Just Stop Having Problems, Stupid! By Dr Matt

After 6 months I got back to reading a book. With an interesting name Dr Matt gets my award for his words of wisdom scribbled in 55 pages only. He does mention the reason for a small quick book rather than a 20 chapter heavy volume. Dr Matt plays safe by adding 3 footnotes to avoid controversies at promising words like "guarantee" and "doctor". Reading page 25 I found it a waste but it maintains light humor and prevents the book from being monotonous."Just don’t be Russell Crowe, because that would piss me off." Such lines often tickle your funny bone when required and Dr.Matt surely knows how and where to put such additions. A light self help casual book to accompany you on your flight, waiting or cafe lounge or simply for passing time.
Below are the lines in this book which I found worth saving as a notepad file for either they are inspirational or amusing in their own manner.

I’m not saying the people are stupid, I’m saying the focus is stupid.

Knowledge is power, but so is Uranium 235, and you don’t see me carrying
that around with me everywhere I go.

The problem is that really smart people believe that all knowledge is power, and what they don’t factor in is time.

If each piece of knowledge is a potential power source, then it’s power output should be rated, even if it’s only a guess.

• There is a limited amount of knowledge I can gain in one lifetime.
• Each piece of knowledge consumes power.
• Some pieces of knowledge produce more power than others.
• If I don’t use it, some pieces of knowledge may consume more power than they produce.
• By selectively choosing what knowledge I acquire, I will determine if my net power output is a) positive or b) negative.

What is this ridiculous process called?
Science.Scientific method is what was created when we had the answers already but couldn’t prove them.

Put in another way: knowledge is power, but knowledge is not necessarily transformative. To transform you must act.

YOU KNOW MORE THAN YOU KNOW
Sometimes there would be at least one word on a page that was unfamiliar. I quickly learned that it didn’t matter; I still understood the story perfectly. Never was one word so important as to unhinge an entire storyline.

Like I said, if you seek help, make sure that it’s not from a Zod.

How do you know if someone is a Zod? Here are some telltale signs:
• Zods will: use Krypton breath to blow over buses full of innocent people.
Translation: they will unfairly judge others, even when it’s in your favor.
• Zods will:offer to let you live, if you will serve only them.
Translation:they will demand that you owe them for all the “help” they’ve given you.
• Zods will:throw large chunks of debris on top of you
Translation:they will exhaust you with their endless complaining. Again, sometimes that complaining is about what’s happening to you, so don’t mistake this for sympathy. They are really just a Zod.

Time is ever flowing onward, and we are always changing, making new choices. You can’t make the same choice for yourself that you did 20 years ago. You are simply not in the same place.

It’s either sail at the risk of being eaten by cannibals, or do nothing and be assured of death.

You must live your life, you must make the decisions that you must, regardless of risk, regardless of who gets pissed off at you, and regardless of what Zods say to you.

You want to stop having problems? Just stop having them. Stop thinking about them 24/7. Stop telling people you have them. Tell people you have the opposite. Tell yourself you have the opposite.

Stay Hungry Stay Foolish By Rashmi Bansal

Why I read this book: My laptop was out of order and I just got over with my tests so had nothing better to pass my time. Moreover this book has 25 short stories, pardon me, 25 real inspiring stories of IIM-A alumni who took the way of entrepreneurship instead of easy campus placement. One of my friend said that this book was rated as best seller on the World Wide Web. So taking her words into consideration I finally got down reading it.

After the first chapter of a person who started naukri.com in India way back when Internet was not a very familiar term in our country I was taken into a motivating world to do something useful out of my life (a question that dangles in many minds of my age). Then hopping to a different chapter not in sequence I read about the Baljees who are engaged in hotel line of business starting from Shimla(H.P.).[This had to be mentioned to remind / inform you that I study in the hills of Shimla].

