Book Summary of Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins

David Goggins’ book “Can’t Hurt Me” details his journey from being controlled by circumstances to proactively pursuing greatness through new challenges. He believes that everyone can cultivate a drive for self-improvement to overcome obstacles and achieve their goals. The book also offers ten challenges to aid in efficient goal attainment.

Challenge 1: Face Your Bad Hand

Acknowledging and overcoming challenging circumstances can pave the way for personal growth and development. David Goggins’ story exemplifies this, as he drew strength from his struggles with an abusive father and school difficulties to open new doors.

To confront current obstacles, it’s important to reflect on past and present circumstances. Starting a journal and listing difficult experiences can help gain clarity on challenges faced growing up and currently.

This can include issues such as abuse, low self-esteem, or feeling stuck in one’s comfort zone. Current challenges may involve a limiting boss or self-sabotage.

Challenge 2: Set Up Your Accountability Mirror

To achieve success, it’s important to break down your goals into smaller steps and hold yourself accountable. Goggins used post-it notes on his mirror to remind himself of his goals and worked towards them each day. He faced racism and struggled with school, but used his accountability mirror to improve his reading skills and pass the Air Force qualifying exam.

To create your own accountability mirror:

  1. Write down your insecurities and use them as an opportunity to improve yourself.
  2. Write down your goals and dreams, breaking them into specific steps on separate Post-it notes. Place them on the mirror as a visible reminder to work on them daily.

Challenge 3: Get Used to Discomfort

Building mental willpower is crucial for achieving goals. Goggins struggled with swimming training in the Air Force due to a lack of prior experience and almost gave up. Later, he joined the Navy SEALs but had to lose 106 pounds in three months to qualify.

To overcome discomfort and achieve your goals, try doing things that make you uncomfortable regularly.

Start with writing down things you dislike or should be doing and try doing them consistently. Push yourself to do something uncomfortable every day and gradually make it more challenging.

Challenge 4: Best Your Opponent

Doubting yourself can sabotage your success when striving towards your goals. Instead, use that perceived doubt as motivation to prove your opponent wrong. Goggins used this tactic during Hell Week, encouraging his team to exceed their superiors’ expectations and “take their souls.”

To use this strategy, identify a challenge and opponent, then showcase your skills through a project or task. Channel the negative energy towards the obstacle or opponent to excel and exceed their expectations, ultimately earning their respect.

success concept ladder with glowing light bulb

Challenge 5: Visualize Success

Visualizing the obstacles in your path and imagining the feeling of achieving your goal helps you push through and overcome challenges. When recovering from injury during SEAL training, Goggins encouraged himself to keep going by reminding himself that quitting is the only way to fail and visualizing how he would feel upon completion.

To apply this technique, visualize the obstacle you need to overcome and anticipate any difficulties, developing a plan to address them.

Challenge 6: Stock Your Cookie Jar

To stay motivated when facing obstacles, recall your past accomplishments – your “Cookie Jar” – advises Goggins.

Book Summary of Be Your Future Self Now by Benjamin Hardy

In “Be Your Future Self Now,” Benjamin Hardy makes the case that in order to achieve ultimate success, you must become your highest self, or “future self.” Achieving this requires identifying your higher self and committing to life-changing goals above all else. This guide will explore Hardy’s argument and provide recommendations for adopting the necessary mindset, supplemented by other success experts.

The Importance of Your Higher Self

According to Hardy, success in life means reaching your full potential by becoming your highest self. This requires all your present actions to move you closer to that goal. Identifying your higher self early on is crucial because your present actions are driven by your future goals and desires.

Having a clear and ambitious vision of your higher self helps you take productive actions in the present that will benefit you over time. Conversely, lacking a clear vision of your higher self leads to unproductive actions that harm your progress towards becoming your best self.

When You Lack a Clear Vision, You Become Unproductive

According to Hardy, lacking a clear vision of your higher self leads to unproductive behaviors that hinder your progress towards becoming your best self. These include instant gratification and non-crucial activities that feel rewarding in the short-term but do not contribute to your long-term goals.

Engaging in such behaviors takes away from the time you should be dedicating towards becoming your higher self. Hardy recommends identifying your higher self and committing to your future goals and desires to avoid unproductive behaviors and ensure that your present actions are beneficial in the long term. The following sections will outline his recommendations for doing so.

How to Become Your Higher Self

The next sections will cover Hardy’s four primary suggestions for achieving your highest potential and how to apply them.

  • To become your higher self, according to Hardy:
  • Identify who you want to become and the big goals that person has achieved.
  • Prioritize three achievable goals to work on over the next five years that will lead you towards your higher self.
  • Set specific 12-month goals with clear success criteria to measure your progress towards your priorities.

For example, if your higher self is a renowned graphic designer, your priorities may include getting degrees with stellar grades, building an impressive portfolio, and doing freelance work for local businesses. Your 12-month goals may include finding a mentor, planning your required courses, and achieving a minimum B grade in each class.

Recommendation #2: Set Your Higher Self as Your Daily Priority

To make steady progress towards becoming your ideal self, prioritize daily actions that align with your goals and avoid distractions.

Principle #1: Disregard Non-Crucial Activities

Avoid activities that do not contribute to achieving your goals, such as painting your house, which takes time away from pursuing your 12-month goals.

Principle #2: Schedule 12-Month Goals First

Schedule daily time to work on your goals before other urgent tasks, such as working on your graphic design portfolio before your sales job.

