Books

On book-cleaning duty

by

Just the other day I was cleaning my wishlist for future books to buy and read.

And with ‘cleaning’ I mean deleting all of the overrated junk books I added to that list over 2 years ago when I didn’t know what actual good quality books—both fiction and non-fiction—looked like and I purely followed whatever was hot at the time or whatever the “top 10 books to read” listicle of the month was being shared on Twitter.

That’s how I ended up with books such as Think and Grow Rich, Atomic Habits, The 48 Laws of Power, How to Win Friends & Influence People, The Four Agreements, The Daily Stoic, and many, many others like it on my bookshelf.

Some of them I read, some of them I only read a few pages before dumping them and moving on to the next.

But all in all, I’m glad to be able to remove all of these books from my wishlist and to recognize the quality of the books I once read, and sometimes even adored, in the past. It shows me how much I’ve grown. How much I’ve learned and come to realize what matters and what doesn’t. And most importantly, how much I’ve trained my bullshit, or in kinder words, my flawed-argument-aimed-at-a-mass-market-audience detector.

Now, I have no idea how many books I removed or how many were on my list when I started—I didn’t check.

But I do know how many I’ve got on my wishlist right now… over 500 books!

Just to give some perspective: I only really started reading, collecting, and wishlisting books in the past 2 years or so and my current collection of books in my bookshelf is just shy of a 100.

I might have said this before, but if you would’ve told me about this just 3–4 years ago I would’ve called you crazy. Me? Reading books daily? And having a ginormous list of books I want to read??

Truly absurd.

Anyway. I don’t really know where I’m going with this except for sharing a fun and perhaps insightful anecdote about your ability to predict to future.

As for another future prediction I feel a lot more confident in than the knowledge of what I’ll enjoy doing in 5 years time: despite people saying email has been dead for years and years now, email doesn’t seem like it’s going anywhere. In fact, even with Google’s latest announcement of making it easier for people to check their current email subscriptions all in one place, and allowing them to easily unsubscribe, this will only make it so much more lucrative for people who know what they’re doing, who write engaging emails people want to read, and who aren’t seen as yet another newsletter filling their inbox with spam.

As time goes on, the competition will only get smaller.

So now might just be a great time to improve your email writing ability and prepare for what’s to come in a way that’s all but guaranteed to grow your skillset, your business, and your wallet.

To do so, check out my flagship course, Email Valhalla, right here: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla/


Reading recommendations just for you

by

It’s no secret I love to read.

If anything, I might mention my reading habits too often. Perhaps even at the expense of making more sales because instead of yapping about what I’m reading (or how I’m reading) all the time, I could instead mention other cool facts, interesting stories, and controversial opinions which would undoubtedly lead to more sales.

But I don’t.

See, most people would greatly benefit from developing a better reading habit (not to be confused with those “you have to read at least 52 books a yaer!!!” type people).

As it stands, I’m a writer.

Sure some purists out there might object and say I'm “not a real writer”. Yet the fact remains, I press keys on my keyboard, which makes words appear on my screen (often quite a lot of them), which I then publish on the internet for many others to read. And this process is getting me paid.

So yes. I’ll call myself a writer.

And, as most people intuitively realize, there are two major “practices” writers do to become better at their craft (and yes, you have to do both).

First is to write frequently and write a lot.

Second is to read frequently and read a lot.

The more types of writing you read, the better. Good writing, bad writing, literary writing, junk writing, persuasive writing, pop culture writing, technical writing, and every other type of writing you can imagine.

A simple method to start reading is to read whatever interests you most.

That’s an extremely underrated (and weirdly effective) method to go about reading.

But in case you still don’t know where to start, no worries—I got you.

Because as of today I’ve created a recommended reading list on my website where I post what I’m currently reading, as well as every book I’ve read so far that I found either extremely enjoyable or insanely valuable (mostly both).

It’s not a big list by any means. (Not yet, at least)

But it’s enough to get some people started and give some honest recommendations.

Anyway.

Check it out here: https://alexvandromme.com/reading-list/


In need of a new fantasy book to read

by

It’s that time again.

