I Love Books!!

We talked recently about the power of being a contrarian. The idea is that you need to be able to break any theories you have in order to strengthen them.

You need to find the limits, you need to find the errors in your thinking. But, what if there was a way that you could find these errors, yet do it from the safety of your own home, with out risking life and limb?

Enter books!

Books are great things. They are densely packed little bricks of knowledge. You can travel to the moon, you can walk among the dinosaurs, you can fight in a war or run a country, all from the comfort of your couch or your bed, or beach towel. I mean think about how powerful that is!!

You can learn about and from the best minds in the world, simply by reading a book.

Synthesizing is Key

Now that we’ve talked about books, let’s talk about education and critical thinking.

Just because you can read a book, doesn’t mean that you should follow it blindly. Simply having something in writing does not make it relevant to you.

The true magic lies in gathering little tidbits of knowledge as you go. In gaining bits and pieces of a collective experience, then synthesizing that into something that’s applicable to you and your individual situation.

I mean look at this very blog. It’s a hot dumpster fire of black words on a white screen. We do our best to give you a glimpse into what we are thinking and what we have learned.

But, what exactly is this blog? It’s our story, and it’s our experiences. Some small part of this thing might help you connect or understand something that you read elsewhere and then cement that thought into your head and allow you to apply it to your own individual situation.

Is that a good book?

I always tend to take a book or two with us while we travel. Inevitably along the way, usually waiting in line to board the plane, or sitting next to someone. They will ask:

Is that a good book?

And I’ll usually answer this way:

If I can gather just one piece of knowledge from this book, it’s worth while.

Now, think about that, just one piece of knowledge. I’m not looking for anything life changing out of any one particular piece of paper.

But, when you take that one piece of knowledge, and rub it together with another and another and another, all the sudden you something that could be life changing.

It’s a compounding of knowledge, much like the compounding of interest or money that we all have grown to love.

Connecting the Dots is where the true magic happens. This is where you can take bits and pieces from everything you read and frame your own story and blaze your own path.

So, with that we present…

A Contest!!

As we continue to purge items from our place, we’ve come across a few books that we want to give a good home. (Check the image at the top, we are going to get rid of some of those as well.)

Mrs. Wow usually gives a copy of The Simple Path to Wealth to all her interns at the end of their internship. Just a gentle shove to help them on their way.

But, we have a few extra copies lying around, sooo… what great way to spread the knowledge than to give a way a great book.

So, here’s what we are going to do. Since JLCollins talks so much about how volatile the market is, and how you should play the long game with your investments, let’s have a little fun!

In the comments here, write your guess for the closing value of VTSAX (as of 5/21 it was 71.34) for 6/28, 7/15 & 7/31, but you have to have your guesses in and locked by 6/1. So, any comment dated after 6/1 will be ineligible.

The winner will be the closest to the closing value on those dates (absolute value, no Price is Right stuff). And we’ll contact you and get your shipping address and send you a copy of the book!

Any other good books I should add to the stack on my nightstand?