Choose Yourself by James Altucher: Learning to be #1
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\nAbout the book
\nThe world is changing. Markets have crashed. Jobs have disappeared. Industries have been disrupted and are being remade before our eyes.
Everything we aspired to for \u201csecurity,\u201d everything we thought was \u201csafe,\u201d no longer is: College. Employment. Retirement. Government. It\u2019s all crumbling down.
In every part of society, the middlemen are being pushed out of the picture. No longer is someone coming to hire you, to invest in your company, to sign you, to pick you. It\u2019s on you to make the most important decision in your life:\xa0Choose Yourself.
\nNew tools and economic forces have emerged to make it possible for individuals to create art, make millions of dollars, and change the world without \u201chelp.\u201d More and more opportunities are rising out of the ashes of the broken system to generate real inward success (personal happiness and health) and outward success (fulfilling work and wealth).
\nSource:\xa0https://jamesaltucher.com/about/
\nClick here to buy on The Book Depository
\nhttps://www.bookdepository.com/Choose-Yourself-/9781490313375/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf
\nAbout the author
\nJames Altucher is an entrepreneur and angel investor. He\u2019s achieved the rank of chess master and is the author of the Wall Street Journal bestselling book \u201cChoose Yourself.\u201d
\nHe\u2019s started 20 companies, 17 of which have failed. But he\u2019s learned a lot along the way.
\nIf you\u2019ve ever been stuck\u2014in a job you hate, in a house you can\u2019t afford, in a life you don\u2019t want, in your own depressed mind, anything\u2014 James wants to help you.
\nWhy? Because he gets it. He\u2019s been there. And he want to tell you how he freed himself so maybe you can start to free yourself, too.
\nSource:\xa0https://jamesaltucher.com/about/
\nLinks
\nWatch James\u2019 Choose Yourself TED Talk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmndCPvXiik
Listen to James\u2019 podcast:\xa0https://jamesaltucher.com/podcasts/
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\nBIG IDEA 1 (5:25) \u2013 Everything sucks and everyone\u2019s miserable.\xa0
\nJames is quite the pessimist. They language he uses in his books even in his podcast has a lot of negativity. In his book he mentions that internet searches of wanting to die or wanting to disappear, often return his name.
\nAs mentioned in the intro, the theme of the book is pretty much about everything getting worse. Work isn\u2019t meaningful or guaranteed and everyone you love will leave you. They\u2019ll probably die or just leave you for someone else. Oh, and the robots are stealing your jobs.
\nThis is consistent all throughout the book. So the only thing you can do is to love yourself, choose yourself. By putting yourself first, not in a selfish way, can really turn things around for you.
\nThere are stories in the book about very successful entrepreneurs that you may have heard of who had a lot of challenges, but when they choose to love themselves, things started to improve.
\nThis is more around mindset and thinking about what you are doing every single day or week, who do you surround yourself with and what can you do to choose yourself. Because if everyone else leaves you, then might as well like yourself and do things that look after you!
\nBIG IDEA 2 (8:05) \u2013 Have a daily practice.\xa0
\nJames mentioned about the four elements to look after yourself and build a foundation to build your house of success. The four elements are physical, which about eating well, sleeping well, not feeding yourself junk food, and everything about the physical well-being.\xa0
\nEmotion \u2013 surround yourself with positive people .
\nMental health \u2013 making your brain work. Constantly learning and improving yourself. How you use your brain to be creative and create content rather than just consuming it. The idea is that you need to use the idea muscle in your brain. This can be done by writing ten ideas down about a topic.\xa0
\nThe fourth idea he mentioned in the book is spiritual \u2013 about focusing on the present. It\u2019s about what you can and cannot control. It is thinking about being in the present because you can\u2019t control the future and the past is gone. Dwelling on these things isn\u2019t going to change anything and distracts you from moving forward.
\nBIG IDEA 3 (12:31) \u2013 Choose yourself.
\nThere\u2019s so many opportunities to change things. Even though the book talks a lot about negative things it also has a lot of great ideas and practical things. He gives ideas about step by step guide on how to publish a book, how to make a billion dollars and lots of different business ideas.
\nAll of these ideas you can use to choose yourself; create work that is meaningful and how to look after yourself. The book shows how many ideas you can use to change things if you choose yourself.\xa0
\nMusic By:\xa0\xa0Cookie Dough \u2013 Instrumental Version Song by Egozi
\nClick here to buy on The Book Depository
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