a short history of nearly everything

I noticed that the last time I mentioned any of the books I've read, was 8 months ago! I guess I've been really busy, and a little slack on the updates. But I have been reading my usual four books at a time, two books per month. And I've been absorbing lots and lots of material on ChangeThis, so I guess it's time I give some updates...

I finished reading "A Short History of Nearly Everything", written by Bill Bryson, a few months ago, and it's still fresh in my mind. It's a semi-scientific / factual type book, not my usual choice, since I've really been digging deep into the business books for the last two years. But I bought the book because it was recommended by a good friend, and it was definitely worth it.

It's one of those books that hooks you. You just can't read fast enough, or put the thing down. There were some slow parts in the beginning of the book, but most of it is absolutely brilliant.

Essentially it's about the world, earth, chemistry, science, geography, animals, stars, humans and everything really. Bill Bryson explains in really easy and plain language how just about everything in the universe hangs together. But the real beauty of the book, is that he describes how the scientists discovered the stuff, how they realised that things work the way they do, and also who these scientists were. Their weird stories (and it can be really weird sometimes) and the stories that surrounded them. And he does it all with a wicked sense of humour.

I found the book very fascinating, and filled with really strange and awesome stuff. I would highly recommend it!

influence

I've finished reading a few more of the ChangeThis ebooks recently, despite my current work (over)load, but sadly none worth writing about. Also finished the small book "Fish", written by Lundon, Paul and Christensen, which has a bit of a silly story line, but essentially a good message: you can choose your attitude at work, and make work fun where ever you can.

But the one book that really got me is "Influence" (the psychology of persuasion), by Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D. This is probably one of the best books I've ever read. It was a serious eye opener. Essentially it's about how people influence us, or how we are influenced subconsciously, when making decisions. It is filled with, often very scary, examples and scientific experiments and studies. And has really changed the way I look at some things quite a bit.

I identified a host of things that happened in my past, which are explained perfectly in this book. It is definitely a must read, in my opinion. Even if it's just to protect yourself from unethical manipulators out there in the world. I have really learnt a lot from it.

the intelligent investor

I have finally finished reading the Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham. It took me much longer than usual, due to my current work load / lack of time, and off course the fact that the book is not exactly the easiest read around. That said, I found it very interesting, and learnt a huge amount of new stuff from it. Unfortunately most of the examples in the book are a little difficult to follow, because they are mostly based on American companies, and then sometimes companies than pre-date my birth, but the principles are good and simple to understand.

Here is a very relevant lesson I learnt from the book, probably a little too late, especially when looking at the chaos on the stock exchanges these last few months, and the terrible impact it has had on my (small) investments (now even smaller):

"The cheap stocks may later become over-priced; the expensive stocks may turn cheap. At some point in its life, almost every stock is a bargain; at another time, it will be expensive. Although there are good and bad companies, there is no such thing as a good stock; there are only good stock prices, which come and go."

I guess another important lesson learnt, is to be patient, and not panic when markets fall. Don't buy if the price isn't right, even if the company is good (like I did), and don't sell because everything is falling (luckily I learnt this lesson before I made a even bigger mistake).

Overall a very good book, if you're keen to invest in shares.

guru red

I don't exactly agree with everything that Mike Smock writes in Guru Red, a lot of it feels like big organisation talk, with the typical top / down structure and approach.

Personally I don't like those type of organisations too much, unless they are divided into small creative and energetic teams that have a fair amount of autonomy (perhaps similar to the concepts that Ricardo Semler describes in Maverick), but this book doesn't really feel like that at all.

There are however also a good number of valid and interesting points in the book, especially around financing and transactions, so still worth reading...

heartlands

Heartlands, written by Michael Buckley, is a book about his extensive travels in Tibet and the regions surrounding it. The book is packed with interesting facts and stories about Tibetan culture, history, customs, traditions and way of life, as well as some short interviews with various monks and other interesting people. Michael obviously knows his stuff when it comes to Tibet, he has a huge amount of knowledge packed into the book.

It covers many towns and places / things to see, mostly very interesting, although there are a few places where it gets a little boring when he starts listing places without any "story attached to them" (as in: and then we went here, followed by going there, and then there, etc. etc.)

Overall a very enjoyable book, if you are interested in Tibet.

A quote: "I think the problem is that many Westerners categorise Buddhism as a religion, which it really isn't. It's a study of life." - Khyentse Norbu

100 simple secrets of successful people

I thought we were already heading into summer, but the weather turned and we've had serious rain, really big waves and some very strong winds these last 2 weeks. I've skipped a lot of training, and tried to catch up on as much reading, and work, as possible. It looks like things are clearing up a little this week, so we can go outdoors again...

