to a person who reads 20-100 serious books per year, and applies the lessons.
These two people are NOT comparable, over time.
When you become a regular reader of quality books you gain knowledge. You learn to combine, synthesize and apply ideas from different disciplines in a way that most people cannot.
This is an acquired skill, and it takes practice to acquire it.
What is “real” education?
Education, for me, is meant to provide confidence, competence, and freedom. Does school provide that? I don’t think so.
You’re “forced” to learn outdated theory and politically correct bullshit. In real life you’re free to learn whatever you choose.
Few people become rich or successful without being voracious readers. The only exception that comes to mind is Rick Ross (not the rapper). He became a multimillionaire without knowing how to read. But he was a big time drug dealer. And you’re probably not.
What books should you read?
Here’s a list of 23 books I recommend for you.
Biographies
Caesar: Life of a Colossus — Adrian Goldsworthy
Very detailed depiction of Caesar’s entire life as well as other important events in the Roman Empire. You’ll learn much about the history of Rome; how they waged war, and how the political system worked.
Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte — Louis Bourrienne
To my knowledge, this is the longest and most accurate biography on Napoleon Bonaparte’s life. You may consider reading an easier and “more entertaining” book on Napoleon before reading this one, to get more associations in your head. (If you already have some associations it becomes easier, and more fun, to keep building on that. It’s a smart learning hack.)
You can get the books for free on Project Gutenberg if you care to read 1200+ pages on your computer screen.
Ali was one hell of a guy.
What I like most about this book is that it gives such a clear peek into Ali’s work ethic and mindset.
There’s was no coincidence that he became as successful as he was. He outworked every other boxer. He outpromoted every other boxer. He outentertained every other boxer.
The Strange Life of Nikola Tesla: Autobiography
46 pages of awesomeness. The fact that Tesla wrote down his life story in just 46 pages says a lot about his personality. Tesla was probably the closest thing to a superhuman genius this world has ever seen. His childhood was very strange.
You can get the PDF for free here.
Arnold Schwarzenegger — Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story.
I loved reading this book. Arnold is so much smarter than he is given credit for.
It was especially interesting to learn about his humble beginnings, his raw ambition, and his inability to compromise on goals. His methods for marketing, networking and self-discipline are also useful to learn about.
The Wolf of Wall Street — Jordan Belfort
This is a well-written and entertaining book. It contains a number of practical lessons on business, management, salesmanship and charisma if you read between the lines.
Perhaps the best lesson from the book is: how can you become as good at telling entertaining stories as Jordan Belfort?
Philosophy
Ayn Rand wrote Atlas Shrugged & The Fountainhead for the purpose of portraying the ideal man. She succeeded. Read the book!
Ayn Rand depicts the boring and empty lives that most people lead; lives lacking in integrity and self-respect, which ultimately leads them to seek external validation to make up for their inner emptiness.
Be selfish for “man’s ego is the fountainhead of all progress.”
This book is a lot like Atlas Shrugged — only better. It’s more concise (700 pages vs 1200 pages) and entertaining. In Atlas, the story suffers from Rand’s lengthy philosophical outbursts, and the philosophy sometimes suffers from her lengthy descriptions of the environment. In Fountainhead there isn’t much of that.
The main reason to read The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged is because these books will strengthen the mental image about who you want to become and the life you want to lead.
Man’s Search for Meaning — Victor Frankl
Victor Frankl is a Jewish survivor of the Nazi concentration camps. But he’s also a smart psychologist and a writer.
In this book he thoroughly analyzes what made the terrible circumstances of concentration camps endurable to some prisoners — such as himself — but unendurable to most others.
What gives life meaning in such a situation? Why do some people break down while others stay (somewhat) stable under gruesome conditions?
Frankl has written more books, but they suck. This one is good. It’ll teach you much about the power of visualization and mental rehearsal.
Complete Essays of Michele de Montaigne
This is the best collection of philosophical essays I have ever read. Much better than Emerson’s or Bacon’s
Have you heard the Shakespearean quote, “Nothing is either good or bad but thinking makes it so” ? Shakespeare stole that from Montaigne, who said that “things are not bad in themselves, but our cowardice makes them so.”
Montaigne is also the guy who created the French word “essay“. Essay = to test your thoughts on a topic. He is also one of my role models when it comes to practicing metacognition and self-awareness.
Book 3 is the best one, in my opinion.
