Books are my soundtrack

I’m a book addict. More accurately, a Kindle addict because it allows me to have all my books in one place, supporting my habit of reading based on my current need, which often leads to shuffling 3 at a time. I read not only for the immediate pleasure but for the subsequent outcome. The book themes and premises seem to bleed into my life in a very tangible way, impacting my thoughts and actions. There’s a window of time that begins once I start the book and lasts a month or so afterwards in which my mindset mirrors, or at least resembles, the book’s. This phenomenon is stronger and more time-enduring the more the book resonates with me. 

This is how I choose my next set of reading. What do I need to improve? What’s a flaw in my current thinking? What am I struggling with right now? What’s happening that I should be better prepared for in the next few months? Or it could be more tangential than a topic I need to learn or internalize, often it’s the author’s voice. Some authors I value for their succinct clarity in writing style (couple go tos: Ayn Rand and James Frey). It’s my favorite form of communication, precise and effectual. I realize I use ‘effective' and ‘efficient' an absurd amount in this blog, I’ve exhausted the point that they're driving standards in my life. But in the case of writing, it means a careful choice of word combinations that get an idea across in the best way with the shortest efforttime. Efforttime meaning time to read and time to understand. Best meaning the most descriptive and visual. Nothing extra or distracting, nothing missing. This style is a model for how I want to write and speak, so it’s a style I seek when I’m losing that default way of communicating.

That’s what books do, provide a new default or improve on an existing default. Applying the learnings is less purposeful and more subliminal. It’s like the quote ‘you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with’. I’d add to that calculation. You’re the average of the 5 people and 3 authors you spend the most time with.

An INTJ's First Principles

I met with a rare fellow INTJ last night, and he mentioned an interesting self-assessment practice that he did recently. He wrote down a list of First Principles he believes he lives his life by and sent them to friends and past/present coworkers asking them to provide feedback into their validity, i.e. if he truly operates from those principles and if not, how he deviates from them. I found this to be a powerful feedback practice that could offer a more incisive, deep look at how you’re perceived by others. 

I’ve taken the 16personalities test a few times and always result in INTJ. Reading through the explanation, this doesn’t surprise me. It’s frighteningly accurate and aligned with how I operate, or at least how I perceive myself. I’ve always been fascinated in personality tests, partially because my analytical mind seeks to have concrete explanations for the way I think. It provides a lot of clarity, having succinct paragraphs basically describing my operating system. It’s one of the reasons I write, putting my many thoughts to words is fabulously therapeutic and explanatory. It’s so useful that I already had my own set of First Principles written out, so after hearing about my friend’s feedback tactic I thought I should put my own out there. Here they are,

  • Be steadfastly open minded.

  • Maintain a curiosity and hunger for knowledge.

  • Take ownership whenever possible.

  • Maintain exceptionally high standards and surround yourself with those who are just as intrinsically motivated to meet them and feel similarly.

  • Never follow the prescriptive or conventional, form conclusions and decisions based on rationality, logic, and independent thinking.

  • Avoid reactive behavior and thought.

  • Be useful. Ensure that your actions contribute some value to the world.

  • Consistency and compounded interest are life's most powerful tools.

  • Assign credibility via meritocracy only, not titles, credentials, or labels.

  • Efficiency, competency, and results trump all.

  • Lack of progress is death. Regularly check in that growth is occurring and change course if not.

  • Speak ill of no one. Don’t criticize, condemn, or complain. 

  • Trust and respect are earned with time and repeated, diverse circumstances.

  • Acknowledge context, differing individual perspectives, and circumstance rather than taking all words as I perceive them.

  • The mind is our director in life. Change your mind, change your life.

  • Do things that are hard and uncomfortable. If it’s difficult, it’s likely good for you. If it’s easy, it’s likely not useful.

  • Health is the number one priority.

  • Value action over words.

  • Utilize intuition when conflicted. The unconscious mind often knows more than the conscious. 

  • Seek simple, elegant solutions over complex.