I promised my LinkedIn community an update after reading Oliver Burkeman‘s Meditations for Mortals…
– I highly recommend the book and taking 4 weeks to read it!*
– Sure, some people might already understand a lot of the concepts, but if you’re like me and read Burkeman’s first book Four Thousand Weeks, felt the impact, but went back to usual life, the meditations format makes the messages more digestible and sticky.
– You don’t actually “meditate,” which is great for me because any time I set out to sit quietly, eyes closed and mediate, I “fail.” Some days I read more than one chapter, but most days I stuck to one so I could read it slowly, reflect, and let it marinate until the next day’s chapter.
– If you’re a chronic book highlighter, try to resist the urge to highlight passages on the first read-through. I did this because Burkeman taught me this in Four Thousand Weeks… Just read. What resonates will stick. You may not remember it verbatim, but the insight is there, you absorbed it. Sometimes it’s not a specific passage, but the vibe/impact of one, so it’s hard to describe, that just means the author did a great job!
– I did go back and highlight some areas after finishing the full book so I can flip through the book now in real life and be reminded of the insights.
*Bonus points if you read the book during a “special” four week period of your life. For me, it was a career transition. The book became a daily touchpoint for me to ground me in some overall goals I have/had for myself besides the immediate career path goals and tasks in the moment.
May I suggest this last month of the year as a great time to read the book to launch you into 2025?