Principles: Life and Work notes
March 2nd, 2024
I finished reading this book on a plane, and promptly forgot it on the plane. I bought the book from a used bookstore (Strand in Union Square is awesome) and I hope that my forgotten book makes its way back to a used bookstore. I’m glad I finished it before I lost it, but I plan on purchasing another copy to keep for reference. It’s one of those books that would be helpful to skim over again every once in a while.
I picked up this book because of its popularity in the young tech entrepreneur scene. I’ve heard it referenced many times, so figured I’d see what the buzz was about.
I enjoyed the book, but I don’t think it changed my perspective in any fundamental ways. I’d classify it in the “self-help” category, but that label unfortunately feels a bit demeaning these days.
It was split into three sections: his life story, life principles, and work principles. I read the first two, but just skimmed the overview of his work principles (he recommends this in the book — the “work principles” section is intended to be referenced rather than read). I enjoyed the first section more than the second.
I’ve found that I enjoy the “self-help” style less as I’ve gotten older. Perhaps my worldview is more solidified, but I’d like to think I’m more open-minded than that. I think my most valuable takeaway from the book is that I should think about what my own principles are, write them down, and rigorously live by them. This isn’t a brand new idea to me — I’ve always been a principle-driven person, but I’ve never explicitly enumerated them. Perhaps I’ll even publish these principles here on my website. That’d be pretty cool.
After thinking more about my waning interest in explicit “self-help” books, I realized that I prefer to learn the lessons for myself rather than have them laid out for me. This doesn’t mean that I can’t learn from others’ experiences and mistakes. Quite the opposite, I think that learning about people’s lives, whether directly or through the pages of a book, has taught me an enormous amount. The Jobs biography really affected me deeply, but I don’t think I would’ve been affected by a list of “10 Traits that made Steve Jobs successful”. I think that list would leave a bad taste in my mouth because it’s so prescriptive. Instead, I prefer to hear the stories myself and draw my own conclusions, not be told what I should take away from the story. These types of pieces lack the nuance and emotional appeal of a life story. That’s why I enjoyed the first section of Principles more than the rest — I was able to connect with the author and learn from his experiences.
Overall, this was a solid book and one that I want to have on-hand. The “work principles” section had a lot of interesting perspectives, and I would love to reference it occasionally.