2 Helpful Books That Are Great in Completely Different Ways


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2 Helpful Books That Are Great in Completely Different Ways

I’ve always loved reading ever since I was a kid. I actually had a relatively big toy box that I kept in my bedroom closet. It was obviously meant for storing lots of toys, but I filled it completely with nothing books instead.

I read so many books all the time and loved it. Yeah, I’m a nerd, but who cares?

Over time though, life got in the way. Once I got to high school and college, reading what I wanted became more of a luxury since I was focused more on reading what the schools deemed as helpful books.

After that, you’re out in the real world, building a life for yourself – working on a career, having fun with friends, starting a family, buying and working on a house. Who’s got time for reading with all that going on? I would still pick up a book here and there but it would take a long time to complete it.

Probably around 15 years ago though, I started making a little time for reading. It was good to be back!

Then in 2012, I bought my first Kindle Paperwhite – holy @#$%, that was a game changer! Most folks I know (even the ones who have the “I like to hold a real book in my hands” mentality) who start using a Kindle, become hooked. There are so many great things about eReaders: Storing hundreds of books in one place, being able to read at night with the backlight, seeing how much time until you’ll finish a chapter or the book, highlighting passages that you can search for later – it’s hard not to get hooked on this thing!

Finding the time to read as much as I wanted, however, was still tough. With so much going on in life, ya gotta pick your priorities, right?

This won’t come as a shocker to anyone, but early retirement granted me a lot more free time in life. I still somehow feel like I’m busy all the time, but now I’m filling my days *mostly* with stuff I want to be doing. And I’ve made reading one of my priorities.

I now read almost every night for about 30-60 minutes before going to sleep. Between quitting drinking 2+ years ago and putting down my phone and reading before closing my eyes, I sleep better than ever almost every night!

I generally alternate between non-fiction personal finance books, other non-fiction books, and fiction. Finding helpful books about money is always useful. Reading other non-fiction books helps me learn about other subjects that can be important in life. And fiction books are great for the imagination and soul.

So today, I’m going to tell you about a couple of books I’ve read recently that I think are worth sharing. They couldn’t be more opposite, but these have been helpful books for me and sharing is caring, right?

Finding your purpose in life – if only there was some sort of purpose code in life…

I’ll admit it – I’ve struggled big time mentally in life. I’ve talked about how returning from living in Boquete, Panama in 2022 was extremely tough for me. Three years into a wonderful early retirement and living in what I considered to be paradise all came to a crashing halt when we moved back.

I don’t know what happened, but it hit me hard. Between reverse culture shock, knowing that winter was coming (seasonal depression), and really just trying to figure out my life again crushed me like a ton of bricks. I went into a slump like I’ve never been in for several months. I was completely lost and depressed.

At some point while in this sunken hole of despair, I started trying to figure out what my purpose might be. It’s a weird question that I think many of us face at one point or another.

So I started down the rabbit hole of spending time on the internet digging and reading several books on the subject. Most of the information was fair but there were a few nuggets of helpful books in the stack:

These were a few helpful books I’d recommend to anyone… but something still seemed like it was missing. I wanted to do something big and life-changing in the world and I felt like I didn’t have all the answers I needed. But that’s life, right?

What else can you do? I slowly worked my way out of that insane funk (hopefully, never to return there again!) and then we got back to doing fun stuff again like our 8-month RV road trip adventure. Life continued and even though that desire for finding my real purpose was still festering, the fun times tended to keep that feeling at bay for a while.

But then something interesting happened. My friend, Jordan Grumet from Earn & Invest reached out to me last August with an early copy of his forthcoming book to check out. Although Jordan’s a great writer (his last book, Taking Stock, was really good), I wasn’t expecting to benefit much from it personally. After all, I’d already read several books on the same subject – why would this be any different?

The Purpose Code by Jordan Grumet

Yeah, I don’t know what it was, but Jordan hit the nail on the head with this one. It’s called The Purpose Code and it turned out to be one of the most helpful books I’ve read in a very long time.

In a nutshell, Jordan helps redefine the whole idea of purpose and why we’re looking at it completely wrong. For whatever reason, everything he wrote just clicked with me. I talked about this briefly in my post, 6 Years of Early Retirement: What I’ve Learned About Life, Money, and Happiness, but so many of us have this anxiety in our lives (especially early retirees) trying to figure out what their purpose is in life.

