From pages to practice
How books inspired my creative breakthrough in 2024
I spent the last few days on an intellectual expedition, diving deep into the seven books i read in 2024 which completely rewired my thinking about creativity, human connection, and business. Let me take you through this fascinating journey of ideas that's reshaping how I see the world.
Here's the thing about great books: they're like conversations that echo in your mind long after you've closed their covers. Take "Unforgettable Hospitality" – it's deepened my understanding of human connection. The book's central idea? Intentionality isn't just a buzzword; it's a superpower. When they talked about curating unique experiences at Nobu Hospitality for their guests, the author shared an interested framework about "managing 95% down to the penny and spending 5% foolishly," I felt that click of recognition. It's the perfect recipe for balancing corporate precision with human warmth.
But here's where it gets really interesting: these books started talking to each other in my head. While "The Business of Belonging" was teaching me about community frameworks and the Social Identity Cycle, "The Anxious Generation" was showing me the flip side of our connected world. Did you know 40% of American kids under 13 are on Instagram? That's not just a statistic – it's a story about how we're reshaping human connection in real-time. For example - Following is a Drawing featured in book made by a 13 year old girl. The words on her laptop are “worthless, die, ugly, stupid, kill yourself.” The words on her phone are “stupid, ugly, fat.”
You can find more such thought provoking insights and charts of the book here.
Changing gears to business, the most surprising learnings often came from unexpected places. "Gap Selling" isn't just about sales – it's about understanding people better than they understand themselves.
And "Better Small Talk"? It transformed how I think about those fleeting daily interactions. Their "1-1-1" approach to storytelling (one sentence, one action, one emotion) is brilliantly simple yet profound. I also enjoyed the framework around creating motion around even boring topics like "Weather". Example below:
What really got me thinking was the neuroscience stuff in "You, Happier." Learning that a few minutes of negative news can tank your happiness by 27% for the entire day. That's the kind of insight that makes you pause and rethink your morning routine.
But it was Rick Rubin's "The Creative Act" that tied everything together with its refreshingly practical take on creativity: "Allow creativity to bend through your prism." It's not about waiting for inspiration to strike – it's about being ready when it does. A book that i have decided to always keep in my bag, reading even a few pages of this book, feels like a meditation.
Here's what I find fascinating: these books aren't just separate ideas existing in isolation. They're different pieces of the same puzzle, showing us how connection, growth, and meaning interweave in our lives. Whether you're building a community, making a sale, or just trying to have better conversations, it all comes back to understanding human nature.
Some books that i could not finish in 2024: Daily rituals-women at work, outlive, elon musk autobiography, hoping to finish them soon.
My Reading Productivity Stack:
1. Discovery:
- Wandering through San Francisco bookstores (Browser Books and Russian Hill are favorites)
- Mining recommendations from X (Example) and Goodreads ( recently started using it).
Consumption:
- Splitting between Kindle and hardcopies (moving to 80/20 digital in 2025)
- Reading spots: Dolores Park, car rides, and my trusty sofa
- Prime time: First 30 minutes post-wake-up, holidays, and commutes
Capture:
- Transitioning from Apple Notes to Sublime for seamless Kindle integration
- Building a digital commonplace book of insights
In 2025, I aim to finish at least 20 books, if you have any suggestions after understanding my taste, feel free to DM me on X or just drop a comment below if you have read the above books and would like to share notes. Always up for a creative chat.
Think about it: when was the last time a book made you completely rethink how you approach your day? These seven did that for me. And maybe that's the real power of reading – not just absorbing information, but letting it transform how we move through the world.
