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A Book Can Increase Your Personal Power
Take back your alive time
When Malcolm X was asked what his alma mater was, he replied “books.” X educated himself in prison, serving out a 7-year sentence in which he read as voraciously as he could. Because of this, he went on to write bestsellers, change the world he lived in, and be assassinated for what he believed in. He left behind records of what he believed that were driven to new heights because of the tragic circumstances of his death.
It all started because he was imprisoned.
Rather than let the world break him, rather than letting his prison sentence fuel his bitterness and rage, Malcolm X (who was named Malcolm Little at the time of his arrest) was able to increase his personal power, and drive himself to new heights upon his release.
Because we are primates, because of the competitive work cultures that we live in as human beings, almost every moment involving other people contains some element of power struggle. In my short time on Earth, I’ve yet to find anything that opts you out of the power cycle and increases your personal power the way a book does.
“Always carry a book” is one of my most fanatical beliefs, and it has increased my personal power in several situations.
