Why do you need 3 libraries
Every so often, I become obsessed with reorganizing my library. I enjoy rearranging my books, flipping through them as I reorder, thinking about their contents, and swiftly snatching up an idea, phrase, or concept here and there. The sensation I feel is the same as playing with shells on the beach as a child. You dig your hand into the sand while the broken waves caress your fingers, you grab some shells, observe them, and keep the most beautiful ones.
For me, it’s the same with books. Sometimes I spend several hours, loving to get lost in their dust and the smell of printed paper, especially the rough paper of “real” books, not the typical glossy paper of school textbooks or some texts printed from the Internet. When my fingertips brush the rough paper of books, my skin almost shivers.
I haven’t always loved reading; I loved having many books, collecting them, and they kept me company. Every time I went grocery shopping with my parents, I would get lost for more than an hour in front of the bookshelf. There, I would daydream about stories, monsters, and lost loves (I was a nearly syrupy romantic boy, my school essays were almost always about love stories, how I wish I could read them again!)
The books I obviously preferred were novels. I loved those with unique covers, trying to imagine what they told despite the saying, “never judge a book by its cover” — I always spent a long time looking at covers.
Back then, I made no distinction between books. In real libraries, I read different categories but saw no significant difference, for example, between novels and essays. For me, they were books, and if I liked the cover, I would ask my mom and dad to buy me that book. In the best-case scenario, I read the plot and then it stayed on the shelf for years. But it was there with me. I knew that if I needed it, I could count on it.
Over time, as I grew up, I first learned the difference between essays and novels and began to read avidly. I liked reading anything, and at school, I was obviously required to read as many books as came my way. Even when I moved to Germany, one of the first things I did was buy books. The cheapest possible just to read and learn as many words as possible.
I read anything, novels, and essays. I didn’t make much of a distinction; I read whatever came my way. However, this created an increasingly profound sense of restlessness in knowing there were so many books but that I could never read them all. I always feel incredible pressure knowing there are so many books but that I can’t finish them all.
This led me to moments growing up where I read only essays or only novels. I experienced different sensations. Essays helped me better understand topics I was working on, preparing for exams and tests. Other times, I read only novels. And indeed, some magic happened here. Reading novels increased my ability to dream. My dreams became more vivid, and the more I read, the greater the number of details present in my dreams.
This back and forth naturally led to different effects; I left books pending, didn’t finish them, got rid of them because I felt guilty about not having read them or not having paid attention to the book. My relationship with the book was very dependent. I felt the duty to always give something back, to have to read them.
I carried this feeling with me for many years until, some time ago, I learned one of the most important lessons. You can read, and read. There are different ways of reading. A novel starts, has a development, an end. This plot must somehow be followed like a movie. A story, if left halfway or skipped parts, risks losing pieces.
Essays, on the other hand, are something entirely different. Essays are made to be used, not read. The so-called “manuals,” which are still books, but do not tell a story. The word manual, for example, comes from the Latin “manualis,” meaning made by hand. They represent guidelines and as such should not be read from top to bottom but used. Their concepts must be stolen, applied, and used in one’s life.
This realization naturally changed my way of using books, and I began to make a great division between manuals and novels. Manuals or essays, it didn’t matter, I didn’t see them as stories to follow from beginning to end but as baskets of words from which to take concepts and ideas. Depending on the days and my emotions, I read novels or essays and manuals. I had two distinct libraries.
Over time, I developed the concept of transfer learning. The first to have used it creatively seems to have been Elon Musk. This concept involves applying concepts from one field to another. In his case, aerodynamics of space rockets applied to cars. This concept is of great help depending on one’s profession. Every essay can bring ideas for any field and develop increasingly advanced thoughts.
I had become an avid reader and, as such, developed many passions, such as astrology, languages, history, politics. Like a good scholar, I try to learn anything, and the more I learn, the more I want to learn. Even the most outlandish or particular things. I read books on religion, philosophy, and much more. One of the latest topics I’ve become obsessed with is art. I got my hands on some art manuals and even Goethe’s color theory, which I’m rediscovering to apply to topics such as marketing and digitalization.
