Smarter

A dear friend recently related why she picked up reading in the last couple of years. Her polytechnic lecturer stepped into class one day and asked those who have read at least 1 book that year to raise their hands (no, comic books and magazines don't count). Less than half of the students in the hall had their hands raised. “Congratulations. You’re smarter than the person (whose hands are down) sitting next to you.”

Wow, hhharsh. So I thought to myself. But if you think about it, he’s probably right. I’d probably use the word “wiser” than “smarter” – you can be smart but unwise. I used to hate reading too. Up till 2-3 years ago, I could never read anything more than 30 pages. (My friend now has a 8-year head start because she started when she was 17!) I lacked the tenacity and patience to read beyond even the foreword. I thought books were uninteresting and were for the boring folks. Knowledge can be obtained through textbooks anyway, or things I read on the Internet. I could not be further from the truth. In any case, I was reminded of an excellent speech Will Smith made during an award ceremony at Nickelodeon to the kids. Watch the link below and think about what he says.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEMEBBwO6J8

The keys to life? Reading and running. Well, at least according to Will Smith. I might have blogged about this before, but here goes anyway. There are two reasons why I run. Firstly, to kill the little man in my head that goes, “You’re not gonna make it. Your lung is gonna burst. Your childhood asthma is gonna come back. Stop and take a rest.” It takes a person of discipline to ignore that little man. To tell him to shut up. To show him who’s boss. It’s mind over body, and running is the best way to train that discipline. And the second inspiration for why I run? My eyes glance down and I can see my belly. o_O

Reading. It opens your mind to new perspective. It can be quite sad to be stuck in your own mindset and never understand how others see the world. Books are collective wisdom of those who have walked through similar experiences and overcame, so that you don’t have to make the same mistakes as they did. Someone once said, it is good to learn from one’s mistakes, but even better to learn from the mistakes of others. The best investors in my company are all avid readers. Not only that, they are the wisest people in my firm and give the best advice and perspective on things. Books are also lenses that give the reader a different world perspective. Every author puts on a different lens, and for a while as you read that book, you look through his lens and see the world in a different light. No problem that you faced has not been experienced by one other person in history and not put to into a book.

Your life is the sum total of the people you meet and the books you read. Phil Pringle opines that God probably planted 90% of your destiny into other people, and is waiting for you to discover your destiny as you interact with the people around you and learn from their experience and wisdom. And the books you read shape your thinking tremendously, including your values, as they determine the “lens” with which you see the world.

This is why I was so motivated to do up my Things to Do List for 2012. No prizes for guessing what the top two goals are. Inspired by a recent article on “30 books I'm Glad I Read Before 30”, I came up with my own reading list in 2012. Hope this inspires you into making your own list for 2012.

Things to Do in 2012

·       Read 26 books

·       Run 520km in total

·       Finish a marathon in 5 hours

·       Complete 2 half marathons

·       Climb a mountain

·       Cycle at Ubin

·       Try a new sport

·       Go camping

·       Catch up with a childhood friend

·       Raise up 4 new leaders

·       Start a business

·       Finish reading the Old Testament

·       Lead someone to Christ

·       Champion a social cause

·       Eat at 5 new breakfast places/coffee joints

·       Dine at a Michelin Star restaurant

·       Learn 20 new songs on the guitar

·       Pick up a new creative skill

·       Catch a dance performance

·       Attend a concert

·       Watch a musical

·       Bring my grandmothers out for movie/meal

·       Explore Singapore like a tourist

·       Experience the Transformer Ride in USS

·       Pass CFA Level 3

·       Visit a new country

Reading List for 2012

·       *Market Wizards, Jack Schwager [Acquired]

·       *Stumbling on Happiness, Daniel Gilbert [Acquired]

·       *The Most Important Thing, Howard Marks [Acquired, Reading]

·       *The Richest Man in Babylon, George Clason

·       *The Road Less Travelled, Scott Peck

·       *The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell [Acquired, Reading]

·       1984, George Orwell

·       Catch-22, Joseph Heller

·       From Good to Great, Jim Collins [Acquired, Reading]

·       Getting Things Done, David Allen

·       How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie

·       One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey

·       Poor Charlie's Almanack, Charlie Munger

·       Predictably Irrational, Dan Ariely

·       Quitter, Jon Acuff

·       Siddharta, Hermann Hesse

·       Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard, Chip and Dan Heath

·       The 4-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferriss [Acquired]

·       The Art of War, Sun Tzu [Acquired, Reading]

·       The Checklist Manifesto, Atul Gawande [Acquired, Reading]

·       The Four Agreements, Miguel Ruiz

·       The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinback

·       The Great Gatsby, Scott Fitzgerald

·       The Hard Truths, Lee Kuan Yew [Acquired, Reading]

·       The Magic of Thinking Big, David Schwartz

·       The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less, Barry Schwartz

·       The Personal MBA, Josh Kaufman

·       The Power of Full Engagement, Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz

·       The Snowball: Warren Buffett; the Business of Life, Alice Schroeder [Acquired]

·       The Success Principles, Jack Canfield and Janet Switzer

·       The Wisdom of Crowds, James Surowieckiv

·       To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

·      Walden, Henry David Thoreau

How many books have you read this year? (Now now, be honest.)

What do you wanna do in 2012? (;