More than a million new book titles are published each year. Few people have the time to read even 0.01% of that number each year. Blinkist is a book summary service that has condensed over 3,000 of the most impactful non-fiction books into summaries that take about 15 minutes to read.
I maintain a list of about a thousand books that I want to read. I know I will never read the majority of them. That’s where Blinkist comes in. I use book summary services to “read” the books that I realistically will never find the time to read. These are mostly the longer books that I simply don’t have the enthusiasm to pore through.
Typically when I read a book, I take note of all the helpful and actionable content that I may want to revisit. Here are ten books I’ve read on Blinkist, along with the notes I took from reading the “blinks” (as Blinkist likes to call them). Think of it as a summary of the summary 🙂
How to Travel the World on $50 a Day, by Matt Kepnes: Traveling the world is safer and more affordable than you think. Add up your yearly expenses for staying put, then compare that with $18,250 a year ($50 a day) for traveling the world. Saving up $18,000 is doable if you cut back on non-essentials like dining out, and if you can cut major living expenses like rent. Some airlines offer Round the World tickets where you can make about 15 stops around the world for an affordable price. To save money on flights, midweek, early morning, and late night departures are cheaper. Get a good travel backpack that’s at least semi-waterproof, and has many compartments with two zippers that can be locked together. Set a budget with different categories like accommodation, transportation, and food, and stick to it. Use a journal to track expenses. Make use of hospitality-service platforms like CouchSurfing, Servas International, and Hospitality Club. Cooking your own meals instead of dining out can reduce food expenses by up to 70%. Especially in Europe, look for lunch specials for dining out. Australia can be affordable if you house-sit (aussiehousesitters.com.au) or work for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF), cook at home, and/or camp. Kangaroo meat is cheap at many shops around Australia. In Southeast Asia you can find simple rooms in rural areas for as low as $2 a night, or basic accommodations in cities for around $10 a night. Food in Southeast Asia shouldn’t cost more than $10 a day. Get a travel credit card to earn points for free flights.
Tribe of Mentors, by Tim Ferriss: A compilation of advice from dozens of successful people. Make a habit of reading books to help you grow and succeed. Meditation is one of the best things you can invest your time into. Build a community of friends around your exercise routine, so you have motivation to exercise regularly. Good sleep habits will do more to improve your life than any diet or exercise you may be doing. Delegate as many tasks as possible and focus only on what you are particularly good at doing. Regularly “reset” by taking walks, naps, or taking a moment to think about what you are grateful for. Whenever you get an invitation, imagine it will take place tomorrow morning, and only say yes if you’d be willing to go tomorrow morning. Make sure to say “yes” about 20% of the time to stay open to life’s surprises. Regularly “scramble” the apps on your phone so you stop automatically opening apps, and so you will be more mindful about your phone usage.
The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin: Get enough sleep, have a balanced diet, and get enough physical activity. Go outdoors and get sunlight. Walk 10,000 steps every day. Let go of all your useless clutter. Make a to-do list and cross things off as you complete them. Remember your friends’ birthdays and call them regularly. Get out more often. Set one-month challenges for yourself. Take up the hobbies you enjoyed doing when you were ten. Keep a “one-sentence” diary where you write down events you want to remember. Integrate short meditation sessions into your daily life. Keep a gratitude notebook where you write down the happiest moment of each day or things that you feel lucky to have. Keep a food diary.
The Millionaire Fastlane, by MJ DeMarco: The fastest way to get rich is by starting your own business. Wealth is not just about money—it means having meaningful relationships, good health, and freedom. To get rich, you have to think like a producer, not a consumer. Forget doing what you love, you have to make something customers want. The easier it is to get into a business, the harder it will be to get rich in that business. The next time you’re bored, learn something useful by listening or reading instead of consuming entertainment. Next time you buy something, study it and determine its selling points and how it was advertised.
Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing, by Robert T. Kiyosaki: An achievable route to wealth is starting your own business, then reinvesting the profits into other assets. It’s worth it to take a sales-training program. You can reduce risk in your business by dividing it into several business units, so if one gets sued, the entire business is not in jeopardy. Instead of saying “I can’t afford that”, say “How can I afford that?”
Mindwise, by Nicholas Epley: We are often too confident that we understand our own minds and others’ minds. People who held positive stereotypes on aging live 7.5 years longer than people with negative stereotypes on aging. Get someone’s opinion directly rather than assuming. The next time something embarrassing happens to you, remember that others won’t care or remember it as much as you do.
Reinvent Yourself, James Altucher: Find a mentor by researching them, contacting them with ideas, and creating opportunities to meet. Consistently practice your passion every day. You can discover your passion by thinking about what you used enjoy or dream of doing as a child. Each day, write down ten ideas on new ways you could pursue your passions.
The Game, by Neil Strauss: A community for exchanging advice for picking up women has been growing since the 1980s. Pick-up Artists (PUAs) have mastered a technique for picking up women that involves social dynamics and hypnosis techniques. The techniques don’t seem to work for creating long-term relationships.
The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan: Most of the food we eat today is produced industrially with unethical practices, environmental damage, and unnatural processing. We should buy our food from small, local farms instead of the large industrial ones.
Ghost in the Wires, by Kevin Mitnick: Kevin Mitnick is probably the most famous hacker, and his story is fascinating.
Disclosure: Links to Amazon.com are affiliate links. If click these links and buy a book, you will pay the same low price, but Amazon will send a few coins my way. If you enjoy the work I do on this blog, buying from the links is a great way to show your appreciation and motivate me to do more work on it.
Leave a Reply