The second agreement is that you will pick up a writing device of your choice and keep a journal to the best of your love and ability, alongside the process of reading this book. This device can be of any kind, but a pen-shaped object, and a paper-like surface is highly preferable. You will attempt to extract wisdom from YOUR OWN BRAIN, while you use the context of this book as a “creative-noise-generator”.

Let’s face it, shall we? How many books have radically changed your life? No, “I am feeling better after having read X” or “I now have a deeper understanding of Y because I read X” - does not cut it. We are looking for life-altering, world-shattering, “knock-on-wood” practical changes.

Books that forced you to quit your job, leave (or marry) your partner, change your daily routine (and make sure you stick to it forever), change your consciousness entirely, the way psychedelics do? Probably - not many.

If you are curious, then for me that would definitely be: “The Power Of Now” by Eckhart Tolle, “Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium” by Lucius Annaeus Seneca, and perhaps Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig.

Wait. Where are you going? Don’t rush away and start reading those. That’s not the point. Stay a while, and listen.

On the contrary, although there are books that have changed my life radically, and hundreds of books I probably don’t even remember the names of anymore, I am now more convinced than ever that it is not the books that lack the wisdom and beauty that prevent them from helping us change our lives, but our methods of reading them. In fact, I am almost certain that I could now read the telephone book (Do they still make those?) and get as much wisdom as I did from Seneca.

When I read books or listen to them, I have a habit of writing things down, or at the very least, making notes. Frankly, most of the time, I never go back to these bookmarks, which makes me doubt the necessity of journaling alongside. Moreover, most of the techniques, such as The Cornell Method, the Feynman approach, or Concept Mapping, simply require too much effort. We are all lazy, and I am no different.

Thus, I am going to propose a new approach to reading books, and we are going to run an experiment together, you and I. We will see if we are able to use our little “magic ritual” to take the words written here and transmute them into actionable results in your life. If we are able to figure this one out, then we are onto something.

Now, what I am about to propose is my idea and my method. Please see “The First Agreement” before proceeding, as I want to remind you that your goal is not to simply take my suggestion at face value. Your assignment is to read the method, and see if you can improve upon it, change it, modify it, ignore it, and come up with a better approach (based on what you have read) that works for you. Every word in this book is as much mine as it is yours.

Step 1: Adjusting Your Inner Dialogue

Most journaling methods focus on memorization and your ability to recollect what you have read. Not this one. The goal here is to generate new wisdom. The process comes from the concepts of “Dialogue” as introduced by David Bohm and is re-applied to reading.

If you want to have true dialogue, it is argued that you must traverse through the four stages of dialogue. The first is all about politeness - that is, when you barely know someone and you are sticking to being casually courteous. You are on your best behavior, kind of like being on your first date. The second stage is kind of like marriage, a few days after the honeymoon, and is known as ‘conflict’ or ‘debate’. During this stage, you are tired of being polite, and you know each other sufficiently well so as to blame the other for everything that happens to you. Most relationships and group dialogues (including companies) stay in these two phases of dialogue forever, jumping back and forth between the two. Married couples get stuck here, too, and learn to survive within these two extremely boring and painful states.

The magic happens when one realizes that blaming the other and going into conflict is not really productive or enjoyable, and that there is another path - known as ‘reflective dialogue’. This is when you start focusing on stating your own inner states, and when you learn to observe your feelings, emotions, and thoughts, and develop the subtle skill of naming them. This usually happens by using “I” statements instead of “You” statements. Go ahead, try it with your close ones. Instead of focusing on them, simply state what you feel, and what in your life is working or not working for you. No, you can’t say: “I feel like it is your fault that I am failing as an entrepreneur” - that would still be conflict and debate.

Once the whole group gets to the reflective stage, we get to the holy grail of group dynamics - ‘generative dialogue’. This is when you start to generate ideas together as a group and deal with the issues that your group has without it being a debate or a conflict.

Let’s give ourselves a few examples, as life is boring without stories.

• Polite Dialogue: “Education is certainly a complex issue these days. Don’t you think?”

• Debate: “The current education system is unacceptable. The right-wing fanatics keep it outdated; we need to overhaul it completely.”

• Reflective Dialogue: “I’m curious about why I feel so strongly about changing the education system. What am I not seeing, and what assumptions am I making about it? It triggers me that I have gone through a very rigid educational system during my upbringing, and I am worried about my own children growing up in the same way.”

