Reading

most of what we call "thinking it through" is just a way to avoid being wrong. the thinking feels productive but really it keeps the decision suspended so you never have to own it. i keep catching myself stalling on things that don't deserve the weight. if it's reversible in an afternoon, just pick. feelings about a decision aren't data about the decision, they're data about you.

the loudest spenders aren't the wealthy ones, they're people spending to look wealthy. the actual ones live in houses cheaper than their neighbors', drive used cars, and don't care if you know. income and wealth are different games. high earners who spend everything aren't rich, they're high-paid employees one layoff from a panic. wealth is what you keep, not what you earn.

the book was meant by Orwell to be satirical and its ironic that many of the people who feel that we are living in 1984 have not read 1984 before. many parallels to our current political climate, much of which is an exaggeration of course. i think the first time i read this was in middle school? very hard topics for a 12 year old to grasp their head around. re-reading this at 32 its very different. prompting me to think of other books i've only read once before in different times of my life and how i would likely see them differently now.

"At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: “I have to go to work — as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was born for — the things I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?” I think of this line almost daily. Often the answer is Yes...I think I was made to stay in bed until at least 8am please. In reality its a stark reminder that our creator made us in his image - to create. To do. To be productive. To do work. Out of all the philosophy content we have from the early stoics, this one is the most unique because it was never meant to be read. This was the journal of an emperor for the worlds largest nation at the time. Endless insight from the last good Emperor.

Arkad learns the laws of wealth and becomes the richest man in Babylon after being a mere scribe. 10% of all I earn is mine to keep. Begin thy purse to fattening. Luck is a fickle goddess that favors men of opportunity. So many lessons about wealth in this book. I often listen to this one on Youtube.

Some of this feels dated—the mystical language around "vibrations" and "infinite intelligence" doesn't land for me. But underneath that is something more grounded: the idea that sustained focus on a specific outcome shapes behavior in ways that make that outcome more likely. Not magical thinking, but directed intention. The parts that hold up are about persistence and belief systems. If you genuinely believe something is achievable, you behave differently—you take more risks, recover faster from failure, notice opportunities you'd otherwise dismiss. I'm testing this in small ways: writing down specific goals, revisiting them daily, tracking what changes in how I approach problems. The results are subtle but noticeable.