Over the last year, I have emphasized the need to speed read. Speed reading is an excellent exercise for our minds, but it also creates space to do other things. I have also mentioned the importance to meditate as a ritual. Today, I want to discuss applying some of the same ideas to other non-fiction books. These good books hold decades of wisdom and experiences if we extract the information.
How to Get More out of Good Books
A definition of meditation is intentional thinking. You can create an internal dialogue with yourself about the good books you read. Analyzing what the author is theorizing is important to fully digest all of reading that you do, and is a great critical thinking exercise.
Revealing My Process for Book Meditating
I am currently reading Brian Tracey’s book “No Excuses” that follows this idea. After a month, I am only through two chapters, but time is not as big of a factor as the importance of processing the ideas is. I am writing thoughts and ideas down, drawing arrows from one idea to another, marking, highlighting, circling, and underlining in the book as I go along.
This Is Why…
I buy a lot of used books when I do buy physical copies. When I find a book that has highlights and marks I feel those marks add depth and history to a book. I get the privilege to see through the eyes of another person as they went through the book as they read it. They have left little snippets of their thoughts for others to consider.
8 Good Books I Have Analyzed and Carefully Processed
The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Tim Ferriss
Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable by Seth Godin
First Things First by Stephen R. Covey
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg
Nehemiah (Expositional Commentary) by James Montgomery Boice
The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles
The Power of Concentration by Theron Q. Dumont
If You Want to Improve Your Life You Have to Read
Some of these good books have been influential in my life and my personal development. Other books have presented ideas that have improved my focus, productivity, and time-management. In the Bible, Nehemiah was an interesting study. I completed reading through Nehemiah with a young professional men’s fellowship. It was filled with lessons on leadership, relationships, focus, goals, and commitment that relate to today’s world.
Go the Extra Mile…
Take the time to consider studying good books and extracting the ideas they present to meditate on them for some time. Books provide us with decades of information that we can use when facing life’s concerns. Authors have shared obvious clues that indicate routes to success if we choose to pay attention.
Adam, I was sad to see you recommend Tim Ferris’ book- The Four Hour Workweek. I was going to read it, but when I read comments about the book, a few mentioned putting down the book, after only reading the first few chapters, due to so much foul language contained therein. Also, I was following him on Twitter (he didn’t use foul language there) and a blog of his, just this week, shared ideas & suggestions on different ways to live, sexually. He shared a male’s explicit sexual encounter, who for the first time, visited & took part in a huge orgy where everyone, at that party, in all the rooms, was having all kinds of sex with many partners, publicly for everyone to view, as many times & for as long as they desired. Nothing was sacred or private. It was disgusting to read. Of course nothing was mentioned of getting a disease, unplanned pregnancies, drug use, the cost of such activity, alcohol consumption, the possible use of pornography, if any of the people had AIDS or were HIV positive, if any of the people were prostitutes or any other concerns a parent would caution their children to avoid. The second story he shared, from another man, was about living with 3 women & them all having to “share him”. Did you know this about Tim Ferris & some of the ideas he shares w/ his followers to experience? I saw no disclaimers from him about things NOT to practice. I am a devoted wife of 27yrs to my husband. We have 2 healthy children, ages 22 & 19, both in college, who will graduate debt-free. My husband & I are empty nesters for over a year now & are really enjoying our lives together (including a healthy sex life). All that to say that we are a normal healthy family, living an amazing life & the American Dream- my husband(who is only 50) is very successful. He works full time for a well known company, we have zero debt, own our own lakefront home, 5 rental properties, own a debt-free cable-trenching business, a 2015 Range Rover, 2015 Corvette Stingray, lease a 2015 BMW & bought our children’s 2 cars. We are disease-free, scandal-free & have raised our children to be devoted & loyal to their spouses & children & NOT to sleep around or cheat, ever. Adam, are you advocating these things that Tim is? As soon as I read the x-rated trash that Tim shared, I immediately unfollowed him & unsubscribed to his blog. I will never read his book or buy it for my husband, my Son, ,son-in-law or my Son’s dozen male friends or my Nephews. When I first began reading your email about books and leadership, I immediately thought of forwarding it to all of the aforementioned men. But now, seeing Tim’s book listed as suggested reading, I can’t & won’t. Since you requested comments, I felt, knowing what I know, I had to share my deep concerns about Tim Ferris. What would American society look like, if men lived according to Tim’s ‘ideas’? Mature men are supposed to be role models for the younger men in their sphere of influence. If Tim is advocating for no boundaries in our sex lives, what about in other areas of our lives? Can we carry that same mindset over to those too? Can we steal a little pack of gum while we’re grocery shopping? Can our kids cheat once or twice (as long as nobody finds out) at the sports they play? Can my husband screw a co-worker to get ahead? Can we eliminate boundaries every single weekend? Can we do all of it to feel a ‘thrill’, ‘excitement’, ‘hip’, ‘freedom’?? How wonderful would it be for a father to sit his family down & instruct them to try those things? What about an older, wiser brother or sister teaching their younger siblings? It doesn’t sound like wise living to me or a way to “Lead” any person, family, organization or company. I didn’t necessarily want this posted as much as I wanted it to go directly to Adam. It is not my intention to preach to anyone. It is my intention to inform Adam about Tim & what he puts out there for his readers.
Hi Robyn,
Thank you for informing me of that post on Tim’s blog about sexual explicits. I did not see that post, but I do take those types of things into consideration as I allow people to speak into my life through conversation, podcasts, books, etc. With his being single and my being married with a family, I have noticed his lifestyle is very different than mine. I am not a Tim “fanboy” as some have become, but I am a fan of his experiments in life. That’s where I began to follow some of his work. While I have read 4HWW, some of his methods I have read and adopted, while others I have tossed away, as they were not for me. You can know that at my heart I just want to help people and love all, because I believe that is what we are supposed to do. Those will be the things that I strive for until the day that I die. Yes, I have made many mistakes, but I am striving to become better just as all of the readers of this blog are, as well. I just thank you for your concern, and appreciate you writing such a detailed comment. You sound like you have an amazing family and live a beautiful life. Keep fighting the good fight.
Great recommendations here, Kirby. I need to read Nehemiah (Expositional Commentary) by James Montgomery Boice. That sounds very interesting, as I enjoy reading the Bible and seeing how I can apply it to now. I am sure that is an interesting commentary for sure. I absolutely loved Purple Cow — one of my favorites.
Good thoughts, Kirby, as ever.
One book in this vein that was pivotal for me was “Made to Stick” by Chip and Dan Heath. Recently, I wanted to tell the authors themselves how much I appreciated their being willing to write and share their ideas. And while being hugely successful, they got back to me and were very cool, down-to-earth and humble – just regular guys like us. This added even a whole new layer of understanding to and appreciation for the book.