50 Things I Learned From Reading 50 Books This Year

I set a goal to read 50 books in 2019. Building a reading habit has been a challenging but rewarding experience.

Seriously, getting a library card has to be one of the best investments you can make in yourself. Finding the time to read has basically meant less TV, but it's become enjoyable and relaxing part of my daily routine.

I tried to read as much variety as possible, from classic literature, business books, and biographies. The trick is read every day, even just a few pages, and always have the next book on hand ready to go. It's a habit I'll certainly continue in 2020.

Below are some of the ideas, quotes, and random facts that have stood out for me over my reading journey. You might find some inspiration, or at least some interesting trivia for your office holiday party!

1. If everyone in your orchestra only plays the piccolo, it won't sound very good. A diversity of instruments makes beautiful music.
2. If you’re not getting better you’re getting worse.
3. If you're going to eat sh*t, don't nibble.
4. Elvis wasn’t trying to disrupt jazz, he was trying to create rock and roll - Ramadan et al, "Play Bigger"
5. Note to self: It’s a good idea to ask, “What am I not doing?”
6. There are no shortcuts to knowledge, especially knowledge gained from personal experience. Following conventional wisdom and relying on shortcuts can be worse than knowing nothing at all - Ben Horowitz
7. Until you test the limits regarding what you can achieve, you can’t truly know what your chances really are. The major obstacle to overcoming the odds is never challenging them - Jack Daly
8. Good judgement comes from experience. Experience tends to come from bad judgement - Robert A. Lovett
9. The end result is that it’s essentially impossible to become successful of well-off doing a job that is described and measured by someone else - Seth Godin
10. There are some things you can't learn from others. You have to pass through the fire - Norman Douglas
11. Nature displays the properties an observer happens to be looking for - Bohr & Heisenberg
12. Focus on expanding the value of what you have, rather than always chasing more resources.
13. People don’t buy what you sell, they buy why you sell it - Simon Sinek
14. Facts are better than dreams - Winston Churchill
15. Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony - Ghandi. Applies in business as well. Is you're thinking, saying and doing aligned when you're talking to your team?
16. The more you care, the stronger you can be. 
17. People’s way of looking at the world is influenced by their experience and culture, which may be completely different to yours. Take a step back in this situation and reflect.
18. Life is opportunity mixed with difficulty - Jim Rohn
19. There are only two types of leadership [pitch decks, marketing campaigns, football coaches]: Effective and Ineffective.
20. Don’t believe that all the data is in the room, look for options not presented.
21. What did I do today that will be remembered in 50 years?
22. Regarding the above, Michael Lang created the Woodstock music festival when he was 27. It was Woodstock's 50th anniversary this year.
23. Life happens in cycles, nothing is permanent. Just because you reached the top doesn’t mean you won’t be at the bottom again.
24. The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.
25. The secret to sales: Ask questions, then listen.
26. 七転び八起き [Fall down 7 times, get up 8]
27. Pressure can burst a pipe, or pressure can make a diamond
28. Reasons customers don’t buy: 1 No Money, 2 No Trust, 3 No Need, 4 No Time, 5 No Urgency
29. First time sales are based on perceived value, 2nd time (renewal) sales are based on actual value.
30. Companies rarely strike good deals with their backs to the wall.
31. You can’t live the afternoon of your life by the morning’s rules - Wayne Dwyer
32. You cannot look in a new direction by looking harder in the same direction - Edward de Bono
33. Companies (people) don’t get disrupted because they do the wrong thing, they do the RIGHT thing for too long - John Chambers
34. If you want an interesting perspective on China, read Pearl Buck. She was the first American woman to win the Noble Prize for literature, and her vast body of work on China (written between 30 and 70 years ago) contains insights that are still relevant today.
35. Being focused on what you want is really important, but really hard to do.
36. Hofstadter's Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law.
37. I think there is a world market for maybe five computers - Thomas Watson Sr., IBM Chairman, 1943
38. There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home - Ken Olson, Founder, Digital Equipment Corp., 1977
39. Although discipline demands control and asceticism, it actually results in freedom. When you have the discipline to get up early, you are rewarded with more free time - Jocko Willink, Extreme Ownership
40. SEAL training is tough. See David Goggin's Can't Hurt Me. It's a testament to mental character rather than physical strength that anyone survives this ordeal.
41. Victor Herman was one of the toughest men who ever lived. He was imprisoned in the Soviet gulags for decades, and wrote an amazing book about it called Coming Out Of The Ice.
42. It took Europeans 300 years to fully navigate the Pacific, but Polynesians had been doing it for thousands of years.
43. Competitive advantages are not strengths.
44. If your aspirations are not greater than your resources, you’re not an entrepreneur.
45. Aluminum was first invented in 23AD in the time of Emperor Tiberius, but the technology to produce again it was lost until the 1800s.
46. There are limits to growth, but I don't think we know what the are yet. New technologies for energy, food and water are coming that will be transformative to life on Earth.
47. The word autarky means economic independence or self-sufficiency. I need more autarky.
48. Ask yourself often, "Am I doing my best?"
49. “Can it be that I have not lived as one ought?" suddenly came into his head. "But how not so, when I've done everything as it should be done?” - Leo Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilyich
50. If one's different, one's bound to be lonely - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

Thanks for making it to the end! If you'd like my 2019 reading list, send me a message. Have a great week!