Summaries suffice… ditch the books
“Atomic habits, How to win friends and…, The subtle art of…, The power of your subconscious… , Range and 7/25/100 other books to read in your lifetime.”
The list of books one should read keeps on expanding with every other motivational video or recommendations from various blogs we read.
The books mentioned above are all amazing books and their authors are pure genius, but pardon me one can only make so much time to read.
I used to face the same dilemma of fitting all of the amazing reads in an already short 24 hours of day. So I came up with a little hack of my own. While I was searching for a ‘must read’ book on the search bar, I started prefixing the book title with a little keyword that goes something like
“Summary of…”
And I was super happy with the results.
Special mention to Nathan Lozeron from productivity game who makes wondrous videos and 1-page summaries of all best-sellers. A 15–20 minute animation to explain the entire 300 page book is no small feat. He is not the only one doing this, but he definitely is one of the best.
Well then if we can all just go and read these short summaries or watch the animated 15 minute videos, do we really ever need to read the book.
Well Yes and No.
I will detail the long explanation in just a moment, but
If you think reading the summary is enough then either you don’t even need the summary or else if you want to change based only on the summary, that’s never gonna happen.
When a book is written by the author, It is based on a mindset and an attitude.
The idea of the book doesn’t really change so often. What makes the book unique is the way that ideas are discussed by the author. With all the stories s/he tells or the examples that are illustrated, the way of feeding the reader that idea is what has more significance than the idea itself.
Reading a book is like a complete journey where you start with a mindset, you question certain assumptions, you go thru reason that challenges your outlook. It is then that change begins to happen with you accepting a different or new methodology of doing things.
An essential part of reading such a book is the repetition of the idea over and over again that leads the idea to settle in the minds of the reader.
Do you believe the same thing is possible by just reading a blog summary or 15 minute videos?
But summaries can be good too, in their own rightful way.
If you already align with the idea of the book, or truly agree with what you have read in the summary, you probably share the same mindset as that of the author. In this case reading the entire book might not be life changing for you.
In another case, you may have already read the book once before, and the summaries can really help you recall what you have already learned and reinforce it again like a refresher course. But not so much as a source of fresh perspective.
So, what are you gonna do with your next book?, read the summary or get the complete book.
