“A book is a garden, an orchard, a storehouse, a party, a company by the way, a counselor, a multitude of counselors.” – Charles Baudelaire
I bought a lot of books, I read a lot of books, and I re-read a lot of books in 2021.
As part of my Year End Reflection, I reviewed the books I read and what I learned.
I really want to share 3 books in particular that I found unusually helpful because of their extraordinary knowledge.
Each one of these books is special in their own way, and the author’s themselves have learned some very special skills for life.
This first book is…
1. The Book on Making Money
The Book on Making Money, by Steve Oliverez, is the book everybody should read when starting out in life.
Steve shares his lessons from the school of hard knocks, how he went from minimum paying jobs to financial freedom.
His book counterbalances all the books about how to live below your means until you save for retirement that all have the same message:
cut back, get out of debt, then make your money work for you, save and invest.
The problem Steve had with this approach is he couldn’t save money when he didn’t have any money.
He thinks the idea of saving your way to wealth when you’re already poor is absurd and counterproductive.
Steve’s book is about how to actually make money.
Steve didn’t come from money. HIs parents were broke, and he didn’t have a college education.
Steve’s minimum paying job was so low, he went from behind on rent to eventually couch surfing.
He lived off $2 day in food of 39-cent burritos and Ramen packets.
Steve didn’t want to live this way, and he didn’t want to wait 40 or 50 years of living below his means.
He change his life through a remarkable goal: to double his income every year.
If you’re not from money, I think you’ll find Steve’s book very relatable and extremely insightful.
2. The Silva Mind Control Method
The Silva Mind Control Method, by Jose Silva, is a book of lost gold.
I had always avoided this book because I thought it was a book about how to control other people’s minds.
The title is misleading. It’s actually about about how to master your own mind.
What’s crazy is that the military paid Jose Silva $20 million to develop his method, and we can buy it for $10.
I thought, well, maybe this is just a high level book about the ideas of what he learned and figured out.,
Nope. Jose Silva actually walks through, step-by-step, how to develop the same abilities he developed.
I mean, he actually includes step-by-step instructions for how to practice and train in the Silva Method.
It’s the same system he used to help CEOs create competitive advantage.
It’s the same system he used to help give his kids an advantage in school.
At first, I wondered why is his approach to visualization different than any other visualization system.
And then I realized, it’s because he focuses on first getting into a deep Alpha state.
In the Alpha state you can’t feel fear, so your imagination and creativity are further unleashed to solve your greatest problems and challenges.
Jose used his system for everything from accelerating learning to creative problem solving to even advanced healing.
I feel as if having this book is having the long lost knowledge that can help anybody realize more of their potential and tap into their limitless possibilities.
3. Herschel Walker’s Basic Training
Herschel Walker’s Basic Training, by Herschel Walker & Terry Todd, Ph.D., is a book about how to become a stronger, more agile, better-conditioned athlete.
Note this book really is like lost gold, it’s a sought after book and sells for a really high price.
If you don’t know Herschel, he’s a machine.
But the amazing thing here is how Herschel want from the runt of the family to crushing records and becoming a legendary athlete.
Some books are about self-made millionaires.
This is a book about a self-made fitness phenomenon.
His transformation really started in the sixth grade, when Walker told his coach he “wanted to get bigger and stronger and faster and be better at sports.”
His coach told him do push-pus, sit-ups, and sprints.
And so he did those to the extreme.
He went from not being able to do any pushups at all to slowly working up to 2,000 a day as a young man.
Today, Walker claims to do 3,500 push-ups every day.
What a great example of what’s possible in this life through experimentation and consistency!
Walker’s philosophy is that his personal bodyweight workout is what keeps his joints in good shape even as he gets older.
Walker’s unorthodox bodyweight workout is not for everyone, but it sure is a great body of knowledge and real-life example to draw from.
The Life-Giving Power of Books
Reading the right book can change your life in ways you can’t even predict.
Who knows what I’ll learn from trying out 3,500 push ups in a day.
Let me leave you with a quote from Maya Angelou:
“When I look back, I am so impressed again with the life-giving power of literature. If I were a young person today, trying to gain a sense of myself in the world, I would do that again by reading, just as I did when I was young.”
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