Read these 12 books every year to maximize your Return on Life
Summary
TLDRThe video script details a personal journey of self-improvement through reading, emphasizing the importance of reading quality books over quantity. It outlines a four-step process for effective reading: read, reflect, integrate, and repeat. The speaker shares a list of 12 impactful books, including 'Meditations by Marcus Aurelius' and 'Thinking Fast and Slow,' that offer wisdom applicable to life and business, advocating for rereading them annually to foster personal and professional growth.
Takeaways
- 📚 The idea that CEOs read 52 books a year may be a myth, but it inspired the speaker to read more and improve their life.
- 🔄 Reading more books doesn't necessarily make you better; it's about reading better books and understanding them deeply.
- 🤔 The speaker emphasizes the importance of reflection through writing to connect the dots from what you read.
- 💭 Reading is not enough; integration of knowledge into action is crucial for personal and business growth.
- 🔄 The value of repeating the process of reading, reflecting, integrating, and repeating for continuous learning.
- 📘 The speaker recommends rereading the best books that have a significant impact on life rather than constantly seeking new ones.
- 👑 'Meditations by Marcus Aurelius' is highlighted as a timeless book offering wisdom on living a life of value.
- 🧘 Naval Ravikant's 'The Almanack of Naval Ravikant' is praised for its practical wisdom that can be applied to improve life and business.
- 💪 'Anti-Fragile' by Nassim Nicholas Taleb explains how to build systems that not only withstand but thrive in chaos.
- 🤝 'Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion' by Robert Cialdini provides tools for effective communication and understanding human behavior.
- 🧠 'Thinking, Fast and Slow' by Daniel Kahneman explores the two systems that drive our thinking and the importance of making deliberate decisions.
- 🎯 'The One Thing' by Gary Keller encourages focusing on the most important task to achieve goals more effectively.
- 💼 Howard Marks' 'The Most Important Thing' offers insights into the psychology and principles of successful investing.
- 🎲 'Fooled by Randomness' by Nassim Nicholas Taleb discusses the role of chance in life and how to navigate it.
- 🛠️ 'The Great Mental Models' by Farnam Street provides a variety of mental models to approach problem-solving from different angles.
- 🌀 'The Power of Now' by Eckhart Tolle teaches the importance of living in the present moment and the illusion of time.
- 🎨 'Show Your Work' by Austin Kleon motivates creators to share their work with the world despite fears of rejection.
- 🌟 'Man's Search for Meaning' by Viktor Frankl argues that finding meaning in life, regardless of circumstances, is the ultimate test for each individual.
Q & A
What was the initial motivation for the speaker to start reading more books?
-The speaker was motivated to read more books after seeing an ad claiming that the average CEO reads 52 books a year. They believed that by reading more, they could emulate the success of CEOs and turn their life around.
How did the speaker's approach to reading evolve over the years?
-Initially, the speaker read over 100 books a year, aiming to be twice as good as the average CEO. However, they later realized that reading more doesn't necessarily make you better. Instead, they learned the importance of reading better, which involves reading deeply, reflecting, integrating, and repeating the process with fewer but impactful books.
What are the four steps the speaker suggests for reading better?
-The four steps for reading better are: 1) Read and understand deeply, 2) Reflect on what you're reading, 3) Integrate what you've read into action, and 4) Repeat the process with the best books that have a significant impact.
Why does the speaker emphasize the importance of reflecting on what you read?
-Reflecting on what you read is crucial because it helps you to collect and connect the 'dots' of knowledge. It allows you to think deeply about the material and apply it in a meaningful way, rather than just passively consuming information.
What is the significance of the book 'Meditations' by Marcus Aurelius according to the speaker?
-The significance of 'Meditations' is that it provides personal insights from a powerful historical figure, Marcus Aurelius, who wrote about his internal struggles and reflections on life. The book is eloquently written and offers wisdom that can inspire new insights with each reading.
What is the main idea behind the book 'Anti-Fragile' by Nassim Nicholas Taleb?
