Your Next Five Moves

 There are two streams of thought when you start reading a book and you don't feel like you are connecting with it.

Some people will say to stop reading it and move onto something else, the theory is that there are so many things in the world that you will enjoy reading, that you shouldn't be wasting your time on things that you don't.

Camp B will tell you to stick with it, get through it and see what happens.

If I had to "pick a side" I probably fall more into team B than team A, even though I do feel that there will always be some books / material that you should just put down.

What has me more B than A?

Some of the books that have had the most impact on me were a STRUGGLE to get through. I challenge that this may because they are pushing your boundaries and putting something up against your current worldview / paradigms. True growth and learning comes from when you can challenge and dismantle your own ideas, and rebuilt them anew.

My first real experience with this was when reading Tim Ferris' "The 4 Hour Work Week"; I honestly didn't feel like I was enjoying the book, I felt it was more scheme and nonsense than deep thought. 

The funny thing though, I found myself more and more aligning with some of the core principles in the book. One that I am still firm on today, years later, is the idea related to retirement. The idea that we should be content going through life, putting off things we want to do until "we can retire" or "having enough time" for those things has completely stuck.

It seems so simplistic to me now, why would anyone feel that trading better years of your life for worse years (in the sense of elevated age, less physical ability, general health, etc) of your life is a good deal?!?

What does all of this have to do with Patrick Bet-David's book "Your Next Five Moves"? I felt VERY similar going through it as I did with Tim Ferris'.

I was no overly enjoying it, I found Patrick to be over the top and the book itself almost felt more manufactured than anything else.

That being said, after finishing it, I find myself thinking more and more about the core ideas he presented. To Patrick's credit, he (at multiple times) admits that people probably should follow his path or try to replicate his style; that it is very personal for him and works because of everything he has gone through.

The major take away for me is this - you HAVE to be much more deliberate about your life. Make strong choices and have a vision of what you want. Think more about what are the steps that are needed to get to that place and start pushing your rock down the road.

No one is going to do it for you, and you cannot expect anything to just happen for you by chance. While positive affirmations can help your headspace, it's action that will give you what you want.

You will have to take risks, some things won't work out and you will have to re-evaluate and adapt, however if you stay focused on where you want to go, you will be better off for it.

Overall the book is a straight forward and easy read, I do recommend it if you feel the ideas or position presented aligns with the type of lifestyle you envision.