Principle #3: Replace Instant Gratification Habits

Cultivate beneficial habits that align with your goals, such as checking out book cover designs on Goodreads instead of playing video games to improve your graphic design skills.

Recommendation #3: Seek Out Beneficial Environments

Hardy’s Recommendation #3 is to seek out environments that will aid in becoming one’s higher self. This can be achieved by stepping out of one’s comfort zone and surrounding oneself with people who are better than them.

These actions can help develop the skills and habits needed to progress towards one’s goals.

To do this, one should attempt tasks that their higher self would excel in and seek out individuals who have achieved similar goals or are closer to achieving them.

Recommendation #4: Have an Empowering View of Life and Fate

Hardy argues that a disempowering view of life and fate can prevent people from becoming their higher selves. This view is often shaped by three factors: their past, their current circumstances, and a sense of helplessness about their ability to control their future.

Hardy advises adopting three empowering beliefs to become your higher self.

  1. Firstly, don’t let your past dictate your future; learn from it and use it to grow.
  2. Secondly, take ownership of your circumstances and ability to change. Find at least one way to benefit from any situation and identify actions you can take to change your circumstances.
  3. Lastly, believe that you’re the creator of your own fate and that your purpose is to achieve fulfillment and become the highest version of yourself.

Adopting a firm belief that you will become your higher self and expressing gratitude for it will reinforce your belief in yourself and empower you to take necessary actions to achieve your goals.

Book Summary of Hyperfocus by Chris Bailey

Bailey’s Hyperfocus challenges the popular belief that time management is the key to productivity, proposing that attention management is more effective. The book outlines two attention management methods: hyperfocus for productivity and scatterfocus for creativity.

The guide includes a five-step process for hyperfocus, as well as the benefits of intentional mind-wandering. The article compares Bailey’s strategies to other experts’ recommendations and provides supplementary information.

Before You Hyperfocus: Understanding Where Your Attention Goes

To become more productive and creative, managing your attention is crucial. Chris Bailey, a productivity guru, asserts in his book Hyperfocus that many of us spend little time consciously focusing our attention. To understand your current state of attention, Bailey recommends creating an attention management matrix by sorting tasks into four quadrants.

  1. Quadrant 1 includes unnecessary tasks that are both unproductive and unenjoyable.
  2. Quadrant 2 consists of distracting tasks that are enjoyable but unproductive.
  3. Quadrant 3 includes necessary tasks that are productive but unenjoyable.
  4. Quadrant 4 is reserved for meaningful tasks that are both productive and enjoyable, and help fulfill your broader purpose in life.

The 5 Steps of Hyperfocus

Bailey suggests deliberately managing your attention through hyperfocus, which involves directing your attention to one task at a time. According to Bailey, this approach is effective because a task comfortably fits in your working memory, which has a limited capacity.

Attempting to focus on more than one task at a time can overcrowd your working memory and cause you to forget information. As such, it is best to focus on one complex task at a time to ensure you can complete it effectively.

Bailey’s method for hyperfocusing can be summarized in five steps:

  • Decide when to focus
  • Choose what to focus on
  • Manage distractions
  • Focus for a set time
  • Sustain your focus.

Step 0: Decide when to focus

For successful hyperfocus, plan when and for how long you’ll focus. Bailey suggests starting with a comfortable duration to make it a daily habit.

As you become accustomed, your focus time will increase. Schedule your focus sessions based on your schedule, energy levels, and tasks. Choose times when you have free time and high energy levels to make the most of your hyperfocus.

Step 1: Choose what to focus on

Picking the right task is crucial for effective hyperfocus, according to Bailey. Quality tasks lead to quality work and impact, so focusing on meaningful or high-impact tasks is recommended. Bailey suggests using the attention management matrix to identify these tasks, or setting three daily goals to prioritize important tasks. By focusing on high-priority tasks, you’ll know what to hyperfocus on and what to avoid.

Step 2: Limit and Manage distractions

To hyperfocus in Step 2a, limit distractions that divert attention from the chosen task. Bailey explains that distractions are hard to avoid, as we have a “novelty bias” that rewards us with dopamine when we give in to them.

To limit distractions, keep the original purpose in mind and return to the task when the distraction passes. For enjoyable distractions, it’s okay to indulge but remember the original goal.

Step 2b: Manage Distractions

To limit distractions during hyperfocus, Bailey recommends dealing with them before starting to focus. Distractions are more tempting when we’re resisting complex tasks, so make them less accessible and inconvenient to access, such as disconnecting from the internet.

Bailey also suggests evaluating the redundancy of our tools and considering whether we really need them, to reduce the likelihood of giving in to tempting distractions.

Step 3: Focus for a set time

To aid Step 3 of hyperfocus, Bailey recommends two routines: meditation and mindfulness. Meditation involves focusing on one thing and returning to it when your mind wanders, with focusing on your breathing being a popular choice.

Mindfulness is being aware of everything you experience in a given moment, which can be practiced during simple daily tasks such as washing dishes. These habits are beneficial for hyperfocus as they increase working memory capacity.

Step 4: Sustain your focus

To prevent your mind from wandering, Bailey recommends matching your tasks to your skill level and increasing the number of high-impact tasks you do.

If your tasks are too easy, you might become bored, and if they’re too difficult, you might become stressed. Both of these can lead to mind-wandering. By adjusting your tasks to your skill level, you can reduce mind-wandering and stay focused.

Understanding Intentional Mind-Wandering

Bailey suggests intentionally managing your attention in two ways: hyperfocusing and scatterfocus. Scatterfocus involves intentionally leaving room in your working memory for mind-wandering to rest and increase creativity.