I’ve finished reading A Clash Of Kings, the second book in the A Song of Fire And Ice series, also known as Game of Thrones.

The book itself was about 800 pages, which shouldn’t have taken me that long.

But I have this habit of always reading multiple books at once—around 8–12 most of the time.

Why do I do this?

It helps me to stay disciplined in my reading habit. Whenever I don’t feel like reading a certain book, I’ve got a handful of others to choose from.

So no matter what mood I’m in or if I don’t feel like reading a specific book that day, I’ll still get my daily reading in (A nice and rather unexpected consequence is how it also helps me make better connections between different topics I’m reading about)

Doing it this way allows me to get through a lot more reading each month than I would otherwise.

The secret isn’t to read fast (I’d argue reading slower is better), nor is it to spend half your day reading.

No.

The secret is best described by the man, the myth, the legend, Rocky Balboa himself, when training Adonis in the movie Creed.

“One step at a time, one punch at a time, one round at a time.”

And so it is for reading, business, and life as a whole.

The goal for most important things in life isn’t to win, it’s to keep playing the game one step at a time.

Another way I’ve been applying this “one step at a time” mentality is with email.

Just one simple email a day, for months, years, or even decades straight has the power to change your entire life.

So why not give it a try yourself?

Check out Email Valhalla here to see what all the fuss is about: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla


To book or not to book

by

Over the past two years, I’ve built quite a book collection.

Almost to the point where I need to buy a whole new bookcase just to store all of them—and I thought this one would last me a lifetime already.

Still I’ve already learned lots of things, useful consequences, of owning physical books.

For one, I find myself picking up books I’ve already read and flipping through pages I’ve marked every few days.

This helps me a lot with coming up with ideas to write about, but also allows me to develop a deeper understanding of difficult topics simply because of the frequent repetition.

Because as you may (or may not) know, people learn best by repetition.

So that got me wondering.

That new writing course I’m thinking about—the one I talked about in yesterday’s email with the idea of “How to make writing fun, easy, and enjoyable (while writing faster than ever before)”.

Well, why not create it in book form?

I love books. They’re useful, easy to go through (you can take them with you wherever you go), and can be strategically placed in sight to help you pick them up once in a while and learn through repetition.

Long story short.

I found books to be one of the best formats for educational content.

Plus, I’d force myself to learn how to create and publish a book, something I’m planning on doing eventually anyway, so why not learn it now?

Not sure if that’s actually what’s going to happen.

But thought I’d share it with you.

In the meantime, check out Email Valhalla here for more of the good stuff: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla


One of my all-time favorite short books

by

And I mean seriously short, this book is only 41 pages with a ginormous font.

Not to mention, It’s an old gem as well.

It was first written and published in 1902, yet still relevant and published today (a rule I picked up from Naval Ravikant is that if an old book is still around, it’s got something inside of it that’s worth reading).

Anyway.

The book I’m talking about is As a Man Thinketh.

As the title suggests, it’s all about the power of your mind, and how your thoughts, and their quality, influence and decide everything about you, your life, your surroundings, and the things life rewards (or punishes) you with.

What I like most isn’t just how it’s practical, relevant, very clearly written, easy to read in one quick sitting, or even how it broadens your mind and shows you a new way of thinking.

No.

It’s how it conveys complex ideas, in an understandable and easy-to-grasp manner, yet still wording it beautifully and poetically.

Everyone who has ever written knows how simple language and poetry don’t easily go hand in hand. Yet As a Man Thinketh seems to have cracked the code because it does it on every. single. page.

Here’s an example:

“Man’s mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth.”

That, to me, reads beautifully.

And I hope you can share this joy with me by seeing the beauty in it as well.

On another note.

While it might not help you write as beautifully or as poetically, Email Valhalla will help you write valuable and entertaining emails in a simple and easy-to-understand manner to keep your readers interested, sometimes even obsessed, making them come back each and every day.

If that sounds like a skill you’d want to develop, then check out Email Valhalla here: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla