Chris Brogan’s 3 Book Diet

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Today I read a post from Chris Brogan that has consumed my thinking ever since.  If you don’t know Chris Brogan, he is a thought leader in the space where business, technology, and social media intersect.  You can find him here.

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So today I was reading his post where he introduces the idea of the 3 Book Diet.  What is the 3 Book Diet?  Simply put, this is a commitment to read only 3 books for an entire year.  Just 3.  Read them twice or three times each, but you are limited to 3 books for a year.

My wife read three books last week!

I already have goals for 2013 that are shaping up.  Once of them is to read 30 books next year.  30.  Not 3 – 30.  But what would I retain out of those 30 books?  What could I apply before moving on to the next one?  Wisdom is knowledge…applied.  My goal of 30 books…is it to actually change my life?  Or to be able to say that I read 30 books in a year?  Maybe reading just 3 books, and reading them again, would have a more profound impact on my life.  Reading with time to digest the ideas could be pretty fantastic.  Slow.  Chill.  Life-changing?

So I’m going to take his challenge to read just 3 books from Nov. 1, 2012 through Halloween of 2013.  Note:  I will be reading the Bible outside of these 3 books.

So the question is, what 3 books?!  This is the question that has preoccupied my mind all day.  When I’m preoccupied, my wife always thinks there is something wrong.  She has asked me a couple of times tonight if I’m okay.  I am okay.  I am intrigued!  I want to choose the right books.

Chris makes a good suggestion that the books should be spread over the different aspects of your life.  You can read all the rules of the 3 Book Diet here.

So here are the books that I am considering right now.  I would love to hear which 3 you would choose.

  1. Thou Shalt Prosper by Rabbi Daniel Lapin – Dave Ramsey not only wrote the foreword to this book, but he gave it to me.  I have been putting it off because it is not a quick read.  Now that I’m just reading 3 books this year, I can’t wait to dig in.
  2. Platform:  Get Noticed in a Noisy World by Michael Hyatt – I just finished reading this book and have let a friend borrow it.  I will be getting it back now.  This is the book responsible for this blog.  He taught me how.  If you want a platform, and you should, this is a must read.  It has 60 2-5 page chapters and is both deep and wide.  Worth a second and third read.
  3. Wheat Belly:  Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health by William Davis, MD – I’ve been hearing about this book from both Michael Hyatt (see above) and my career coach Dan Miller of 48 Days to the Work You Love fame.  They say it is life-changing in the health arena.  In the 8 years that I have been out of the Marine Corps, I haven’t paid a ton of attention to my health.  It is time to change that.

So, I am absolutely dying to hear what your 3 books would be.  Join the conversation and let me know what yours would be below!

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Categories: Life Lessons, Miscellany

Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.

  • Wow! Those are some great choices, and welcome to the game! It’s all about practice and discipline and the ability to glean even deeper truths from really sitting with the work. I’m with you, sir. Excited for your rising to the challenge.

    • Thanks for the great idea! This now means that I have the rest of the month to finish Impact Equation.

  • I was just talking about this the other day with a launch manager for Uber.com. Read more and I’m talking about more blog posts either (which I seem to be doing now). Since college, I really can’t remember the last book I actually read. That needs to change.

    As for Wheat Belly, my brother has been jamming this down my throat for months. About three months ago I went almost 100% Paleo, some may refer to it as “caveman diet” – meat, vegetable, fruit. I have absolutely no dairy, no sugar and no wheat (except craft beer, more on that in a moment). It rids the body of every artificial junk that is put into food. One thing happened, I FEEL PHENOMENAL. Better than I have in years..I decided to keep in craft beer in the diet because 1.) I enjoy it and life’s too short 2.) My clients are breweries 3.) Gluten is very refined in craft beer 4.) It’s healthy 😉

    • That is the common theme I’m hearing from those that have gone the route of Wheat Belly or something similar. They feel fantastic! I feel good, but not fantastic. Thanks Jason!

  • Great idea, thanks Bo and Chris. As a Kindle addict the hard part will be narrowing it down to just three.

    • That is definitely the trick. This was the topic of conversation at my monthly entreprenuer’s lunch meeting. Which three?

      So if you had to pick today, what would yours be?

  • Bill Barron

    Great Idea, son, get me a copy of the three books and I will read and reread them at the same time. I will also not stop reading “The Book” year after year. I hope you will write a book so we can all read and reread it. Let me be the first to recieve any books you write. I beleive you have a few books of wisdom in you. Love DAD

  • Alright Bo, here’s 3 I’m considering
    1. Mere Christianity – C.S. Lewis
    2. Eat & Run – Scott Jurek
    3. Presidents Club – Nancy Gibbs

    • I’ve read Mere Christianity, but I have not heard of the other two books. I’ll have to check them out. What makes you choose those?

  • Love Mere Christianity. I would probably revisit How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, and would continue with The Story (the Bible as one continuous story), and another revisit of Rule #1 by Phil Town.

  • Bo, nice choices! What a great thing for your dad to join you, too. I’m going to be trying the challenge. You can see my choices here: http://bit.ly/T4Qafn Good luck!