The First Step

This summer I thought it was time to get to know myself better. In the two and a half years since I left home, and particularly in the last twelve months I've been constantly on the move. I came across new cultures, people and customs. It was great to experience it all, but in the end it was a bit too much. Why? Well, inevitably being exposed to so much in such a short time left a major footprint on my personality. In other words, I simply changed. However, being busy jumping from one spot to another, I was left with little time to take note of these changes and got a bit lost. I became confused because I didn’t know how to lead my life. Particularly, I wanted to know, what is the right balance between work and leisure in life.

The wanderer above the sea of fog
Caspar David Friedrich

Mom, I'm staying at home this time!

Yes, instead of pursuing yet another adventure, I thought, this summer it was time to sit back, relax and contemplate. Primarily, I thought the best way to do this would be through reading biographies of men that had managed to make history as great leaders. This way, I would be able to see better how to lead my life to fulfil my ambitions. I also decided to go through some essential literature on the subjects that interest me professionally, in order to find out what I really want to do in life.

I made the following list of essential reading:

• Caesar: Life of a Colossus – Adrian Goldsworthy

• Napoleon: The Path to Power – Philip Dwyer

• Cicero on the Ideal Orator (De Oratore) – Cicero

• Art of War – Sun Tzu

• Ogilvy On Advertising – David Ogilvy

• The Four Pillars of Investing – William Bernstein

• The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing – Benjamin Graham

Why these books?

They are simply one of the best on these topics! Three of the books above ("Caesar", "Art of War" and “The Four Pillars”) I already wanted to read for a while. So, I set off with the excellent biography of Julius Caesar. I immediately became aware of my next target: Napoleon Bonaparte. To put their stories into perspective I choose to include in the list the well know Art of War by Sun Tzu. On top of this I thought it would be useful to read De Oratore by Cicero – the best orator in the history of the ancient Rome – which gives a deep insight into the art of oratory, yet another essential component of leadership, and so politics as well.

Following this I turned to my professional interests: marketing and finance. Ogilvy on Advertising, by the “father of advertising” David Ogilvy, is an interesting study of the subject and I want to find out more about it. Next, I chose to study investing. Here I began with the “Four Pillars” and plan to move on to “The Intelligent Investor”, by the greatest investment theorist EVER - Benjamin Graham (Warren Buffet’s professor and mentor!).

This is the first step

This is how I am trying to find out what I really want to do in life but also what really I can do. The next step is to learn more about life itself. How can I be happy while working hard to fulfil my ambitions? How can I get rid of some of my weaknesses, particularly within the sphere of social interaction? I will take on this subject in my next post.