-The main idea behind 'Anti-Fragile' is that systems can be categorized as fragile, robust, resilient, or anti-fragile. An anti-fragile system is one that not only withstands stress and adversity but actually becomes stronger as a result.
How does the book 'Influence' by Robert Cialdini help readers understand human behavior?
-'Influence' provides readers with an understanding of the six weapons of influence: reciprocity, commitment, social proof, liking, authority, and scarcity. These concepts help readers to recognize and navigate the ways in which people are persuaded and influenced.
What is the core lesson of 'The One Thing' by Gary Keller?
-The core lesson of 'The One Thing' is to identify and focus on the single most important task or goal that, once accomplished, makes everything else easier or unnecessary. It emphasizes the importance of prioritization and focus in achieving success.
Why does the speaker recommend rereading certain books every year?
-The speaker recommends rereading certain books every year because they believe that these books offer profound lessons and insights that can be revisited and applied to personal and professional growth over time.
What is the central message of 'Man's Search for Meaning' by Viktor Frankl?
-The central message of 'Man's Search for Meaning' is that finding meaning and purpose in life, regardless of circumstances, is the ultimate test for each individual. It emphasizes the importance of our response to life's challenges and the freedom that comes from choosing our response.
How does the speaker describe the book 'Show Your Work' by Austin Kleon?
-The speaker describes 'Show Your Work' as a short but powerful book that encourages creators, artists, and entrepreneurs to share their work with the world despite any internal resistance or fear of being ignored. It provides strategies to overcome these barriers and to embrace the value of sharing one's work.
Outlines
📚 The Power of Reading and Reflecting
The speaker shares their journey of reading over 100 books a year, inspired by the myth that CEOs read 52 books annually. They emphasize that reading more isn't better; reading better is. The speaker introduces a four-step process to improve reading: read, reflect, integrate, and repeat. They advocate for deep understanding of a few key books over skimming many, and suggest writing to reflect on and connect ideas. The speaker also mentions their personal growth and business success through re-reading impactful books.
🧠 Enhancing Decision-Making and Influence
This paragraph delves into the importance of understanding human behavior and decision-making, citing the influence of Robert Cialdini and the six principles of influence: reciprocity, commitment, social proof, liking, authority, and scarcity. The speaker also highlights the significance of improving judgment in an age of infinite leverage, referencing 'Thinking Fast and Slow' by Daniel Kahneman, which differentiates between fast, intuitive thinking and slow, deliberate thought. The paragraph underscores the value of recognizing when to override intuition with more thoughtful analysis.
💡 Focusing on the One Thing and Embracing Anti-Fragility
The speaker discusses the concept of focusing on the 'one thing' that, when accomplished, makes all else easier or unnecessary, as introduced in 'The One Thing' by Gary Keller. They also explore the idea of anti-fragility from Nicholas Nassim Taleb's book of the same name, explaining how systems can be fragile, robust, resilient, or anti-fragile, with the latter being able to grow stronger from stress. The speaker advocates for designing anti-fragile systems in life and business to thrive amidst chaos.
💼 Investing Wisdom and the Impact of Now
The speaker recommends 'The Most Important Thing' by Howard Marks for its insights into the psychology and principles of investing, drawn from the author's investor memos. They also touch on the importance of understanding randomness and its impact on success and failure, as discussed in 'Fooled by Randomness' by Taleb. The paragraph concludes with 'The Power of Now' by Eckhart Tolle, which argues that focusing on the present moment is more valuable than worrying about the past or future.
🎨 Sharing Your Work and Finding Life's Meaning
The final paragraph discusses the importance of sharing one's work and ideas with the world, as encouraged by 'Show Your Work' by Austin Kleon. The speaker challenges the fear of not being recognized and emphasizes the potential impact of one's work. They conclude with 'Man's Search for Meaning' by Viktor Frankl, which posits that finding meaning in life, regardless of circumstances, is the ultimate test for each individual. The book suggests that our response to life's challenges is what defines our growth and freedom.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡CEO
💡Reading
💡Reflect
💡Integrate
💡Repeat
💡Personal Growth
💡Anti-fragile
💡Influence
💡Judgment
💡Focus
💡Mental Models
Highlights
The average CEO reads 52 books a year, inspiring the speaker to read over 100 books annually for self-improvement.