• Generative Dialogue: “What if we reimagined education as a lifelong journey rather than something confined to schools and universities? What can we come up with? ”

Before I get carried away and turn this book into a manual for dialogue, let’s get back to journaling. The reason I brought up dialogue is that even within ourselves, we keep an inner dialogue going. If you don’t have an inner dialogue, urgently e-mail me and tell me all your dirty secrets of enlightenment.

For the rest of us, we are similarly stuck in the first two stages of dialogue, even when this dialogue is happening within the confines of our own heads. We are either being polite (“I should be nice in this group of people, and I don’t want to be kicked out. What if someone notices me?”) or we jump into inner-conflicts (“My parents are at fault for everything. I never have the time to pursue my dreams because of my stupid corporate job. There is no way out.”).

If we want to start generating some wisdom, then we need to change our inner dialogue to be reflective and generative. So, we are going to attempt to do this through writing.

The Ritual Of Magic: Presence, Attention, Suspension.

Wisdom appears from generative dialogue, either external or internal. To make it happen, we need to learn the spell of invoking wisdom through journaling, metaphorically speaking.

There are three main ingredients: presence, attention & suspension.

The First Ingredient: Presence

To cast the spell of presence, you need to learn to be present. To do this, you can either spend a few decades meditating, or at the very least, make sure you are not distracted by anything or anyone when you do the exercise of reading this book, and journaling alongside. Presence is not simply about being in the proverbial ‘now’, but it is also about creating empty space around you and within you.

You could turn off your phone, sit in a quiet room, have nobody distracting you - but if your mind is cluttered with tasks, worries, problems, fears, there simply will not be enough space for wisdom to come through. Wisdom is like water, it wants to come through, and moment there is even a tiny crack in your mind-space, it will come. Now, it would be a little hard and overly ambitious to give you a guide to achieve it within a simple paragraph of a book, when masters of humanity have tried to pass on this skill through thousands of books and practices before.

On second thought, if we don’t try, nothing happens, right? There are several techniques that I am aware of that can help you achieve this space, which I feel safe enough to share with you here. First, meditation and observing your inner state without judgment. If you have never done all too popular hippie, new-age activity, then let’s call it: “Sitting With Eyes Closed & Not Judging My Thoughts”. Doing this for 30 minutes tends to create some space for wisdom to seek through.

Another method is being in nature, and simply walking (make sure to leave all your gadgets) for half an hour, and only then picking up your book or journal. This is a wonderful approach, and you don’t need to rely on any beliefs, practices, or ideas. Nature does it for you.

Finally, when it comes to journaling, you can simply write all of your thoughts down (if you can keep up, that is), and once you are tired of doing so, you can proceed with the actual process.

Now, unfortunately, I am all too aware that virtually none of the people reading this will follow the above methods, but I had to try, didn’t I? Also, I am writing this for myself too, and reminding myself that I should do those things more often.

P.S. There are other things I do: tea ceremony before starting to do any writing, martial art forms, talking to my wife, going away to specific out-of-this-world locations, reading books [‘Power of Now’ comes to mind], and much more.

In summary - try to find a method to achieve inner-outer presence of mind, body, and [ insert a word that is comfortable for you that symbolizes ‘soul’, ‘universe’, ‘connection between body and mind’, etc].

Once you are in a state of presence, you are opening yourself up to the possibility of finding something new for yourself. You are giving yourself a chance to discover an idea, a thought, an action plan. Some say that even Steve Jobs had 50% of his time unscheduled. Indeed, I tried to use a story of someone famous to try to convince you to try to take this seriously, but in all honesty, you don’t need the story, you just need to listen to yourself and to trust the process.

The Second Ingredient: Attention

Once we are present, we begin to see things, to observe, to notice. When we do, the world turns from a gray, mundane, boring, and often malevolent and painful experience into the most wondrous, magical, and extravagant expression of beauty that could possibly exist. Just through the power of presence and attention.

When you drive to work, how often do you notice beauty outside of your car window? Nope, I am not going to claim that I do either. However, when I am fully present, such as when I was driving to the little hut in the middle of nowhere yesterday [ not your yesterday. My yesterday. The day when I was writing this text during my very first writing getaway retreat, in October 2024. P.S. Getting away is amazing, you should try it] - magic was all around me. The little shower of autumn leaves falling, waterfall style, upon my car as I asked myself the question of whether I am really going to start writing a book this weekend, or the sign “Rapla Teemeister” (Estonian for either “Rapla Roadworks Master” or “Rapla Tea Master”, as the word for ‘road’ and ‘tea’ is the same in Estonian) that reminded me of my tea mastery journey, or the rays of sunlight that hit the stairs of the house as I was just about to enter. All of these beautiful signs are always there, talking to us, and making our lives fascinating and worthwhile. Whether they are real or imaginary, whether our mind makes these connections up or they are some sort of mystical guidance, does not matter. They are there, and we notice them when we are present.

