The point, after all, is not just to read. The point is to read in a way that leads to better thinking, and to think in a way that leads to better living.
Eric Greitens
Reading is a very practical experience for me. Because I strive daily to live an 80/20, essentialistic life, I work daily to eliminate everything in my life that doesn’t fit my priorities and which aren’t the most important. I’m not perfect in this, but it’s a focus of mine. This means that I read what best fits my priorities and that will in theory impact my priorities the greatest.
For example, my daily reading will pull from the following categories and examples of books I’m currently reading:
Religious/Spiritual
- The Book of Mormon
- The Old Testament, New Testament, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price
- General conference talks of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- The Infinite Atonement (Tad Callister)
- Hearing the Voice of the Lord (Gerald Lund)
- Simply Jesus (N.T. Wright)
- Paul (N.T. Wright)
- Teachings of Russell M. Nelson (in Portuguese)
- God and Stephen Hawking (John C. Lennox)
Strategy
- Good Strategy/Bad Strategy (Richard Rumelt)
- Playing to Win (A.G. Lafley, Roger Martin)
- The Boston Consulting Group on Strategy (Carl W. Stern, Michael S. Deimler)
- The 33 Strategies for War (Robert Greene)
Leadership
- The Power of Positive Leadership (Jon Gordon)
- What You Do Is Who You Are (Ben Horowitz)
- CEO Excellence (Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, Vikram Malhotra)
Change
- Made to Stick (Chip Heath, Dan Heath)
- Thinking in Systems (Donella Meadows)
Culture
Thinking | Decision-making | Excellence
- The Great Mental Models (Farnam Street)
- The 80/20 Principle (Richard Koch)
- Clear Thinking (Shane Parrish)
- Hidden Potential (Adam Grant)
- 10x is Easier than 2x (Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy)
- The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry (John Mark Comer, John Ortberg)
- Who Not How (Dan Sullivan, Dr. Benjamin Hardy)
- Move Fast and Fix Things (Anne Morris, Frances Frei)
- Be Your Future Self Now (Dr. Benjamin Hardy)
- Simplify (Richard Koch)
- Understanding Complexity (Scott E. Page)
Real Estate Investing
- Raising Private Capital (Matt Faircloth)
- Wealth Without Cash (Pace Morby)
Health | Mental Health
- Healing (Thomas Insel, MD)
- The Diabetes Code (Dr. Jason Fung)
- The Obesity Code (Dr. Jason Fang)
- Personality Isn’t Permanent (Dr. Benjamin Hardy)
Reading must be an adventure, a journey. It must be much more than something to do. It must be something I look forward to, anticipating what I’ll discover and where it will take me and what I’ll become as a result.
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