Bailey offers two suggestions for how to let your mind wander on purpose. The first is to perform an enjoyable, easy work while having a pad of paper nearby to scribble down any brilliant thoughts that spring to mind. Secondly, schedule two 15-minute blocks each week to write down any useful thoughts that come to mind.

Tips for Intentional Mind-Wandering for Better Sleep

By taking a break from controlling your behavior, deliberate mind-wandering allows you to relax and recharge your brain. Bailey recommends regular mind-wandering sessions throughout the workday to maximize productivity, but the exact timing depends on individual factors such as workload and energy levels. Bailey offers the following two methods for determining your appropriate break time: Try different things and pay attention to when your energy levels drop. Resting every 90 minutes is recommended to take advantage of the natural energy cycle.

How to Intentionally Mind-Wander for More Creativity

Intentional mind-wandering boosts creativity by creating and connecting new “bits” of information in the brain. To intentionally mind-wander for creativity, you can increase the quality of information you encounter and allow your brain to subconsciously work on unsolved problems through the Zeigarnik effect.

Illustration of light bulb ideas

This effect allows your brain to connect different stimuli to your problem and potentially solve it. Intentional mind-wandering increases the likelihood of encountering the stimulus you need for a creative insight by maximizing the number of stimuli you encounter.

  • To enhance your creativity, Bailey advises purposefully letting your thoughts wander in crowded areas to enhance the amount of external stimulus.
  • Writing down a problem you’re stuck on and then doing a fun, easy task can manipulate the Zeigarnik effect and help your brain make useful connections to your problem.
  • Additionally, because of the comparable cerebral activity and information accumulation to deliberate mind-wandering, napping might inspire creative discoveries.
  • To use sleep for creativity, ask yourself important questions and review information before going to sleep to let your mind wander around these topics and potentially wake up with new insights.

Book Summary of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson

Mark Manson’s “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” challenges the notion that happiness is achieved through consumerism and social media obsession. He argues that our focus on superficial things and constant pursuit of more actually creates frustration and temporary highs, leading to a lack of true happiness.

Manson suggests that we should give a f*ck about less and focus on what is truly valuable and important to us in order to achieve a happy and meaningful life. This book provides insights on how to prioritize and find fulfillment in life.

Hurdles to Giving Fewer F*cks

Manson says giving fewer f*cks can be challenging and lead to mistakes, including misunderstanding happiness. Happiness is not an equation or achievement, but an ongoing activity that comes from solving problems. Caring too much about finding a perfect combination of f*cks for happiness is misguided, as no such combination exists.

Overemphasizing Emotions

Manson advises against over-identifying with emotions and using them as justifications for actions. He suggests making decisions based on values rather than emotions, as emotions are only a part of life.

Believing That Everyone Is Special

Manson criticizes the self-esteem movement of the 1960s and 1970s, which prioritized feeling good about oneself over the process of learning, failing, and achieving. He argues that this mentality has created delusional individuals who struggle with challenges and adversity.

According to Manson, it’s important to recognize that we are not inherently special and entitled to a problem-free life. This allows us to choose constructive values and focus on personal growth.

Trying to Avoid Pain

Manson’s concept of happiness involves facing and solving problems. The key question is: What are you willing to struggle for? What pain are you willing to endure to achieve your goals? The answers to these questions determine our life’s outcome.

Pain gives us valuable lessons, and striving for a life without problems or pain denies us the opportunity to learn from our struggles. Instead, we should choose the type of pain or struggle that is meaningful to us.

Adopting Destructive Values

Manson warns that destructive values promoted by our culture and media can lead to dissatisfaction. Prioritizing pleasure, material success, always being right, and staying positive can be detrimental to our well-being. Superficial pleasure can lead to addiction and relationship issues.

Acquiring more wealth provides less satisfaction once basic needs are met. Insisting on being right all the time hinders learning from mistakes. Constantly staying positive is a way of avoiding problems instead of solving them. It’s important to recognize and prioritize deeper values over these destructive ones.

How to Give the Right F*cks

Manson recommends adopting these five constructive values to counteract destructive values and live a more fulfilling life.

Here are the five constructive values

  1. Take responsibility for your life and your responses to what happens to you.
  2. Embrace doubt and admit that you could be wrong in order to grow.
  3. Embrace failure as an opportunity to learn and succeed.
  4. Practice rejection and make choices that align with your values.
  5. Reflect on your mortality to put your life and values in perspective.

 

Book Summary of 12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson

Humans crave order and meaning to cope with the uncertain world. Religion served this purpose throughout history, but secularism has created a void that nihilism and empty ideologies fill. Jordan Peterson argues that there is genuine meaning and good in existence.

Real evil exists, and good opposes it by preventing harm. Therefore, living a life that produces good creates meaning and makes your existence significant. Your actions, health, and relationships matter.

Rule 1: Improve your posture for increased respect from others.

Your brain has a monitoring system that gauges your place in society based on how you perceive others and how they treat you. Positive treatment elevates your status, while negative treatment lowers it.

Slouching signals defeat and low status, leading to poor treatment and reinforcing your low status. Improving your posture can start a positive cycle by getting others to treat you better and making you feel better, resulting in a higher status.

Rule 2: Treat yourself as you would treat others.

People may take better care of their pets than themselves. Similarly, self-sabotage occurs when you neglect your health or break promises to yourself.

