Read more books

Tonight I decided to do some pleasure-reading before sleeping, so I borrwed the book The Spy Who Came In From The Cold by John Le Carre from my dad.

From what I’ve gathered so far it’s about a spy who manages a network of spies during the cold-war in Berlin.

Fiction is not my thing. For the past few years I’ve read nothing but fact-based books on subjects such as psychology, attraction, relationships, persuasion, hypnosis, money, economics, etc.

However, at one time all I ever read was fiction. Albert Camus, Kurt Vonnegut Jr, Charles Bukowski… to name-drop a few.

It’s exciting to try something new!

Today my copy of Practicing Radical Honesty by Brad Blanton arrived in the mail.

Instead of finishing reading Radical Honesty for the second time, I’ve decided to put it down half finished and switch to this book.

Tonight I sat in a café and read the first forty pages, and so far I am very impressed. The difference that I’m noticing between the two books is that in Practicing Radical Honesty he focuses on his experiences in doing group and individual psychotherapy sessions that he’s had with clients whereas in the first book, Radical Honesty, the sessions were only discussed as short examples to illustrate points.

Before I started reading the book, I flipped through the pages to make shared that there is actually some practical exercises that I can do. The first book, although phenomenal, was heavier on the analytical side. I’m a very experiential learner, and I really enjoy going through exercises that personal development books like these offer, so the content of Practicing Radical Honesty is very appealing to me so far.

I’ll continue to post progress here, and if you’re interested in also be sure to check out my entries for ‘be honest’ and “say what’s on my mind” as they will be related.

Although I have a habit of reading two or three books at a time, right now my focus is on the book Radical Honesty by Brad Blanton.

This book changed my life when I read it, and now, years later, I think I’m overdue for a re-read.

The book is about telling the truth in all areas of life.

First, humans have a tendency to bullshit about the facts of stories, exaggerate them, or just outright lie.

Second, we aren’t always honest with our emotions and withhold how we feel from others.

Third, from the time we were old enough to start forming an identity about ourselves, we have often grown an attachment to that identity even though it’s no longer who we are. So we live our lives as if it’s true, even though we’re completely delusional and that creates problems for us.

Great book, and I’m really enjoying the re-read, though I have only been actively reading for an average of ten minutes daily on the bus.