You're Reading The Wrong Books!

[Greg R]

Many people have said in this forum, the number of books that you read does not directly correlate with income or success... Just as there are successful people who read books, there are plenty of successful people who have never picked up a single self-help or business book.

Maybe if I read another book, I will find success.

Reading another book will NOT give you success.

If fact, you are probably still waiting to take action on the other 50 books that you read this year.

Read a book and take action on it.

Read books that solve your problems.

Problem: What type of high performance fabric should I use for my prototype?

Book: "History of High Performance Fabrics", "Essays on High Performance Fabrics", "High Performance Fabrics and their Applications"... You get the idea.

*If you cannot take action after reading a book, you are reading the wrong book.

Forget what Tai Lopez said about read a book a week, or whatever reading regimen that he prescribes. F that.

Furthermore if you have a vague idea of what business you want to be in, you should not be reading motivational books, business books, or any other kind of entrepreneurial masturbation-type content.

You should be reading technical books, legislation, industry newsletters, or any other book that will help you solve a problem at hand.

I have one friend. Reads LOTS of books. Still in the slow lane. Dabbled here and there with a few businesses.

I have another friend. Worth millions. Puts together million dollar deals for marijuana grow facilities. Sells over a million dollars in cannabis per month. This friend does not know who Tony Robbins is or Robert Kiosaki. He reads technical books on growing. He pours over thousands of pages of legislation for days on end. This guy knows more about the legalities of his industry than any lawyer. For this guy, it is more efficient to buy new clothes instead of doing laundry. 24-7 this guy grinds and does not even have time to do his own laundry. And he definitely does not have time to read another book. When asked if he was affriad of cannabis becoming commoditized, he answered "I am the one making it a commodity."

Wow...

I've heard a member of this forum say that he treats books as if they were desert. He won't read until all of his work for the day is done. I like that.

To conclude:
Get technical. Use books as a tool to solve your own problems. Take action.

* Of course it's okay to read other books for leisure or spiritual purposes. Or audio books when driving (commuting is a sunk time cost, make it as productive as possible).

 

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[AlexLegault]

I like that.

Also known as, "Information Constipation" as quoted from Elliott Hulse:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5HZEtYzEBc

(Great vid btw, worth the watch)

"Just in time" learning is better than "Just for knowledge" learning.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Rep+

I echoed something similar a few months ago...

Book - The absolute BEST book you MUST read!

When people ask what they're reading here, I never respond because the books I'm reading isn't relevant to the people here.

The last 6 books I read were all pertaining to writing FICTION.

4 were books from fiction best-selling authors.

The other 2 were discussing narrative, dialogue, and character arcs.

Why am I reading these books? Because they help me learn a new craft: Writing FICTION.

Read for the problem you're solving or the skill you seek.

 

[Manchild_Unbound]

These are all amazing points.

As the dude who decided to post notes here I only do it because I was inspired by millionaire entrepreneur musician and author Derek Sivers, who has notes of his own on 200+ books. I do it mostly for books pertaining to pleasure, spiritual growth and whatever philosophy stimulates.

@MJ DeMarco Sine you are in the process of learning the craft of writing fiction, I have something that will be valuable for you: Story by Robert McKee I took notes on this one in order solve some problems of my own. I needed to brush up on the craft of fiction writing specifically for some storyboarding work.

 

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[GMSI7D]

Many people have said in this forum, the number of books that you read does not directly correlate with income or success... Just as there are successful people who read books, there are plenty of successful people who have never picked up a single self-help or business book.

Maybe if I read another book, I will find success.

Reading another book will NOT give you success.

If fact, you are probably still waiting to take action on the other 50 books that you read this year.

Read a book and take action on it.

Read books that solve your problems.

Problem: What type of high performance fabric should I use for my prototype?

Book: "History of High Performance Fabrics", "Essays on High Performance Fabrics", "High Performance Fabrics and their Applications"... You get the idea.

*If you cannot take action after reading a book, you are reading the wrong book.

Forget what Tai Lopez said about read a book a week, or whatever reading regimen that he prescribes. F that.

Furthermore if you have a vague idea of what business you want to be in, you should not be reading motivational books, business books, or any other kind of entrepreneurial masturbation-type content.

You should be reading technical books, legislation, industry newsletters, or any other book that will help you solve a problem at hand.

I have one friend. Reads LOTS of books. Still in the slow lane. Dabbled here and there with a few businesses.