According to Peterson, self-loathing leads to this behavior, as you may believe you’re not worth helping. Instead, you must acknowledge your important role in the world and prioritize self-care. As Nietzsche said, “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.”

Rule 3: Build a supportive social circle.

Surround yourself with supportive people who genuinely want you to succeed. By pushing each other to greater heights, everyone’s life improves.

Avoid cynical individuals who drag you down and those who refuse to take responsibility for their actions. Don’t waste time on people who don’t want to improve as they can’t be helped.

Rule 4: Set your own goals and measure yourself against them, not against others.

Mass media makes it easy to compare yourself to the best in every field and feel inferior. However, modern society is complex, and everyone has different goals, making comparisons pointless. Instead, identify your goals and work towards achievable daily actions.

If something is beyond your control, focus on something else. End each day a little better than it started. By doing this, you will stop obsessing over other people’s success and focus on your own path.

Rule 5: As parents – Teach your children to follow societal rules.

As children test boundaries, it’s a parent’s role to teach them what is acceptable in society. Without proper feedback, children may learn incorrect behaviors, leading to poor adjustment and rejection by society.

Setting rules with minimal force is crucial to prevent this. Remember, society will punish them less mercifully than you will.

Rule 6: Take responsibility for solving problems before blaming external factors.

Blaming others for misfortunes is easy, but before doing so, ask yourself if you’ve taken advantage of every opportunity. Stop any wrong actions and speaking cowardly things. Speak and do only those things you can be proud of.

Rule 7: Pursue what’s meaningful to you, and find purpose in life.

Doing good gives your life purpose and overcomes feelings of emptiness. It satisfies your desires for long-term success and makes your life valuable.

Consider, what can you do to make the world a little better? Take notice and repair what you can. Reflect on your true self and work towards becoming who you’re meant to be.

Rule 8: Be true to yourself. Don’t lie to others or to yourself.

Don’t lie to others or yourself, it goes against your beliefs and creates inner turmoil. Avoid lying about your job, relationships, abilities, bad habits, or future.

Define your personal truth and act accordingly, this reduces anxiety and gives you a direction. Always act in ways that align with your internal voice. A lie can ruin all the truth it touches.

Rule 9: Listen attentively to others, learn from them, and earn their trust.

People verbalize their memories and emotions to think clearly and solve problems. As a listener, you can help by serving as a voice of reason or simply by being present.

Summarizing the speaker’s message is an effective listening technique that forces you to genuinely understand and avoid misinterpreting their words. Assume that the speaker has reached thoughtful conclusions based on their own experiences.

Rule 10: Define your problem clearly for an easier solution.

Anxiety stems from the unknown; specificity turns chaos into something manageable. Treat every problem in your life with the same clarity you would a cancer diagnosis. Be precise about what is wrong and what you want.

In conflicts, specify exactly what is bothering you to prevent resentment from building up and causing harm.

Rule 11: Accept the existence of inequality.

Peterson rejects the postmodern view that gender is purely a social construct and that there are no inherent differences between males and females. Instead, he calls for recognition of natural differences and preferences between the sexes, as denying them can lead to unintended consequences.

For instance, he argues against excessive protection of young boys, as they have a natural desire for risk-taking and competitiveness that should be allowed to develop.

Rule 12: Find moments of joy in life’s hardships.

Life is difficult and suffering is inevitable. Instead of hating the universe for it, accept that it’s part of existence and love someone despite their limitations. Find joy in the small things that make life worth living, like watching a girl splash into a puddle, enjoying a good coffee, or petting a cat.

Book Summary of Influence by Robert Cialdini

Influence” explores how we are persuaded to do things and how fixed-action patterns are manipulated to achieve compliance. These patterns are mental shortcuts we use to make decisions based on assumptions, such as braking when other drivers do. They help us make decisions efficiently but can also be exploited to influence our behavior.

Compliance Practitioners

Compliance practitioners, such as salespeople, fundraisers, and politicians, exploit our fixed-action patterns to persuade us to do things we wouldn’t normally do. They manipulate us by using the wrong stimuli to elicit the desired response.

For instance, a store owner may mark up a low-quality item to make it more appealing by triggering our mental shortcut that associates high prices with high quality. This turns our fixed-action advantage into a disadvantage that hinders our judgment and leads us to make poor decisions.

Compliance practitioners commonly apply six psychological principles to persuade people:

  1. Reciprocity
  2. Commitment/Consistency
  3. Social proof
  4. Liking
  5. Authority

Reciprocity

The Reciprocity Principle urges us to repay others when they do something for us, which is commonly seen as basic courtesy. The principle evolved from early human communities that had a better chance of survival by working together and reciprocating favors.

Compliance practitioners use this principle to create a sense of obligation by giving small gifts or making token gestures of kindness before asking for something in return. They may also use a rejection-then-retreat tactic to encourage a reciprocal concession.

To avoid falling for these tactics, it’s crucial to distinguish between genuine acts of kindness and those designed to manipulate us. Socially, we are required to repay a real kindness with a similar one, but we are not required to repay a trick with a trick.

Commitment/Consistency

The Consistency Principle says people feel compelled to stay committed to their beliefs and actions, even when they don’t align. While it’s useful, it can be exploited. Compliance practitioners take advantage by starting with small requests and building to larger ones. Spot the situation and turn the tables by calling out their tactic. Make decisions with a reason, not reason for a decision.

