I gave up on reading, and I’m better for it

This morning, I stared at my kindle for a good ten minutes.

It wasn’t admiration. It was regret.

I’ve spent years forcing myself to read more. Thinking more books meant more knowledge.

Like somehow, stacking pages would stack success.

But here’s the truth I couldn’t avoid anymore: most books aren’t written to teach. They’re written to sell.

You get 20 good pages stretched into 250.

The rest?
Fluff.
Stories.
Extra explanations that loop back to the same point — all because publishers need a certain page count to make a book “worth it.”

And now, with AI?
I can get the main ideas in minutes.
The core message, without the filler.

So I’ve stopped trying to read more.

But I’m not telling you to quit reading. If you’re early in your career, you should read everything you can get your hands on.

Not for the hacks or quick wins — but to build a foundation.

Books teach you how to think.
And when you’re new, you need that.

You need the context, the history, and the mental frameworks to figure things out for yourself.

First principles thinking isn’t a skill you magically acquire.

It’s built from hours of consuming other people’s ideas and distilling what actually matters.

Once you have that, though?
That’s when you stop reading for volume and start reading for value.

Now, I’m picky.

I don’t care if a book is a bestseller.
I care if it gives me something I can’t get anywhere else.

Reading isn’t dead to me. It’s just evolved.

So, read.
Or don’t.
Just remember — it’s not the number of books that matters.

It’s what you walk away with.

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