I once set a goal to read 100 books in one year. I finished a couple dozen short, which, at the time, felt a little like failure. Looking back now, I see it differently.
A good book—especially a non-fiction work backed by solid research—takes anywhere between several months and a few years (or more) to write. And why do we read these books?
To learn.
To be challenged.
To acquire skills.
To grow.
And unless equipped with a photographic memory, how could any reader, in one sitting, expect to truly digest and integrate the content these generous souls pour their whole selves into?
Wisdom can’t simply be underlined—it must be embodied, which takes careful consideration and practice.
So, what’s better, to read 100 fantastic books or read one fantastic book 100 times? To sit with the words. To throw each concept at the wall and see what sticks.
Knowledge, the kind that transforms, is a slow burn.
I’d love to know how you see it. Join me in the comments!
Hi Anthony, once again you’ve hit the nail on the head... this is something that has been on my mind recently.
I’ve watched one of those Youtube shorts ... it was about some “would-be” self-help guru trying to sell out his course (probably) ... but one thing he said got me thinking...
To summarise his pitch - he allegedly contacted a local psychology doctor and paid a month’s worth of salary for them to consolidate all their knowledge into a single day with them. This doctor would then spend a week of their time to compile everything and what they brought at the end was nothing short of “pure gold”.
While I would take all of this with a grain of salt (it was an elaborate ad after all). It does get me think how someone writting a book does eventually distill the ideas and process the concepts into more bite-sized ideas and concepts.
More recently I've also stumbled upon Youtube videos from Mark Manson and his statement was basically that all self-help books, courses and ideas that exist out there are basically nothing new. These thoughts and ideas were initally established by great minds like Plato, Freud or Albert Camus. What we consume from these self-help books are just their ideas but after they've been cooked and marinated a little longer ... perhaps in a format that does click for us (or maybe it doesn't).
At the end of the day I do agree with your post here, what we pay for a book is nothing but a fraction of the effort, sweat, blood and tears the author put in to experience and eventually write all that. For something that cost maybe less than 10$ we wouldn't really expect it to be life changing.
So at the end of the day I think we should just appreciate if a good book leaves us with one or maybe two good ideas we eventually apply to bring some small measure of change in our lives. Afterall it's little change by little change that we achive bigger improvements in our life-style.