Reading 100 Books Didn’t Change My Life At All
Yesterday I started a new book for the first time in a year.
Here’s what the first page taught me.
My GoodReads account used to be impressive.
I tracked all the books I read, won over gorgeous women by showing them my library, and became an icon that people aspired to be like.
Only one of those is true. Anyway, I used to read a ton.
I believed the classic self-improvement trope: The most successful people read every day.
Not reading meant falling behind in life.
But here’s the thing…
I read killer personal finance books: 💰
- Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
- Unshakeable by Tony Robbins
- Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
But I still had a mountain of debt and shitty money habits.
I read best-selling business books: 🧳
- The Four-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss
- The E Myth: Revisited by Michael Gerber
- The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco
But I still had nothing to sell and was waiting tables at the Cheesecake Factory.
I read self-help classics: 💪
- The 7 Habits of Highly-Effective People by Stephen Covey
- How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
- Deep Work by Cal Newport
But I remained an insecure twenty-something college dropout living in his mom’s house.
Don’t worry. This has a happy ending.
The book I just started is called Traction.
It’s for business owners who want to grow a well-oiled business machine.
The first chapter did more for me than all the previous business books I’ve read combined.
Why?
Is Traction THAT great?
It’s pretty good, yes. But it has less to do with the book and more with me.
Let me explain.
For a book to be useful, you have to use what you learn.
Sounds obvious. But many folks (my past self included) aimlessly read books, thinking they’ll be valuable…then do nothing with them.
Reading Gary Vee didn’t make me better at sales. It just made me more annoying as I regurgitated his lessons to my coworkers at the restaurant.
“Just do shit, you dick,” I said, refilling the ranch dressing.
Good times.
Uncle Alex Hormozi defines learning as:
same situation + different behavior
I always said things like, “This book was super impactful for me,” or, “I learned so much from this book.”
But when presented with the same situation (my unglamorous life), I practiced the exact same behavior.
Nothing changed. Therefore, I learned nothing.
Every leveling up in my life came from me stepping off the ledge and jumping into some unfamiliar territory.
It was scary. I was unprepared.
- creating content
- quitting my job to start a business
- leaving the US to travel the world
No amount of books could’ve made these easy.
I thought I had to read to learn how to do things in the real world.
But that’s backward.
First I had to take scary action in the real world. Only then would the books help me.
Cut to: Traction.
I’ve been running Grindstone for a year now. It’s been hard as hell.
- designing a useful product
- selling it to strangers
- leading a team
I feel incompetent most of the time. But we’ve staggered our way to being a profitable company.
When I opened Traction, the author began describing business owners' most common frustrations.
As I read each one, I thought: Yup. Oh yeah. That hits home.
I have context for what the book is talking about. I can see myself and my organization in every paragraph.
Because I’m doing the thing.
Too many people try to learn before doing the thing.
Books don’t teach you how to do the thing. They teach theory. And theory usually just makes you feel good.
My first 10 coaching sessions taught me more about coaching than any coaching book.
My first 10 sales calls taught me more about sales than any business book.
My last relationship taught me more about love than any dating book.
Only doing the thing shows you how to do the thing.
Do the thing first. Then read about it to fill in the gaps.
I made two big changes to my reading habits.
(Caveat: I’m talking about personal development and business books here. I still read fiction and other stuff for fun.)
1) I read less.
Please don’t smite me, self-help gods.
Gone are the days of me reading for the sake of reading. If it doesn’t actively help me make noticeable change or improvement right now, I don’t read it.
Likewise, the second a book feels boring or redundant…I stop reading it.
Sometimes, I’ll even jump ahead and only read parts of a book I feel suits my needs at the given moment.
Past me thought reading 70 books in a year was something to brag about. Now I’d rather read one life-changing book 70 times.
Less but better.
2) I use the “Dick method” (DIQ) when reading.
Here’s how it works:
- do
- insights
- quotes
Do = actions to take or changes to make.
Insights = lessons or concepts to capture for later reference.
Quotes = funny, inspiring, or educational quotes I like.
The purpose of this system is to never read a book without it changing my behavior.
Here’s a snapshot of my current DIQ with Traction:
Hope that’s useful.
Now go do the thing.
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