Read for the timeless wisdom

Why did I read this book?

One of my best reads of this year is “The Psychology of Money” by Morgan Housel . This book nourished me with a fresh perspective – earning money is not about becoming rich, but it is about gaining more freedom. I can proudly say that this one perspective itself changed my perception towards my work and life in general.

After finishing this book, I always wanted to read something from Mr. Housel (you can read his blog also). Then, I came across this book and instantly ordered it just by reading its premise.

Its premise is the best. What’s that?

It is based on the concept that there are some aspects that remain the same. These are timeless (occurred in the past, happening in present) and will always repeat in the future too. If you read history or check in the present, a lot of events are the result of human soft aspects (behaviors) – risk capability, jealousy, and social affiliations. These behaviors never change and hence are history’s most powerful lessons. Hence, the title of the book is “Same as Ever”. ?

It is full of epic facts and timeless wisdom. If you are not convinced to pick this book. Let me share something.

Sapiens. I am referring to the book “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” authored by Yuval Noah Harari. I love this book. Anyone of you who has read this book (and has been a student of History in school time) can agree that there is no new information which is shared in this book. But still it captured the bestselling tag.

Why? Simple.

Because Mr. Harari is a great storyteller, and a good story always wins. This is an epic lesson. ?????

This book is filled with such interesting lessons.

For only 200 bucks, I got three epic lessons for life. What are those?

Before I start with my three lessons, have a look at a great newspaper article below.

Lesson#1 – Best story wins.

I already gave the example of the book Sapiens.

Let’s take the example of Titanic. We all know its sinking story. But no one mention about the 1948 sinking of Chinese ferryboat SS Kiangya. But everyone remembers Titanic.

Why?

Because it has the story potential – famous and wealthy passengers, firsthand accounts from survivors and a blockbuster movie.

A story is loved by all. We are living in a world filled with boredom, impatience and scarcity of emotions, and a good story simplifies all these worldly issues into easy-to-grasp scenes.

We need to focus on stories in presentations, conversations, and blogs. Even TED talks are famous because of their stories.

Lesson#2 – World is not run by greed, but by envy.

1950s is considered to be golden age of middle-class prosperity. Ask any Americans about the world in 1950s and now. Most of them would agree that it was better in 1950s.

Why? Simple, because world is driven by envy.

In 1950s, homeownership was 12% lower than now, average home was a third smaller than today and a median income was enough to live with single earner.

But now, everything is more. We have big houses, more income and almost all family members are earning. But still people are unsatisfied now. Why?

The reason is simple. In 1950s, everyone was living that way only. Now, people are wanting more. Now, there is a huge income disparity. Today’s economy is good at generating three things – wealth, ability to show off wealth, and envy for other’s wealth.

Hence, we need to keep check on how much we compare our life with others. Everyone has their own share of happiness and sadness. So, it would be better to focus on our resources and ways to improve it (and instead of focusing on other’s life for comparison).

Lesson#3 – Stress focuses attention in ways that good time can’t.

We keep worrying about the stress in work and personal life. But there is a positive side to it.

Take the example of the military.

Militaries are engines of innovation. They deal with urgent and vital problems and thus obstacles like money and manpower are removed. They collaborate and bring new inventions. They gave us internet, rockets, GPS, radar, etc. They all work under stress, but stress also gives productivity.

I have seen the same thing in the workplace also. When seniors are not there, and all the deliverables fall on our shoulders, we get stressed, overstretch ourselves but still deliver it. As a result, we interact with new people and learn new things. Seniors are needed for guidance, but learning is in our hands only. May be, sometimes, we need stress for our own good.

So, next time you are stressed, take it in a positive spirit (although there should be a limit to it).

Why should you read this book?

First, this book has got one of the best story-telling pages.

Second, ROI is huge as it teaches you to look at money, life, relationships from a new perspective. Nobody would be able to teach these things. We have to either learn it on our own or learn from someone else’s experience. Following the latter route is simpler and so read the book. You just have to dedicate a few hours of your life to get timeless wisdom.

(Note - The lessons shared are personal and based on the book.)