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How to read self-help
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Knowledge and wisdom
- A knowledgeable person can solve a narrow set of problems that few can, like a neurosurgeon.
- A wise person knows what to do in most situations. She is able to give out general purpose, one-size-fits-all advice. Wisdom is very easy to understand. However, it is very difficult to apply in real life.
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Self-help through the wisdom lens
The purpose of self-help is to acquire wisdom. Self-help books are filled with wisdom.
It embarrasses us because it's full of easy truisms. We like it because it makes sense. It's trivial to read but nearly impossible to put into practice. That is why we feel so inspired when reading about it.
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Read self-help that makes sense
A rule of thumb is that wisdom should make sense. It is general and obvious advice. If it is not immediately obvious, it is rarely right.
When you hear something, ask:
- Is this an obvious universal truth?
- Does it make sense?
- Can I apply this to a variety of situations?
If you answer "no", you are probably not dealing with wisdom.
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Self-help in practice
Self-help books seem only to give high-level advice and never specifically explain how to drive this wisdom home.
However, wisdom applies to so many different situations and in so many ways, that it is impossible to go through every possibility of application.
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“…in the day to day trenches of adult existence, banal platitudes can have a life or death importance.”
David Foster Wallace
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Reading in the digital age
Online life makes us into a new kind of reader: Our attention fractures. Online reading is about clicks, and comments, and points.
The opposite of the traditional reading ex...
Cynical Readers
We have become cynical readers – we read in the disjointed, goal-oriented way that online life encourages & we stop exercising our attention.
We read just as much if not more. We live in a text-gorged society in which the most fleeting thought is a thumb-dash away from posterity. It's how we read that changed.
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Success And Buying Too Many Books
Many of us buy lots of books that go unread and causes us guilt, but that’s a habit that many successful people have they believe they are better off for it.
For those who actually put in the...
View Books As An Experiment
It costs you money and time, but it may pay for itself by changing your life for the better. It’s an experiment. And the more “smart” experiments you perform, the more likely you are to find a breakthrough experiment that changes everything.
Inherent in being a good experimenter is being OK with the losses. Therefore, remember that every time you purchase a book that turns out to be a dud, you are just one step closer to a book that will change your life.
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Key Ideas
Junk Knowledge
Expiring knowledge is something disposable, which we consume daily.
Timeless or long-term kn...
Long-Term Vs Expiring Knowledge
- Expiring Knowledge, is better than junk knowledge, as it is not as useless, but has a short shelf life. It catches our attention due to its topical and current nature.
- Long Term Knowledge is hard to find as it is not that visible and requires a keen eye. Long-Term Knowledge has no expiry date and actually compounds over time.
Quality of Intake
Whether it's the questions startup companies ask in meetings, or the quarterly earnings of a company, short-term, expiring knowledge has very little context if not paired with long-term knowledge.
If you intake more long-term knowledge by reading good books, you can be a better judge of which expiring knowledge to absorb and which to reject.