Social Proof

The Social Proof Principle says we tend to follow what others are doing or thinking. It can be useful, as it helps us make decisions quickly and accurately. But it can also be manipulated by those who want to sell us things or influence us. Advertisers may create the illusion of popularity by claiming that a product is the “fastest-growing” or “highest-selling.” To avoid being tricked, you should look beyond the numbers and think critically about why people are behaving in a certain way. Don’t just follow the crowd blindly; use your own judgement.

Liking

The Liking Principle suggests that we are more likely to comply with requests from people we know and like, including family, friends, and attractive or affable individuals who profess to like us. Compliance practitioners take advantage of this by using names of acquaintances or projecting likable qualities to win us over.

However, it’s important to evaluate each situation on its own merits to avoid being manipulated. Don’t let personal feelings cloud your judgement when making decisions.

Authority

The Authority Principle states that we tend to comply with requests from those we perceive as authoritative figures, such as teachers, doctors, and police officers. Symbols of authority like titles and uniforms can also trigger compliance.

While this can be beneficial for society, it can also be exploited by manipulators who use superficial authority to deceive us. For instance, the Milgram experiment showed that people can be easily pressured by an authority figure to perform unethical actions.

To avoid being manipulated, considering a person’s credentials and relevancy is crucial. The mere fact that someone presents themselves as an authoritative person does not imply that they are knowledgeable or reliable.

Scarcity

The Scarcity Principle states that we’re drawn to things that are limited in availability. Scarcity is related to loss aversion, where we’re more afraid of losing something than gaining something of equal value.

Creating a feeling of immediacy through “sales pitches that are “first-come, first-served” or “limited-time only”, compliance professionals take advantage of scarcity to their advantage. The sense of loss aversion is heightened when scarcity occurs through social competition.

To avoid being manipulated, ask yourself if you want something for its intrinsic value or just because it’s rare. Compliance practitioners use various techniques to get us to comply, including free samples, fake social proof, flattery, authority, and fake deadlines. Knowing these tricks can help you resist them.

Book Summary of The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel

Finance expert Morgan Housel suggests that financial success is not solely dependent on education and intelligence, but rather understanding human behavior. By recognizing how emotions and beliefs impact financial decisions, individuals can make better choices.

This guide explains why people struggle to achieve financial success, the reasons behind wanting money, and provides strategies for creating and following a long-term financial plan, while staying informed.

Why People Fail to Achieve Financial Success

According to Housel, the reason why individuals find it difficult to manage their finances is because they overestimate the importance of luck and conflate prosperity with poverty.

Lesson #1: Chance Plays a Bigger Role in Our Financial Lives Than We Give It Credit

Housel warns that we often overlook chance in financial success. For instance, Bill Gates was not only intelligent but also fortunate to have had access to a school computer in 1968.

Therefore, imitating the success of exceptionally lucky people can be misleading. Instead, Housel advises that we look for patterns among successful individuals to increase our likelihood of success.

Lesson #2: Being Wealthy And Being Rich Are The Same Things

Housel says we fail financially by confusing wealth with being rich, which leads us to imitate the spending habits of the latter. It’s challenging to learn self-control from the wealthy, so understanding the difference helps protect and preserve your money.

Understand Why You Want Money

Housel believes two key mindsets are crucial for a healthy attitude toward money: first, recognizing that money gives you control over your time, and second, acknowledging that having enough money is achievable.

Lesson #3: Money Buys Us Control Over Our Time

Housel says money’s value is in controlling your time for happiness. Americans often lack this control, leading to unhappiness. Having more control over time will make you happier, according to end-of-life interviews.

Lesson #4: Be Happy With Enough

Housel advises that being content with enough is crucial for financial success, as wanting more than necessary can lead to losing all your wealth. To achieve this, he suggests avoiding constantly increasing lifestyle standards and deciding to be happy with your current lifestyle.

What to Include In Your Financial Strategy

Housel identifies three key elements for a successful financial strategy: compounding, saving, and contingency planning.

Lesson #5: Take Advantage of Compounding

Housel stresses the significance of compounding in investing, recommending finding steady-return investments for maximum profit. He believes the duration of investment is more crucial than annual returns and cites Warren Buffet as an example of compounding’s benefits. According to Housel, people neglect compounding’s power because it seems counterintuitive and opt for less efficient methods.

Lesson #6: Prioritize Saving Money

Saving money is crucial, according to Housel, since it is the money, you don’t use. Because it is completely within your control and very simple, it is also the most dependable approach to accumulate wealth. To ensure you save money, Housel recommends ignoring others’ opinions and wanting less. Less wants means less spending and greater savings.

Lesson #7: Plan for Things to Go Wrong

Housel stresses the importance of planning for setbacks to secure your financial future and benefit from compounding. He advises against being overly optimistic and suggests preparing for a range of possible futures. To do this, he recommends diversifying investments and keeping a portion in safer options to cover potential losses.

How to Create a Financial Strategy You Can Stick To

To ensure you follow through with your financial strategy, Housel suggests two principles: Firstly, expect your future goals to change. Secondly, prioritize common sense over logic.

Lesson #8: Expect Your Future Goals to Change

Housel advises against extreme financial plans and suggests expecting future goals to change when developing a long-term financial strategy to avoid regret and missed opportunities due to the end-of-history illusion.

Lesson #9: Be Sensible, Not Logical

Housel advises prioritizing sense over logic and being flexible about goals for a successful long-term financial strategy. By investing in companies, you love and considering non-financial elements like peace of mind, you’re more likely to stick to your strategy and accumulate more wealth.