Spiritual Enlightenment: The Damndest Thing — Jed Mckenna
The first book of a trilogy about enlightenment.
If you think enlightenment means to experience a state of constant bliss, and that it is easily attained, think again…
Jed McKenna is a great wrter. His sense of simplicity, taken to the maximum, permeates through all the books. Even the design and text.
If you like this book, you will also like the other two books in the trilogy. And the follow-up book, Jed Mckenna’s Theory of Everything: The Enlightened Perspective. They’re all written in the same characteristic way.
Marcus Aurelius was the Roman philosopher king. Meditations was one of his private journals, in which he carried on a philosophical dialogue with himself to attain accurate thinking and make wiser decisions.
This is the single best piece of stoic literature. You don’t need to read Epictetus, Seneca, Zeno, and so on (unless you want to). This book will give you 80 % of the content you’re looking for if you’re interested in Stoicism.
I’ve listened to the audio book about 20 times for repetition’s sake.
The most important thing I got from it is to always ask myself:
“Is this one of the necessary things?”
You can get the PDF for free here.
Self-Development
The Law of Success in Sixteen Lessons — Napoleon Hill
The only book you need to read from Napoleon Hill, and really, traditional self-development. Every other book in the genre is merely a knock-off. Save yourself some time and read this book thoroughly instead.
Don’t read Think and Grow Rich or Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude. Read the original book. Always try to get as close to the source as possible, instead of settling for dumbed-down versions of the same material.
Flow — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Don’t worry, you don’t need to know how to pronounce his last name to read the book.
This is a good book in which you’ll learn the psychology of how to get yourself into flow — the state in which you do optimal work, feel awesome and do little conscious thinking.
You’ll also learn a lot of cool and useful trivia. I highly recommend you read this book. I read it a few years ago after one of the richest men in Sweden (now dead) told me to read it. He told me it was the most important book he had ever read.
The Magic of Thinking Big — David J Schwartz
Probably my second favorite traditional self-development book. Contains a lot of concrete and practical advice that you can immediately implement. It also contains plenty of ways for you to think more efficiently when faced with certain challenging situations.
177 Mental Toughness Secrets of the World Class — Steven Siebold
This book has a cheesy cover, but it’s short and easy to read. You can read it in one or two sittings.
It’s about the 177 differences between champions and average people.
If you aren’t a big reader, and if you aren’t already “super-knowledgeable” about self-development, I would recommend that you begin by reading this book because it’s very easy to read and it gives a great overview.
The War of Art — Steven Pressfield
Great book on developing a stronger work ethic. Teaches you to disregard any illusions of easy success. Just focus on doing the work, and it’ll turn out well eventually. Beat the resistance every day.
If you’ve read my book Breaking out of Homeostasis, you’ll find that what Steven Pressfield refers to as “the resistance” is probably homeostasis. However, Pressfield is a lot more spiritual/metaphysical about it.
You will be inspired by reading it.
Other Books
The 4-Hour Work Week — Tim Ferriss
The book title is an oversell, just like everything else from Tim Ferris. Working four hours per week is for lazy people. The law of compensation is always at work. You either outwork and outsmart people for a number of years, or you work slowly all your life, like the average person does.
However, this book has a lot of practically useful tips. It’ll also open up your mind to some of the things that are possible to do — professionally speaking — if you do things differently.
The Laptop Millionaire — Mark Anastasi
Even if you currently don’t have any ambitions of making money online you should still read this book, because it’s filled with cool ideas and strategies. Many are outdated, and the author exaggerates greatly about how much money you can make. But you will get many good ideas. And remember, if you get even one good idea from a book, it was a book worth reading!
There’s zero fluff in it (except for some crappy product recommendation links).
Confessions of an Advertising Man — David Ogilvy
Ogilvy was one of the greatest admen ever — and a great writer. If you’re into marketing, advertising, or writing, you need to read this book. It’s filled with brilliant stuff from the first page to the last.
The book is short, but highly concrete. It contains many practical tips on writing, presenting and pitching, and creating ads.
It took me a surprisingly long time to finish this book, because I transcribed almost the entire book.
Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? — Seth Godin
If you’re an employee looking to get an edge over your peers, you must read this book. Here’s how it works: You must become indispensable. When you are indispensable you will get paid much more, because the company desperately needs you.
And how do you become indispensable?
