Your Are What You Read – Choose Your Book, Choose Your Future

by Marko Martelli
You Are What You Read

You are what you read.

Reading shapes your life.

Your mind works like a computer.

With each input you consume –voluntarily or not– you upload new ‘code’ to your operating system.

Either it‘s malicious, core corrupting code… or it‘s gainful and enriches your mind-OS.

Most often, we‘ve got control over which „code“ we‘re willing to upload into our system. We can decide, for example,  who we‘re allowing into our lives, deliberately picking the source of influence.

We can choose to hang out with toxic people, watch obtuse TV-shows, and read dull books.

Or, we can decide to upload beneficial information via the „right“ people and through reading rich, challenging books.

Is where I’m spending my time consistent with who I want to be?

Am I reading things that challenge me and make me want to be a better person, or am I spending too much time on topical things that are meant to entertain me?

Am I spending my time with people who are consistent with who I want to be as a person? Are they constantly learning? Are they generous and kind? Are they challenging me and calling me out on my bullshit?Shane Parrish, Farnamstreetblog

Each fraction of exposure to these sources of influence molds our character.

While it‘s not always easy to surround ourselves with the right friends in flesh and blood, we can always fall back on finding mentors in the form of books.

Tell me what you read and I’ll tell you who you are.Martin Heidegger

Thus, we can shape our future by deliberately reading the books that concur with our goals.

Reading helped me to overcome adversity, improved my happiness, made my life more meaningful.

To give you an example, here‘s a handful of books whose authors enhanced my life significantly:

  • Lanny Bassham taught me how to excel in sports and climb the hardest climbing routes in the gym. (With Winning in Mind)
  • Emperor Marcus Aurelius enabled me to stay calm in the face of the daily insanity and the vicissitude of life. (Meditations)
  • Stephen Pressfield made me face my procrastination demon and pushed me to write this article. (The War of Art)
  • Mortimer J. Adler inflamed my passion for reading and taught me to read on a deeper level. (How to Read a Book)

Reading occupies your mind and replaces your flow of thought with ideas presented to you.  Your mind goes on a trip, imagining, rehearsing the happenings, massaging attitudes, opinions, beliefs.

Whether you’re reading the latest psycho-thriller about a deranged serial-killer or, let‘s say, the autobiography of Gandhi, every single moment of exposure to these sources of influence will shape your self-image.

You should be extending your stay among writers whose genius is unquestionable, deriving constant nourishment from them if you wish to gain anything from your reading that will find a lasting place in your mind.Seneca

Who are you allowing to manipulate your operating system and shape your future?

You can find the answers to most questions in books.

Do you want to overcome procrastination, get your ass kicked, and finally get things done?

Do you need more happiness in your life?

Overcome despair and exasperation?

Pick your influencer.

Choose who you want to be.

You are what you read.

Thanks to my reading, I have never been caught flat-footed by any situation, never at a loss for how any problem has been addressed (successfully or unsuccessfully) before. It doesn’t give me all the answers, but it lights what is often a dark path ahead.General Mattis

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