My top books I read in 2020

A thread...

Almanack of Naval Ravikant
What a stunning and thoughtful compilation of @naval's work and words.
I predict that this is going to define a new industry - curating public content of thought leaders and converting them into books.

https://t.co/sHFCsvr4Jk
Waking Up: Search for spirituality without religion
@SamHarris provoked me through this book and offered me, an atheist, a lot to think about.
Pick up his works!

https://t.co/pcM5c7GkGo
Psychology of Money
My most awaited book of this year, since the day @morganhousel announced his book.
A must read for all ages, especially those in their 20s.

I predict this to reach levels of "Rich Dad Poor Dad" over the next 10 years

https://t.co/WGiowzQCCO
Courage to be disliked
What a stunner! Challenges most of our tightly-held beliefs and I found myself nodding more often than not through the book.

Not for the faint-hearted.

https://t.co/ixHN5DUwOT
One from many: VISA and the rise of chaordic organization
This was the biggest surprise of 2020. I started it with little expectations and was blown away by the story of how VISA came to being. Much read for all fin-tech enthusiasts.

https://t.co/EEM5ELUYQD
What you do is who you are
@bhorowitz strikes again, after HTAHT. This is a different yet joyous read from his earlier book and does the job well of establishing culture as a critical input to business success.

https://t.co/q3BKTycEBb
Siddhartha: An Indian Tale
This was a long time due book and I am so glad I got to it this year. Any other year I may not have appreciated it as much.
Such a powerful book to read and reflect upon. Set during the time of the Buddha

https://t.co/c0dcJsxeko
No Rules Rules
@reedhastings first book. if you have read the Netflix Culture Deck, then this is a great follow up book. A must-read for all founders and business leaders.

https://t.co/4sfV9nhMR5
Laws of human nature
@RobertGreene calls a spade a spade. And this book brings all his spades together!
It is hard-hitting, it is unapologetically real and it kept me hooked.

https://t.co/ZVh1u9cWs7
The moral animal: The new science of evolutionary psychology
This is hands down the most provocative science books that I have read. Gripping read, that tries to explain why we are the way we are!

https://t.co/OS61IKfLJ9
Range: how generalists triumph in a specialized world
If you want the class generalist vs specialist question answered, this is the book for you. @DavidEpstein has written a beauty. One of the best reads of the year for me.

https://t.co/bDsFagbcgP
Awareness: They key to living in balance
This is was my first read by OSHO and I quite liked it. In more ways than I expected, he made a lot of sense and his ideas were hard to not appreciate.

I would surely recommend this to many.

https://t.co/Wveb1sYBhu
On the shortness of life
I remain such an admirer of Seneca and his timeless wisdom. And every year find myself going back to some form of Stoic reading. This book was my highlight from the year.

https://t.co/ehdxK9C443
I tracked some numbers down for 2020

1. This year I read 37 books
2. 5 of them were re-reads
3. Of the 32 new books, I didn't complete 9 of them (Autobiography of Yogi being the most important one that I wish I had)
4. There were 47 days in 2020 when I did not read at all
In addition to these books, I also converted 5 of my twitter threads in illustrated eBooks

You can download them for free here
https://t.co/Kf4xzkFPWs
Here is a thread I wrote about how I read my books

https://t.co/daBa0uW5no
Here are 20 books that have benefitted me a lot in life

https://t.co/ytFYYFqodw
I would love recommendations for 2021 (am building my list right now)

I love reading
Entrepreneurship
Human Psychology
Philosophy
Autobiographies/Biographies

PS: I only read non-fiction.
No - I don't intend to change that :)

More from Ankur Warikoo

How I created content in 2020

A thread...

Back in Aug 2016, I started creating content to share my experiences as an entrepreneur.
Over 3 years I had put out 1,200+ hours of content - posting every week without


Little did I know that something I started almost 4 years back would give my life an entirely new direction.

At the end of 2019, my biggest platform was LinkedIn with ~700K followers.

In Jan 2020, I decided to build a team that would help me with the content.

I ran a month long recruitment drive to hire a team of interns.

It comprised 4 detailed rounds - starting with my loved 20 questions, then an assignment, then a WhatsApp video round and finally F2F.

Through 1,200+ applications, I finally selected 6 profiles, starting March.

I am a firm believer in @peterthiel's one task, one person philosophy
So the team was structured such that everyone was responsible for ONLY one task

1. Content ideas
2. Videography
3. Video editing
4. LinkedIn (+TikTok) distribution
5. FB+IG distribution
6. YouTube distribution

More from Book

Another thread on Whittle as a companion to this thread.


Here Stephen makes an impassioned plea for the rights of trans people not to be sterilised. I agree. Does Stephen know that we are now, effectively, sterilising “transkids”? Is Stephen speaking out about this?


Yes. I agree you have the right to be parents. You know many “transmen” who have given birth. What will happen to the kids put on #PubertyBlockers followed by Cross-sex hormones?


Makes a clear statement activists did not want to campaign on “surgical status”. #LeaveNoOneBehind. Also that they have the right to bodily privacy,
Just trans folks? Do women have the right to bodily privacy?
Is this what passing looks like? Ignoring women?
Congratulations


An impassioned defence of the campaign for Self-Identification. Make no mistake this was a demand that women accept male-bodied women in single sex spaces. That was significant over-reach and a massive blunder. Women only spaces, regardless of surgery, is my stance now.

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THE MEANING, SIGNIFICANCE AND HISTORY OF SWASTIK

The Swastik is a geometrical figure and an ancient religious icon. Swastik has been Sanatan Dharma’s symbol of auspiciousness – mangalya since time immemorial.


The name swastika comes from Sanskrit (Devanagari: स्वस्तिक, pronounced: swastik) &denotes “conducive to wellbeing or auspicious”.
The word Swastik has a definite etymological origin in Sanskrit. It is derived from the roots su – meaning “well or auspicious” & as meaning “being”.


"सु अस्ति येन तत स्वस्तिकं"
Swastik is de symbol through which everything auspicios occurs

Scholars believe word’s origin in Vedas,known as Swasti mantra;

"🕉स्वस्ति ना इन्द्रो वृधश्रवाहा
स्वस्ति ना पूषा विश्ववेदाहा
स्वस्तिनास्तरक्ष्यो अरिश्तनेमिही
स्वस्तिनो बृहस्पतिर्दधातु"


It translates to," O famed Indra, redeem us. O Pusha, the beholder of all knowledge, redeem us. Redeem us O Garudji, of limitless speed and O Bruhaspati, redeem us".

SWASTIK’s COSMIC ORIGIN

The Swastika represents the living creation in the whole Cosmos.


Hindu astronomers divide the ecliptic circle of cosmos in 27 divisions called
https://t.co/sLeuV1R2eQ this manner a cross forms in 4 directions in the celestial sky. At centre of this cross is Dhruva(Polestar). In a line from Dhruva, the stars known as Saptarishi can be observed.