Later I read the most interesting story of a person who does not own Sintex but has been given full managing and other decision making power and full freedom to run Sintex Industries Limited. The chapter was aptly titled as “Sense of Ownership”. Also in one chapter the interesting lines that got my attention was the message of a graduate who even asked the young and old readers to even go out and follow the rat race if their heart pounds for such an achievement rather than going out for entrepreneurship like the few others.

The writer herself being an IIM-A graduate when gets down to write about her successful seniors and juniors helping society by setting up schools or starting up ideas like EduComp crafts her write-up in the best possible manner with the apt title to gather and hook readers. Steve Jobs summed up his commencement speech in Stanford (2005) with these four magical words “Stay Hungry Stay Foolish” which are meant to tickle the motivating senses inside you.


>> Go Read

The Alchemist By Paulo Coelho

After 10 years or so I finally got down reading a book which comes under the fiction category. This change of section happened not because of the popularity of The Alchemist but due to many people insisting me to read and digest the text.

The story of a shepherd who is out to find and realize his dreams through various hurdles and a pinch of good luck here and there does have the element of keeping the reader hooked on for the next chapter. Paulo Coelho very neatly blends the nonfiction message in his mind by writing it in form of a tale and hence finding his write up placed under the appropriate section in the book store of his choice.

The book at various parts conveys the good luck factor which follows a person undertaking his new venture. Such lines will any day at any time give goose bumps to readers who are out to experiment with their aspirations.Those looking for hints of a typical story book tale,you have it : the winds of desert have a special mention.

For readers who are actually pursuing their dreams would still continue to read on for Mr. Coelho draws the life of hard working shepherd emerging as a hero wining love, career and money after bearing hardships in forms of nil cash flow, opposition from well built men and other scenarios which one can relate to in real life too!

I would title it as in intelligent book meant for all readers (can count me too) who are adamant on flipping pages of only a particular category.If not a must read, I would say it is a book you should try not to miss out. The book is written to be a best seller.

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

After 3 days of tests we had 3 days off to relax, so I decided to spend some time reading a book “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne. The 186 pages thick secret is best suited for me, a person, who is always ready to read a book with less text on glossy sheets. So “The Secret” deals with “laws of attraction” as they have termed it. For all the depressed souls, the book tells how to motivate oneself and get onto the right track and for the already happy ones “The Secret” proves it’s method better and even if they are the same methods it goes out of its way to prove it logically using Quantum Physics!

To achieve your defined goals the book talks about 3 simple steps....
1. Believe
2. Show Attitude of Gratitude
3. Imagine from the beginning that you have what you want

To satisfy the scientific readers: Human beings are considered to be the transmission towers emitting frequencies of thoughts and then the entire universe conspires to transform these thoughts into realities, condition being that the thought has to be powerful enough. So one needs to believe the positive side of the thought and learn to show the attitude of gratitude by thanking everyone for little acts. After these steps one needs to understand that the universe is a genie and will certainly go according to the “Your wish is my command” principle.

For non scientific readers: The universe is said to be made up of energy. Energy is defined as one which is neither created nor destroyed, and has been existing since the beginning which only transforms it's state from one form to another. The author very creatively defines God in similar, rather exact same words to satisfy the non technical crowd (to help the book sell many copies obviously!)

Now the doubt arises in the 3rd step. If one starts imagining that the goal has been achieved before it actually happens and starts behaving like a winner then what’s the use of following the instructions mentioned?(Are they trying to preach the good old saying: "ignorance is bliss"?)

At one place the book asks the reader to open the book randomly whenever in a fix and read the lines on that page. This would help the reader to get the solution for his problem. Doesn’t this show that the book is full of the same repetitive text on every page?
The book again wittily takes no responsibility if its mentioned steps don’t work for the readers. It asks the readers of this category to switch over to something else if the steps mentioned don’t make them feel good about their surroundings and figure out a different course to attain their targets.
The book has different chapters dealing with different spheres of one’s life including health, wealth, relationships etc. It refers to its official website www.thesecret.tv for further information required by the people influenced by this book. The gist of the book has been written in 500 words in this post,but you need to shell out 550 INR to read between the lines.