Choose Yourself

High-Level Thoughts

James Altucher's writing style is very unique in that he clearly does not care what others think of him. He didn't write the book to become famous, or to get rich which is great because you know he is writing with the sole intent of helping the reader become the best version of themselves and to avoid the mistakes he has regretted in his past life. However, sometimes Altucher goes on rants that have nothing to with the topic at hand. The book has a little bit of everything, how to become happier, how to make a lot of money, life lessons and random case studies.

Choose Yourself Summary

• ZERO sectors of the economy are moving toward full-time workers. Everything will eventually automated.
• "This new phase in history where Ideas are more important than people and everyone will have to choose themselves for happiness, just like I did. They will have to build the foundations internally for that choice to manifest. and from that internal health the rest will come, whether it's a business, art, health, success"
• “You build a house by laying a solid foundation: by building physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health”.
• "Every time you say yes to something you don’t want to do, this will happen: you will resent people, you will do a bad job, you will have less energy for the things you were doing a good job on, you will make less money, and yet another small percentage of your life will be used up, burned up, a smoke signal to the future saying, “I did it again.”
• "The only real fire to cultivate is the fire inside of you. Nothing external will cultivate it. The greater your internal fire is, the more people will want it."
• "Being an entrepreneur means you're going to create something in a way that a customer can't get anywhere else"
• One of the major parts of the book is how to generate new ideas. The way you get good ideas is by reading two hours per day, and writing 10 ideas per day. These two hours should be spent reading a variety of books on a vast range of subjects. Ideas are not subject only to geniuses and people need to stop believing in that myth. He goes into detail in the book of methods he would use and random ideas to get you started.
• If you have an idea, don't focus on the money. Don't focus on how you will make a living. Do this: Build your product, sell it to a customer, start shipping, and THEN quit your job (emphasis on then).
• Get good at dealing with failures. Failures are the normal outcomes of life. It is the successes that are the abnormalities. Don't repeat the same mistakes. Keep failing until you accidentally no longer fail. That's persistence.
• "Wake up early. Avoid distractions. Work three to five hours a day and then enjoy the rest of the day. Be as perfectionist as you can, knowing that imperfection will still rule. Have the confidence to be magical and stretch the boundaries of your medium. Combine the tools of the medium itself with the message you want to convey. Don’t get stuck in the same rut—move forward, experiment, but with the confidence built up over experience. Change the rules but learn them first."

The Simple Daily Practice

• “Success comes from continually expanding your frontiers in every direction—creatively, financially, spiritually, and physically. Always ask yourself, what can I improve? Who else can I talk to? Where else can I look?”
• This is practice which Altucher does on a daily basis and targets the four keystones of human life.

Physical Body

• Don't eat junk food.
• sleep seven to nine hours a night.
• Avoid excess alcohol.
• Exercise, simple walks are fine.

Emotional Body

• Surround yourself with only positive people.
• Avoid people who bring you down.
• Most people speak on average of 2500 words a day. Trying speaking about 1000.

Mental Body

• Tire your mind out daily. So it doesn't focus on worry and other crap. Set daily goals.

Spiritual Body

• Give up all thoughts about the past or "time traveling" as he calls it.
• Surrender and trust that you've done the right preparation.
• In the book he gives 23 examples of things he might do, to strengthen his spiritual body.