just one valuable insight
a few weeks ago, I decided to open my kindle and read the intro to the art of doing science and engineering. I probably read about 5 pages, and never picked the book up again after that.
those 5 pages transformed my life.
Richard Hemming argued that teachers should keep personal stories & predictions in their curriculum, instead of discarding them for not being 'quantitative enough'. he makes it a point to add a personal twist to all of his teachings to help students relate and live through a problem.
just a paragraph of his writing influenced the way that I write about my learnings. I attach a personal story, and find that people are able to relate and / or live through the problems I describe first hand. by doing this, I've met tons of cool new people, been offered to interview at some awesome places, and improved my ability to write & tell stories.
I spent $20 on a book, have barely any idea about what content is in it, and was able to come away with invaluable knowledge that has directly impacted the way I think and live my life.
my friends always ask me "how do you retain all the information in the books you've read?" - the answer is, I don't, and don't expect to. the author spent years of their life learning the topic to write about, and maybe another few years actually writing the book. did you really expect to digest the entire thing in 5-10 hours?
if I get just a single valuable insight that changes how I view / interact with the world around me, it's a massive success.