Bookish Talks

Tag: non-fiction books

  • Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport – Honest Book Review & Key Lessons

    Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport – Honest Book Review & Key Lessons

    Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport – Honest Book Review & Key Lessons

    Introduction

    We are living in a distracted and cluttered world. The society is in dire need of literature that can bring us back to focus and attention. It was this focused approach that helped humanity survive the test of the times. However, today’s world seems to be glued to the white screen with a lost focus. Books like ‘Digital Minimalism’ come right in time to rescue us from our uncontrolled addiction to our devices. In the paragraphs that follow, an effort has been made to present you with an unbiased review of the book ‘Digital Minimalism’

    Who is Cal Newport? What qualifies him to write this book?

    Cal Newport is an American author who primarily focuses on the genre of self-help and personal development. His most appreciated works are books like ‘So Good They Can’t Ignore You’ and ‘Deep Work’. I believe the author of the book, Cal Newport, is more known for his book titled ‘Deep Work’. However, the ‘Digital Minimalism’ book, according to me, deserves far greater applause because its content is unique and scarce.

    Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World: The Subtitle of the book says it all

    If you ask me to grade the subtitle of the book ‘Digital Minimalism,’ I believe I would have to rank it among the top few books I have read so far. Cal Newport has done a tremendous job in presenting his book in the best possible title, subtitle, as well as beautiful cover.

    Why the Digital Minimalism Book Is Worth Reading

    The Digital Minimalism book provides a straightforward analysis of how social media is impacting our lives. It brings its readers out of the fake perception that they can use social media only to their best interest, and get out of that once our purpose is achieved. This is not the way social media applications are designed. These are designed to keep their users stuck to their apps for as much of the time as possible. The battle is between high-paid attention engineers of these companies vs common users, which the later are sure to lose.

    Should I read Deep Work first, or start with Digital Minimalism?

    Start with Deep Work first. Because that book makes us feel the importance of undistracted attention given to any task. Once that has been achieved, then we go on to battle our biggest attention-stealer, i.e, Gadgets. To counter that, the book ‘Digital Minimalism’ comes to our rescue.

    How long does the 30-day declutter take, and what happens during it?

    The 30-day declutter is an approach from the Digital Minimalism book by Cal Newport that helps in getting rid of the addiction to gadget use. Those participating in this campaign uninstall all social media apps from their devices for 30 days. After a period of 30 days, the users are gradually allowed to reinstall only those apps that are essential for their day-to-day business.

    How is Digital Minimalism different from similar books (e.g., Deep Work, Essentialism, etc.)?

    Cal Newport has taken a similar approach but a different style in the book. Digital Minimalism is different from the rest of the author’s creations in a way that it is more practical in nature than theoretical. To get the best out of this book, you will have to be willing to take the practical steps, as merely theoretical knowledge is not enough.

    What is “high-quality leisure” according to Newport, and how do you find or build it?

    Cal Newport in his book Digital Minimalism, portrays that it is not sensible to get rid of social media without getting it replaced with anything that you really enjoy doing. Those high-quality leisure activities are a must in order to succeed in this game for longer run. If the time that has been stolen from Social Media is not allocated to some other fruitful activity, then it only becomes a matter of time before we fall back into the same trap again.

    Is the Digital Minimalism Book Easy To Read?

    Yes, Cal Newport is known for his simple style of writing. He repeated the same in this book. Though the ‘Digital Minimalism’ book deals with a very complicated topic but the way it has been explained by Cal Newport in the book, it appears that the ideas shared in the book are not too tough to digest.

    How the Digital Minimalism Book Addresses FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)

    The Fear of missing out is a natural phenomenon that occurs when we stop using social media platforms the way the rest of the world does. The book addresses the issue in two ways. One, it gives practical steps to use social media only for the sake and purpose it was initially made for, i.e., connecting with friends and colleagues. Two, it brings the overall system of excessive connectivity into question. Cal Newport establishes a concept that the human mind is not designed to manage so many connections that we maintain through social media.