By becoming the go-to guy for different things. By handling essential clients. By over-delivering value. By daring to oppose the status quo. By daring to speak up and give useful feedback when other people are yes-men. Also: Be sure to listen to or read the summary of my conversation with Seth Godin for Future Skills.
Free book written by one of the smartest and most successful people in the world. I highly recommend it.
The first half of the book is devoted to Dalio’s life philosophy and the second half is devoted to managerial principles. I wrote a summary article on it you can read.
* * *
Resources:
If you want more no-nonsense tips, subscribe to my newsletter.
In my newsletter I share content not posted on the site. Don’t worry, I don’t send emails every day. If you should find me obnoxious, you are free to unsubscribe at any time you want.
Furthermore, if you liked this article, I recommend my book Breaking out of Homeostasis.
You’ll learn (1) what it takes to change your life, (2) how to be more adaptable and stress-tolerant, (3) how to use your brain more, with 200 unique exercises I invented, (4) how to concentrate better, (5) how to learn faster through improved pattern recognition, and much much more….
“Breaking out of Homeostasis is one of the most important books I have read in a long time. You read one or two books every few years that completely change the way you see the world and this is definitely one of them.”
~Martin Sandquist, Billionaire (Founder Lynx Asset Management)
* * *
Check out the Top Posts
Subscribe to my Newsletter (I only send emails a few times per year)
* * *
I think i read only Atlas Shrugged of all these. But i already added Flow and War of Art to my cart in amazon. Great recommendations, Ludvig.
I finished read Meditations — Marcus Aurelius, this book was amazing! Gave me more than many popular guides book. Would you recommend me another ancient philosophy books? In the Internet, I not found any trustworthy basic list ancient phylophosy and general philosophy.
Rubens,
I’m not Ludvig, but I did get an undergrad degree in philosophy. If you’re looking for practical advice from ancient philosophers, I highly recommend “Letters from a Stoic” by Seneca.
My favorite book is “Nicomachean Ethics” by Aristotle. That provided me with some of the moral foundations I still used today, and has great insight about right vs wrong and friendship.
Lastly, the ancient philosophy staple is Plato’s “Republic”. You can really get a sense as to whether or not you’d enjoy that book by reading “The Parable of the Cave”, which can be found with any sort of quick google search.
Hope this helps.
Chad
Hey Rubens,
First off: Chad’s advice is good. Those books are some of the most “patented” philosophical books.
If you liked Meditations you may also like:
–> Epictetus “Enchiridion”
–> Seneca (various books — just google for them)
And here’s an add-on: Stick to the old “classical” works in philosophy. Not the stuff written in the last 10 years (unless it’s a primer book). You’ll learn why if you read my rant below.
LONG RANT ON BOOKS – OLD VS NEW:
–>You REALLY can’t judge a book by its cover. Because older books often look like crap and their titles are awful. Yet the best books are the old patented historical books. Most (90+%) modern books are different. . .
. . .And you can’t judge them by their cover either. Because they often LOOK great and have GREAT titles. But they’re a poor use of time. I think the reason for this is because the book publishing industry is becoming increasingly competitive. To sell more books to the dumbed-down masses you don’t want to make a really good book with many original ideas.
You want a popular theme everyone can identify with. Like Malcolm Gladwell’s “David vs Goliath”. And that book is an entertaining read, but it has very little long-term practical value. It’s mostly just emotional stories. This is what sells best — and why Gladwell is so popular. No one does this better than him.
Anyway, the point is that the vast majority of books in the last 10+ years have good copywriting, advertising, and a nice cover. But they only contain a few big ideas; which are rarely new. The ideas are usually just rehashed from older, better books.
Yeah seems likely
I think the most powerful book of all time is the Qur’an in terms of moving you deeply within if read thoughtfully. I would recommend it to anybody and everybody. It is equally satisfing to the intelligent as well as ordinary mind. It is a remedy of all types of thinking shortcommings in an extremly delicate and subtle manner. The quote “two birds by a stone” implies achieving two goals by one action. I would say the Qur’an achieves dozens of goals in a prodigiously efficient manner. It can be read not only by religious people but also by others though it itself says that only the ‘fearing’ can truly profit from it. It has hidden meanings (obviously due to its effective structure). Can also be read strictly as a self-help book. Go pick it up. Open it. And now read it ONLY as a guide in any matter YOU want unbiasly. You will feel your sprits lifted up in a moderate manner not to firey and not mundane but moderate as reality is.
