101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think

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The content didn't feel tight and most of the time all over the place, I felt like it wasn't getting to a point that probably didn't even exist This may be my last book of the year and it is probably the most fitting. I wish I had marked more important facts and gotten more time to reflect on this book, but it just wasn't in the cards. I like the term "knowing-doing gap". Having experienced it in abundance, I often wonder why I can learn so much about what to do and never really do even a fraction of it. Needs a lot of reflection but this chapter covers it beautifully. Also, side note - I'm not sure if it was my edition or WHAT but the formatting was insane for a lot of essay titles. "HOW TO KNOW YOU’VE EVOLVED more than you GIVE YOURSELF CREDIT FOR IT’S HARD TO SEE HOW FAR ALONG THE PATH YOU’VE COME WHILE YOU’RE SO FOCUSED ON TAKING EACH STEP—SO TO SAY. YOU’VE PROBABLY HAD THE EXPERIENCE OF A THIRD PARTY COMMENTING ON HOW MUCH YOU’VE CHANGED BUT BARELY BEING ABLE TO REALIZE ONLY BECAUSE YOU’RE WITH YOURSELF EACH DAY. THIS IS NORMAL BUT IS ALSO THE PRODUCT OF FOCUSING ON HOW WHAT’S LEFT TO DO RATHER THAN WHAT YOU’VE ALREADY ACCOMPLISHED—WHICH IS WHY IT’S OFTEN HARD TO GIVE YOURSELF THE CREDIT YOU REALLY DESERVE. HERE, A FEW LITTLE SIGNS YOU’VE EVOLVED MORE THAN YOU REALIZE" <- that is genuinely the essay title for essay 29. It is unreadable, the text is different sizes, and it feels like Wiest is grabbing me by the lapels and shrieking it at me in a busy Subway terminal while a metro is screeching to arrive. I don't know if she thinks prolix titles look good, or make her seem more intelligent, or what, but oh my God, SCRAP 'EM. I also want to say before diving in deeper that I do believe this book was written with good intentions. I know there will be people out there who read this and it will help them and it will resonate with them. I’m happy for those people. I just wasn’t one of them. I applaud the amount of work and effort that went into this book and by no means mean to shed a negative light on the author. I think the author’s thoughts are authentic. I genuinely enjoyed some parts of the book. (But I got somewhat annoyed when I realized it won’t be 101 essays, but (mostly) of various lists. Please deliver on your promises next time.)

As someone who doesn't know what their 'big objective' is, this is not motivating or helpful. It's not like people like me haven't spent hours, days, months thinking about what their purpose is on this planet. It just makes me feel like giving up. If I'm not going to do much of anything at all, why bother, right? I hated routines throughout my life. But I had to live with routines till the age of 31. Then I started my first startup. We kept it small and worked when we were productive and rested or did other things when we were not. We ended up working a lot more than we thought but that was ok. It was either driven by interest or need. This essay has a different view. I know people who thrive on routine. Maybe I should give it a try, again. Parts of life can be structured and turned into habits through routines. It is good to have certain parts be free wheeling. That is how you come across interesting people, ideas, experiences. Flow” (in case you don’t know—you probably do) is essentially what happens when we become so completely engaged with what we’re doing.One more big topic that can be traced throughout the whole piece is the importance of now. The author emphasizes that the current moment is basically everything we have. You will never regret working on yourself. You will never regret investing in your future. You will never regret trying to understand someone. You will never regret being resourceful, exercising, meditating.

