A Permission Slip To Read Less (Sort Of)

Read The Right Books

“Worship power — you will feel weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to keep the fear at bay. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart — you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. And so on.” – David Foster Wallace

For years I have walked around with a sense of guilt that I have not read enough. There are simply more books than there is time, and due to the peculiarities of interest, many great works will collect dust on my shelves. But that’s okay, and I suggest, wonderful.

I remember the first time I read Aldous Huxley’s “The Divine Within,” and realized that If I fully understood the contents of this book, I would not need to read any other. This set me on a different course. Rather than read as many books as possible, I found the real treasures, the books which aligned with my depths, and read them as many times as possible.

The old adage about not fearing a man who knows 10,000 kicks, but rather, fearing the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times holds true not just on the mat, but in the library. It’s much more useful to dig one deep well in a place of life-sustaining water than to meander around the desert digging shallow holes.

When we find the books that speak to us, we are receiving a great gift. I think it’s far more worthwhile to soak in as much as that gift as possible. You won’t have the bragging rights of having been widely read, but you will have a deep understanding of something far more important: yourself.

Wishing you a week of good reading,
Chris Matakas

P.S. I have received several inquiries about if I have written any books that don’t involve Jiu Jitsu. “Improve: Grow as If Your Life Depends on It” is this book. This has everything to do with personal development in alignment with your depths, the meta-themes of so many of the Jiu Jitsu books, without all the grappling. This is the most gifted book that readers of the Jiu Jitsu book’s give to their friends and spouses. Should you take the time to read it, I would love your feedback!