Reading more doesn't necessarily make you better; reading better does.
The four steps to reading better: read, reflect, integrate, repeat.
Reading and understanding deeply 10 books on a topic is more beneficial than skimming 100.
Writing is a powerful way to reflect on and connect the dots from reading.
Implementing what you've learned is crucial; otherwise, reading is just busywork.
Re-reading and repeating the process of reading, reflecting, and integrating leads to deeper insights.
12 books are recommended for re-reading annually to maximize personal and business growth.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius is highlighted for its timeless wisdom on living a valuable life.
The Almanack of Naval Ravikant offers practical wisdom from a modern-day entrepreneur.
Anti-fragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb explains how to thrive amidst chaos and adversity.
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion provides tools to communicate persuasively.
Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman is a guide to improving judgment and decision-making.
The One Thing by Gary Keller emphasizes the importance of focusing on the most important task.
The Most Important Thing by Howard Marks is a collection of impactful investing wisdom.
Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Nicholas Taleb discusses the role of chance in life outcomes.
The Great Mental Models by Farnam Street equips readers with a variety of problem-solving lenses.
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle emphasizes the importance of focus and presence in the present moment.
Show Your Work by Austin Kleon encourages creators to share their work despite fears of rejection.
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl argues that finding meaning in life is essential for overcoming suffering.
Transcripts
I remember years ago getting hit with
one of those ads on Facebook from one of
the skeezy internet marketer types
saying that the average CEO reads 52
books a year and at that point I was
living in the back of the van and just
looking for a way to turn my life around
so when I heard this I thought well hell
CEOs probably have their figured
out so I should probably just take a
page out of their book and start reading
more and I did but I went a little
overboard because for the next three
years I read over 100 books every single
year and I Justified this insane amount
of reading by thinking well the average
CEO reads 52 books per year then I'm
going to be twice as good if I read 100
but that's not how it works not by a
long shot because I've come to realize
something after having met literally
hundreds of successful entrepreneurs
over the years reading more doesn't make
you better reading better makes you
better wow
all right so let's break it down by
learning how to actually read better and
I break this into four different steps
read reflect integrate repeat all right
so step one is to read now a lesson it
took me far too long to learn is that
it's better to read and understand
deeply the 10 best books written on a
topic than it is to skin the top 100
which is why it's so important to then
make time for step two reflect on what
you're reading and the best way I've
found to do this is through writing see
we read to collect dots and then we
write to connect them as Leo Tolstoy
said read less think more our third step
in Reading better is to actually put
what you've read into action this is the
integration step and it maybe is the
most important step because without this
reading is simply mental masturbation it
makes you feel productive but if you
don't Implement what you've learned then
you've simply wasted your time being
busy and not effective the fourth and
final step in Reading better is one that
I struggled with for a really long time
that is repeating the whole process
magic occurs when you go back to the
beginning and re-read that book reflect
on it even deeper integrate again and
then repeat these days I read a lot but
I actually read very few books because I
just keep going back and rereading the
absolute best ones that have had the
biggest impact on my life and in doing
so I've experienced far more personal
growth and business growth than I ever
did when I was reading hundreds of books
at a time but what exactly are those
books worth reading over and over and
over again well for all you hyper
focused entrepreneurs out there I'm
going to save you a lot of time and
energy and just give you the 12 books
that I think are worth rereading every
single year so let's dive in the first
book on this list is not only one of the
greatest books ever written but it's
also one of a kind in that it's the
personal Journal of a guy who thousands
of years ago was the most powerful man
in the world and the beauty of this book
is that this man a Roman Emperor wasn't
writing for an audience he never
intended for this book to be published
in fact you'd probably be mortified to
learn that it was these were simply the
internal thoughts of a man wrestling
with the question what's it mean to be a
good person to live a life of value this
was a man who had the world at his
fingertips but who understood the only
battles actually worth fighting and
winning were the ones being waged inside
with his temper his ego his pride his