How to Counter Negative Thinking

To handle bad times in the market, Housel offers two lessons: Don’t let uncertainty deter you and keep in mind that frequent failure doesn’t mean you can’t ultimately succeed.

Lesson #10: Don’t Be Put Off by Uncertainty

Housel advises accepting uncertainty in the market to achieve long-term investing success. Rather than trying to avoid it by timing the market, he suggests embracing it and focusing on potential long-term gains.

Lesson #11: Even if You Fail Frequently, You Can Still Succeed

Housel advises staying optimistic in the face of setbacks and failures by acknowledging the role of luck in successful financial ventures. Outlier events can offset numerous smaller setbacks, so focus on overall financial health rather than individual failures.

How to Pay Attention to the Right Financial Information

To maintain a long-term financial strategy, it’s important to be aware of how the information you encounter affects your decisions. Housel suggests that knowing your personal financial goals is one way to ensure you focus on the right information.

Lesson #12: Know Your Personal Financial Goals

Housel advises setting personal financial goals and avoiding irrelevant information to make better financial decisions. He recommends creating a mission statement for your finances to discover your goals and avoid following herd mentalities in investing.

Book Summary of Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

Robert Kiyosaki grew up with two dads: his biological father, a financially illiterate PhD who valued job stability, and his best friend’s father, a high school dropout who built a business empire worth millions. Kiyosaki calls them Poor Dad and Rich Dad, respectively.

Poor Dad believed in the traditional view of work and money, which is to get a good education, a secure job, and buy a house without a clear long-term plan. In contrast, Rich Dad had a contrarian view of finances and life, focusing on achieving financial independence, having money generate more money, and taking calculated risks.

Kiyosaki argues that most people adopt the Poor Dad view and let money control their lives, leading them to get stuck in jobs they dislike for the sake of money, trapped in a cycle of working to make ends meet.

Lesson 1: The Rich Don’t Work For Money – Money Works for Them

To become wealthy, it’s not enough to just earn a high salary – owning income-generating assets is crucial. The rich buy assets that generate income and limit spending on expenses and liabilities. Those who are not wealthy either spend all of their money on spending or acquire non-income producing obligations. The objective is to amass enough assets that produce income so that you may stop working.

Lesson 2: Buy Assets, Not Liabilities

To build wealth, focus on buying income-generating assets, not liabilities that drain your money. Assets create more money for you, while expenses reduce it. However, beware of deceptive investments that look like assets but are liabilities in disguise, such as overpriced houses.

Real assets include businesses, stocks, bonds, income-generating real estate, and intellectual property. Treat each dollar as an employee working for you 24/7 to create more wealth. Remember, every dollar you spend today is a missed opportunity to generate future income.

Lesson 3: Reduce Taxes through Corporations

Kiyosaki suggests setting up corporations to deduct business expenses pre-tax instead of paying with post-tax dollars.

Lesson 4: Overcome Your Mental Obstacles

To achieve your Rich Dad goals, you need to overcome common mental obstacles:

  • Self-doubt: Success requires more than intelligence and grades. Guts, chutzpah, balls, and tenacity play a big role.
  • Fear: Courage is needed to pursue great opportunities, and failure is an opportunity to learn and grow. Don’t let fear of failure or others’ opinions hold you back.
  • Laziness: Busy people can be the laziest, using busyness as an excuse to avoid investing in their future.
  • Guilt for feeling greedy: Embrace your desire for wealth and the power it brings.
  • Arrogance: Be open to new ideas and don’t dismiss anything as beneath you. Even sales techniques can be valuable.

Lesson 5: Build Your Economic Intelligence. Continue To Learn

Understanding accounting, investment, markets, and legislation is a prerequisite for having financial intelligence, which entails applying that knowledge to problem-solve ingeniously. Incremental improvements in knowledge can have a significant impact over time, and the faster you can learn and apply your knowledge, the greater the rewards.

Book Summary of I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi

Take small steps towards solid personal finance and free yourself from money worries. Ramit Sethi, author of “Will Teach You to Be Rich,” provides clear and actionable advice to help you navigate the confusing world of personal finance.

Learn how to use credit cards effectively, choose the right bank and investment accounts, plan your spending, and create a system that automates your financial growth. With Sethi’s guidance, you can achieve your vision of a “rich life” without being overwhelmed by technical jargon or conflicting advice.

Credit Cards

Using credit cards responsibly can benefit your credit history and future loan eligibility.

Follow these six essential rules: pay your bills on time and in full, avoid fees, negotiate a lower APR, keep accounts open and active for longer credit history, and use card perks like extended warranties and travel insurance.

One late payment can hurt your credit score, raise your APR, and incur fees. By making smart choices and utilizing card benefits, you can improve your financial standing and save money in the long run.

Paying Off Debt

Eliminating debt is a smart financial move that can boost your credit score and save you thousands of dollars.

Here are five steps to help you pay off your debt:

  • First, calculate the total amount of debt you owe.
  • Second, decide which card to focus on paying off first, either by starting with the highest APR or the lowest balance.
  • Third, negotiate a lower APR to reduce interest payments.
  • Fourth, review your expenses to find ways to increase your monthly payments.
  • Finally, get started with your plan, even if it’s not perfect. Don’t delay your progress by striving for perfection.

Choosing the Best Banks

Your credit cards and bank accounts are crucial to your financial system. To ensure a strong foundation, choose accounts with low fees. Banks profit from fees, so selecting a bank that charges minimal fees is a good indication that they aren’t trying to take advantage of you.

When searching for a new bank, consider three essential factors.

