In Year 2024 I took a solid decision to change my life. The first action was to go back to reading books intensively. The journey became so fascinating to me that I am now sharing my takeaways from all the knowledge gained.
This is the first part of a series where I will explore and share all the valuable insights I gained from a long list of good books.
Community promotion
Why I read this?
I was sitting late on my balcony back in May 2024 desperate to change my life. In the previous quarter I delivered the biggest project in my career after months of sleepless nights, work extending over the weekends and a good bit of stress. Wasn’t hard to take the decision for a change, so that I can create better future for me and my family.
So I jumped on the web to search how to do that, came across many influencers and this book was top of the list across most posts about books.
What I learned?
- In the new economy there are 3 groups of people who will thrive - those that are able to work well with intelligent machines, those that are masters at their craft, and those with excessive access to capital. You can enter the first two at no cost. It is impressive that the guy predicts this long before AI came on the scene.
- We all have lost the ability to focus in the modern world. I realized I have come to suck at this, too. Those who spend focused time daily and conistently over time will outperform the rest. We all face distractions every minute, which is leading to poor performance and many other problems. I was so bad at this for years, that I kept 2 monitors at work - 1 for ‘work’ and 1 always had the mail, slack and other comms tools opened so that I respond/react everywhere immediately. On the contrary, you can only achieve progress if you eliminate distractions
How am I applying the lessons?
- This book made most impact on me last year. It changed my identity, which is exactly what is expected from a good book. The way the author justifies his thesis is great with numerous real world stories and examples he collected over many years. Its not just a step by step guide how to do this and that.
- As a result I canceled 90% of my work calls, stopped watching email/comms apps before noon, and started spending 2 to 4 hours a day working on my highest priority projects
- A very practical thing that resonated with me, since I got 2 kids, full time job, and challenging personal projects, was an offered advice how to spend focused deep work time in a busy daily schedule. There was a story about a man in same situation as me, who started waking up 2 hours before rest of family and work on his scientific project, achieving great results in couple of months. The idea behind this was to explain that you train your neuro-connecitons daily same as muscles in the gym. In this way for the same 2 hours you achieve much more after consistent practice compared to the time you start off a cognitive related project. Did you know you can develop your mind the same way you develop your body?
Why I read this?
Ubert Angel is a spiritual father and mentor of my Church leader Maksim Asenov, so I follow him. His prophetic ministry is huge with a worldwide reach, and his books are very practical, especially for someone who want to go deep with Christian Faith.
I have come to realize as a believer that no matter my efforts, nothing happens right without a prayer to God. Thus the title ‘Praying for the impossible’ met me at best when I started looking for a change…which seemed impossible at the begging, but turned out to be a prayer away.
What I learned?
- There is a Bible proven structure to pray for anything that seems impossible to the human mind. There are literally steps to follow when you present your case before God in the heavenly court. And God is faithful and just to his word.
- Honestly guys, for 10 years as a believer today, I never had unanswered prayer. But this book taught me I can even go further, praying and receiving stuff I never thought I am qualified to ask for.
How am I applying the lessons?
- I took the time to follow the guidance and prayed for a change in a moment I just couldn’t bare the burden anymore - too many projects, all important, demands from relatives and life itself, my body was not happy with my routines and so on.
- Might sound strange for a non-believer, but when you pray, beside many good things that happen, your faith is exalted. You come to believe you have the right to demand a better live. And the Lord is there to support you
- Whenever I fall in self-doubt weather it is rigtheous to ask of something more, I come back to this book and follow the principles.
Why I read this?
- Came across a cool guy - young enterprenuer who shared his top books in his channel. What won me in his recomendation is that he goes back to this book whenever he feels down - which I needed at the moment a lot
What I learned?
- Another perspective on success - it is my duty, responsibility and obligation - before God, myself, my family my church, my community, my society. Never spot such perspective on the ‘success’ topic before.
- It just requires 10x more effort than you think - Grand says it straightforward saving the bs to the reader. Respect!
- Its not wrong to be obsessed and you are dangerous when you are focused
How am I applying the lessons?
- The guy suggested to write down your goals everyday. He does it 3 times a day. I started doing it once a day every morning. The one seeming most impossible manifested on the 7th month.
- Everyday and especially when I am down I remind myself it is my noble duty to achieve more. No excuses.
- As a Project Manager I try to put every new endevour in a structured plan. I am now cool when I discover along the way of building, that I have to push 10x harder. And I push with joy
Why I read this?
- Another book finding place in many influencer’s tops
- Honestly, I just craved for more of identity change, so it was the natural next choice, and I don’t regret at all
What I learned?
- Forming a new habbit takes on average 66 days. But there is something to understand so you manage to go through the pain. Its the 22 first days, when you are excited and all goes well. The second 22 are when your old brain structures get destroyed and new connections are formed at the same time. You can literally and scientifically ‘go mad’ for a day or two - thats when people give up. The latter 22 are when you strengthen the new connections in your brain so that the habit is lasting.
guys, this works!
- There is a habit of habits - building a challenging new one, will help you build many more. The author suggest this to be a workout right after waking up.
- Your ancient primitive brain functions will try to convince you off your new goals, just to protect you. That is why you need to feed your vision everyday (turn on another part of the brain) with scheduled time for this. Its just a brain game
How am I applying the lessons?
- I started journaling, which payed off great.
- The book really motivated me to start working out daily again, after some 10 years brake (was professional athlete before I became an IT, sitting on the computer for 8-10h a day…).
- If you concur your morning you concur your life and the world - I now can’t leave without the quite time in the morning hours before family wakes up
Why I read this?
- This was just another book in the top influencers list, obviously a best seller and very popular across the network. As I kicked off the journey to make a change, the title itself naturally felt next in the list
What I learned?
- The book is full of practical examples and lessons, and I haven’t finished it end to end. What struck me at first is the concept that you don’t change a behaviour just because you want to do something else. Instead to apply a lasting change you in your habits, thus in your life, you should think about changing your identity. Instead of saying “I am working out everyday, because I have to do it” or “…because I have decided so”, you should think from the perspective of “I am eneregetic husband and father, who is always giving to his family, and because of that I workout everyday”
This was a gamechanger revelation for me, which helped me install couple of really good habits in my daily routine
How am I applying the lessons?
- I stick to my journalying habbit, recording everyday my goals in a way that I say “I am this and that guy, so I achieve this and that, and I do this and that…”