Reading Non-Fiction

Day 329 / 366

For the past 2 years, I have been reading mostly fiction. And while I still love a good story, I think I am ready to go back to some non-fiction content. I am trying to get better at work and time management, so I decided to pick up some books that would teach me that. This search lead to the first book that I am reading — “The Entrepreneur’s Guide to The Art Of War”.

The Art of War is a Chinese book written over 2500 years ago, and it talks about warfare and military strategy. The book that I picked up is an interpretation of that book in the context of modern businesses. And I think it will suit me well given that I have been building my own company for the past year and a half.

I just started reading it and I already know it is going to be life changing. One of the first things it talks about is the importance of planning, how most of the battles are won during the strategizing before the armies even walk out on the battlefield. The general who wins is the one who does the most calculators before the war.

That made me realize that what has been lacking in my company right now is proper planning. We have been running in a very reactionary way, deciding what to do each day based on external events. At the same time, our actions should be planned weeks if not months in advance. If there is no goal decided, how the hell would we ever think of even reaching it?

I know there is a stigma amongst readers about reading non-fiction or “self-help” books. And I agree that the market is flooded with low-quality self-help books aimed to make a few bucks by promising to change your life if you read them. I think that as long as a book helps me achieve what I want, I don’t care if it's self-help or not. I am positive that this book is going to help me run my company in a more efficient way, and that is all that matters.