On Reading

“If you haven't read hundreds of books, you are functionally illiterate, and you will be incompetent, because your personal experiences alone aren't broad enough to sustain you.”
General Jim Mattis - AKA Call Sign Chaos

Read, read, read. I cannot emphasize this enough. Fiction, non-fiction, memoirs, technical manuals, I don't care. You should always have a book you're reading, and you should have a list of books ready to go. If you need audiobooks to make it work, get audiobooks. Personally, I start with audiobooks for a lot, and if the book is impactful enough on me, I order a physical copy for my library and I make a notebook for the highlights and my thoughts (because you can't remember everything you read but you can refer to the highlights in your notes).

A parting thought - some books are like tools. You can read and re-read them later in life to remind yourself - of your values, of your direction, of your trade. Other books are one-and-done, and that's okay. They open your mind to the new ideas, so you can get back to work.

If you truly don't know where to start, may I recommend the Marines Commandant's Professional Reading List, organized by category. Pick one and go from there.

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