Choose Yourself! – James Altucher

My notes from the book Choose Yourself! by James Altucher:

Learned man aims for more, but the wise man decreases, and then decreases again.

The thing that really matters in this world are relationships you have with people you love and meaningful things that you do. Haters don’t fit anywhere into that.

• Sleep eight hours
• Eat two meals instead of three (I don’t agree with this one personally )
• No TV
• No junk food
• No complaining for one whole day
• No gossip
• Return an email from five years ago
• Express thanks to a friend
• Watch a funny movie
• List down a bunch of ideas
• Read spiritual text
• Say to yourself in the morning “I’m going to save a life today”
• Pick up a hobby
• Surprise someone
• Think about five people you’re grateful for
• Forgive someone – write it on a paper and burn it
• Take the stairs
• Don’t see yes when you think no
• Tell someone you love them
• Deep breathing

After a certain salary point, your marginal happiness doesn’t go up.

Writing a book never really makes a lot of money, but there are all these additional benefits of writing a book: consulting, speaking, TV shows, ghost writing, email list to market further. 

In order to get good ideas read two hours a day and write ten ideas a day.

Wake up and think of five people you’re grateful for.

Meditation – don’t time travel, be in the present.

Negotiation is worthless, sales is everything.

Better to sell early than to go broke.

Simple effort will give you a customer for life – always give a little extra. 

If you love something you get knowledge, the contacts, you’ll build something nobody else has, you’ll wow the customers.

… and that’s Stephen King – all it took was a few weeks of not writing to fall completely off his game even though he’s one of the best in the world at what he does.

The idea muscle has to be exercised daily.

Activate another part of your brain. Best ideas come from collision between  newer  and older ideas. Take two older, unrelated ideas and make them have sex.

Perfectionism may harm you. Embrace failure and get ASAP on your feet again.

Delegate jobs to someone else.

If you can’t help yourself you won’t be able to help others.

Be physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally healthy.