  • First, trust is critical. Ask your friends which banks they trust, then check the bank’s website for any red flags like high fees or misleading account descriptions.
  • Second, convenience is essential. If the bank’s services aren’t user-friendly, you’re unlikely to use them.
  • Lastly, make sure the bank offers important features like competitive interest rates, free transfers to external accounts, and free bill pay.

Choosing Your Accounts

To get started, you’ll need a checking and savings account. Here are Sethi’s recommended accounts:

  • Charles Schwab Bank offers Schwab Bank Investor Checking for usage.
  • Using Capital One 360 Savings, you may set up sub-accounts for particular objectives.
  • Once your bank accounts are set up, you can shift your attention to opening investment accounts.

The Power of Compounding

Investing beats saving because it offers a higher rate of return; the stock market averages about 8% annually, after accounting for inflation. This rate is crucial because of compound interest, where you earn interest on the interest earned in previous years. For example, a $100 investment earning 8% annually would become $108 after the first year and $116.64 after the second year.

The longer you leave your money in the market, the more you earn. Therefore, the earlier you start investing, the more money you’ll have at retirement.

Start by Opening Your 401(k)

A 401(k) is a retirement investment account that allows employers to automatically deduct a percentage of an employee’s paycheck. It offers several advantages:

  • Your contributions are made pre-tax, giving you a higher principal investment amount and potential compound growth of 25 to 40%.
  • Employers may match your contributions, providing you with free money.
  • Investing is automatic, without any additional effort.
  • The downside is that early withdrawal before age 59.5 will result in a 10% penalty and income tax. Therefore, 401(k) investments should be made for long-term financial planning.

Roth IRAs

A Roth IRA is a retirement account that doesn’t require an employer sponsor and is available to people with lower incomes. Unlike a 401(k), you can choose how to invest in a Roth IRA.

Also, the money you invest in a Roth IRA has already been taxed, which means you won’t pay taxes on the returns you earn. This gives you an advantage over a regular taxable investment account where you pay taxes on both your contributions and your returns.

Choosing a Brokerage Firm

Open a Roth IRA by signing up with an investment brokerage like Vanguard, Schwab, or Fidelity. Choose a discount brokerage that requires lower minimum investing fees than “full service” ones.

Spending Mindfully

To determine how much you can contribute to your savings and investment accounts each month, create a personalized budget that aligns with your goals, values, and lifestyle. This approach will enable you to be confident that you’re saving enough while also allowing you to spend any remaining money without feeling guilty.

Deciding How You’ll Spend Your Money

Sethi recommends dividing your take-home pay into four categories:

  • Fixed costs (50-60%): Your necessary monthly expenses, plus 15% for unexpected expenses.
  • Investments (10%): Contributions to your long-term investment accounts.
  • Savings goals (5-10%): For both short-term and long-term goals.
  • Guilt-free spending (20-35%): Any money left over after accounting for the other categories.

Automating Your Financial System

Automating finances means establishing automatic transfers between accounts to distribute funds each month without manual intervention. It avoids budgeting errors and saves mental energy. Spend a few hours setting up the transfers between checking, credit cards, bills, savings, and investment accounts. The checking account will be the central node and automatically transfer funds to other accounts according to the allocated percentages.

Getting Ready to Invest

After setting up automated transfers to your investment accounts, it’s important to actually invest that money instead of letting it sit idle.

Asset classes, such as stocks and bonds, are the building blocks of investing. Stocks are unpredictable as their value is determined by shareholders, while bonds are a more stable investment with a predetermined payback period.

Asset allocation is the division of assets in your portfolio and helps control the amount of risk you take on. As you age, your risk tolerance decreases, so your asset allocation should change accordingly.

Target Date Funds

Investing can be made easy with target date funds. These funds automatically adjust your asset allocation based on your retirement timeline, providing automatic diversification and eliminating the need for managing individual stocks and bonds.

As retirement approaches, the fund will reallocate your investments into safer options like bonds. Additionally, it’s important to plan for major financial milestones such as paying for a wedding. To save for a wedding, estimate the desired date and total cost, divide the cost by the number of months, and save accordingly.

Negotiating a Higher Salary

To negotiate a higher salary, take advantage of your leverage when you get hired. Follow these tips from Sethi:

  • Emphasize the value you’ll add to the company, not how much your salary will cost them.
  • Use other job offers to show you’re not afraid to walk away if the offer isn’t fair.
  • Negotiate total compensation, including vacation days and stock options.
  • Be friendly and aim for a win-win agreement.
  • Let them make the first offer and don’t reveal your salary.
  • Practice with friends playing the role of the hiring manager.

Big-Ticket Purchases

Young people often have two major financial milestones: buying a car or a house. To buy a car, the first step is to figure out your budget and include all the costs associated with owning a car. Look for a reliable car and be ready to invest in preventative maintenance to save money. To get a good deal, wait until the end of the month and ask for quotes from multiple dealerships to start a bidding war.

When it comes to buying a house, start by deciding on a budget and save up 20% of the price for a down payment. The total monthly cost of owning a house should be no more than 30% of your monthly income. Don’t forget to account for closing costs, insurance, property taxes, and any needed renovations. Owning a home is more expensive than renting, so be prepared for the extra costs.

Book Summary of Contagious by Jonah Berger

Contagious by Jonah Berger suggests that word of mouth is the key to making things popular. For something to be contagious, it must be interesting enough to spark conversations. Berger offers tips on how to use word of mouth to popularize products, art, articles, and ideas.

