Here we go again: My top 3 lessons from select 2018 reads + Bonus!

Better late than never… After sharing with you my top reads of 2017 in my article: ”Ready for a better you?” (posted May 27 2018), it is time again to share with you my selection for 2018 and what I have learned from these reads. Before I go there, I have to tell you that 2018 was a really eventful year, on both personal and career aspects of my life. The event that marks it the most is the birth of our first baby girl on February 26. What a bundle of Joy! And this is coming from someone who never really thought much about having kids. It was a nice to have but never a necessity in my life. Now? Well, it’s a different story for a different article…

So back to 2018 top picks and what I can tell you about them. Put simply some of these books really contributed to some of my major successes in 2018 and sometimes to some major disappointments.

1-    A short history of nearly everything, by Bill Bryson (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21.A_Short_History_of_Nearly_Everything)

2-    Man’s search for meaning, by Viktor E. Frankl (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4069.Man_s_Search_for_Meaning)

3-    The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, by Dr. Joseph Murphy (https://www.amazon.com/Power-Your-Subconscious-Mind/dp/1614270198)

4-    Mini-habits, by Stephen Guise

(https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20567918-mini-habits)

5-    Becoming supernatural: How common people do uncommon things, by Dr. Joe dispenza (https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Supernatural-Common-People-Uncommon-ebook/dp/B0746RN3G7)

6-    The Divine Matrix: Bridging Time, Space, Miracles, and Belief, by Gregg Braden. (https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Matrix-Bridging-Miracles-Belief/dp/1401905730)

7-    The Innovator's Method: Bringing the Lean Start-up Into Your Organization, by Jeff Dyer (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20763745-the-innovator-s-method)

8-    The third door, by Alex Banayan

(https://thirddoorbook.com/)

9-    A New Earth: Awakening Your Life's Purpose, by Eckhart Tolle (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/76334.A_New_Earth)

10- Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade, by Robert Cialdini (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29238799-pre-suasion)

Well, if you had followed last year’s article you will be thinking that this is a shorter selection versus last year’s 15 books. True. This is because it was an eventful year that put a toll on the number of books I was able to complete versus 2017. And I had picked up learning Italian which took some bandwidth from my readings. I also thought listing on no more than 10 books should provide you some focus that might be dearly needed.

Ok. So maybe I am finding excuses… but hey, I am not perfect and don’t want to be frankly. I am reading this book on “how to be an Imperfectionist” and it drew my attention to this fact: Being a perfectionist is not necessarily a good thing as many people try to convey… I digress… this is for another article I guess.

So what have I learned from these books? A lot frankly. But this time, let’s try this: I will keep it at only three points… to maximize your chances of retaining them. If you need more, get in touch and I would be happy to share more specifics on each book.

1- Your subconscious is very powerful:

Think of it as a superpower that you can tap into but don’t know exactly how to best tap into it. Now, if you know me, you would know that part of my “new” self is that I like to experiment and apply what I read and learn. The beauty of the books I read on the topic is that they all dive deep into the “science” of it, some more than others. But frankly speaking it is a bit complicated and requires more than one reading in certain cases. However, I put the concepts to test and especially this one: “Focus on the outcome you desire, imagine it happening and the feelings that will come with it or from it, live it as it is already happened, and repeat that every night before you sleep. Preferably at the point in time between you being awake and about to fall asleep. Believe with all your being that you will get the outcome you desire”. I tried this in my personal life, trying to help others heal from serious illnesses. I tried it in my work to secure the signature of a major contract (that at some point looked like it was dead), AND, it works! The best part is that the more you believe in it the more you try it and the more success you get and then you try again and enter a virtuous circle of positivity and success. Granted though, life has a way to distract us from things like that and people will challenge you, and therefore, be careful to remember to be diligent in this process so that you don’t simply just forget it… If you want to try it, then just try it. The book I recommend to start with here is “The Power of Your Subconscious Mind”, by Dr. Joseph Murphy. Other books related to the topic but that go deeper into meditation are “The Divine Matrix, by Gregg Braden and “becoming Supernatural”, by Dr. Joe Dispenza.

2- Will power is finite:

It is great to have will power and some of us have it stronger than others. It is also possible to train it and to develop it. However, no matter how far we can take will power, it is important to realize that it is finite. This means that at some point we run out of Will power. It is important to treat it like any other valuable resource and try to rely on it only when really needed. Think about it: Your diet plans typically fail the most on those days when you ran out of will power. It could be that you had a rough day at work where you used a lot of will power to maintain composure, push yourself to finish things, avoided an argument with a colleague, managed to eat a salad while your colleagues ordered burgers, pushed yourself to exercise after work, and you had not slept very well the night before … You get the point, eventually our will power runs out. Save it for those important moments.  

3- If it is in a book, it doesn’t mean you have to believe it:

Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of great authors out there. Many if not the majority are genuinely looking to help you in every way they know how to. However, some are also there just to make a quick hit: To join this whole movement of self-improvement motivational books. Frankly, they probably managed it too. I am not saying to stop believing in these books. What I am saying is to make sure you do not switch off your critical mind and assess whether what you are reading makes sense. Give it a try. Give it the benefit of the doubt. It might be the right thing for you or not. Despite our similarities, we are very unique. That’s the beauty of it. If it’s written it doesn’t mean you have to take it as is. 

A last piece of advice that keeps coming back in almost every read and is frankly a common theme that I have spoken about over and over again. It is extremely simple yet powerful. If you had to remember one thing and only one thing to change your life for the better, remember this: Doing something, even if it looks incredibly small compared to your ambitions is way better than not doing anything waiting for a big break, or the right time, or the right person, or, or, or, ...

Thank you for reading my article!

Please comment, Like, Get in touch! I would love to hear from you.

Michael