place in the universe and perhaps most
remarkable of all is just the simple and
eloquent way in which this book is
written for instance he says this our
life is what our thoughts make it
so simple so accessible and so easy to
understand which is why meditations by
Marcus Aurelius is perhaps one of my
favorite books of all time and the one
that inspires new wisdom and insight
every single time I read it now the
second book on this list was written
about 2 000 years more recently than the
first but it's equally filled with
Incredible wisdom that you can instantly
start applying to improve your life in
business the book is called the almanac
of Naval ravacon and it's simply a
collection of blogs tweets and podcast
interviews featuring that modern day
entrepreneurial philosopher Naval
ravacon now if you're not familiar with
Naval he's a prolific angel investor in
one of the most highly regarded
entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley over the
past two decades and what makes them so
interesting is just his ability to
distill complex topics into simple sound
bites that you can easily carry with you
and apply in all sorts of situations one
of my favorites is this play long-term
games with long-term people his most
famous piece of writing is a tweet storm
called how to get rich without getting
lucky and it is in my opinion the
absolute best step-by-step guide to
building wealth and happiness so go
check it out all right so our third book
was written by one of my favorite
authors which is why he has two books on
this list now the reason he's one of my
favorite is because he has this
incredible ability to take things that
we all look at every single day and to
turn them on their head to present them
in a way that you've maybe never thought
about before each of his books creates a
paradigm shift a fundamental change in
how you view the world in relation to
topics like risk or probability
accountability economics or investing
but of all those the one that's had the
most profound effect on my life happens
to be the name of the third book on our
list it's called anti-fragile by
Nicholas Naseem taleb now the central
premise of This Book Is that a fragile
system is one that breaks or fails when
faced with adversity like when you drop
a light bulb on the floor and it meets
resistance it shatters a robust system
is one step up from a fragile system
that is it has a higher resistance or
tolerance to stress so instead of
dropping a light bulb on the floor if we
drop a rock it's probably not going to
hurt at all that much that's not to say
that the rock can't be hurt but it's
going to require way more adversity and
the next level up from that is a
resilient system or one that can recover
or adapt from failure the example that
taleb gives in the book is out of the
Phoenix which dies in a fiery Blaze only
to be reborn shortly thereafter From the
Ashes now what's important to know about
the resilient system is that it bounces
back to where it was before the stress
not better not worse and this is where
we arrive at the anti-fragile system
which is one that capitalizes on
adversity and chaos to actually come
back stronger than before the adversity
and sticking with mythology this is the
story of the Hydra where for every hedge
you chop off another two take its place
it actually gets stronger when you hurt
it a practical real-life example of an
anti-fragile system are your bones and
muscles which only ever get stronger
after they've been stressed and damaged
an appropriate amount now obviously you
can only stress these systems so much
but before they ultimately give out your
bones break or your muscles tear but the
core concept here is still so damn
valuable because these types of
anti-fragile systems are exactly what we
want to design into our lives into our
businesses so that we can ultimately
Thrive amidst inevitable chaos this book
is the best book I've come across to
help you do just that all right now the
fourth book on our list has not only
made me more money than any other book
I've ever read but it's also given me a
framework to understand why humans do
what humans do which is important
because I believe every single one of us
has a core desire to be seen to be heard
to be valued to connect meaningfully I
mean there are very few feelings in the
world worse than being in a room full of
people you love and respect and yet
feeling absolutely invisible feeling
like nobody values your ideas or that
your words are falling on deaf ears this
book influenced by Robert cialdini gives
you the tools necessary for
communicating your message to the world
both persuasively and with impact in
particular it teaches the six weapons of
an influence which are reciprocity
commitment social proof liking Authority
and scarcity truly if you don't
understand those six Concepts you will
always be at the mercy of the person who
does so pick up this book and arm
yourself next up is the fifth book on
our list and this is maybe the best one
I've ever come across for understanding
how we make decisions now that might not
seem like a big deal but as Naval says
in an age of infinite leverage judgment
becomes the most important skill so
anything that we can do to help improve
the quality of our judgment and
therefore our decisions is always worth
