An important step on the path to success
On the 7 Takeaways home page I say:
Great content creators share one characteristic: they consume a lot of information. They read, they watch, they listen to a wide variety of topics that interest them. I started 7Takeaways because I want to be more like the people I admire, and I admire several great creators.
Here’s the thing: it’s more than great content creators. You’ll find that the most interesting and successful people you meet are those that consume good content across a wide range of topics and interests.
So, what’s “good content”?
Content that’s well written, of course, but also content that’s insightful. Content that exposes you to new ideas and new ways of looking at existing ideas. Content that challenges you and makes you think.
It doesn’t have to all focus on a single specific area. For example, I’m not saying go out and read lots of philosophy, specifically, if that bores your pants off. Pick areas that interest you, and dive deeper than you’re diving today. Then perhaps pick a few areas adjacent to those and dip your toe in the water. Maybe it’ll take you in new and interesting directions you’d never consider otherwise.
My journey’s a reasonable example, I think.
My leisure reading has always been mostly fantasy and sci-fi. It wasn’t until I had a manager that turned me on to the self-improvement genre that I spent more time with non-fiction. One of my most memorable reads from that era was The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, a 1989 classic that remains highly relevant even today.
From there, though, I went into a few related directions: I started meditating, which introduced me to some Buddhist concepts, which lead to the Stoics and general philosophy. My entrepreneurial group discovered Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, which led me into what I might refer to as light psychology. As our political situation became, well, whatever it is, I started looking more closely at critical thinking. As the pandemic brought us isolation, I added reading about loneliness, community, and happiness.
That’s just a high level taste. I’m sure there will be more areas of interest in the future, but you get the idea. It’s wide -ranging, and ever-changing.
And I think it makes me a more well-rounded person.
Since I’ve been doing 7 Takeaways for over four years(!) now, it’s very common for me to recall items I’ve come across as I’m having casual conversations with people. “Oh, yeah, I read that ….” followed by something relevant dredged up from the recesses of my reading. I don’t remember it all (and I often later try to figure out exactly where whatever that factoid was came from), but it makes conversations more interesting.
And it’s changed me.
Via only my reading, I’ve come to appreciate and adopt many habits (I won’t call them beliefs or tenets) of stoic and Buddhist philosophies. I’ve come to focus on commonly recommended approaches to staying sane in this currently mad world, and I’ve adopted techniques to reduce the anxiety I feel.
All by reading. Broadly.
I’ve always considered myself a kind of jack of all trades. It’s reflected in my approach to technology, as I could never dive super deep into one obscure or arcane aspect and focus only on that. Understanding a little about a lot has served me well throughout my career.
The same is true for my reading.
In fact, let me recommend a book to back that up: Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein.
Read more. Read widely. Read books. Read insightful essays and articles.
Read.