By far the most simple, practical and easy to understand someone's wisdom. I am ready to reread this book for the second time. It is just worth it. The book is divided into 2 main parts: Wealth and Happiness.
Part 1 Wealth
- Productize yourself - 'Productize' has leverage, and 'yourself' has accountability. We need to put ourselves forward and be accountable and responsible to what we are doing. There's risk, but the potential reward is huge.
- Build a specific knowledge.
- Play long-term games.
- 99% of effort is wasted.
- Intentions don't matter. Actions do.
- Build or buy equity in a business. Comparing ownership and wage work, we know which is better. Find a position of leverage. Compounding (interest, knowledge, network) is the key.
- Earn with your mind, not you time. Get paid for your judgement.
The section on how to get rich without being lucky is worth reading. I encourage you to read the book itself.
Part 1 is insightful, but I am more attracted to Part 2, which is teaching you about happiness. In many ways, I think I have been practicing half of what was shared. To be able to articulate all the wisdom is quite amazing.
Part 2 Happiness
The 3 big ones in life are wealth, health and happiness. We pursue them in that order, but their importance is reverse.
- Don't take yourself too seriously. You're just a monkey with a plan.
- Happiness is what's there when you remove the sense that something is missing in your life. It's a choice.
- Desire is a contract that you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want.
- The fundamental delusion: There is something out there that will make me happy and fulfilled forever.
- Success does not earn happiness. Happiness is being satisfied with what you have. Success comes from dissatisfaction. Choose.
- Envy is the enemy of happiness. The enemy of peace of mind is expectations drilled into you by society and other people.
- Care for yourself. Th priority should be physical health, mental health, spiritual health, and then other people's health and wellbeing. Look after your diet. Sugar and fat are not good. To have peace of mind, you need to have peace of body first.
- Easy choice, hard life. Hard choices, easy life. The harder the workout, the easier the day.
- Too much sugar leads to a heavy body, and too many distractions (screen time) lead to a heavy mind. Time spent undistracted and alone, in self-examination, journaling (yay!) meditation, resolves the unresolved and takes us from mentally fat to fit.
- Most of our suffering comes from avoidance. Once you are in it, it's not suffering anymore. Wim Hof advocates cold exposure, and because people are too separated from their natural environment, being constantly clothed, fed and warmed. Cold shower in the morning actually builds our immune system. Acknowledge that it is cold, deal with it and accept it. Don't mentally suffer over it. I am planning to try this. I think being in Singapore, I can discard warm showers.
- Be free from anger. Anger is a loss of control over the situation. Anger is its own punishment. An angry person trying to push your head below water is drowning at the same time.
- People who live far below their means enjoy a freedom that people busy upgrading their lifestyles can't fathom. A taste of freedom can make you unemployable.
The modern struggle:
Lone individuals summoning inhuman willpower, fasting, meditating and exercising...
Up against armies of scientists and statisticians weaponizing abundant food, screens, and medicine into junk food, clickbait news, infinite porn, endless games and addictive drugs.
Health, love and your mission, in that order. Nothing else matters.