the time and energy this book is called
Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel
Kahneman in it he explains two types of
systems that govern our thinking system
one is our intuition it's fast automatic
emotional stereotypical and most
importantly unconscious it's not
something we can control In the Heat of
the Moment now thankfully system one
thoughts are generally pretty accurate
or at least accurate enough to get us
through ninety percent of life for that
other 10 that's where system two
thinking comes in and it's much slower
much more effort people and way more
deliberate it requires intention and the
key to thriving in the modern world is
to recognize those moments in life when
we need to override our system one
intuition and instead turn to the more
deliberate system too to help with this
Kahneman shares a number of heuristics
and cognitive biases that we all
unknowingly default to things like the
anchoring effect which show that we can
be easily influenced by completely
irrelevant numbers or the loss aversion
bias which describes why the pain of
losing is psychologically twice as
powerful as the pleasure of gaining what
I find so fascinating about this book is
it's like reading the human brain's
operating manual which it gives you an
incredible advantage in the world of
business not to mention just life in
general alright moving on our sixth book
is about a brutally basic concept that I
found to be the main difference between
average performers and Elite performers
the reason I reread this book every
single year is because its Core lesson
is one that I personally struggle with I
find it valuable therefore to annually
revisit this book and put this concept
back at the Forefront of my mind the
book is called the one thing by Gary
Keller and it can be summarized with
these words what is the one thing I can
do such that by doing it everything else
will be easier or unnecessary until my
one thing is done everything else is a
distraction now in my personal pursuit
of greatness I've come to realize that
the thing holding me back from achieving
all my goals is not that I don't have
enough time it's simply that I don't
have enough Focus specifically enough
focus on the right things this book
provides a framework that's going to
help you figure out what that most
important thing is that you can move
towards it with clarity now personally I
like to reread this book at the
beginning of each year when I'm sitting
down to set my annual goals because it
helps me get into the right mindset for
planning what I'm going to focus on
bonus points because it's a super quick
and easy read just like our seventh book
on this list which comes from the mind
of one of History's Greatest investors
that most people have never heard of I'm
talking about the founder of oak tree
Capital Howard marks and his book is
called the most important thing one of
the things I love about Howard marks is
that he's been posting his annual
investor memos every year for the past
30 plus years absolutely for free you
get to step into the mind of this
incredible investor in real time to see
how he navigated the 2000.com boom or
the great financial crisis of 2007 which
is important because as Howard himself
says good times teach only bad lessons
that investing is easy now these memos
are a master class of investing wisdom
in his book The most important thing is
simply a collection of some of those
most impactful ones this is hands down
the best book I've ever read about the
psychology and principles of investing
most importantly it's written in simple
plain language that most of us
non-experts can easily understand
alright so this is a good time to
revisit our boy Nicholas Nassim taleb
who is such a fantastic writer and
thinker that he features on this list
twice and if I had to sum up this eighth
book in a single sentence it would be
this nobody accepts Randomness in his
own success only as failure or put it
another way we blame luck when we lose
and skill when we win I actually did a
video on this recently where I broke
down the four different types of luck
and how to Get Lucky by design that
video is called the only reason Alex
hermosi is successful I'm going to drop
a link in the description below go check
it out after you finish this one and
while you're down there don't forget to
subscribe all right back to this
mythical book by taleb which is called
Fooled by Randomness the simple premise
of This Book Is that everything in life
happens along a curve of probability
some things are just more likely to
occur than others which isn't to say
that just because something is unlikely
to happen it therefore won't happen the
important thing for our purposes is just
to understand that most of life is
determined by the consequences of those
very few outlier events that were never
supposed to happen but did think of
things like covid or the great financial
crisis or 911. the problem is we humans
are absolutely horrible at calculating
probabilities in real time which simply
means that we tend to skew the
likelihood or unlikelihood of a
particular event occurring now the
reason I find this book so valuable is
that it helps us see through that Matrix
of probability so we can position
ourselves to benefit in life regardless
of what does or does not happen truly
Fooled by Randomness is a mind-bending
