Range is my 2019 winner. It was the best book I read last year, and one of my favorite books related to personal development ever. By range, Epstein refers to a set of broad experiences, inputs, interests, experiments, etc. In a world that values specialization and highlights the ‘10,000-hour rule’ (which says you must dedicate 10,000 hours to something to achieve mastery), Epstein argues that hyper-focus is actually not the path to success, far more often those who have range win. Epstein encourages us to pursue hobbies and interests, to be unafraid of making a change, to never feel behind, and not because life is more fun that way, it’s actually a more effective way to live. I can’t recommend it highly enough, read Range.

There are few personal development/self-improvement books that I consider must-read, but Atomic Habits is one of them. James Clear notes that winners and losers have the same goals, what sets them apart is their systems (habits). Humans operate by default and we relentlessly fail at improving ourselves because we fail to address our default behaviors. Goals are fine, they help give direction, but only our systems can take us where we want to go. Clear guides us through how habits operate and how to make meaningful and lasting changes by changing our defaults. It’s a fascinating and fun read, and one that has had a profound impact on how I think about behavior and pursue change.

Hans Rosling made it his life’s mission to reinform commonly help misconceptions about our world. He penned Factfulness as he battled the cancer which would eventually take his life. Through ten chapters he addresses ten fascinating topics that we routinely misunderstand (world population, poverty, bias, etc.). He emphasizes the fact that the world can sometimes be bad, while still being significantly better than it was before. By offering clarity, thoughtfulness, and objective facts, Rosling helps us to see things they way they are. It’s occasionally mind-bending, which is a good thing, and always enjoyable.

4. Born a Crime – Trevor Noah.

Born a Crime is an autobiography. Trevor Noah takes us through his wild, funny, and unlikely childhood in one of the more engaging books I’ve ever read. It’s at times hilarious (I literally laughed out loud more than once), sentimental (his relationship with his mother is remarkable), thoughtful (interacting with apartheid in South Africa), and ultimately a completely rewarding read.

5. Billion Dollar Whale – Tom Wright.

Billion Dollar Whale consistently made my jaw drop as I read it. The story is absurd, unbelievable, scandalous, incredible, and completely true! It’s about a young Malaysian fancier/businessman (Jho Low) who cons billions of dollars from the Malaysian government in a stream of devious business deals and spends it on some of the most extravagant partying the world has ever seen. The story involves Hollywood actors and actresses, world-leading finance companies, even the president of the United States. Another interesting part of this story (as if it wasn’t interesting enough) is that it hasn’t concluded yet. Jho Low is currently a wanted man hiding out, most believe, in China, but is certainly still active. In fact, his team of lawyers aggressively campaigned to ban Billion Dollar Whale from being sold, and succeeded to keep the book off British bookshelves for a year! Truly, a remarkable read.

Reading takes less time than you think

Link November 22, 2019Joshua VanDykeLeave a comment

If you’re anything like me, burning half of an hour online is second nature, it happens without a thought. I pull out my phone or open up my computer and bounce from website to website, check the news, adjust my fantasy football lineup, clear a few emails, delve into a twitter trend (or 3), and the time evaporates. It’s shocking the amount of reading I can do simply by opening a book before I open my computer. And all you have to give up is some artificial dopamine inducing frenetic blue screen time. You can easily read a half-hour per day (and probably more) without making any real concessions. Start with 10 minutes. Start with a book that’s short or easy to read. Just open the book before you turn on your screen.

Book Recommendation: Billion Dollar Whale

Link November 18, 2019Joshua VanDykeLeave a comment

I recently finished Billion Dollar Whale by Tom Wright and Bradley Hope. Talk about a scintillating read. Wright and Hope uncover the incredible true story of a young Malaysian businessman, Jho Low, who pulled off an unparalleled heist. It’s incredible on a number of levels: Jho Low orchestrated all of it in plain sight, a number of A-list celebrities are involved, and the story hasn’t ended yet, Jho Low has gone into hiding while facing charges from the U.S. and Malaysia. He stole an estimated total of 5 billion dollars, spending outrageous sums on parties, kickbacks, jewelry, bribes, yachts, real estate, and even a few businesses (not the least of which was the production company that created and released The Wolf of Wall Street). It’s the stuff of movies. This year a production company (SK Global) purchased rights and actually plan to release a movie. From explaining intricate details of financial transactions to describing the most extravagant parties imaginable, Wright and Hope have put forth an exciting enjoyable read more akin to a novel than a news report. Grab a copy for the holidays, it’s a high recommend.

Read for the sake of reading

Link November 14, 2019November 15, 2019Joshua VanDyke2 Comments

Books are awesome. They do all sorts of good things for people (not the least of which is longer life). Most of us have no problem admitting that books are great and reading is a beneficial thing, at least to some degree. Some people don’t read, which is fine, though they’re definitely missing out. Some people devour fiction because it’s fun, though seemingly more and more people turn to Netflix for escapism. Many treat reading as a purely pragmatic exercise, hoping to glean helpful information for work and life. Those things are all good, but consider this a quick encouragement not to read for any explicit or immediate benefit, but to read for the sake of reading. A couple of notes:

Read things that you’re interested in and enjoy. A wide variety of books and topics is not bad, in fact, it’s better. Read novels, read history, read self-help, read stories and studies and theories and thought experiments. If you start reading something that interests you, your interests will likely broaden.
Don’t read for escapism (only). By all means, read novels, read lots of them, delving into another world is one of the greatest gifts of literature. But don’t limit yourself to novels and don’t only read to escape reality. Occasionally pick up something that challenges you, delve into something that will stretch you.
Don’t read pragmatically (only). Books are pragmatic, you won’t be able to help but pick up practical tips and helpful things that will change the way you think about and accomplish things. But don’t avoid a book that interests you because you don’t see how it could immediately benefit your life or work. A good book will impact you in ways you’ll never suspect, and may not even realize.
Read because you’re curious. As you read your curiosity will grow, you’ll probably find it’s impossible to satiate, you’ll probably end up with more books than you’ll ever be able to read, but you’ll be so happy to have learned and stretched and changed because of the books you’ve read. I have never encountered a person who regretted their reading habit. So pick up a book, and read for the sake of reading.

Thoughts on capitalism (part 2)

Link June 14, 2019July 3, 2019Joshua VanDykeLeave a comment

2: Capitalism is a growing pie for everyone, not just the already rich.

The growing pie idea doesn’t only mean that rich people keep getting richer. They do, but instead of growing rich at the expense of everyone else (as in the agrarian economy we touched on in part 1), everyone else also gets richer. Capitalism is a rising tide that raises all the boats, even the little ones. A cool analogy for this rising tide idea (as noted in John Addison Teevan’s Integrated Justice and Equality) can be seen in the late great Chicago Bulls teams of the ’80s and ’90s. In 1986 the lowest salary on the Bulls was $135,000, the median salary was $300,000, the highest salary was $806,000. Jump to 1996, the Bulls highest paid player (you can guess) was Jordan, who made a screaming $33 million. At the same time, the lowest paid player’s income had also increased significantly to $500,000, and the median salary was all the way up to $2.3 million. Everyone wins! Over that 10 year period, the incomes of Bulls players grew by an average of 21% per year compared to an inflation rate of 3.65%, which is some serious wealth creation. Furthermore, while the income of the rich (Jordan) increased by a larger percentage than the lowest paid players (44% growth per year compared to 13%), it wasn’t at the expense of anyone. No one lost anything in this scenario. In fact, the opposite is true, everyone gained income. Sports salaries obviously aren’t perfectly correlated with the entire economy, but the point remains: capitalism creates wealth for everyone.

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