BookMarks #103: Life Is Short And So Is This Book

Title: Life Is Short And So Is This Book: Brief Thoughts On Making The Most Of Your Life

Author: Peter Atkins

Genre: Non-fiction, Self-help

Published: 2011

BookMarks

“If I’d had more time I would have written a shorter letter”- said Winston Churchill once. And that is the brief of this book, keeping things short and simple and not meandering towards unnecessary examples/anecdotes and taking inspiration from them. It is a very short volume, easy to read and gives general guidelines on what is to be done with life and not how one should go about doing it. It is not something which people do not know, but it is always good to keep revisiting.

Here are the nuggets which I liked best from the book.

“If I wanted to do my best work, I needed to do fewer things, and really focus on what mattered.” Very well put, the author also does his bit to shatter the myth of multi-tasking. “A number of people I know claim to be great multi-taskers. The brain, however, doesn’t work that way; instead it focuses on one activity at a time. If you switch back and forth between multiple tasks, your brain works more slowly than it would if you focused on each activity for a period of time.” And yet, everyone I know claims to have varying degrees of proficiency in multi-tasking!

These are terrible times. The last couple of years have been an especially harrowing one, with no one sure if the worst is over or not! Then comes this bit of advise – “you can focus on something going well, or something beautiful, or something interesting -- even amidst terrible times.” There are things one can do something about and others where one can’t. So focus attention and energies where something can be done. Quite a simple advise and yet very difficult to follow.

The easiest way to success or avoiding failures/mishaps is not doing dumb things. Proceeding when there are obvious issues is a dumb thing to do. Even if it’s inconvenient or painful it is better doing nothing when the only available choice has glaring issues.

On character - Do what you think is right. Don't follow other people blindly. Be honest and keep your word. Admit your mistakes.

On dealing with success and failures which everyone encounters We learn more from our failures than from our successes.

On how to work towards success - You may delay but time will not. There is no overnight success but a series of continuous efforts. Progress depends on action, taking small steps which work. Over time, small steps add up, and you end up in a different place.

On being happy - To be happy, you need to pay attention to who you are, what you want, and how you feel. And most importantly Life has to be lived forwards and not backwards.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. – Another Churchill quote to round up this post.

Overall, a good read with actionable, implementable advise.

Previously on BookMarks: The Tattooist of Auschwitz