Sadly the Qur’an is one of the most untranslatable books ever more even than eloquent poetry like keats. This is because of the depth of meanings it contains in a single word. The first seven verses of the Quran
In the name of Allah, the merciful,the compassionate
All praise is due to Allah the Lord of the worlds
The merciful, the compassionate
Master of the day of judgement
You alone do we worship and you alone do we seek for help
Guide us to the straight path
The path of those whom you have bestowed your blessings; those whose (portion) is not wrath nor those who have gone astray
Keep up the fantasic work! Well done! I decided to leave a comment because reading your blog left me speechless, I just had to say somthing ;) Most blogs I come across are narcissistic rubbish and I feel robbed of the 4 minutes of my life that I will never get back after reading the first few paragraphs. Thank you for not wasting my time, for being clear, to the point, and unsympathetic even if it does sound ” robotic” …..btw Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell sparked a light in me…any thoughts there?
Hey Angela!
Thank you very much. I’m glad you feel that way.
Outliers:
It was a while since I read that book (3 years ago perhaps). I think it was worth reading. Knowing some of the things I know today I would probably be less inspired by it though. For example, the 10000h rule is something I am very critical of, but it DOES serve as a good example. But a lot of people have completely misunderstood it… Anyway, I think Malcolm Gladwel is a great author, he uses “personal case studies” to back up his points really convincingly.
Just finished reading Tesla’s autobiography as per your recommendation. I’ve had quite an interest in Nikola Tesla and his life and inventions for the past couple years. I already that knew he was a superhuman genius with a mind and capacity for intellectual thought transcending pretty much everyone throughout history… though I didn’t know he was such a good writer.
Part of me wants to be envious of his “talent” or “gift”, but I also know that he worked HARD AS HELL to achieve what he achieved. As he said himself: “My belief is firm in a law of compensation. The true rewards are ever in proportion to the labour and sacrifices made.” I suppose this is very true, but I still wish my IQ level were a little, just a little, closer to his…
Thank you for the recommendation, Ludvig! Next up, I’m going to finish The Four Hour Workweek, and then probably read Spiritual Enlightenment: The Damnedest Thing. I trust your judgement when you say he is an amazing writer :)
That’s awesome, Alexander.
Tesla was indeed a genius (genetically speaking). He wasn’t normal on any level, as you now know. And then add to that the fact that he “practiced” harder than just about anyone (at science). That makes for an extreme combination. His IQ doesn’t have much to do with the fact that his brain was weird and (like Einstein) had a very heightened ability to think visually. That was his strength/unfair advantage.
Indeed. He was a great writer, I just wish he would have written a bit more.
This is my kind of list. I’m going to check out quite a few of these titles. I don’t trust everyone’s book recommendations. I give people a trial. If they suggest a book or film and tell me how much I’ll love it, and then when I read or watch the thing it’s a waste of my time. I judge that person and never trust them with recommendations again.
You, however, told me a couple of months back to read The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. And so I did… Let’s just say you are one of the people whose recommendations I can now trust.
Haha, thanks Micah!
I agree with you though. You only get one (or a few) of those recommendations, then you’re screwed — seen from the other person’s perspective — if it didn’t work out!
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the book(s) once you’ve read them. Would be fascinating to hear your take, since I like all these books a lot.
I’ve read a decent chunk of these books already, but I found a lot of ones that look great that I haven’t heard of before. I usually tend to stay away from the biography/autobiography sections, but your selection has made me question that. Perhaps I should check out the Arnold and Muhammad Ali books simply to get into them.
By the way, The Meditations is awesome. I read that a few years ago and soaked up everything that I could.
Thanks for the great recommendations. I read about 70-80 or so books a year too so I’m constantly looking for new ones to check out.
Thanks, Steve.
Yeah. I think we’ve read a lot of similar books!
Definitely check out both Arnold & Ali. (btw, Ali is one of Arnold’s role models. Especially in terms of marketing and personal branding.)
I’m totally late to the party on this list (been swamped with work lately!), but I really enjoyed the collection.
Linchpin is one of my absolute favorite books, and I’ve bought it for several people already! I just downloaded Tesla’s biography and bought Muhammad Ali’s biography! Thanks for putting this together :)
Cool, Chris!
You would be a linchpin, if you worked for a company, that is. :)
I couldn’t agree more that reading is so important to becoming a successful person.