    From Mindless Scrolling to Meaningful Living

    ‘Digital Minimalism’ is a book that questions the use of social media the way we are doing now. The endless stream of posts and reels that social media apps show us is in no way fruitful for our mental health. However, if someone wants to get rid of the harmful effects of these tools but at the same time benefit from all the positive things it offers, the Digital Minimalism book by Cal Newport is a perfect book to start with.

    How Mobile Phones Turned Into Mini Billboards

    The social media applications have brilliantly used the addiction of public to their advantage. With the unending stream of advertisements that are being shown on social media apps, it makes sense for these companies to keep the user on their platforms for as long a duration as possible. Book Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport gives a deep insight into the methods of these social media applications and helps its readers to understand the game in a true sense and save themselves from this trap.

    Conclusion

    To conclude, the world needs to hear where we stand with all the buzz and noise of social media. We need more people around to question the status quo of our social structures and help us get out of it. In this regard, a beautiful book like Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport is a ray of hope. It gives hope that we are not at the mercy of those social media companies with our lives, and we have people around who can question the unquestionable. Overall, a wonderful book to read.

  • Book Review – Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill – Focus24 Book Club

    Book Review – Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill – Focus24 Book Club

    Book Cover Think & Grow Rich - Focus24 Book club

    Today’s book review is my all-time favorite ‘Think and Grow Rich’ Napoleon Hill. I just finished reading this book for 3rd time to write this book review, and trust me I happened to ask myself how come I missed this thing and that, once I read it first back in 2021. The book is such a treasure, every time you get into it, you get some gem. Stay with me for a few minutes and I will share with you all the gems that I could get, with the expectation that you go hunting a few others for yourself.

    Before I proceed, I feel obliged to inform you that this book is the result of 20 years of unprecedented effort from the author Napoleon Hill. His research, analysis, and interviews with 500 of the most successful people in history have made him able to sum up all his efforts into a single book. This entire effort itself makes the book worthy of being read. All that data and research condensed into 280 pages book, which you can finish in a day. How would you justify not reading that book? I would leave that question to you. Moving ahead.

    The book was published in 1937, and since then its sales have never dropped down. Over 15 million copies sold worldwide and the count continues. Before we dive deep into the book, let me clear the confusion over the title of the book. A few amongst us might perceive that as the title mentions the word ‘rich’ this must be the book on financial prosperity. However, the correct way of looking at the title is, ‘think’ & ‘grow rich’ which means, we need to amend ‘thinking’ for growth and richness. That richness does not necessarily mean financial richness only. For financial richness, I will recommend a short book that is far better than ‘Rich Dad-Poor Dad’. The book is ‘Richest man in the Babylon’. Back to Think and Grow Rich.

    The book consists of 16 chapters and I will not bore you with listing each chapter’s name and consuming your valuable time. I will just share with you the concepts that looked fascinating to me. The most attractive thing about the book is that each of the chapters is based on an idea coupled with a real-life example to prove its authenticity. Like, when you read the chapter on Faith, it will be synced with the story of Mr Charles, and his contribution to the giant United States Steel Corporation. Similarly, every chapter would bring with it some great personality whose success was based on those principles. The personalities you will find repeatedly referred to in the book include Henry Ford, Theodore Roosevelt, John D. Rockefeller, Thomas Edison, and many more. Napoleon Hill has tried to reveal the thought process of these great men and to me has succeeded in doing that.

    The concepts shared in the book are so significant, that the author believes that he did not see any of the 500 fortune makers, who did not possess the qualities, and he could not find any single person who had these qualities but was unsuccessful. I will reproduce here what Napoleon Hill writes in the preface ‘Somewhere, as you read, the secret to which I refer will jump from the page and stand boldly before you, if you are ready for it! When it appears, you will recognize it. Whether you receive the sign in the first chapter or the last chapter, stop for a moment when it presents itself and raise your glass to toast your epiphany’

    Having discussed all the brilliance of the book, the one thing which my small mind feels should have been skipped in the book is ‘repetition’. While going through the book, you do encounter certain repetitions of ideas and examples, which could have been avoided. Overall a wonderful book to start with. If you want to give it a try, you can order your book through this link https://amzn.to/40VuTdy . That’s all for today, hope you like the blog. Till next time, stay hard, stay strong, stay focused with focus24.