I have another friend. Worth millions. Puts together million dollar deals for marijuana grow facilities. Sells over a million dollars in cannabis per month. This friend does not know who Tony Robbins is or Robert Kiosaki. He reads technical books on growing. He pours over thousands of pages of legislation for days on end. This guy knows more about the legalities of his industry than any lawyer. For this guy, it is more efficient to buy new clothes instead of doing laundry. 24-7 this guy grinds and does not even have time to do his own laundry. And he definitely does not have time to read another book. When asked if he was affriad of cannabis becoming commoditized, he answered "I am the one making it a commodity."

Wow...

I've heard a member of this forum say that he treats books as if they were desert. He won't read until all of his work for the day is done. I like that.

To conclude:
Get technical. Use books as a tool to solve your own problems. Take action.

* Of course it's okay to read other books for leisure or spiritual purposes. Or audio books when driving (commuting is a sunk time cost, make it as productive as possible).

i like your tag " entrepeuneurial masturbation"

do you really think that people are jerking off with business books ?

it sounds like porn for nerd


but nerds will win at the end.


never underestimate the power of strategy and perversity

 

[Greg R]

i like your tag " entrepeuneurial masturbation"

do you really think that people are jerking off with business books ?

View attachment 16372

I could be wrong, but I think MJ coined the term. He mentioned it in UNSCRIPTED . In Millionaire Fastlane , he referred to it as neurological flatulence which sounds equally as cool.

This definitely described me in the beginning of my journey. Just when you think you are doing all the right things, you realize that you've been led astray. That is why I examine things more closely these days. Instead of blindly following; now I question and do due diligence until I am completely satisfied that it is the right thing to incorporate in my life.

Cheers!

 

[MattR82]

Agreed so much.. TMF was the last book I read. Reading unscripted now but won't read another non fiction book for awhile I think. Mj has ruined them for me lol. I'm a bit interested in the stoics though.

"It" was one of my fave books as a kid and the movie reminded me how much I used to enjoy fiction. I thought the American tabloid series of books were cool too.

 

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[ExaltedLife]

Rep+
The last 6 books I read were all pertaining to writing FICTION.

4 were books from fiction best-selling authors.

The other 2 were discussing narrative, dialogue, and character arcs.

Why am I reading these books? Because they help me learn a new craft: Writing FICTION.

Read for the problem you're solving or the skill you seek.

I'll trade you two of my recommendations for two of yours:
1. The Art of Fiction by Ayn Rand
2. The Romantic Manifesto by Ayn Rand

 

[carlos_]

When asked if he was affriad of cannabis becoming commoditized, he answered "I am the one making it a commodity."

I didn't know Heisenberg went legit

Great post, will keep in mind to make sure I'm not falling into the trap of believing I'm acting - Entrepreneurial books can be incredibly exciting for all the ideas and dreams they inspire, but at the end of the day, if you didn't USE a piece of knowledge in that book to grow your business, you were really just reading it for entertainment

might as well be a lottery ticket at that point. I've heard it said some People don't buy the lottery ticket for the chance of winning, but for the two hours of dreaming and escapism they experience after buying

They ask: what would I do with $900Million?.... then go to bed and wake up to the same crappy life that's one of two things:

1. not crappy enough for them to realize that money is better spent on food/shelter/bettering themselves
2. Not good enough to provide them with satisfying life experiences that they would choose over a lottery ticket

I bought a lottery ticket one time in my life, and if I reflect back to that time, I was in the second category. Just not getting enough out of life, and too lazy to choose to better myself.
Today I'm out of that zone, but I still want more - so I'm here

 

[Andy Black]

Many people have said in this forum, the number of books that you read does not directly correlate with income or success... Just as there are successful people who read books, there are plenty of successful people who have never picked up a single self-help or business book.

Maybe if I read another book, I will find success.

Reading another book will NOT give you success.

If fact, you are probably still waiting to take action on the other 50 books that you read this year.

Read a book and take action on it.

Read books that solve your problems.

Problem: What type of high performance fabric should I use for my prototype?

Book: "History of High Performance Fabrics", "Essays on High Performance Fabrics", "High Performance Fabrics and their Applications"... You get the idea.

*If you cannot take action after reading a book, you are reading the wrong book.

Forget what Tai Lopez said about read a book a week, or whatever reading regimen that he prescribes. F that.

Furthermore if you have a vague idea of what business you want to be in, you should not be reading motivational books, business books, or any other kind of entrepreneurial masturbation-type content.

You should be reading technical books, legislation, industry newsletters, or any other book that will help you solve a problem at hand.

I have one friend. Reads LOTS of books. Still in the slow lane. Dabbled here and there with a few businesses.

