8 Lessons I Learned After Reading 400+ Self-Help Books in 4 Years
If I had to introduce myself. I’ll introduce myself as a professional reader and a part-time writer. That’s how much I love reading. Because Reading was the only productive thing I did until I started creating my personal brand.
And Reading a lot of books has introduced me to a ton of ideas but for your insanity in this article, I will be talking about only 8 ideas that reading self-help books have taught me.
And implementing the lessons from these books has changed my life for the better and I believe it will do the same for you aka these ideas might change your life. So let’s get started.
1. You’re Responsible for Your Life
Do you like your life? If yes. Be proud of yourself because it is you who has created that happy life.
If no. Then work on creating that life. Remember, as long as you blame your parents, society or government for your shitty life. You’ll never improve.
You’ll only improve if you accept that whatever is happening with you is because of you and take the decision to change it if you don’t like it.
2. Always Engage in Delayed Gratification Activities
The world is full of cheap dopamine. It’s designed to give you dopamine that would require you to work hard for years to get. And that is what’s keeping you stuck.
Reject that. Reject activities that give you instant pleasure and start the activities that will take you years to see results in. Start a business, hit the gym, read books, and meditate.
Indulge yourself in activities that will give you results years down the line. Not tomorrow. Rewire your brain and change your life.
3. Consistency and Patience are all you need to be successful
You might have seen tweets, read books, watched youtube videos and even read articles like this that say you to be consistent and stay patient. And there is a good reason why this advice is shoved down your throat.
Because there are the basic principles that move the lever of your life. Just like Clutch, Gear and Brake are the principles of riding a bike. To navigate through life you need Consistency and Patience.
Combine these principles with a delayed gratification activity and you’re setting up your future self for success.
4. Reading is Useless Without Taking Action
For my 1st year of Reading. I indulged in the Mental Masturbation of Reading. It means I read books and got excited by the idea that I can change my life but never took action.
Which lead to me feeling shitty every day. Until one day, I prioritized taking action over Reading. And my life changed.
I’m not where I want to be but I know repetitive focused action will take me there. There’s no doubt about it.
5. Self-Improvement is a Never Ending Journey
Self-Improvement is the journey of solving problems and a thing about problems is that they never end. You solve one problem and you’re bombarded with another one.
In the end, life is the act of endlessly solving problems by improving yourself but the best problem is the problems keep getting better.
In the beginning, your problem might be you’re not getting a single customer but after 3 years your problem is you’re getting so many customers that you’re not even able to manage them.
Both are problems that need to be solved but one set of problems is better than the other.
6. Ditch Consumer Mindset
90% of people will never get rich because they are conditioned to be consumers. Eat food prepared by others, consume content prepared by others, and wear clothes prepared by others. That’s how a consumer lives.
But if you want to acquire wealth. Ditch this mindset and become a creator. Prepare food that others eat, prepare content that others consume, and sell clothes that others wear.
The secret to wealth is creation.
7. Don’t Be a Sheep
90% of people will follow the herd. Sorry, 90% of sheep will follow the herd. And the rest will choose their own path.
Don’t take the path that society has made for you. Reaching the end goal has multiple paths. So, Design your own path.
Ditch the script and become the architect of your own life. Become a Black Sheep.
8. Be a Failure
Be a failure. Start that business and fail. Approach that girl and get rejected. Apply for jobs and get rejected.
You’ll be far ahead of the people who never even tried. Because you have multiple chances and every chance is a lottery ticket.
The more tickets you buy, the more chances you being lucky. The more businesses you start, the more chances you being wealthy. The more girls you approach, the more chances you finding a girlfriend.
That’s it. It’s crazy how much reading can teach you. But it’s even crazier how much experience can teach you. So, Read and Take Action. That’s the formula to win in life.
