Outliers: The Story of Success

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell This is the first book that clearly made me realize that anyone can be very successful at any task that they pick. Talent is important but it's not the only and most important characteristic to success. People aren't born to succeed. They can and do learn how to do it. It's a learned process, not a God given gift.

"The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics" (Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Alastair Smith) "Outliers: The Story of Success" (Malcolm Gladwell) "Data-Driven Science and Engineering: Machine Learning, Dynamical Systems, and Control" (Steven L. Brunton, J. Nathan Kutz) "Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories" (Dr. Seuss) "The Lorax" (Dr. Seuss)

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. The lesson on the surface is that you need to practice/work to become good at anything, but the deeper message for me was that everything is basically preordained. People are acting based on what's logical to them, which is the sum of their experiences. Since we can't control what happens to us, we aren't really in control of what we do either. I mean, the future is still wide open, but looking back, everything happens for a reason, and those reasons are pretty much out of our control. I'm not entirely certain that was the message Gladwell was trying to portray, but that's how I've viewed life ever since I read that book.

I have 4: -Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography - you can download it for free - Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell - A bit simplistic but it opens your eye to the fact that talent is a small part of being successful in whatever you want to achieve. - How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie - You need people to succeed. Making enemies or just treating people indifferently is a bad move. - 7 habits of highly effective people by Stephen R. Covey. People put it down because the advice seems to be common sense but it's only common sense if you know it but not everyone knows it. - Meditations by Marcus Aurelius- this is a lifelong guide. Read it until the pages fall apart and then get another and do the same. All these books can be read multiple times and you'll learn something new so get hard copies if you can.

Outliers - the 20 or so page epilogue at the end titled "A Jamaican Story" had been the best writing I've read thus far that struck a chord and helped me understand "white privilege".

Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead" changed me when I was younger. Malcolm Gladwell's "Outliers" changed me back when I got older.

'Outliers' [1], by Malcolm Gladwell, was the last book which changed the way I look on the world around me [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outliers_%28book%29 Highly recommended

- Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (a fun read. Pretty insightful. One of the best books about success, I think.) - The Singularity is Near by Ray Kurzweil (opened my mind to what the world could be)

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell[1] It made me realize that the people who exceed in some field aren't only smart: they also rely a lot on their experiences. For example, most hockey players are born in the first part of the year. Why? The deadline for young hockey leagues is January 1st. Or take Bill Gates. His mom started a programming club for his school, back before computers were easily accessible, meaning he had programmed a ton by college. Or take the Beatles. In their early years, before they were famous, they played daily 8 hour shows. I've found other people like this: Bode Miller (a great skier) had parents that owned a ski hill, and lived at the area. He grew up on skis. Malcolm Gladwell mentions a "10,000 Hour Rule." Once you do something for 10,000 hours, you're an expert at it. You see this even in college classes: students who don't try don't do well. Students who do try get good grades. So when people say, "Oh, you're so smart!", I replace it with, "You've had the experiences you need." Yes, you do need to be smart, but that's not where the base comes from. [1]:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outliers_%28book%29

Two good books I read recently: 1) Parallel Worlds: A Journey Through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmos by Michio Kaku 2) The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand (I haven't read Atlas Shrugged yet. So cannot compare them.) Yesterday I finished Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell and it is a very good book too. Currently reading: What They Teach you at Harvard Business School: My Two Years Inside the Cauldron of Capitalism by Philip Delves Broughton