Anyway, "The 100 Simple Secrets of Successful People" (what scientists have learned and how you can use it), by David Niven, Ph.D. is a small book I picked up at a second hand book shop sometime ago. It's very easy reading, each "secret" being described in two pages that contain a summary, story and research explaining the point.

There are a number of nice things in the book, but nothing that's not common sense, or "secret" for that matter. I guess it's good to be reminded of these things once in a while, so you can focus on improving your weaknesses, in case you may have forgotten about some of them. Overall I enjoyed the book, and will probably page through it every now and then, when I need a little motivation.

this i believe

Finished reading This I Believe, Snapshots of Excellence in Unstable Times, by Tom Peters. There are just too many good things in this e-book to single out one particular subject. Make time to go read it now! It's worth the time and the effort... really!

I know it's a bit of a contradiction: but I wish I could work for somebody like this ;-) To have a job where you have time to dream, and think, and discover, and invent, and create, and change, and break, and build, and fail, and amaze...

the challenge of the mind

Finished reading "The Challenge of the Mind" (a practical approach to the essential Buddhist teaching of Karma), by Ryuho Okawa. Not the easiest Buddhist book I've read to date, and definitely not the most difficult. They love using complicated terms and phrases, that you have to read a few times just to understand, never mind grasp the concepts.

Anyway, I've read a lot of Buddhist books to date, and still battle to understand many of the principles. Overall this was a pretty good book which clarified a number of things in plain understandable english. I really liked the fact that each chapter is divided into really small sections of about 2 to 5 pages each, which helps to break things down into very small digestible chunks.

I'd put it about third in my list of Buddhist books, after "Buddhism Without Beliefs", by Stephen Batchelor, and my little "Pocket Buddha Reader".

the art of the start

I've just finished reading The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki. It's less than 34 pages of easy reading, good advice about start-ups and entreprenuering (I love ChangeThis).

I really liked: "Don't wait to develop the perfect product or service. Good enough is good enough." This is something I've started learning these last few years. Being less of a perfectionist is good. It saves a lot of time because you don't have to revisit things you may perceive as not perfect, but which is in fact more than good enough.

He also stresses that you should get the product / service out as soon as possible, even if it's not 100%. You can refine it later. That, is a good thing too. Not just because you're getting out into the market sooner, but it also sets things in motion. Sometimes we get good ideas, and play with it in our thoughts, run over it again and again, procrastinate a little, and eventually too much time has gone by and we just let it go. Nothing happens.

I hate admitting it, but I have done this a few times. Built things that are good enough, ideas that are good enough, but didn't put it out there or follow through. Just to see it appear in the market a few years later, in some form or another, sometimes a lot less functional than my version, but doing much better because they put it out there...

changethis

I have just discovered a fantastic site called ChangeThis, via Seth Godin's blog. It's essentially a library of Manifestos, which are short pdf books covering various interesting and, at least to me, relevant life and business topics. It's all free, and the quality of the work is pretty good.

The only problem I have is that I already have a huge pile of books next to my bed, ready for reading, and about a hundred other electronic courses from MIT OpenCourseWare waiting on my pc. And now this...

Anyway, I started by reading "The Freak Factor: Discovering Uniqueness by Flaunting Weakness" first. And it's all good and sensible advise, in a 21 page book. Give it a try, if you have time.

Edit: I've also scanned through "25 Ways to Distinguish Yourself", and I'm impressed. This is the kind of stuff they should be giving out at schools and other educational institutions in our country. It's a quick and easy read, but valuable lessons there...

swimming against the stream

I've just finished reading "Swimming against the stream", by Tim Waterstone. It has taken me very long to finish this small book, mainly because I've had a lot of stuff on my mind which has / is taking a lot of my time (work, goals, life, universe, everything).

Anyway, the book is fairly good, it covers some entrepreneurial topics, a bit of business advice, and some motivational / life things. I got a little bored around the middle of the book, but it does end really well. In fact I'd say the last few pages are about the best part of the book.

Tim quotes Steve Jobs (from Apple / Pixar) saying "Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking that you have something to lose." I think that's a pretty good statement. Tim goes on to say that "I wasted too much of my own life in someone else's skin. A lot of us do, and it burns up our days. Our time on earth is short. We have to swim on our own, and for ourselves. We must never be trapped by dogma - which is living within the confines of other people's thinking, and just as likely flawed as true."

I think perhaps I like this bit because it fits in so nicely with the things I've got on my mind. I just have this constant feeling these days that I'm wasting my time at work. I'm not making a real difference, or achieving anything great. It's just more of the same, and I think I can, or want to, do much better, in work and life...