Reading

Yesterday, after reading John Bejakovic’s email in which he reflected on 2024, I suddenly had the urge to write an email reflecting on 2024.

But what, specifically should I reflect on?

Luckily for me, I have a baseline. In fact, it just so happens that last year (December 30th, 2023 to be precise) I wrote an email talking about what I wished to accomplish in the following year.

Apparently, I only had one goal in mind: “To spend more time reading”.

Fair enough. I picked up a new reading habit back in 2022 and this habit picked up tremendous pace throughout 2023.

To give you an example. In the whole of 2022, I read a total of 9 books. This turned into a whopping 31 books in 2023. That’s quite a lot I’d say. Now, I definitely don’t buy into the whole “you have to read one book per week” shtick—especially not considering the size and depth of some of the books I read.

So the question now is, how did this year, when my goal was to “spend more time reading”, compare to 2023?

Well, it turns out, quite badly.

I read a total of 13 books in the entire year.

So much for New Year’s resolutions, huh?

Yet, that said. I might not have completed more books (or even came close to it), I did spend a lot of time reading, or at least as far as I can remember. Most of the books I started are a lot bigger, more in-depth, and require slower reading (that’s a win in my book—pun intended). I’ve also started reading a lot more historical articles, blogs posts, and other types of writing I did not (and will not) track.

But enough about the past. What about the future?

Well, I already have multiple projects planned—which I’m excited to start working on. But in general, I plan to get serious about growth. That means lots of advertising. Lots of new products. For all kinds of markets, in fact. This year is dedicated to becoming a better all-rounded marketer, able to get into new markets at will, research them, create products, grow a customer list, and get paid.

The past two years have been well spent on building a stable foundation.

It’s time to test out just how stable that foundation truly is.

Anyway.

Another idea I came up with (read: stole from John’s email yesterday) is to plug a general store link that shows everything I’ve got for sale at the moment.

Just take a look. Who knows, you might even see something interesting.

Check it out here: https://alexvandromme.com/store/

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/

I have this habit of reading up to 12 books at any given time.

I do this both for my enjoyment and my daily education—that’s one of the main lessons I’ve picked up from other extremely successful writers, creators, and simply anyone whose lifestyle I admire and want to recreate (they all spend a ton of time in their day reading).

Not the “you have to read 52 business/self-help books a year, bro” type. But the “I’d like to broaden my horizons and learn the art of writing from the masters” type, which includes a lot of fiction—something way too many people overlook.

Anyway.

During this daily reading, whenever I read something that tickles my fancy I like to highlight the sentence or paragraph and slap a page marker (these see-through colored type of sticky notes) on them.

This allows me to regularly flip through some books, immediately go to those pages where I highlighted interesting stuff, and reread them.

Today I opened up The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel and read the following sentence:

“A good rule of thumb for a lot of things in life is that everything that can break will eventually break.”

This seemed oddly befitting my current situation.

My X account could ‘break’—and so it did last year when I lost all of my progress, including over 5k followers, and a big chunk of my monthly income.

But so it goes.

Nobody is ever safe from whatever universal law that says whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.

Luckily for me, I found a solution that’s as safe and foolproof as you can get nowadays. In fact, I’ve been doing this particular thing for almost two years now. It’s also been the sole driver behind everything I’ve achieved in those past two years, and the very reason why losing my Twitter account—my main driver of traffic and revenue back then—wasn’t as disastrous as it could’ve been (and probably would’ve been for many others, who didn’t have the same safety measure in place).

The solution?

Growing and writing a daily email list (as well as meticulously backing it up every single day to make sure I’ll never lose it and never have to “start from scratch” no matter what happens).

So if you don’t yet have an email list, aren’t able to grow it, or aren’t making money with it. Then check out Email Valhalla to learn exactly how I do all of those (and how you can do so too).

Click the link here for more information: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla

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