You cannot become anything without an education. Therefore if you do not read much, then you are not going to change or become much. You will always only be as you always were.
So books have this power to influence us, inspire us, motivate us, to learn more about the world, to learn more about people, to take us from a state of not knowing to understanding and experiencing fulfillment. Ultimately, books have the power to change you.
BOOKS HAVE TO THE POWER TO CHANGE WHO YOU ARE
The question is though: will you? Are you willing to put yourself through all that effort, to make yourself see just how flawed you really are, then really want to work on improving yourself?
Over decades I was used to being called many names. From brain damage to empty head to someone who melts everyone’s head to everyone thinks you’re crazy and even in more recent times, a schizophrenic (more on that in perhaps May though).
The bad news is: I’m none of those things. And the good news is: I’m just autistic. And those were not nice ways of talking to someone who has autism.
There’s even a word for that too.
Point being: I’ve been bullied, picked on, manipulated, taken advantage of, in the sense of my emotional vulnerability as I have always been someone wanting to help and put other people’s problems before my own. And how much time I’ve put into other people’s problems before my own. That’s the downside of an empath.
But then all that changed, flipped and did a complete 180 and it made me go from being someone who was quite timid and cares too much, to someone not afraid of anything and doesn’t care at all. Not in the sense that I don’t care about other people. I’m actually a really good people person. I just don’t tolerate bullshit anymore.
And I’ve only been able to achieve that and able to endure life’s hardest blows thanks to spending all my free time in the past 10-years: reading books.
I simply would not have become the person I am today if I did not put myself through the paces, the process. If I did not carry a book with me at all times everywhere I’ve been for a decade. If I did not treat my life like every day is time to go to school again.
Because that is what led me to the mind I have today.
I used to fall asleep at the book. I’d read 5 pages of a wishy washy trash personal development book then immediately find myself distracted by Pawn Stars coming on TV then resort to lying down in the middle of the afternoon to watch it, and actually thinking and calling this productive. It’s about history. How can lying here on the sofa watching this not mean I’m spending my time wisely?
Which, of course now, is obviously ridiculous. We rarely even watch TV and 80% of the time it’s meditative music playing plinky plonky sounds while writing or reading books. There is nothing more important in your life than reading books. It’s more important than the money you earn. Earning money is important. But ensuring you are always able to read is more important. Many people have lots of money but don’t read and can experience unhappiness. Yet people can have little to no money at all and can experience the most happiness.
It’s not the external things in life that will make you happy, unless of course that equates to having a vast wealth of knowledge in the form of physical books then absolutely yes that has the power to make you happy. But simply ‘things’ out there cannot increase the quality of what goes on ‘in here’. At least not without great challenge, struggle, deliberate effort or engaging with purposeful difficulty.
Objects will not sustain your happiness. But the way you live your life will. And so, you will get the mind and quality of life you deserve by the standard you set for yourself and what you expect from yourself. And if you don’t set those standards high and expect a lot then I’d take a good guess right now that more often than not you’ll probably experience boredom and dissatisfaction with your life.
It’s easy to see whenever we look back in time now how hilarious it was, whenever we thought we knew it all and were finally on our way. And yet, I was more interested in building a Carlsberg castle than a book castle.
It’s been 3-years and 3-months now since being a drinker and I haven’t felt better in my whole life sitting down to a book each night than a beer.
The difference in one’s mind and life when there isn’t a book in sight between books everywhere. Because there isn’t just a mental shift that evolves from reading books, but also a physical one. You won’t be the same person who you are a decade from now if you commit to doing this work.
That’s why I read every night to my kids. I want them to get a head start in life. It wasn’t until I was 27-years old did I realise how important reading is. Not just for getting ahead in life but for the head itself. Reading books will make you a far smarter and more balanced person in life. That’s a fact.
Your goal then should always be to be embarrassed by your last year’s self. Because if you are not, then you haven’t changed at all in the last year.
Recently I mentioned how some people can’t change. So maybe it’s just more they refuse to then. Or simply don’t want to. Anyone who sees themselves as perfect, why should I? Sure I’m already amazing!
And that’s a problem. When people refuse to address their own faults and flaws and lack the ability of looking inward. Because it’s actually a really positive quality to be able to do that. In seeing ourselves and admitting to ourselves how flawed we are leaves us open to the possibility, not to mention opportunity, to find solutions that ultimately draw us into being a far better version of who we can become.
It’s crazy how many let a decade go by and they’re still the same as who they were a decade before. Now I’m aware this might ruffle a few feathers to those who are perhaps thinking now, is he talking about me? Because if you haven’t changed then I’m afraid you might mistake this as being about you.
But I’m not writing this to say bad things about you. I’m writing this to say things about those who have done and said bad things about me. Because I had mental obstacles and people perceived that as an easy way to take advantage of my disadvantage.
What started this process of change was two things: experiencing flow for the first time ever and specifically so inside physical endurance exercise. And by doing these things repeatedly over and over for years and years whilst pushing and forcing myself to read, slowly over time things incrementally ‘mentally’ got better.
So if we see someone working out in the middle of the night, not all of them are crazy. Some of them have simply found a way to increase the self. By deliberately engaging with the task of stretching the mind and body you can’t ‘not’ change who you are.
Commit then to always pushing yourself past the point of your limitations, or even simply want to try. While it’s a realistic argument to say you can’t do more than what you are limited to, try telling that to the guy who couldn’t run a mile then runs a marathon. Or the guy who couldn’t read without falling asleep whose school results even spelt the word fudge to reading 200 pages a day and writes essays for lunch.
I don’t buy it anymore.
Whatever your current limitations are, you absolutely have the potential to surpass them, and yourself. And not only can you, but you really should.
It’s safe to assume by doing so you’ll be more than happy. With yourself. Happier than many others. And even those who once thought themselves smarter and better than you. You’ll surpass all them in the process too.
REVERSAL
The only way for you to overcome your mental obstacles is to keep reading. And to not just read anything. But to choose your masters wisely as you will need to commit to re-reading their works for many years until their words become a part of who you are. The ability for you to be able to change yourself is completely within you. The big question then is though: will you?
Do you really care enough? Are you strong enough? Have you got what it takes? And what this is asking from you, is to say yes and do it all.
Being self educated changes things. It will change you. And in that process, change your life. So you can change who you are by choosing to be more than you are. It’s not going to be easy and it doesn’t happen overnight. But I assure you, give it a decade and you’ll be surprised at how much this works.
READ. READ. READ.
And study other people to death until they fear your intelligence. The best knowledge comes from books. Books are every smart person’s way of extrapolating their mind to put forward their best ideas to share with you.
So if you aren’t doing this, don’t be surprised then if your life doesn’t change or work out the way you hoped. If you aren’t doing the work, you simply aren’t going to change and not much is going to change for you.
Knowledge is power. And wisdom is happiness. And knowing how to attain it all is a secret weapon.
“Finally, to those people in my life who have so skillfully used the game of power to manipulate, torture, and cause me pain over the years, I bear you no grudges and I thank you for supplying me with inspiration.”
– ROBERT GREENE.
Touché Robert.