On January first, I woke up in Croatia with the resolution to read thirty books this year. Come February, I was practically done, so I decided to slow down to digest what I was reading. This post will discuss the benefits of revisiting great books and, more generally, reading for deep understanding rather than volume.
My favorite books to revisit are the Harry Potter series, but I will describe a more recent experience. On my flight from JFK to Zurich, I read Discourses and Selected Writings from Epictetus. Now, just three weeks later, I have read the book cover-to-cover three times. The result has been an absolute reframe of some of my mental models. How has this happened? Let's see a few examples.
Avoiding Frustration
“We should discipline ourselves in small things, and from there progress to things of greater value. If you have a headache, practice not cursing.” - Epictetus
After reading this, I slammed my head on a pipe next to the showerhead. Instead of cursing, as I would have in the past, my instant reaction was,
"I can no longer control that I banged my head because it is in the past, so I cannot be upset about it." - Connor
Of course, I made a mental note not to hit my head on the pipe again, but I prevented further pain and lost energy by avoiding frustration over a now external event. I was amazed.
Becoming Confident to Speak Publicly
Whenever I see a person suffering from nervousness, I think, well, what can he expect? If he had not set his sights on things outside of man's control his nervousness would end at once. - Epictetus
Before presenting at school, I felt nervous, so I contemplated my nerves with a question-based approach. It went something like this:
Why am I nervous?
Because I am speaking in front of many people.
What is scary about that?
They are all watching me speak.
Why is that a problem?
It is not a problem; I talk to people all the time.
Ok, then, why am I nervous?
Maybe I am concerned with their opinion of me or my message.
Are you speaking about things you are knowledgeable about and have you prepared?
Yes, and yes.
Then that is all you can control; their reception of your message is out of your control.
Yes, but my body still produces a physical reaction when I stand before the class, heavy breathing, etc.
Can you control that your body starts a physical reaction before speaking publicly?
No.
Ok, then your physical reaction to public speaking is an external that you cannot control and should not be off-putting to you.
Ok, great.
Accepting the Uncontrollable
When I accepted the audience's opinion and my physical reaction as externals and therefore not bad, I became confident to speak publicly. Thus, while in Bonn for a Fulbright event this weekend, I pushed myself to give a quick presentation on stage for an “Unconference” topic. Although my pitch was unsuccessful, I am satisfied that I stood in front of the group and spoke.
Overpowering fear
The third big change happened while I was laying in bed. I was in a dream-like state when I felt our instinctual fear feeling. At that moment, I realized our fear instinct is beyond our control, and therefore, it is neither good nor bad—just neutral. However, we always retain the power over our reaction to fear and I believe the best approach is nearly always to embrace it. The other side is greatness.
These are just three examples of how reading and rereading Discourses by Epictetus have helped reframe my mindset. However, this would not have been the case had I just read through the book once to say, "I've read that book." Only after the second and third time, with underlining and note-taking, did Epictetus' words sink into my brain.
In Conclusion
People love to brag about how many books they have read, even if they hardly understood them, but I believe the better strategy is to read a few great books many times because that is where we will see lasting results from our learning.
Please let me know in the comments below:
What book has had an outsized impact on your life? Will you be rereading it now?
P.S.
***C.S. Widmaier is now on YouTube***
Thank you for reading!
This is great, Connor. Making me rethink my approach to reading. I have periodically been revisiting quotes from meditations and the tao Te Ching but maybe it will be better for me to just read them again straight through. Thank you for this great advice!