This Week’s BIG Idea
I don’t read for its own sake, but because it has a purpose. Knowledge is freedom. Over the past two years, I’ve read hundreds of books, but it isn’t about numbers or vanity metrics. It’s about what the contents of those books enabled me to do. Ever since I picked up a Kindle and started reading on a daily basis, I started meditating, exercising, eating healthily, and journaling. And those are a few of the life-changing benefits I’ve read from reading books.
As I said before, reading books exposes you to ideas that took others their entire lives to figure out. In a way, reading is an unfair advantage and the difference between a person who doesn’t read and one that does is abysmal. Finding the right book to read can be a hassle and even when I came up with my own system to pick the “right” book (more on this here), the truth is there is no right and wrong way to do so. So go ahead and choose your next read and if you’re struggling, you can always use the books I’ve read and summarize as a recommendation source. You’ll be surprised how much you improve over time and how much your life changes.
What I’m Working on
I’ve been reading a series of books this past week. By the time this article goes live, there should be a summary of The War of Art on the site. The book was recommended to me by a family member a few days ago, but I’ve known about it for years. Also, I’ve been reading Itchy, Tasty, a book that chronicles the development of the Resident Evil series of games.
At first, I dismissed the book because it seemed like a series of blog posts, but as I kept reading, I found an invaluable resource for fans of Japanese development. To me, Japanese development was always covered in a veil of mystery, so reading about how those games got made is fascinating. Finally, I just started reading Scott Adams’s How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big. In the book, Adams explains how he went from a corporate job to becoming a cartoonist and all the failures that took place in between. While this is “sort of a biography”, the non-fiction book packs a bunch of lessons and ideas anyone can benefit from.
What I’m Listening to
I’ve made some changes to my podcast subscriptions these past few days. Right now, I’m catching up on Ali Abdaal’s Deep Dive, a podcast I find to be a great resource for book recommendations since Abdaal interviews several authors. In his latest podcast, he interviewed Laura Razavi, the author of the upcoming book Global Natives. A lot of people who read Tim Ferriss’s The 4-Hour Workweek thought about becoming digital nomads at some point, this involved traveling around the world with a laptop. So how do you actually do it and what do you need? Find the answers to those questions and many more in this episode.
What I’m Reading
- The War of Art by Steven Pressfield: this is one of those books that kept coming up in conversations, podcasts, and videos, and it’s excellent. In this non-fiction book, Steven Pressfield discusses the creative process. I’d recommend this book to anyone who struggles to express creativity or is looking to overcome what Pressfield calls the “Resistance”, an unseen force that prevents us from achieving our best, creative selves.
What I’m Watching
I like seeing how other people study. Although I’ve read several books on the subject (such as Jade Bowler’s The Only Study Guide You’ll Ever Need), I enjoy watching videos like this one because I learn new study techniques.
This Week’s Quote
“If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.”
Lucius Annaeus Seneca
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