Published Jan 11, 2014
Anyone who has read the same book twice knows that timing is everything when it comes to books.
I recently re-read the 4-Hour Workweek, and the difference was night and day. The first time I read it, I was 16. I only read the first half, and what I did read I slogged through. I put the book away and proceeded to not put into action anything I learned.
I read it a second time two weeks ago. It consumed me. It only took three days to read, and I’m a slow reader. I rarely get through a book in less than two weeks, let alone two days. The book made my veins run hot and poured oil on an already burning fire. I immediately put much of what I learned into action.
What was the difference? Timing.
The difference was I could put what I learned to use. When I was 16, I couldn’t do anything the book told me about. I still had to finish high school – I didn’t have any work to outsource, and you can’t 80/20 homework.
Now that I’m in college, a little over a year into working for myself, I can put almost everything in this book to use. My goals aligned with the purpose of the book. It was the right thing to read at the time when I was in the position to be able to use it.
A book can be dull or the most insightful and useful book you’ve ever read, depending on when you read it.
The best book for you right now is the book that solves your life’s biggest problem. If you are struggling to make a living, you will devour a book on how to solve that problem. If your personal life is rocky, you will devour a book that helps you get it in order. And so on.
The more of a problem something is in your life, the more you are focused on something, the more you take out of a book that helps you fix that problem. When the need is immediate and the interest is there, we focus. Ideas are generated with ease. We put the book’s words into action.
Sometimes, we aren’t aware of how much of a problem something is in our life. A book that addresses that problem, we will still devour it. This is what many 4-Hour Workweek readers went through.
When a book is read at the right time, it can be life-changing. It can inspire and make your mind flurry with ideas. But if you try to force yourself to learn something from a book when you don’t have the interest or necessity to focus on it, you won’t remember it.
