To read ten books, or to read one book ten times?
Of course, in our consumer-driven society, more sounds better.
More books, presumably, equals more knowledge. And more knowledge can, or at least it should, translate into more money.
If you're a newbie in the world of literature. Focusing on digesting more books is probably better. It's a great way to open your mind to a variety of topics. However, this is a good strategy to a point. As you progress through the treasure-filled corridors of literature gems, I've personally found solace in staying with a single book for longer instead of racing through a tower of half-digested titles just to impress myself (and others).
Recently, my focus shifted from books to ideas. From reading the book and moving on, to reading the book a couple of times, returning to the ideas I found particularly exciting and then thinking about the various ways these ideas can be applied to the life I'm living.
After all, if you've read a book once, can you say, heart on hand, that you understand everything inside? Or, it's more like you have this surface-level perception about the topics discussed in the book?
Usually, it's the latter.
Not that long ago, I was all about numbers.
My thinking in relation to reading books was reducible to: "Oh, I should read 30, 40, 50 books this year! This will definitely make me an intellectual powerhouse. After all, cramming in as many pages as possible is the true mark of wisdom, right? Who needs to actually reflect on what they’re reading or apply the knowledge when you can just plow through books like a conveyor belt and feel the sweet validation of hitting an arbitrary number."
But the more I stayed with this belief, the more I realized that reading books for the sake of reaching some unimportant number of volumes conquered is plain stupid. There is no mystical treasure unlocked when you digest X number of books per year. It's just another way of avoiding correcting your flaws, fixing what’s currently broken in your life, and/or evading uncovering your insecurities.
Worth reflecting on:
What type of reader are you? Are you about the ideas or about the number of books?
Are you focused on the depth of ideas and insights you gain, or are you more concerned with the sheer number of books you can accumulate?
Like any consumable thing, I think that it's not about how many books you have the capacity to absorb. But what you can do with the knowledge inside.
Worth reading:
From my desk:
- How To Enjoy Having Good Habits: "As a person who is preaching doing instead of only reading about it, I thought a lot about crafting a lifestyle that is helping me make progress – as opposed to one that is kicking my future ass in the face."
From around the web:
- Repair and Remain: "I don’t know how things are going to turn out in your life or in your marriage or with your kids. Nobody does. Maybe it will all get a whole lot worse, who’s to say. But a brand-new house won’t fix your troubles any more than a fresh start with a fascinating new somebody will."
Worth thinking about:
"When intelligent people read, they ask themselves a simple question: What do I plan to do with this information?"
― Ryan Holiday
So, I'm back. I've paused this newsletter not only to enjoy the (hot) summer, but also to finish two online course. I'll announce the full scope of the upcoming updates in relation to my site at the end of this month.
As you can see, the design of the newsletter is different. I switched to a new platform for sending emails (from MailerLite to ConvertKit). Not that this will concern most of the people reading, but it's something I wanted to share.
To ensure that you continue to receive my emails, it will be great if you can hit reply and share how you are doing.
How was your summer? What did you do/didn't do? Is there a book/idea that has caught your interest recently?
Regards,
