Reading the Library and an Alternative to Cynicism

Why you should read the library

As a 12-year-old boy, during a break from his part-time work, Thomas Edison would go to the local public library.

“My refuge was the Detroit Public Library,” Edison said. “I started with the first book on the bottom shelf and went through the lot, one by one. I didn’t read a few books. I read the library.”

Once upon a time, I had two job interviews within a couple of weeks.

For the first one, I assumed I already knew what the service was about. So, my preparation amounted to a short list of five to ten bullet points.

After 20 minutes, I was ready.

Wrong.

While I didn’t bomb the interview, I left a lot to be desired.

Two weeks later I had another one.

This time, I sacrificed five days straight of what was supposed to be my annual leave and read and wrote from early morning till late at night.

Overkill? Probably.

But knowledge is the currency of success.

In the past, specialists were in vogue. But, today’s career paths are much more multi-hyphenate.

Gurwinder Bhogal says that ‘knowing a little about a lot, is better than knowing a lot about little.’

This means that Edison was onto something when he decided to ‘read the library’.

The danger of cynicism and a more positive alternative.

A part of me thinks that cynicism is a right of passage amongst hormonal teenagers.

The problem is that it’s an addictive mindset, and some people don’t grow out of it.

Chris Williamson described the cynical safety blanket as ‘a guarded response that sets yourself up against disappointment’. He notes that ‘the upside of never trying is never having to feel the pain of failure’.

It's a cop-out. It’s low agency. It’s defeatist.

I used to be quite cynical, and still have some relapses, but the trick is to catch yourself and reframe it. It serves no positive purpose.

It only adds to the stress that we are damn near constantly under.

“Things get bad for all of us, almost continually, and what we do under the constant stress reveals who/what we are.” ― Charles Bukowski

As life is challenging, difficult, and hard, it is easy to become bitter and cynical.

There is one moral reason, then, why you should strive to get better in every way: Because the alternative is hellish.

The only time I listen to cynicism now is when it’s said in jest.

I have discovered that leadership can be an antidote to cynicism.

One thing I used to get cynical about, particularly when I started reading personal development-type books, was people saying they did things ‘because they wanted to help people’.

But lately, I’ve noticed something intrinsically rewarding about helping others.

And it’s difficult to square it because it’s surely hedonistic and selfish to take personal pleasure from the rewards of helping others.

But one easy way to dismiss this is that leading and helping others is a long-term investment for everyone involved.

And, if you are the sort of person who helps others only because it benefits you, then you’re the type of person who would revert to short-term gratification pretty quickly.

Jurgen Klopp certainly takes great pleasure from his leadership style. And it’s undeniable that he’s a force for good in the world.

At work, helping student nurses has been beneficial, not only because they notice it and are appreciative, but because they get better. It also sharpens your own thinking.

It’s impactful beyond a mere transfer of knowledge.

Jocko Willink first noticed the power of leading others, when he was in the army, around the same age as I am now.

It seems that humans have an instinct for mentoring and leading. And this may go back to the evolutionary drive to survive.

If you take care of other people, they take care of you.