  1. Part One of our guide examines Berger’s reasoning for why word of mouth reigns as the top influencer of popularity.
  2. Part Two delves into his three-step approach for generating word of mouth: attract, engage, and benefit your audience.

Our insights will include a blend of psychological research and alternative viewpoints, providing a more nuanced perspective on Berger’s strategies. Additionally, we’ll showcase real-life examples and offer practical tips on how to tailor them to your own product or concept.

Part 1: The Source of Popularity

Berger’s analysis centers on the origins of widespread popularity, encompassing ideas, products, and internet content. He puts forth two key assertions: firstly, the traditional assumption that three factors underlie popularity falls short of capturing its essence; and secondly, popularity stems from word of mouth.

Conventional Wisdom

Berger introduces the typical views on product popularity, which commonly attribute it to three factors: affordability, quality, and advertising volume. Yet, he posits that while these factors may play a role, they aren’t the decisive aspect that determines popularity, meaning they can’t solely generate it.

Word of Mouth and Popularity

Berger identifies word of mouth as the genuine catalyst of popularity. It’s frequent, trustworthy, and targeted.

People frequently discuss products they’re interested in, trust personal recommendations, and word of mouth automatically targets an interested audience, further amplifying its popularity.

Part 2: Generating Word of Mouth | Step 1: Attract Your Audience

Berger proceeds to outline how to stimulate word of mouth. He presents six principles that we’ve divided into three key steps:

  1. Capture your audience’s attention
  2. Engage your audience
  3. Add value for your audience

Initially, Berger suggests two marketing tactics to attract your target audience: creating public visibility and utilizing effective triggers.

Method #1: Create Public Visibility

To attract an audience, Berger suggests making your product visible in public. When people see your product frequently, they begin to think about it more often. To ensure visibility, prominently display your product’s name or logo, as seen on computers, sneakers, and headphones. If public use isn’t feasible, find an alternative way to display your product, such as offering a free branded item like a water bottle to customers.

Method #2: Use Effective Triggers

Use effective triggers to promote your product. Triggers are reminders that link to something else and automatically make people think of your product. For example, an ice cream brand can associate their product with sunny weather, making sunny weather a trigger that reminds people of their brand.

Berger suggests that an effective trigger needs to be relevant for a long time so that people encounter it frequently. To achieve this, he offers two methods:

  • Make the trigger highly relevant to people’s everyday lives by connecting it to a common phrase, activity, or feature of an area. For example, a business based in New York City connects its product to traffic jams, which its target audience encounters frequently.
  • Ensure that the trigger will remain relevant for weeks, months, and even years into the future. This creates a more effective trigger than one that connects your product to a temporary trend or uncommon occurrence, such as vampires around Halloween.

Step #2: Engage Your Audience

Berger stresses that merely attracting an audience is insufficient, as you need to sustain their interest in your product to generate word-of-mouth.

Method #1: Inspire an Emotional Response

Berger suggests evoking high-arousal emotions like anger, anxiety, awe, amusement, and excitement to generate word of mouth. Marketing can use humor, breathtaking photos, or other methods to inspire these emotions and motivate people to talk about the product.

Method #2: Tell a Story

Berger suggests integrating your product into a captivating story to engage your audience and generate word-of-mouth. For example, PepsiCo’s Superbowl commercial in 2019 made their product an essential part of the story by using the phrase “Is Pepsi okay?” as a central theme.

Step #3: Benefit Your Audience

Berger advises that in addition to attracting and engaging your audience, it’s essential to offer them something valuable that motivates them to talk about your product.

Benefit #1: Social Currency

Berger suggests that your product should give customers “social currency” by making them look interesting and influential when they talk about it. If talking about your product doesn’t make someone look good, they’re unlikely to generate much word of mouth.

Berger suggests three ways to make your product or idea a source of social currency: making it remarkable, applying game mechanics, and using scarcity and exclusivity.

Making Your Product or Idea Remarkable

Berger suggests making your product remarkable by highlighting its unique or innovative features, as people enjoy talking about extraordinary things that make them seem remarkable as well, increasing their social currency. Gillette’s launch of the world’s first five-blade razor in 2006 is an example of a remarkable product that was prominently featured in their marketing.

Applying Game Mechanics

Berger advises using “game mechanics” to your product or service, such as reward points or bonuses for frequent customers, to create a sense of accomplishment. When customers feel a sense of achievement, they are more likely to talk about it, thus generating word of mouth and increasing social currency.

Using Scarcity and Exclusivity

Berger suggests that scarcity can create social currency and generate word of mouth by making customers feel exclusive. By indicating limited supply or potential sellouts, customers may boast about their exclusive status, generating interest in the product. For example, first-class airplane seats provide extra benefits, making passengers feel special and likely to share their experience with others.

Benefit #2: Provide Practical Value

Berger suggests that one way to generate word of mouth is by making your product or service useful and providing practical value. This could include things like money-saving tips or life hacks that make people’s lives easier. When people find something useful, they are likely to share it with their friends and family, which can lead to more word of mouth about your product or service.

Berger suggests two ways to make your product a source of practical value that generates word of mouth: offering discounts and providing useful information.

Discounts can save people money and motivate them to tell others about your product. Providing practical tips or advice can also make people eager to share with their friends and family, creating word of mouth. Berger recommends limiting the information to three or four simple and engaging points at a time to ensure that people will read it and find it interesting.

Additionally, sharing information about how your product solves common problems can also be an effective way to generate word of mouth.