Most people look at me like I’m an idiot when I tell them that I wake at 4am every morning to read.
“Why?” They ask with a stupid look of incredulity.
Pro-active, self-education is what separates the winners from the losers.
Good post man
Indeed, Ryan.
” I wake at 4am every morning to read”
— Very nice!
I’ve actually read a few of those and they’re truly inspiring to say the very least. Also extremely spot on about “only education being self-education” – it never ceases to amaze me how people think that college-education is the only parameter for intelligence. I’m i’m like just whoa..
Great post. great list.
Walt
Thanks a bunch, Walt.
You’ve got a very cool gravatar image! ;)
I like the new look of your site. Although I’ve been a regular reader all my life, since putting more effort into writing I only read 10-20 books a year instead of 40-50. I have only read a couple of your list. Right now I’m reading books on writing by Stephen King and Anne Lamott.
Thanks Dan. Glad to hear it.
Stephen King is awesome. But I’ve only read one of his books thoroughly: On Writing. I guess you’ve read it too!
There are much better books than this……and no one cares for you’re book recommendations anyway…
I’m sure. Do tell. Which books?
“and no one cares for you’re book recommendations anyway…”
–Is there anyone stopping you from making your own book list?
I honestly have not read any of those books in your list! I agree that non-fiction biographies, etc. are useful self-education. Nowadays with the advent of the social media and the mobile gadgets, it’s so easy to be stuck in games and facebook. Unfortunately, it’s not really the books (or ebooks) that are gaining from these!
I am more into self-help and management books. I like Stephen Covey, Dale Carnegie among the well-known ones. I have realized I have benefited from these books that I decided to do book reviews in my blog to share those learnings and ‘pay it forward’.
“Nowadays with the advent of the social media and the mobile gadgets, it’s so easy to be stuck in games and facebook”
— Yes. Few people in my generation read any books.
“I decided to do book reviews in my blog ”
Yes I’ve read one or two of those!
These are some great books! I’ve added a few of them to my book list. Personally I enjoy any John Maxwell books.
Great.
I’ve not read any book from him. But seeing as how your passion is leadership, I would guess that he’s a great role model.
Hi Ludvig,
The very first time I finished reading a crime mystery novel, I vowed never to read another book again unless I was learning something useful. Whether that might be personal development, reading body language or even how to fix a dam jet-ski! It was still learning new usable skills.
I always find it strange meeting new people who on paper have the highest of qualifications, multiple degrees and hold down successful (well paid) careers but in reality are quite dumb and lack serious common sense.
I read a really good piece online about how school standardize testing and essays are wasting time. Kids need to be taught how to think and not programmed to know answers. I tend to agree.
Thanks for list, I’m not surprised – you always make so many reference to books in your writing.
Have a good weekend
Naomi
How do you teach someone to think?
Hi Adgrund,
I’m glad you asked. By teaching a person to think you enable them to problem solve, when you can effectively problem solve you can achieve anything. For example you may be fantastic at maths and got A* for every test, but you’ve only been taught to apply your skills in a structured, educational, ‘pen and paper’ setting. However if when your taught to ‘think’ your maths skills can be applied in every aspect when you need it throughout life. Maybe i’m not explaining it right but here a link to video which hopefully can do a better job then me!
http://beingthechangeiwishtosee.com/4671/what-teachers-make/
Naomi,
Thank you for your reply, but my question was not “why” but “how”. I have heard plenty of rhetoric about “teaching students to think” and I have seen it attempted in classrooms, but I have never seen it done successfully. I am rather of the opinion that the most one can hope for is to overcome a sloppy person’s /habit/ of not thinking, while the /ability/ to think is purely genetic and hence unteachable. What say you?
Hi Adgrund, I gave the ‘why’ answer instead of the ‘how’ because there is not enough hours in day for me to explain this one!
But I believe the student has to be ‘susceptible’ to this method of teaching for it to work. I don’t believe any type of teaching can be a ‘one way will work for all’ attitude. Which explains why it works for some and not others.
I don’t believe it’s purely comes down to genetics (although it’s part of it), I think it comes down to how well a teacher can access their student and know how to best penetrate their thought patterns to achieve desired results. But with so many other kids to teach it’s easier and more convenient for a teacher to ‘label’ a student and move onto the next one.
