Namita Das's Blog, page 79

Nikola Tesla: A Life From Beginning to End: 1 (Biographies of Inventors) by Hourly History

It’s a quick and short read about Nikola Tesla’s life. I may sound ignorant but I didn’t know who this great scientist was, the one whose contributions led to the smartphones we carry today.

Definitely, everyone should read about him.

Some noteworthy lines from the book –

IQ is no longer looked on as the #1 magic bullet to a life of success. Many other factors are necessary in order to be someone who makes a difference during their lifetime.“The present is theirs; the future for which I really worked, is mine.”From a very early age, Nikola Tesla could memorize entire books and mathematical tables that utterly befuddled those around him. He was able to learn new languages easily and never needed much sleep.“Many people die at 25 and aren’t buried until 75.” —Benjamin Franklin“The successful person makes a habit of doing what the failing person doesn’t like to do.” —Thomas EdisonThey really are not too concerned with the world they are living in because they are too busy inventing a new world.“Everything is energy and that’s all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality.It can be no other way. This is not philosophy. This is physics.” —Albert EinsteinUpon his death, the FBI had all of Tesla’s belongings seized, even though he was an American citizen. Everything was thoroughly scrutinized by one John G. Trump, uncle of Donald J. Trump, 45th president of the United States. The public was told that there were rumors that Tesla had invented a death ray and the government didn’t want the information to pass into enemy hands.“Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered – either by themselves or by others.” —Mark Twain

Available on Amazon Kindle Edition and Paperback.

My Journey: Transforming Dreams into Actions by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

This is such an insightful book. After every story, I was left smiling as each offered new learning.

This book is a true example of how a person’s life and the character gets shaped by their family, parents, friends, mentors, teachers, etc. Sir Kalam has dedicated a chapter to each of the important people in his life. I totally loved the story of his father, who never lost hope and after each adversity would come out even stronger.

Sir Kalam words speak volumes, it definitely helps you to think without imposing on yourself. I feel sad that I never had a chance to meet such a great personality.

My favourite line from the book –

Life had already taught me that the best way to win is to not covet the win too much, instead to keep a calm and open mind to new challenges.

It is available on Amazon Kindle Edition, Audiobook, Paperback and Audio CD.

How To Win Friends And Influence People

I had heard a lot about this book and I must say it kept up with my expectations. I can’t say about making new friends but I did learn a lot about how to deal with a growing child.

The important points and takeaways from this book for me were –
1. Not judging someone’s actions but trying to understand the perspective of the other person before making any assumptions.
2. Being a good listener, in fact, more of a listener and less of a talker.
3. Praise more, condemn less.

Many new self-help books quote Dale Carnegie’s writings and label them as old and outdated but after I read this book, I can reiterate an old saying “Old is Gold.”

My favourite lines from the book –

Criticism is dangerous, because it wounds a person’s precious pride, hurts their sense of importance, and arouses resentment.By criticizing, we do not make lasting changes and often incur resentment.
“DON’T complain about the snow on your neighbor’s roof,” said Confucius, “when your own doorstep is unclean.”When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity.“I will speak ill of no man,” he said, ”. . and speak all the good I know of everybody.” Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain—and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving.Instead of condemning people, let’s try to understand them. Let’s try to figure out why they do what they do. That’s a lot more profitable and intriguing than criticism; and it breeds sympathy, tolerance and kindness. “To know all is to forgive all.” As Dr. Johnson said: “God Himself, sir, does not propose to judge man until the end of his days.” Why should you and I? PRINCIPLE 1—DON’T CRITICIZE, CONDEMN OR COMPLAIN.Dr. Dewey said that the deepest urge in human nature is “the desire to be important.”“I consider my ability to arouse enthusiasm among my people,” said Schwab, “the greatest asset I possess, and the way to develop the best that is in a person is by appreciation and encouragement. “There is nothing else that so kills the ambitions of a person as criticisms from superiors. I never criticize anyone. I believe in giving a person incentive to work. So I am anxious to praise but loath to find fault. If I like anything, I am hearty in my approbation and lavish in my praise.”“If there is any one secret of success,” said Henry Ford, “it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from that person’s angle as well as from your own.”You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.

It is available on Amazon Kindle Edition, Audiobook, Hardcover, Paperback and Mass Market Paperback.

Do It Today: Overcome procrastination, improve productivity and achieve more meaningful things by Darius Foroux

What I liked about the book are the personal experiences that the author has mentioned. It is a collection of all his blog articles in one.

Most of the points were which I agree and myself apply in my life. For eg, the author recommends reading as much as you can and I agree that reading does help in personal development. All in all a good one time read.