book that's going to give you a new lens
through which to look at the world but
the ninth book on our list is going to
give you dozens of new lenses which is
invaluable because as Charlie Munger
always says to the man with a hammer
every problem looks like a nail so our
goal should be to equip ourselves with
as many tools as possible so we can be
prepared to solve any and every problem
that might come our way to do this we
want to cultivate what manga refers to
as a latticework of mental models and
this is going to empower us to see every
problem through a variety of lenses and
possible options now the book that's
going to give us those tools is called
the Great mental models by Farnam Street
it actually comes in two different
volumes this gives you a ready-made
toolbox of mental models you can
immediately start applying to your own
life and that's the ultimate goal
because as this book points out
understanding only becomes useful when
we adjust our behavior in actions
accordingly which is why I encourage you
to get down to the comments once this
video is over and share with us your top
three takeaways and how you plan to
implement those into your life moving
forward this is called an implementation
intention which Studies have shown again
and again increases the likelihood of
achieving a goal but without a doubt the
single thing that will ultimately
determine whether you are successful in
achieving a goal or just failing
miserably is what you do in this present
moment and that brings us to the topic
of our 10th book The Power of Now by
Eckhart tollway now this is hands down
the most Fufu book on our list and for
many many years I resisted reading it
despite dozens of recommendations from
friends that was a mistake I wish I had
read this sooner truly in many ways this
book reshaped my perception of reality
in particular it Formed my opinion that
time is not in fact your most valuable
asset your focus is and the reason I
came to that conclusion is because as
this book points out time is mere really
an illusion as totally said nothing has
happened in the past it happened in the
now nothing will ever happen in the
future it will happen in the now this
might seem like a game of semantics but
I assure you it's not there's a deep and
profound shift that occurs when you
realize this singular moment right this
instant is all you have and life changes
in unimaginable ways when you make the
now the primary focus of your life which
is it's very easy to say and yet very
hard to do so good luck I recommend you
pick up this book it's going to help you
on that Journey now this leads us to the
11th book on our list in one of my
all-time favorites for all you creators
artists and entrepreneurs out there it's
called show your work by Austin Cleon
this is the shortest book on our list in
fact it'd probably take you less than 30
minutes to read but it packs a powerful
punch for all of you people out there
who have have some kind of message you
want to share with the world but for
whatever reason you're falling prey to
that internal resistance which convinces
you that nobody cares what you have to
say and that nobody's going to pay
attention but here's the thing right now
if if you are not sharing your thoughts
your ideas your writings your art or
your business with the world and guess
what nobody's paying attention anyway so
here's how I think about it nobody's
remembered for the things they didn't do
so you literally have nothing to lose
and everything to gain by sharing your
work with the world but I do understand
this is all easier said than done which
is why most people don't do it this book
will help you get out of your way so
your work finally has the opportunity to
change the world now speaking of
changing the world the 12th and final
book on our list makes the argument that
changing the world begins simply by
changing your perspective to find
meaning and purpose in your life
regardless of circumstance now this is a
grand claim that's easily dismissed as
hyperbole if not for the fact that
Victor Frankel wrote this book Man's
Search for meaning after having survived
the horrors of the Nazi concentration
camp of World War II the core thesis of
This Book Is that the ultimate test for
each one of us is to find meaning in our
lives and as Frankel says between
stimulus and response there is a space
and in that space our power to choose
our response and in our response lies
our growth and our freedom in a very
real way our suffering ceases to be
suffering the moment it finds a meaning
such as the meaning of a sacrifice and I
find this book so incredible because I I
can't really put myself in Victor's
shoes to truly appreciate what he
endured it just it defies comprehension
but it puts into perspective that our
problems in life are only ever as big or
as small as we allow them to be and that
at the end of the day it's our
responsibility to drive meaning from our
lives which is the lesson I don't think
any of us can be reminded of too often
and because I believe as Samuel Johnson
said that we need to be reminded more
often than we need to be instructed I do
hope that you take this list of 12 books
and you revisit them every single year
to uncover the many beautiful lessons
each one has to share
thank you
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