“The very first time I finished reading a crime mystery novel, I vowed never to read another book again unless I was learning something useful. Whether that might be personal development, reading body language or even how to fix a dam jet-ski! It was still learning new usable skills”
— Haha. You are a remarkable woman, Naomi!
This obviously reminds me of Patrik’s recent article (I think you contributed?). There are so many books that I need to read it’s probably time to get myself a Kindle or whatever they are called…
I have been lazy over the last few years, only reading the books that force me to open the cover to. Years ago I read everything in site – thanks for giving me another motivational kick to implement this into my daily life.
As for my recommendation. ‘Yes Man’ – If you haven’t read it… do it.
Haha yes. I believe Patrik was inspired by this one. :)
Cool. I am now looking into it. Thanks Jamie!
Seems like a good list of books. Cant say ive read any of them however.
But i got a question about your book. You claim that we shouldnt trust our emotions/brain’s reward system. But i read in the book ‘How We Decide’ – Jonah Lehrer that emotions are almost always right (gut feeling wins). What is your take on this and have you read that book Ludvig?
Mike,
The books are great. That’s why I put them there.
While I haven’t read that book completely, I’ve read a summary of it, and I’ve skimmed it. First off,
The field of neuroscience is far from fully resolved:
For example, Lehrer claims that the PFC completely regulates the placebo effect. When I checked that claim I found some scientific papers and other sources stating that it’s probable, but far from certain.
Point being: it’s hard to say 100 % right/wrong. And the same goes for gut feeling & brain’s reward system. It’s impossible to formulate a golden principle that’s equally accurate for everyone.
With that said,
— I mostly agree with Lehrer. I think you should trust your emotions and brain’s reward system, but ONLY when you’ve taken care to DELIBERATELY enforce a habit/mindset/action the way you want it to be. That’s often not the case.
Most people walk around with a ton of unconsciously implemented bad habits and suboptimal behaviors that they don’t think about. And homeostasis doesn’t distinguish between a bad or a good habit, it wants to keep it just the same and will defend it with all of its arsenal.
While I was having lunch, I was thinking about how I could explain that I barely read 5 books per year. I’ve been able to spot several things:
– I don’t have the solid habit of reading yet, but it’s getting better, I read now for an hour first thing in the morning, I’m less prone to fall into some cumbersome circumstances about “something important to do that NEEDS to be done”. I really enjoy reading in the morning now.
– I don’t really read fiction books of stories, and most of my readings are either related to self-development/lifestyle and sports/nutrition. What does that mean? Well these are book that always lead to a dialogue with myself or lead to think more about this topic; so for the oncoming months, my mind still evolves around what I learnt from the book. Hence I don’t ‘jump’ directly on another one.
– I’m starting to be more and more selective in my life in general, and I guess I somehow avoid to R4R (neologism based on Ferris’ W4W) :)
Sounds good, aZr!
“Hence I don’t ‘jump’ directly on another one.”
— Cool. It’s the opposite for me. I always want to read more after I am finished with a book. I have a constant hunger to learn more. This is good motivation, but as you say, sometimes it’s essential to reflect on what you learn. I hope my note-taking and book summarizing takes care of that sufficiently.
You read 80 books last year? I’m interested in learning things too and I read (maybe 30???) Books in 2013. But i cant see how i could read much more.
It’s not that im a slow reader, i just dont see how you can read that many books while having a life (working/studying). Got any specific reading strategies? Do you speed-read? Id like to know
Victor,
I read ca perhaps 60% of books on my computer (pdf) and 40 % of my books in physical format. I read very quickly on my computer. I read and take notes slowly in physical format. (But I believe my retention is a lot higher. When you physically take notes or draw, you activate your brain more than if you write on a keyboard or copy-paste.)
I read 80 books because I prioritized it over school (when it wasn’t rewarding). And because I wasn’t as busy last year as I am now, like I said. I do have specific strategies for reading, but not to read faster. I don’t speed-read. I just make sure I get up early in the morning and read before anything else. And read at night. So I consistently read every day.
Definitely some books I will have to check out. What do you think of Robert Kiyosaki? I think he’s great. Have you ready any of his stuff? The classic Rich Dad, Poor Dad?
Cool.
I read that book when I was 18. I haven’t read any other of his books. I think he’s a charismatic salesman, but I don’t much else about him. The only really key thing I got from him was to not waste money. Only invest money into income-generating assets.