  • I call this book ‘BIBLE FOR ENTREPRENEURS’ – BE 2.0 by JIM COLLINS

    I call this book ‘BIBLE FOR ENTREPRENEURS’ – BE 2.0 by JIM COLLINS

    Book Review BE 2.0 by Jim Collins - Focus24 Book Club

    Introduction

    Hello booklovers and the focus24 family. Today’s book, which we are going to discuss, is very very special. I have read hundreds of books on the subject over the past 12 years, but this book has got special place in my heart.

    Authors

    The book is co-authored by Jim Collins and Bill Lazier. Now, as far as Jim Collins is concerned, he does not need any introduction in the field of entrepreneurship. Various masterpieces of entrepreneurship literature, like Built to Last, Good to Great, How The Mighty Fall, and Great by Choice, are all contributions of this magnificent author.

    Background

    BE 2.0 is basically the enhanced version of famous ‘Beyond Entrepreneurship’ and is as good as the original one. Stay for a while as I bring to you the main lessons and takeaways from the book.

    Lessons Learned From The Book

    Financial Incentives: The 1st entrepreneur concept that I learned from the book and which is going to stay with me for the rest of my life is about ‘financial incentives’ to your team and employees. The Financial incentives, according to the author, are the most unproductive reasons for the people in your company and team to perform well. Listen to that once again: the ‘financial incentives’ are the most unproductive reasons for the people in your company and team to perform well. What the author means by this is that you would need to encourage and acknowledge employees’ efforts by rewarding them with financial incentives. However, if that is the only purpose that drives your team to work harder and harder, you have a very weak foundation of your mission conveyed to your team, or probably you need to reconsider your team.

    Different Shades of Leadership:  Another beautiful concept the book has given me is understanding different shades of leadership. I always heard and considered that there set number of qualities whose possession would make someone a good leader and whose absence will turn him or her into a bad leader. The book says that every leader has a unique characteristic and quality to be called a leader. (Do not confuse leadership with charisma. Charisma does not equal leadership, and some of the most effective leaders have very little charisma.) Examine the spectrum of world leaders and notice how much their styles differ: Mahatma Gandhi (frail and soft-spoken), Abraham Lincoln (melancholy and thoughtful), Winston Churchill (the fierce and indomitable bulldog), and Martin Luther King Jr. (impassioned, eloquent). Yet, despite the wide range of styles, each of these leaders was highly effective.

    Every Leader has his unique style. Cultivate your style; don’t try to be someone you’re not or to take on a style that does not fit. Can you imagine Winston Churchill trying to imitate Gandhi’s style, wearing a loincloth and speaking in a soft, almost inaudible voice? Conversely, can you imagine Gandhi chewing on big fat cigars and growling, “Our policy is to wage war, by sea, land, and air, with all our might and all the strength God can give us . . .”? These images are absurd. But they’re no more absurd than if you try to copy someone else’s style. An effective style grows from within you. It should be entirely yours. No one except you should have a style exactly like yours.

    Identifying faults isn’t genius: Another takeaway from the book for me is understanding that it does not take a genius mind to find fault, criticize, and negate other people’s ideas. The hard thing, indeed, is finding enough good things in something to convince a person that he/she has done something valuable. Meanwhile, corrections can be recommended. Sadly, however, most of us have been trained to do just the opposite; we’re well-schooled in criticism, having learned that the way to show how smart we are is to cite all the reasons that something is a stupid idea or doomed to failure. Don’t shoot down an idea by pointing out all its flaws and warts before the idea gets tested. The world is full of critics—critics who never stimulate anything truly great. Don’t be one of them.

    Conclusion

    Dear booklover, if you are an aspiring entrepreneur, do yourself a favor and pick this book. You can thank me later on. Here is the Amazon link to purchase the book: https://amzn.to/4ht4Y40 (affiliate link). That’s all for today. Hope you liked this blog. Till next time, stay hard, stay strong, and stay focused with Focus24.