Now that we do, we can start paying attention. There is a subtle difference between simply being present and being attentive. Attention is the act of keen observation of ‘what is’. That is to say, you can sit there, fully present, but not even notice that your back hurts, or that your pants are uncomfortable, or that your body temperature is slightly elevated.

Attention is when you are consciously trying to observe and notice the world around you (and inside of you). The act of attention is something you do consciously. It is when you do the ‘body-scan’ during meditation, and are trying to learn to feel your body. It is when you look outside the window and actively look for beauty. It is when you read a book, and consciously ask yourself to look for signs, wisdom, and ideas.

Coming from Latin, ‘attendere’, the word comprises two parts, ‘ad’ and ‘tendere’, which literally translates to “to stretch toward” or, in other words, “to direct one’s mind toward”. The keyword for me is ‘stretch’. There is no way for you to stretch your muscles without some effort, unless you have a somewhat sadistic teacher who likes to press on your back when you are stretching, but then he is exerting somewhat pleasurable effort upon you without any cost to himself/herself. The point is that you can’t pay attention ‘automatically’ - you need to exert a certain degree of effort, and this will lead to results.

As an example, I have started to practice the whole formula that I am now sharing with you, when watching something that should not be at all enlightening, such as the last episode of Game Of Thrones, or a 4.5 IMDb-rated comedy film.

Imagine my surprise when, pen & paper in hand, watching a completely pointless TV show designed purely for entertainment, I came up with some radical new ideas that changed my mind and drove me to action. That is the power of attention.

“Who Seeks, Shall Find” - Sophocles (Yes, yes, there is a biblical quote to the same effect, but I left it out on purpose)

Thus, what I am asking you to do when you read this, or any other book, is to seek wisdom with attention, while being fully present. Capisce?

The Final Ingredient: Suspension

We are into the final stretch of this chapter, and my hands are already itching to start writing the next one, so let’s do this!

Once you are present and actively seeking, you also need to disconnect your brain from the process.

“WHAT? NOT MY BRAIN. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF MY EXISTENCE!” - I hear you scream into the pages. Trust me, I can’t hear you, and more importantly, just give me a chance, will you?

If it helps, let’s use the word ‘suspend’ instead of ‘disconnect’. To make you even more comfortable, perhaps a better way to word it is to say that we are going to attempt to disconnect the rational part of the brain and connect to the irrational or subconscious part of the brain. If you read Daniel Kahneman’s ‘Thinking Fast and Slow’, then we are trying to tap into System 1 thinking (Actually coined by Keith Stanovich and Richard West, which Daniel acknowledges). If you are into Freud, then we are attempting to talk directly to the subconscious mind. Other popular terms: ego vs superego, implicit vs explicit thinking, male vs female, emotional side vs rational side, etc. Pick your favorite, but we are going to talk to that part of yourself that is rarely talked to directly - it is kind of like trying to talk to ghosts, but in this case, it seems to work fairly well (for me).

To suspend your brain, the simplest technique in writing is ‘speed’. That is, you need to write quickly, without thinking, and to let go of judging the words that are coming out of your subconsciousness. Nobody is going to read what you are going to write, so let go of any judgments for the time being and suspend your rationality for a little bit.

Casting The Spell: The Journaling Process

Now that you are present (externally and internally), attentive (actively seeking wisdom and action), and suspending your judgment (using System 1 thinking), you are to attempt to read this book using the following methodology.

While reading, you are to keep a writing method that uses your motoric function. This means - pen & paper. They can be digital, such as Supernote or Remarkable. Using a pen is scientifically better than typing for the purposes of presence and attention.

Before you begin to read any part of the book, write down a question that is currently bothering you. This can be any question, and it does not have to be related to any specific section of the book, the topic of the book, the name of the chapter, or to what you have previously read. Whatever question you have, it will do just fine. This is the ‘mission’ or the ‘quest’ that you will embark upon.

In the event that you feel that you immediately need to write the answer without thinking, you may do so; then you don’t really need the book for this part. Otherwise, you are then to proceed to reading the book.

During your read through, you are to look for two main categories of information that are NOT CONTAINED IN THE BOOK. Sure, you can write down concepts that you read about, or even quote the book directly - but that is probably not going to do you much good.