For instance: "Think about your friends who you can talk to...", "Think about the joy in spending a little bit of money on yourself and knowing you deserve it...", "Dream about how you'll live the way you want to live if you could (this is proven to be unhealthy by the way - unrealistic expectations are a breading ground for disillusionment)" Think about how you have this, this and this. I don't have this, this and this. it is awful. Simply a series of lists with next to no context and what feels like sustained criticism for however you live your life - whoever you are. That's possibly unfair, but that's how it felt. And the concentration required to get anything from the messages - exhausting. The things you love about others are the things you love about yourself." - I wonder about this. Sometimes the things you love about others are the things you admire.You think your past defines you, and worse, you think that it is an unchangeable reality when really, your perception of it changes as you do. Because experience is always multi-dimensional, there are a variety of memories, experiences, feelings, “gists” you can choose to recall…and what you choose is indicative of your present state of mind. Also, side note - I'm not sure if it was my edition or WHAT but the formatting was insane for a lot of essay titles. "HOW TO KNOW YOU’VE EVOLVED more than you GIVE YOURSELF CREDIT FOR IT’S HARD TO SEE HOW FAR ALONG THE PATH YOU’VE COME WHILE YOU’RE SO FOCUSED ON TAKING EACH STEP—SO TO SAY. YOU’VE PROBABLY HAD THE EXPERIENCE OF A THIRD PARTY COMMENTIN Das war aber leider nur ein kleiner Teil des ganzen Buches. Der Rest war ständige Wiederholung und der gleiche Inhalt nur in anderen Worte umschrieben. Happiness is not how many things you do, but how well you do them. More is not better. Happiness is not experiencing something else; it’s continually experiencing what you already have in new and different ways.”

In this superb work of self-help and knowledge, Brianna West indeed points out in a very short and direct way how oft seemingly misunderstood and not always thought about things that we engage in daily profoundly goes on to shape the essence of the 'who' we're striving to become, be it for better or worse. "In a sense, the notion that thoughts create reality is more than just a nice idea; it’s also a fact of evolution. It was because of language and thought that we could create a world within our minds, and ultimately, it is because of language and thought that we have evolved into the society we have today—for better and for worse."In Jordan Peterson's lectures on the Biblical Series, he explains how the concept about the fundamental and innate evolutionary ability of humanity since antiquity to first of all tell stories that transform into legends and so on to eventually become myth to which religions undeniably share those self same myths, ideas and mythos from time immemorial. While Joseph Campbell also talks about the intersection of mythology and evolution in his book The Power of Myth; that it is at the point of the development of the pre-frontal cortex that then made the modern man from an oral story telling species to one in which the abstract thoughts about a certain yet to arrive future is easily conceived intellectually. This evolutionary advanage can then be confronted wherein the best possible steps are taken to ensure further successful propagation of the species. There is no such thing as letting go; there’s just accepting what’s already gone. There’s losing ourselves in the labyrinth of the illusion of control and finding joy in the chaos, even when it’s uncomfortable. It’s not forever. It only remains as long as we hold on. As long as we fight. As long as we control. As long as we don’t accept what’s already gone.” I’ve been on Audible for years, and this may be my worst ever down load. It’s just a series of lists. Not at all suitable for Audible listening. I tried for an hour, but it’s just list after list after list. The effect is you take nothing away from it as you get so many ideas presented in bullet point form. However, as was already mentioned at the beginning of our analysis – the title is indeed overpromising. 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think does have some very good parts. But, all in all, there is a bit too much fluff a reader has to get through before getting to the point.Everything you do, see, and feel is a reflection of not who you are, but how you are. You create what you believe. You see what you want. You’ll have what you give.” In essence, 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think is a sort of a self-help book. Inside it, readers can find 101 short pieces, each focused on a separate topic. All in all, through these short pieces the author discusses a range of important topics, such as: It is making a spreadsheet of your debt and enforcing a morning routine and cooking yourself healthy meals and no longer just running from your problems and calling the distraction a solution. I do think people will find value with this - especially if you're looking for a no-frills, give me tips to me straight type of person. Being in love with somebody that you only used to know is like falling in love with a book (which sounds like a dumb example but people really do fall in love with them). The point is: You can love it all you want, but it’s a story that runs parallel to yours. At the end of the day it’s static. It’s memory. It’s a sentence and you can’t change it. It ends how it ends. It says what it says.”