  • This book is talk of the town – here is why – ‘THE COURAGE TO BE DISLIKED’

    This book is talk of the town – here is why – ‘THE COURAGE TO BE DISLIKED’

    THE COURAGE TO BE DISLIKED BOOK SUMMARY

    Introduction

    Hello booklovers and focus24 family. ‘The Courage to be disliked’, the book which is talk of the town, I just finished this book twice to make this review as i wanted to make it sure that I do not end up recommending something which I am not convinced of.

    About The Author

    The book is co-authored by Ichiro Kishimi & Fumitake Koga. Ichiro KISHIMI is a Philosopher, Adlerian psychologist and translator of English and German languages.

    What Made This Book Unique For Me

    ‘The Power of Now’ by Ekhort Tolle , and this one book in my hand are the only two books in my 15 years of reading non-fiction that made me confused at the end about whether I should have read these or not. Not because the books are bad, but because these books shackle the foundations of your belief systems so much that if you don’t grasp the message exactly as being given, you are under a serious threat of losing your mind. Stay with me for a while as I give you the complete summary of the book.

    What The Book Is All About

    The book is based on the Psychology of Mr. Alfred Adler, a famous Austrian psychologist. The author repeatedly refers to the concept in the book as Adlerian Psychology.

    Style Of The Book

    The book is shaped in the form of conversations between two characters, referred to as ‘Youth’ & a ‘Philosopher’. The youth in quest of knowledge and search of answers on life, visits the philosopher for 5 nights and they discuss various philosophical issues. According to the author, the purpose of giving this book the shape of conversation was inspired from the discussions between Socrates and Plato.

    As you might know, Socrates left no written piece of thoughts behind for generations to come. However, his student Plato wrote down the conversations between him and his master, which are now a big philosophical treasure. The author says that the concepts being discussed were so difficult to understand that there had to arise various questions in the minds of the readers if the book had been written in simple descriptive form. So, he brings up the possible queries that readers might have in the shape of ‘youth’ debating with the ‘philosopher’.

    Our perception is like well water

    At one point in the book, the author says that the state of happiness and sadness is just the perception of looking at things, exactly like the temperature of well water. The water from the well remains at 60 60-degree temperature throughout the year. If you drink it in summer, you would feel its coolness, and during winters it appears to be warm. The feeling of being hot and cold is because of the temperature of the surroundings and not the water itself. Similarly, our reaction to any aspect of our life is based on our society.  Every aspect of our life can be looked at either positively or negatively basing on our state of mind.

    The urge of being important

    A Strange concept that I found repeated in the book ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People, ’ which I highly recommend by the way, is using any means to get attention or superiority – even by showing how weak you are. Yes, gaining superiority by showing weakness. Adlerian psychology portrays that the urge for attention can push human beings to any limits. People use various means and ways to stay important, and one of those is relying on misery. They explain how unlucky they are, how bad the society has been to them, how their life has been full of hardships, and all that stuff is just to remain significant and abnormal. The way a child wants attention of the parents, and if he does not find any suitable way, he would start shouting, throwing things away and becoming a bad child but, would crave for attention at all cost. The same thing continues with our minds as we grow up.

    Out of 10 People, 7 will ignore, 2 will like, & 1 will hate you

    I loved this beautiful concept shared by the author about the perception of society. He says that ‘In the teachings of Judaism, it is believed that “If there are ten people, one will be someone who criticizes you no matter what you do. This person will come to dislike you, and you will not learn to like him either. Then, there will be two others who accept everything about you and whom you accept too, and you will become close friends with them. The remaining seven people will be neither of these types.” Now, do you focus on the one person who dislikes you? Do you pay more attention to the two who love you? Or would you focus on the crowd, the other seven? A person who is lacking in harmony of life will see only the one person he dislikes and will make a judgment of the world from that.

    Conclusion

    You will find dozens of other thought-provoking ideas in the book, which I am sure you would love to read. Overall, an interesting pick and a book worth reading. I highly recommend you consider giving this book a read. Here is the link to order the book online https://amzn.to/3WPAC3p (affiliate link). You can also listen to free audiobooks, having free trial registration. That’s all for today. hope you liked this blog. Till next time, stay hard, stay strong, and stay focused with Focus24.