The first category is #insight (Usually, I would use hashtags in my notes, so I can later connect all my notes to my digital brain or PKM system, such as Roam Research or Logseq). Insight is an idea that your brain generates while you are reading the book; it might be something new or novel. It might also be a moment when your brain connects some other ideas that you may have had earlier into a new idea.

Here are a few examples of insights from my own journaling practice:

#insight Surprises - always create memories.

#insight To solve a problem, you first need to accurately and deeply identify the problem and confirm that it is real. The deeper you understand the problem, the easier the solution is. This is much harder to do than it might seem.

#insight You can never enjoy ANYTHING indefinitely. Even if you go to the best SPA in the world, you will want to leave in a day or two.

Once you have stumbled upon an insight, write it down.

The second type of note that we are looking for is #wisdom. This is the one that we are really looking for. The difference between an #insight and #wisdom is that the latter is much deeper, and once realized, becomes a part of who you are - most likely leading to a brand new course of action in your life from here on out. Here are a few examples from my own experience (they might not make sense to you, as #wisdom is individual and action that arises from it is individual):

#wisdom Zen: You must have great discipline in the morning, and in the evening. The rest is free. #dream.

This came from a dream of mine, during my meditation stay at the Zen Monastery in France, together with my wife and kid. Resulting action: What I realized is that for my being, in order to be on the right path, I simply need to focus on being disciplined in the morning and in the evening, and not worry too much about what happens in between the two, even if I slip up. Practically speaking, I re-built my morning routine, and I know what seems to work for me.

#wisdom Any idea needs fuel in order to be realized. If you do not give it fuel, the fire of the idea dies, and the muse that gave you the gift of the idea shall disappear.

This came while I was reading a book I don’t remember the name of. Resulting action: What this means for me is that the moment I have an idea for an activity - be it a book, an art experiment, a business/startup, a social media video, or an article - I must immediately take action (add fire) to help it stay in reality and become part of existence. The action can be small - write the idea down in my journal, or tell about it to my wife. It can also be big - sit down immediately and make the landing page for the startup idea, and send it to a few friends. The key thing - it needs life. Practically speaking, I have created a database of ‘Source Ideas’, and I am tracking what stage they are in, and if they are getting enough action to keep them alive. It is also okay to let some ideas go. We can’t bring everything to life.

#wisdom To be free, you must first be chained and contained.

This came to me from my Sifu, who was talking about martial arts, and explained how ‘Martial Arts’ is your movement from Martial to Arts, and that in order to become a master who is free to act in the moment and use an infinite variety of techniques without thinking - one must first be very constrained, and that his job is to not allow me to fully express my creativity in fighting, and to force me to do things ‘by the book’. When this tension builds up as I gain skill, eventually, he should release me and help me to become free. This is why both the master and the beginner move similarly. When a child dances, they dance with grace and beauty - but lack technique and skill. While they learn, they become robotic, repetitive, choreographed, and boring. Finally, when they come back to the childlike freedom, but possess the skill and the technique, the beauty of such a dance is infinite. Resulting action: Meditation became ever so more important for me, as I realized that meditation is the ultimate form of confinement, and thus, mastering it is the ultimate form of freedom, once you release yourself.

Finally, as you near the end of your reading session, you are to take two further actions.

The first is to answer the question that you have set out to answer in the beginning. The key to this technique is speed. System 1 thinking is fast, and if you tap into that, you can communicate with it directly. The logical part of the brain is unable to catch up, and therefore, you must simply trust yourself on this one.

Once you have finished reading, immediately jump to the question and start writing the answer without thinking at all about the logical parts of what the answer might be. Just write. Don’t judge yourself, don’t think about the quality of the text, readability, possible spelling erros, beauty - just write. Even if it is complete gibberish that makes zero sense, just keep on writing. Do this for some time. If it is difficult for you at first, then set a timer for 2 minutes, and do it non-stop. Increase the timer as you go. Eventually, you will learn when the ‘channeling’ is over.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you are to make a list of actions that you are going to take TODAY, THIS WEEK, THIS MONTH, THIS YEAR as a result of spending time with this (or another) book. Which brings us to the next agreement, the most important one.

P.S. If you feel like this is a lot of work, then you are right - it is. However, only with deliberate practice ( A good book on the matter is Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise, by Anders Ericsson ), can you become a master. Deliberate - means individual effort to improve. As the book shows, simply playing Chess for 10,000 hours will not make you a Grand Master.)