I have another friend. Worth millions. Puts together million dollar deals for marijuana grow facilities. Sells over a million dollars in cannabis per month. This friend does not know who Tony Robbins is or Robert Kiosaki. He reads technical books on growing. He pours over thousands of pages of legislation for days on end. This guy knows more about the legalities of his industry than any lawyer. For this guy, it is more efficient to buy new clothes instead of doing laundry. 24-7 this guy grinds and does not even have time to do his own laundry. And he definitely does not have time to read another book. When asked if he was affriad of cannabis becoming commoditized, he answered "I am the one making it a commodity."

Wow...

I've heard a member of this forum say that he treats books as if they were desert. He won't read until all of his work for the day is done. I like that.

To conclude:
Get technical. Use books as a tool to solve your own problems. Take action.

* Of course it's okay to read other books for leisure or spiritual purposes. Or audio books when driving (commuting is a sunk time cost, make it as productive as possible).

I disagree.



... with the last statement.


I was doing a lot of travelling recently and stocked up on hours of podcasts "to make use of the dead time".

I found I was just filling my head up with noise and drowning out my own thoughts.

I'm not reading books at the moment, and I'm also not listening to podcasts - even when travelling.

I prefer now to travel in silence and let my brain chew on problems I have and draw lessons from actions taken and the results or lack of them.

I no longer think of travelling time as a sunk cost, but a precious time to let my brain catch up with where I've got to.

YMMV. Just food for thought.

 

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[Greg R]

I prefer now to travel in silence and let my brain chew on problems I have

Yes!

It is a double edge sword and I think you are on to something here.

If you always try to preoccupy your brain with audio books and podcasts, it won't have the resources or time to slow down and reflect. A form of meditation.

I have been doing the same thing as you when I commute. I will pick a problem that I want to work on and focus my brain on the one problem for as long as I can. This has helped me with the creation of my current prototypes lately.

Well said.

 

[RossW]

Definitely agree on this. Nice to see these thoughts here as well. I get tired of that same old "entrepreneurial masturbation" that is so prevalent. Even in the 5 or so years I've been an entrepreneur, this space has gotten so crowded with "experts" and "gurus" that all have their own take, but is usually just self promotional noise of random people starting their business of teaching people how to start a business. Too many distractions! I'll admit I fell for this stuff in the early days, but you can only take so much of it. Get inspired enough to get on with your journey and then hone in and get specific with learning what you really need to know. I think I read TMF 3 times. That's the real key in my opinion. Quality of books over quantity. Absorb the info until you get all you need and then apply the shit out of it! Otherwise it's just wasted time. It wasn't an easy switch to make, but then again, neither is it from slow lane to fast lane. The rewards are correspondingly appropriate!

 

[Chromozone]

I have a simple rule.

If I'm not reading a book which is directly related to what I am trying to achieve, then I get a book to read which is of interest to me. I always try to have one book that I am reading at any given time.

For example, in the last couple of weeks I didn't have anything to read which would directly help me execute the next few steps in my business, so I picked up "Ready, Fire, Aim" by Michael Masterson.

It has illuminated a lot of things which will be very helpful in the near future. For example it talked quite a lot about front-end vs back-end sales for B2B companies. I really hadn't thought much about this before. But I can see how I will be able to maximise revenue from the customers I already have by selling them more functionality in the up-coming months.

So, I get the sentiment of this thread, but I definitely wouldn't have a business or even be on this forum if I wasn't a bit of a book worm...

 

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[Greg R]

I found I was just filling my head up with noise and drowning out my own thoughts.

I'm not reading books at the moment, and I'm also not listening to podcasts - even when travelling.

I was thinking a little bit more about this today....

When I would listen to podcasts and audio books during my commute, my mind would often veer from focusing on the book to other thoughts. That is why I would have to listen to a book three or four times in order to fully comprehend the message of the book. Which was bad in a way, but it was also good.

Now that I think about it, some of my best thinking happened when my mind would veer off. New ideas, different perspectives and such.

Although I do prefer to drive in silence now to tap into my brain powers, maybe audio books and podcasts aren't completely bad???

But maybe also it is better to simplify your life and get rid of all the noise to focus on what is in front of you.

I'm tempted to (INSIDER'S Freebie)- Giveaway all my books now lol.

Food for thought.

 

[RossW]

I have a simple rule.

If I'm not reading a book which is directly related to what I am trying to achieve, then I get a book to read which is of interest to me.

I've got to agree with you on that level too. I often have a fiction book going for pure entertainment. It's not always business. I guess it depends on what you're going for. Just being conscious of your choices and knowing that just plowing through a bunch of books doesn't really amount to anything a lot of times. It takes action, and it takes the ability to relate to the content to be able to apply it.

I enjoy the ideas here about making time for silence and considering a specific issue. I'll try that. It always happens just when I'm enjoying coffee or something. Actual meditation time is the opposite of that, ha. Great idea.