19 Biggest Lessons From Reading 100 Books

I started reading non-fiction after hitting my rock bottom. I found people to look up to and saw that they were reading and learning constantly to better themselves. This inspired me to develop a reading and self improvement habit that I have continued for more than 10 years.

No single book has the ability to change your life. But the things you do, good or bad, over time, compound to extraordinary changes.

Here are some things that have stuck with me. (In no particular order)

1. Become interested in other people.

Once you start to see things from someone else’s view. You will have more empathy for other people. Connecting with others is what life is all about. You will not be successful in life or business without this.

2. The safe route comes with a lot of risk.

Go to college. Add to your 401k. Work a 9-5 until you are 65. This seems like the safer route. But there are a lot of risks in taking the normal path.

3. Personal development is the best way to save a relationship.

You can’t change other people. Start by reading non fictions books to discover solutions to your problems. Get your body in order. Your finances in check. Take control of your health. Start dressing nice around the house. Check in to life.

4. Feeding into sexual instincts makes you crave novelty.

Your animal self wants to mate with a variety of partners. When you reach sexual satisfaction, a cascade of events starts happening that turns you away from your partner. And make you crave novelty. If not a new partner, then some other stimulus to chase.

5. Beat procrastination by just doing the thing.

There is no answer to “How do I start?” or “What do I do next?”. You just need to clear the way for your brain to do it’s job. Open up your canvas and just begin.

6. Leaning into pain will set you free.

We are constantly running from pain and towards pleasure. In order to maintain homeostasis, your body will build tolerance and your pain/ pleasure set points will get all jacked up. Doing hard things is the only way to reset this balance.

7. Just be happy.

We can spend years seeking for answers, wanting and craving more, being unhappy with our situation. They day will never come when things are just right. Let go and just decide to be happy.

8. Take ownership of EVERYTHING.

There is no point of blaming others. To be a leader, you need to own everything. Even stuff that is not your fault.

9. Your mind is very good at getting things to happen that you want to happen.

Once you get out of your own way, you can accomplish great things. Do not underestimate your ability to figure things out.

10. Train your brain to focus by doing less.

Your ability to focus is greatly effected by your ability to let things go. Less is more in this case.

11. Set your goals over 3 months instead of yearly.

It’s almost impossible to plan effectively over a year. There are too many unknowns that can happen. Set shorter term goals and you will be able to plan down to the nitty-gritty details.

12. You can train a dog to do anything without being a dick.

A lot of people think you have to be mean to dogs in order to bend them to your will. Turns out, dogs will endure pain to get rewards. So not only is this ineffective, it’s downright bad for you and your dog. Have some compassion. Don’t be lazy. Do it the right way.

13. People have lived through some shitty situations.

Digging into history will give you some serious perspective. You don’t have to look far to see just how easy you have it. This perspective is essential.

14. You are the only one your kids can depend on. They constantly test you to make sure you will never abandon them.

Your child needs to know that you love them no matter what. Of course you love them but they do not always see it depending on how you act as a parent. Have compassion. You are on their team.

15. Religion is a plague on Humanity.

Belief is the most powerful force. Even more powerful than time. By default, people act according to their beliefs. And will do bad or stupid things without a second thought. We need to abandon this and be okay with not knowing.

16. Humans treat animals very poorly.

How do we have compassion for an insect or even plants in some cases? But we turn a blind eye on industries that experiment, torture, and kill animals with such great complexity? If you had a pet monkey, mouse, cow, chicken, pig, sheep, etc., you would bond with these animals and go through great lengths to make them happy and comfortable.

Is it cognitive dissonance? Fear of finding out the truth? Compassion is the most manly thing ever.

17. Don’t focus on what you can’t control.

We spend a great deal of energy and time worrying about the future or regretting the past. Start to filter out things that you have no control over. And lean into the things you can control. You will be much happier.

18. Do hard things to immunize yourself for when hard things happen.

We live comfortable lives. But things won’t always be that way. Probably for anyone. Find something hard to do. Or give up something you enjoy. Even just for a day. And when the time comes to face adversity, you will be a little bit more prepared then if you never left your comfort zone in the first place.

19. We may not have as much Free Will as we think.

Imagine Osama Bin Laden’s son becoming anything other than what he is. When and where you were born. Who you were raised by. And life circumstances greatly impact who you are, the way you think, and how you behave. We aren’t in as much control as we think.

But all is not lost. Understanding this will give you compassion not just for others, but for your own shortcomings as well.

If you made it this far…

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Thanks for reading!