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I’ve blogged recently, non-recently, and way oldly about the The 4-Hour Workweek
(* Affliate link) by Timothy Ferriss and how it changed my life. When I heard of his new book, Tools Of The Titans, I was beyond excited. It was in my hold requests at the library for weeks. I finally got a copy last week and even just a few pages in and I knew it would be another life changing book. Last night, I was skipping around and reading different sections to Bret. I ended up looking at the recommended books in the back (p.s. be still my reader’s heart at this list!) and thought, huh, it would be cool if I could highlight all of the books I’ve read. I thought of how I would take notes and mark it the heck up. At about 8:40 p.m., I thought, I have to buy this book now. I know I’m going to, why wait? I looked up stores that had it and found a local Barnes & Nobles. I knew I had a giftcard, so chaos ensued. I tore open my purse to find said gift card.
Then began a discussion with Bret, “is this a purchase that I should make right now?” We are trying to be very purposeful in where we invest our money. We have some pretty big dreams right now, and those dreams will take money. We’re trying to take every purchase captive and spend wisely. After checking the prices online and realizing, yes, we will both be gaining much from this book, it’s a good purchase now. I ran out of the house, leap in the car, and headed to the bookstore. I was met with many green lights, easy left hand turns, and little delay.
I arrived at the book store with joy in my heart, I had arrived with a few minutes to spare. I nearly floated to the door, only to be met with an employee shaking his head at me. My face took on that of utter disappointment, and I honestly almost cried. I pulled out my phone and saw I still had three minutes. I looked back up and the employee opened the door and said I had three minutes. I nodded and began my fast walk through the store. At last, I found my book. I tore it from the shelves, and rushed to the check out. I was paying when the announcement that the store was closed came over the speakers. I voiced my deep thanks to the employee still at the door and my heart rejoiced within me. I had my book. I could barely wait to get home.
Once I got home, I immediately started highlighting the books I’d read. After that, I knew it was time to start reading, finally. I started highlighting and realized, crap, I need to figure out a system for how I read this book. I came up with a highlighting system! Different colors mean different things so then I can quickly skim through and find what I need.
As you can see, I have already utilized my system! I am so excited to start the journey through this awesome resource. It was also a really neat experience to leap for joy to buy a book. I buy so few books, that this was a big deal!
Have you ever had a similar experience buying a book?
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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
If you’ve read my blog for any amount of time, you know I talk about books. A lot. Many times in my life, when I am in a particularly down state, I’m probably not reading much or at all. There is something in reading that feeds my soul. Reading brings me to life. If you doubt this at all, ask me for a book recommendation, especially in “real life.” My eyes will sparkle, I will talk much with my hands, and I will scroll through my Goodreads shelves to find a book that is perfectly fitting for you and what you need. You can also gauge my internal state by how many books are stacked on my to be read shelf from the library (below is my current stash). As I’m reading and rereading children’s books, I am reminded of that newly awoken joy of reading as a child. So many sources say you should have play and joy in your life – books are a fantastic source for this. If you are discouraged, there is a book that can give you encouragement – even if it is only to know there is someone out there who understands you. If you need to imagine a better world, there is a myriad of worlds out there. I truly believe this world would be a much better place if there were more readers.
How has reading changed my life? Books help me to see the other side of things. To look at a situation from another person’s view and see their logic. They help me dream of a life that is totally different than my own. They allow me to simply dream. There was one book in particular that completely changed my life, The 4-Hour Workweek (* Affliate link) by Timothy Ferriss. I still remember reading the book on a previous bride’s couch while we were housesitting and just knowing it was a major shift. The biggest thing that I realized at the time was that even though I was working full-time in my photography business, investing more money into marketing and advertising, my bottom line was the same. I immediately decided to stop spending so much on advertising and marketing. But it also made me start to seriously consider if photography was still where I should be spending my time. It would be another few months before the decision was made to not take on any more clients and less than one year before I would photograph my last wedding. But it made me think about work and dreams in completely new ways. If there were so many people living amazing lives, making money, and enjoying their lives, what was stopping me? All of that, just from a book. I just picked up Timothy Ferriss’ newest book, Tools Of The Titans and I can’t wait to see how it changes my life!
There are so little valid excuses for us to not read, especially if you’ve living in the United States. The amount of libraries and what they offer now is staggering. You can access physical books, ebooks, physical audiobooks, digital audiobooks, play aways – which are audiobooks in a device already, all you need are a pair of headphones. There is a way to read for most types of readers. If you struggle with reading a physical book, I challenge you to an audiobook. In some ways, those can be better than reading the book yourself.
I hope that you take a step today towards more reading. I hope you find the joy and wonder I find in books.
Since I’m always looking, what’s your favorite book?
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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
p.s. I’m loving Veronica Roth’s new book!
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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
I finished last year reading 75 books, a goal I wouldn’t have had if I wasn’t active on Goodreads. Some of those were kid’s books (about 14). As I started the year with a goal of reading 100 books. I also came across a few other challenges – The Modern Mrs. Darcy 2017 Reading Challenges (I’m doing both) and the BCPL Reading Challenge. I’ve already read 29 books, but about 25 of them are kid’s books. I have no idea how many kid’s books I’ll read this year, but I think 75 books that are not kid’s books might be a goal. We’ll see how the year progresses.
Why am I reading so many kid’s books? Well, they’re super fun! Duh! But also because I’m writing a kid’s book too! It’s an idea that has been marinating for years and I hope to get it to paper sooner rather than later.
What have I learned so far? First, that having a challenge pushes me to read books I wouldn’t otherwise read. A perfect example is from the Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading For Growth Challenge – to read a book that’s more than 600 pages. I thought I was set reading Bonhoeffer because Goodreads said it had 608 pages, which it does….technically….but the actual book is only 542, the rest is front materials and indexes. I still hope to read it because it’s been so highly recommended and the source material for my favorite Thrice song, Firebreather. So, I found myself wandering the library looking for a big book. Yesterday, I found, Me Being Me Is Exactly As Insane As You Being You – a novel told completely in lists. Oh friends, I LOVE lists! This has been such an interesting way to tell a story that I’m already 1/6 of the way through. I NEVER would have picked up this book. It’s exciting to see how just by adding a little bit of structure to my reading, it’s opening up new worlds of books.
Another one I wouldn’t necessarily pick up is Unprecedented – a book on the recent election. I’m curious to see how it skews (if at all) and what I learn.
You’ll also see Love Comes Softly in the photo – this is a book I picked up because of the Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading For Fun Challenge – A book you’ve already read. I read this book when I was a teen and it really holds up. 🙂
What are you reading right now?
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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel.
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