From the category archives:

reading

Self-Stall Read

February 11, 2010

A friend said to me:
Reading a book has never hurt me in any way.
True, reading another book or another post can’t hurt.
But it can stall.
The question is simple: are you motivated?
If not, then you can read yet another self-help book that echoes the same message over and over.
If yes, then stop reading. You’ve read it [...]

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The End Of Education

December 23, 2009

One of the most harmful consequences of our outdated educational system is the idea of an “end.”
No matter how inflated education is nowadays (I’m dying to see what the education industry will come up with once MBA’s fall into the commodity category), it always establishes graduations. When you graduate it means “you are done.”
Note: [...]

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The Risk Of Wisdom

October 19, 2009

There’s no way to explain how something feels.
You can’t feel cold, or pain, or goosebumps vicariously. Someone can tell you what it’s like, but it’s meaningless until you go through it.
Same goes for wisdom.
Reading more won’t make you wiser. Its purpose is to spark action.
You need to write for yourself, ask for yourself, do for [...]

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Books Beat Blogs

August 17, 2009

Blogs make you interesting.
Books make you smart.
There’s too much fragmentation and topic diversification for blogs to leave the kind of mark a book does.
Yes, they are complementary, but if you are lacking time, choose books.
One book trumps a hundred posts every time.
Last thought: This is why I suggest reading philosophy books. If you must be [...]

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Proud Readers

July 31, 2009

Have you ever compared book with movie ratings?
People rate higher books than movies.
There’s a simple reason for this: books demand more time and energy.
After watching a bad movie, is common to say “This was a complete waste of time”.
After reading a book? Not so much.
Because we force ourselves to like it. Even if [...]

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The Downside Of Transparency

July 24, 2009

Be transparent, they say.
Not so fast.
First of all, business transparency (a must) is not the same as personal transparency.
We want to see what’s really going on at the places we are giving money to (or thinking about it). We don’t necessarily want to know what everyone is going through, unless they are (true) friends.
Second, and most important, there’s [...]

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Friends Beat Doubt Everytime

June 26, 2009

We used to believe a plumber was good because our friends said so. After all, how many plumbers could you know in an offline world?
Today, being the best in any category, is almost impossible. You are part of a lot of good ones out there.
But the way to stand out hasn’t changed: let people take [...]

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