“Effective Philosophies” explores practical wisdom for Creativity, Business, and Life
Effective Philosophy of the Day
The #1 most effective philosophy is… Read!
Growing up on the Outer Banks of North Carolina in the pre-Internet age meant being relatively isolated from the world, especially in the winter when the tourists stayed away and everything shut down. Luckily, I had books to keep me company… and I read voraciously. Through reading, I could live a thousand different lives, transporting my mind to far-flung places and distant times both future and past. Reading was my lifeblood. I loved the classics, adventures, sci-fi & fantasy, and even nonfiction, especially books about cultures so foreign to me at the time that they might as well have been from another planet (it’s no surprise that travel has become a pastime in my adult life). I read as much as I could, for the joy of it, for the knowledge, for the escape, oh, and for the free pizza. (Thanks to Pizza Hut’s “Book It!” program for giving me pizza to read books. You were rewarding me for something I did anyway, but I appreciate you).
As I entered adulthood, reading became something else… a map to guide me through life. When I first ventured out into the world, I did so with a set of ideas thrust upon me about who I was, and who I should be. I was so busy running off in my prescribed direction that, for a good long while, I stopped reading altogether (gasp!)… I had no time for reading (or much of anything, actually) I was far too busy boldly going where I had been told to go by my parents, teachers, and guidance counselors (they meant well, but they came from a scarcity mindset, and also a world that didn’t think of art as a viable career choice). It only took about ten years to figure out I was going down a path that was someone else’s, not mine. By the time I stopped to look around, I had become utterly lost, trapped by the thickets of wealth and success (doing what you’re told to do can pay well but it takes more than it gives sometimes). I had no idea where to turn, and it seemed every step took me deeper into the woods.
In my despair, I took refuge in old habits. I picked up a book and another, and another – in addition to reuniting with my old friends in fiction, I read books on craft and entrepreneurship, psychology, and philosophy ancient and modern, from Marcus Aurelius to Friedrich Nietzsche to Seth Godin. And not just books… I was no longer living in the pre-Internet world of the early 90s… now I could connect with contemporary thinkers who had conquered the very wilds I was mired in, through podcasts, masterclasses, blogs, and newsletters, and sometimes directly – emailing them and starting dialogues.
But at the core of it all was reading, which led me out of the dark woods and to the path that I now walk, a path that feels right, that for better or worse is all my own. For each step along the way, as I transitioned from Engineering to Business to Film Production and into a full-time career in Arts & Entertainment, I found mentors to help point the way to the next step. As Carl Jung said, and I’m paraphrasing here, all you need to do is the next and most necessary thing with conviction, and with the help of so many mentors alive and dead, I now feel like I’ve spent the last 10 years doing the next and most of necessary thing with conviction. Whenever I’m unsure now what the next thing is I know exactly where to turn. Anyway, all this is to say, if you’re ever lost, and you don’t know where to turn, ask yourself… When was the last time I read a good book? Then find a quiet corner, sit down, and start reading.
Extras
Mentors & Models
“Read the best books first, or you will never have a chance to read them at all.” – Henry David Thoreau
“It is not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.” – Bruce Lee
“It is a good rule… after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between.” – C. S. Lewis
“Read less, study less, but think more. Learn, both from your teachers and from the books which you read, only those things which you really need and which you really want to know.” – Leo Tolstoy
Why these resonate: Life is short, and the best books have the power to fundamentally change our direction. But it’s not just about reading more – it’s about reading what matters, thinking deeply about it, and applying what we learn.
Rabbit Holes
Want to explore this topic further? Here are some free book resources to explore:
- Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org)
- LibriVox (librivox.org)
- Open Library (openlibrary.org)
- ManyBooks (manybooks.net)
- Your Local Library – Still the best resource! (Find Yours Here – usa.gov/libraries-and-archives)
Today’s Exercise
Choose a book you’ve always meant to read but haven’t yet. Commit to reading it for just 15 minutes a day for the next week. Notice how this small commitment affects your daily routine and mindset. What new ideas start to emerge? What old assumptions begin to shift? How does this daily practice of focused reading change your relationship with time and learning?
I’d love to hear about your experience with this philosophy. Share your thoughts in the comments below, and if you’d like to join me on this journey of exploring and developing Effective Philosophies, enter your email below. I won’t spam you, and if you ever want off the list, it’s okay, we can still be friends!