My favorite lines from the book –

You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading itAnd if you want to climb the corporate ladder, you have to form alliances, be strategic, outperform your targets, and be great at what you do.What thing(s) should I eliminate to make my life so simple that it’s easy to focus?To improve your focus, boost your serotonin activity. Research shows that exercise can do that. But something else, that’s equally effective, and a lot easier is a simple mind-exercise. All you need to do is remember positive events that happened in the past.All you need to do [to increase serotonin levels] is remember positive events that have happened in your life. This simple act increases serotonin production in the anterior cingulate cortex, which is a region just behind the prefrontal cortex that controls attention.When you procrastinate, you might feel better on the short-term, but you will suffer in the long-term.Willpower Doesn’t Work. Systems Do. What you really need is a system for doing work. A lot of people shy away from routines, systems and frameworks because they want to have “freedom.” I’m sorry to disappoint you: Freedom is your enemy. The fact is that, if you want to get things done, you need rules.For example, one of my personal rules is this: Never complain. Another one is: Read and exercise every day. And: Close the day every evening by setting your next day’s priorities.Fools learn from experience. I prefer to learn from the experience of others.

It is available on Amazon Kindle Edition and Paperback.

Master Your Emotions: A Practical Guide to Overcome Negativity and Better Manage Your Feelings by Thibaut Meurisse

I loved the presentation of content in the book. There are different aspects covered like ego, jealousy, motivation, procrastination, etc. For each topic, the chapter starts by explaining these and how our emotions are reflected in each. It gradually ends with some short term technique or long term solution to overcome them. There is nothing that you have not heard or read before but the way it is explained in this book, it becomes easy to accept.

Somewhere at the end, it had become repetitive but that was a fragment of the book.

There are quotes mentioned from many great thinkers relevant to the topic in discussion, which I felt was a plus point. The topics were well researched and the solutions or hacks mentioned did not feel very preachy and tough to practise in our daily lives. The best part of the book was that it said that it’s ok to be not ok and such emotions are as important as being positive and happy.

It is available on Amazon Kindle Edition, Audiobook, Hardcover and Paperback.

Speed Reading: How to Double (or Triple) Your Reading Speed in Just 1 Hour! by Justin Hammond

For 50% of the book, the author kept repeating that he felt he was a slow reader compared to his friend. Then he mentioned the key techniques somewhere in between and those were don’t read when you are cosy, don’t read after you had a heavy meal, sit straight while reading, don’t read before bed. For a mother of a toddler then I have no time left during the whole day to read.

Then later the author suggests to not try speed-reading if you are reading new and unfamiliar text. So when do we need speed reading? Unless you are a student or love reading the same novels, again and again, this book would make no sense to you.

Skip It! I repeat Skip it!

And yeah last 30% of the book there are practice passages to measure your reading speed. Honestly, those two passages were the only interesting thing in the whole one hour I spent on this book.

It is available on Amazon Kindle Edition.

Life’s Amazing Secrets: How to Find Balance and Purpose in Your Life by Gaur Gopal Das

I heard the audiobook and I have to say Gaur Gopal Dasji’s voice is so calming.

The book mentions the 4 wheels on which our life runs – personal life, relationship, work-life and social contribution. Each wheel has been discussed in detail with adjoining stories to explain how all of those are necessary for our lives.

The short stories that Dasji narrates are mostly heard and read through WhatsApp forwards or on Instagram feeds. But reciting and expounding it so beautifully is appreciable.

I love listening to his lectures and no wonder I loved this book too.

It is available on Amazon Kindle Edition and Paperback.

How to Make Money With Breakout Trading – Analyse Stock Market Through Candlestick Charts – A Simple Stock Market Book for Beginners – Technical Analysis on Positional Trading – Price Action Trading by Indrazith Shantharaj

This book contains a detailed view of Breakout trading that the author has self learnt in years. There are multiple charts that explain the types of breakouts and which one should finalize to trade in the next day. It is mostly for short term holdings.

I just read it for information coz the term Breakout trading interested me. If you are into stock trading or you want to just read it for knowledge, go for it. But to understand the concept you need to know the basics of trading and banking because if you are just starting you may get confused with all the terms used. This book is intended for people who have already experimented in trading and want to try a different method.

It is available on Amazon Kindle Edition and Paperback.

Think Straight: Change your thoughts, Change your life by Darius Foroux

This book does not beat around the bush like the lengthy self-help books that can put you to sleep. It is short and quick.

All the chapters are to the point, although it does not feel like a professionally researched psychology but more like getting a pep talk from a enthusiastic friend. It can be reread if you like quick advices.

It is available on Amazon Kindle Edition and Paperback.

Why Not Me? A Feeling of Millions (English) by Anubhav Agrawal

To start with, I am so disappointed with the editing of this book, lots of spelling mistakes and a few sentences didn’t make sense at all. E.g., “My friend to stop bothering them sells now,” or “I hardened my exterior so that no one would know the soft interior of my heart.” What does this even mean? It seems like either the editor did a shabby job or there was no editor assigned to this book.

Secondly, this book has nothing new offer. It is quite relatable as every person at least once in their whole life goes through heartbreak but we have seen and heard this same story so many times. Basically, this book can be a two-liner – Met online, young love bloomed, then parted due to long-distance as managing a long-distance relationship is not everyone’s cup of tea. It needs maturity to understand the space.

It felt toxic at times and no one would want to stay in such a relationship.

For the poor editing and dull storyline, would not recommend it to anyone, not even a beginner.

It is available on Amazon Kindle Edition and Paperback.