📚 Areté (Brian Johnson) 🏹, The 4 Minute Millionaire (Yours Truly) 💰 & Quitter (Jon Acuff) 🙅🏼‍♂️ (+ the most inspiring books ever 🔥)

"You are the hero we've been waiting for. We just need you to step up and start acting like it." ​ — Brian Johnson  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

​ ​ The 4 Minute Read Just Do It January ​Jan 13, 2024 || Read in browser​ Okay Brian, I guess you're serious about "Areté" — being your best self moment to moment. Heyo, Nik here with the latest 4 Minute Read. Welcome to week two of Just Do It January. I hope you're having a great time building momentum towards your goal this year. Regardless of how well that's been working so far, today's books will help! Let's open today's goodie bag: ​Areté by Brian Johnson (will activate your heroic potential with 451 great ideas from books) ​The 4 Minute Millionaire by Niklas Göke (44 daily, 4-minute lessons for financial freedom from history's best finance books, written by yours truly) ​Quitter by Jon Acuff (will help you close the gap between your day job and your dream job) ​The 31 Most Inspiring Books of All Time (make for great reads to keep your motivation high) Ready for new inspiration and great ideas? Here we go! Hot Off The Press Areté ​by Brian Johnson When I first started publishing book summaries on Four Minute Books, I came across Brian Johnson's Optimize program. He, too, published book summaries. Summarizing books in 1-2 page PDFs, his work was always of outstanding quality. "Philosopher's Notes," he used to call them. In 2021, Brian turned his company into a public benefit corporation. It's now called Heroic, and his goal is to ensure 51% of the human race will flourish by the year 2051. You can see that Brian is serious about his goals in the image above: he tattoed his goals onto his body! The "51 | 2051" bit is on his left arm, but on his right, there's another — the one he thinks will get us there: "Areté." To the Ancient Greek Stoics, this word meant "living virtuously." To Brian, it means "being your best self, moment to moment to moment." In his same-titled book, Brian delivers 451 ideas from over 200 books to help you do just that. If you want to activate your inner hero and stretch into your full potential in 2024, read this summary. Read the Summary » ​ ​ Quote of the Week "You are the hero we've been waiting for. We just need you to step up and start acting like it." ​ — Brian Johnson ​ The Big 3 From the Book 1. The "Big 3" to optimize for Areté are energy, work, and love. 2. Keep practicing the fundamentals even after you succeed. 3. If you maintain your habits, your "Soul Force" will carry you through the tough times. Master the Book in 4 Minutes » ​ A Book Brought to Life What's the #1 thing you can do to move towards financial freedom? Start. Just start. That's one of the main takeaways from many of the best finance books, and also from my own investing journey. In 2021, after thousands of survey answers confirmed money is the #1 topic you, our amazing readers, want to learn more about, I did something to try and help you, too, to just get started: I wrote a book compiling 44 of the best lessons from the very best finance books of the last 50 years. I also added 4-minute action items you can complete every day to make real, tangible progress towards financial freedom without feeling overwhelmed. That book is called The 4 Minute Millionaire, and today, I'm happy to share a video summary of it with you. It feels pretty surreal, to be honest, to hear your own book narrated by someone else, let alone summarize it and watch an animated video of it. But it's also pretty cool! Feels like we've come full circle. I hope I can write more books like these about different topics over the years. Here's what you'll learn in today's video summary: Be proud to start, even if you must start small. Don't avoid risk, manage it. Consider these 7 new asset classes. If you want to make real progress towards financial freedom in 2024, watch this video. ​ PS: If you want to buy the book, you can do so for as little as $4. You can find links to all retailers, including buying directly from me, below. Get the Book » PPS: The audiobook is also ready, and there's a separate page for that. It's not on all retailers yet but slowly rolling out. Check to see if yours is available! Get the Audiobook » ​ The Freebie ​ Do you know that glowing feeling you get after you finish the last couple pages of a really inspirational book? You know, that sense of wonder, the goosebumps, the moment when your creativity seems to know no limits and you imagine yourself facing all of your challenges – and succeeding. I think you should have that feeling more often. That's what today's featured book list is for. I looked at my personal reading history, and then I compiled for you what I think are the 31 most inspiring books of all time (fiction & nonfiction). Here's the full list. The first half is fiction, the second nonfiction. Click on any title to jump to a beautiful short preview of the book, including a fun fact, inspiring quote, and a few lines on what makes it so inspiring: ​The Alchemist​ ​Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire​ ​Pippi Longstocking​ ​Artemis Fowl​ ​The Adventures of Tom Sawyer​ ​The Little Prince​ ​Measuring the World​ ​The Da Vinci Code​ ​A Christmas Carol​ ​The Hunger Games: Catching Fire​ ​Inkheart​ ​The Great Gatsby​ ​Sherlock Holmes: A Study in Scarlet​ ​The Richest Man in Babylon​ ​Around the World in 80 Days​ ​Managing Oneself​ ​Choose Yourself​ ​The War of Art​ ​Start with Why​ ​The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People​ ​When I Stop Talking You'll Know I'm Dead​ ​The Happiness of Pursuit​ ​Rich Dad Poor Dad​ ​The Dip​ ​Sam Walton: Made in America​ ​The 4-Hour Workweek​ ​So Good They Can't Ignore You​ ​The Miracle Morning​ ​Zero to One​ ​The Power of Less​ If you want to stretch your motivation well into the year with a great book, browse these inspiring titles!​ Discover the Most Inspiring Books » ​ Dusty But Brilliant Quitter by Jon Acuff Jon Acuff knew he wanted to be a writer when he looked back on his life in a moment of clarity. He saw himself happily handing in a book his third grade teacher had told him to write, which was then laminated and bound, like a real book. Like most of us, however, he got stuck along the way, where he worked good jobs and bad jobs, for example as a mailman, a copywriter, and a speaker for Dave Ramsey. Eventually, however, he managed to quit his day job for his dream job. Over the last decade or so, Jon has published several bestsellers and now makes his living as a writer. In Quitter, he wants to help you, too, close the gap between your day job and your dream job. If you want to make a career change in 2024, read this summary. Read the Summary » ​ The Big 3 From the Book 1. Getting your dream job does not begin with quitting your current one. 2. Hustle in the morning (even if you're a night owl). 3. Define what enough means to you up front. Master the Lessons in 4 Minutes » ​ The Meme Shelf When you're a reader, but your friends aren't... Oh dear... ​ That's everything for now. Enjoy your weekend! Happy reading, -Nik PS: This crazy AI extension* summarizes everything in one click. Start a free Shortform* trial to give it a go and be amazed »​ ​ What can we do to improve the next edition? Tell us here. Did someone forward you this email? If so, you can sign up here. ​​​​​​ Copyright © 2024 Four Minute Books Preferences | Josef-Obenhin-Str. 4, Munich, 80634 | *Affiliate link ​Privacy Policy | Advertise With Us​ ​Opt-out of preference-based advertising​ ​Unsubscribe​ ​