The Book That Changed My Life
What’s a book that changed your life?
My real estate mentor gave me a copy of The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy when I first started trying to sell homes. If you haven’t read it, it’s about small actions leading to bigger results.
One of the first books I read when I started with the Oakland Athletics was Good to Great, by Jim Collins. In it, he outlines the Flywheel Effect. Having purchased and used a KBox4 unit in 2020, I have a new appreciation for the flywheel effect. In Collins’ book it outlines the importance of adding momentum. As more small actions accumulate, momentum builds and the risk of failure drops.
The Flywheel Effect and the Compound Effect are wildly similar. There are subtle differences, like the flywheel effect recognizing that the earlier efforts are usually the harder ones but the two still share the same overall idea of taking steps towards a grander goal. Life lessons.
Many of the conversations that I share with colleagues are centered around books that we’re reading or trying to understand, or a recent podcast that we heard that changed our perspective. It’s always exciting to hear about someone’s experience learning something new, or relearning something once known.
What I’ve fallen prey to is the “all or nothing” approach when it comes to reading. When Simon Sinek started printing books like Start With Why or Leaders Eat Last and Jocko Willink was reminding everyone of their ineptitude in Extreme Ownership, I was eating it up. I was taking ownership of everything, or basing my professional development plans around my “Why”, trying to emulate what I’d recently read.
It was frustrating. I was constantly ending up confused that my newfound perspective didn’t answer all of my questions. By taking ownership of everything, I still struggled when others dropped the ball. When starting with “Why”, I neglected the “what” and “how” that was vital to finding success.
Books offer a perspective on a topic. When I think back to books that changed my life, I can think of a collection of books that came together to help me form my own opinions. Malcolm Gladwell painted pictures that made sense but still lacked some context in my life. Dale Carnegie’s work on influencing people made sense but didn’t answer every question that I had on building relationships that lasted. They were puzzle pieces of a broader puzzle, serving as building blocks to my own perspective and opinion.
Call me old fashioned but I love reading the paper. Historically, I loved reading the sports page like any kid, reading box scores and game recaps. Then I loved reading the business and finance sections, learning about new companies that were changing the world before books were ever published about them.
One section I never read was the opinion section. Thinking of it being one person’s perspective led me to the conclusion that it didn’t matter. I wanted peer-reviewed articles, or long form articles that interviewed everyone involved to give the most complete picture possible.
I’ve found more recently that I gravitate to those opinion sections. Maybe it’s because I realize that books, articles and a majority of the information we’re given on a daily basis come from just a few opinions, or maybe it’s because I see the value in having an opinion, sharing it in an honest and open way and then collecting feedback on it.
For years, I’ve read books in pursuit of the “right” way of thinking, believing that the next one would give me the answers to a peaceful and prosperous life. What I realize now is the next book is important but it won’t negate the books already read and the life already lived. It won’t change every principle that I’ve adopted. Having an opinion matters, sharing it matters and being open to new opinions matters just as much. Listen, share and listen again.
A book that changed my life? All of them, just not as much as I first thought.