Sunday Email - BTG Books / Final Push

Read time: ~4.30 minutes

Happy Sunday!

Every Sunday I offer strategies for the week ahead and a thought to fuel your action.

Leaders are meant to inspire, to have the courage to push forward, and to continually invest in learning and adapting. 

Harry Truman famously said, "All readers are not leaders, but all leaders are readers." 

This underscores a vital truth: our beliefs and knowledge are shaped by our experiences and observations. However, our personal experiences are just a tiny fragment of the vast world around us.

Great leaders don't limit themselves to personal experiences alone; they broaden their horizons by learning from others. They absorb insights from both fictional and non-fictional narratives, expanding their knowledge and belief systems for better decision-making.

Consider our minds as personal galaxies, filled not with stars, but with nuggets of knowledge. Millions of pieces of knowledge, gained through experiences, observations, and reading, spread across our mental galaxy. Individually, these stars are significant, but their true power and uniqueness emerge when they combine to form constellations.

In astronomy, constellations are groups of stars that form patterns. Similarly, in the galaxy of our mind, constellations represent wisdom—the fusion of various knowledge pieces into insights, theories, or perspectives that drive progress and action.

For leaders, whether running a company, a team, a family, or simply guiding themselves, the power of reading is transformative. It creates new stars in our mental galaxy, which we then draw upon to form broader, more diverse wisdom.

Our knowledge is limited without reading, constraining the impact of our insights. Life is full of things we can't control, yet we often focus on these uncontrollables, trying to exert influence over them in vain. However, when it comes to outcomes, we have clear control over certain aspects.

Let's break down an outcome into three components: beliefs, a decision, and then the outcome itself. Two levels of uncertainty exist in this process: imperfect information (from beliefs to a decision) and luck (from the decision to the outcome). Our decisions are based on our beliefs, which can never encompass all available information. And even after a decision is made, luck plays a role in determining the final outcome.

Therefore, I focus on what I can control—my beliefs. The more expansive my knowledge, beliefs, and wisdom, the better my decision-making. While this doesn't guarantee better outcomes, a more thoughtful and deliberate decision-making process generally leads to more consistently positive outcomes.

This is why I'm a strong advocate of reading. I frequently buy books; to me, each book is an investment in knowledge. My goal is to read at least 20 pages a day. Over the next 20 years, this amounts to over 600 books—more than 600 opportunities to learn from others and add to my galaxy of knowledge.

I'm following a well-trodden path. Many successful business leaders are avid readers. Warren Buffett spends 80% of his day reading; Bill Gates reads 50 books a year; Mark Zuckerberg challenges himself to a new book every two weeks. Their habits underline the significant role reading plays in success.

The health benefits of reading are also well-documented. Studies have shown that reading can reduce stress, slow cognitive decline, lower blood pressure, and even prolong life.

The objections to reading often seem weak in comparison to its benefits. Some argue it takes time away from 'doing' or family, but I see reading as a choice—a choice made by many of the greatest leaders and innovators of our time.

That's why on my podcast "Bridging the Gap," I always ask guests for a book recommendation. Their suggestions are a treasure trove for those looking to expand their horizons.

As we set our resolutions and goals, I want to share a list of books recommended by my podcast guests. Consider this your starting point for a year of reading. It's never too late to start, and choosing to read is always a wise decision.

A Thought To Ponder This Week

As we approach the final week before the holidays, it's a time for tying up loose ends.

The coming days are for celebration, relaxation, and cherished moments with loved ones.

Parkinson's Law is the principle that work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion. If given a week for a task, we'll take a week; if given a month, it stretches to a month.

The key to breaking this cycle? Set tighter deadlines, foster a sense of urgency. A great strategy? Act as if you're leaving for vacation tomorrow.

After Friday, you will likely transition to vacation mode. 

2024 planning is likely behind us. Some loose ends are in front of us. And the tendency may be to focus on the easy things. 

But here is a thought to ponder as we head into this final week before the holiday; what is the one thing that if completed will have the most impact on your business and your clients? Get that done this week. 

The best is ahead!

-Matt