However, this led to a certain point of disorder. Because during the study, in front of my essays, I would get lost among different topics. Not concluding anything I had set out to do. I would start from computer science and end up with Eastern philosophy. Two subjects that, despite the best transfer learning, don’t have much to share. Obviously, the challenge in transfer learning is finding combinations, but it’s not always possible.
Given my passion for problem-solving, this led me to decide to implement a third library and divide all my books into these libraries.
Books for Work
These are the essays that help me grow professionally. I work in cybersecurity, digitalization, and project management, and in this library, there are mainly books on computing and personal growth such as management, leadership, etc. The goal of this library is only to improve one’s operational capacity by finding ideas to solve problems or manage critical situations, such as those that occur in incident response in cybersecurity.
As far as you are concerned, try to understand what the main topics of your work are and all the essays that can help you improve your career must absolutely be present. It is very subjective, but it is necessary to be objective about which books become part of this elite library. These will indeed be the basis for a promotion or a change within your career path.
Books for Passions
Each of us has passions, something for which the internal flame burns. Passions have always been the engine for development and personal growth. Digitalization and the concept of Modern Workplace, for example, also have aspects that embrace one’s passions and professional development. For example, within a large company (Works much better than in a smaller company), there is usually an effort to create a community. Communities have common aspects, share passions, goals, and from my point of view, share actual personal growth. In general, in the concepts of community, different people physically or digitally meet to discuss topics they know even if not directly related to their passion.
This engine generates ideas, and ideas are not only engines but are the starting point for every project. During brainstorming sessions, teams meet to discuss a main topic and “throw down” all the ideas connected to the central topic. Each team member has different backgrounds. They live and have lived in completely different cultural contexts. This leads to completely different inputs that give life to a respectable project.
The possibility of exploring different topics and delving into topics completely different from one’s sphere of competence allows access to innovative solutions. Paradoxically, I often found myself solving problems using quantum physics or stoicism. Creating these pairings between subjects has always been a very particular exercise that I learned in the context of startups and entrepreneurship. The exercise consisted of finding startup ideas starting from a pair of two completely different objects and developing a crash marketing plan. I never delved into it, but writing about it now has made me want to explore the topic as a mental exercise to develop startups. Even though this is not my field.
Novels and Romance
The last library is the one that usually does not interest those who want to grow professionally because it seems almost like a waste of time. Perhaps you don’t think so, but that was what I thought at a certain point in my life, as I told you. I didn’t understand the use of novels until the more I read, the better my dreams were.
I have always loved the dream world and studying all its facets. I have read various books on the subject, in English and Italian. Studying the various phases, I also spent time studying the interaction of some supplements with sleep and wakefulness. Recently, I discovered a branch of cosmetics called chrono-cosmetics, which studies how biological effects of the circadian cycle, for example, can influence the effect of some cosmetics by optimizing cosmetics by applying products at specific times of the day.
Although sometimes boring for me, I try to include novel reading as much as possible in my life precisely because it creates a domino effect that leads to clear improvements in my performance. The details in the dream world should then allow for the occurrence of lucid dreams, which, however, I have not yet managed to achieve.
Even if sometimes boring, reading novels remains, beyond the scientific method, a simple escape from everyday life. I have always liked stories. I have always loved movies, and reading novels has always allowed me to create movies that remained etched in my mind.
In general, however, regardless of the goal, reading is one of the best habits one can adopt. Becoming addicted to books may be perhaps deleterious to one’s wallet, but I assure you it can only significantly improve your life. The last piece of advice I can perhaps give you is not to fixate on reading a certain number of pages but simply to read, read, and read. Divide the library into three parts and nourish yourself based on the needs with the books from each of these libraries. Make reading not only a good habit but almost a physiological need.
I assure you it can only do you good.
