Context

I was reading Deep Work by Cal Newport while simultaneously processing one of the most important issues I’ve been having in my life: I seem to know exactly what to do and when to do it, I know so many techniques and philosophies, and I’m excellent and giving advice to others (if I do say so myself) on precisely what they need to do right now, and do so with certainty that if they followed it exactly, they’d succeed… but then why haven’t I succeeded to the extent I would like to already?

The issue:

A week or so ago I was having a conversation with a friend of mine from the gym, we’ll call him Billy, and the conversation streered to books and self improvement. I told him that the next best book for him to read would the Deep Work, as he was already reading The Chimp Paradox. I did so with certainty that this is almost objectively the best move for him (ofc there’s always a better move, but this was a 98% accuracy move as far as I could tell, cause his next big goal was to get ahead in his studies before A Levels started, for any non british readers A levels are British year 12 and 13, what comes after high school.) This memory sent me down the thought stream of recognising some books are literal guides to excellence in a given field if followed without question, as they are written by experts in said field, ofc there are bad books out there, but some of them you can just tell by reading that the author has their shit together to some extent greater than yours.

(If you are curious about what books I believe fit that category, check out my recommended books page

But then if I’ve read all these books that give me the knowledge of the greats that came before me, and even live alongside me and obtain lives and character I aspire towards, why am I not like them?

One simple paradigm:

I am reading these books as suggestions, not guides.

This approach has its merits, it allows me to be like water, to absorb all these ideas and sharpen them against each other and play around with them like clay, to make something of my own (Which is what this blog is in a way), but it also has its drawbacks.

I am essentially saying “Yes Mr Newport, these are great ideas, very interesting indeed, please leave them with me and I’m sure I will find a use for them at some point”, before swiftly ushering Mr Steve Peters into the fancy office that is my mind, to hear his ideas and strategies, Plato is next, as he is getting impatient listening to Osho and Krishna discuss ideas on what exactly Dharma is.

The new approach:

This obviously can’t be right, I am in no position to take these people’s teachings as mere products, suggestions, instead I should be approaching the entire business of reading a book like that of adopting a new coach. You listen very carefully to what they have to say, and then implement their suggestions to the best of your ability, and then when you have questions, you look further in their books, and try to see if you can probe inot thier minds and get an answer through the reflection of their mind which is their works.

I believe most well written books will answer any reasonable question you have as long as you are willing to read it carefully and thoroughly, and have a decent enough head on your shoulders to do basic reasoning.

And that is why I suggest treating books like Coaches, not Clients.

This also links in well with my other post about how to not drop hobbies after 2 weeks (or any other interest for that matter), where the main insight I got is that in order for something to truly become a part of your life you need to spend time thinking about how it specifically applies to you in your situation, rather than just hypothesizing about the extremes and objective scenarios. You need both. Thinkers like you and I might be end up neglecting the first part and approaching new concepts purely ideologically, with no consideration for their real world application to our own lives. You literally wanna be laying in bed htinking about how you can apply your new coach’s advice to your own scenario.

I will be implementing this approach to my readings, and documenting my findings and experiences here, if you are reading this in the somewhat distant future, I’m sure you’ll find my personal account useful, cause I imagine if I was the reader, that is precisely what I would have requested next. The ins and outs, to pair the pure ideological approach with real life application.

I will start with Deep Work