“It turns out that even though having a sense of purpose can increase lifespan, health, and happiness, it is also associated with anxiety in over 91% of people at some point in their lives.”

The Purpose Code — Jordan Grumet

Those of us in that camp have this feeling that sometimes eats at us to figure out how to change the world. We’re after the “Big “P” purpose as he calls it – we want to do something like find the cure for a disease, solve some of life’s big injustices, paint a masterpiece, write the next great American novel, start a foundation (that was on my list), or save the world in some way.

The problem is that these ideas, while noble, are probably unachievable for most of us. They could happen, of course, but that’s not necessarily what we should be focusing on. These are the big visions that can cause anxiety for many of us.

Instead, he talks about why we should be focusing on the “Little P” purpose in our lives. These are things that we enjoy doing, might give us different smaller purposes, and emphasize incremental changes rather than trying to do the mountainous changes.

“The trick is that the smaller version of purpose focuses on incremental gains which are in our power to achieve.”

The Purpose Code — Jordan Grumet

His point about focusing “not on the destination or the outcome, but rather on the path or process” makes a lot of sense. I’d say this is analogous to living for the here and now and somewhat of a YOLO mentality. The difference is that the path he’s referring to is a little more involved. For instance, trying out a new hobby like woodworking to maybe learn to build a shed versus deciding to jump off a big cliff into a lake somewhere. But the idea of not putting something off and trying it now holds true regardless.

“The ultimate outcome of focusing on little P purpose is that people have fewer regrets when they die. Instead of wishing they had achieved that which they didn’t have the energy, courage, or talent to pursue, they can point to many daily activities that brought them joy and created meaning.”

The Purpose Code — Jordan Grumet

As a hospice doctor for 20 years, Jordan certainly knows what he’s talking about. He’s seen and talked to more folks on their deathbed than most of us ever will.

“The Climb” as he calls it involves possibly removing some of the activities in life that you don’t enjoy (If possible) and then filling that space with new ideas and activities. Those new ideas might be just throwing a bunch of #$%^ at the wall and seeing what sticks. You try different activities that seem appealing and maybe say “yes” to people and ideas that you normally wouldn’t say yes to so you can figure out what you like. From there, you can dig deeper to determine what gives you that feeling of fulfillment.

He then goes on to define some base rules you should have for the climb, such as not making it goal-oriented and that it needs to bring you joy.

I’m leaving out so much good stuff, but hopefully, this gives you a pretty good idea of what to expect. As I said, this was probably one of the most helpful books I’ve read in quite a long time. If the idea of trying to find your purpose is something that has weighed on you at times, you should probably pick up a copy of this book and check it out:

“The Purpose Code” by Jordan Grumet

Fiction can produce helpful books, too! Here’s a great series…

This is where things get interesting. I mean, when you think of helpful books, the first thing that comes to mind tends to be non-fiction books where you’re learning something. “The Purpose Code” is the perfect example of this.

However, I have to say that I think fiction produces some very helpful books in its own right. The reasons are plentiful:

  • It boosts empathy and social understanding by helping you understand perspectives different from your own.
  • It provides cognitive stimulation – your brain needs to interpret symbolism, understand character motivations, and follow intricate plotlines. This cognitive engagement can improve critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
  • It reduces stress and improves mental health. Getting lost in a story can provide an escape from daily stressors, offering relaxation and mental refreshment. This can improve your overall mental well-being.
  • It improves creativity. Fiction sparks your imagination by introducing you to new worlds, ideas, and possibilities. It encourages “thinking outside the box.”
  • It encourages self-reflection. Fiction often mirrors real-life dilemmas, relationships, and growth. Readers may see aspects of themselves in characters, leading to introspection and personal growth.

I mean, the list could go on, and on, and on. In other words, even though you might not think you’re learning and growing by reading fiction, you probably are. Dang it – we’ve been tricked into learning this whole time!

So if you’re a fiction reader, take heart that you’re doing well!

I mentioned that I like to rotate what I’m reading from fiction to non-fiction money and retirement books to other non-fiction.

The problem I ran into recently though is that I’ve been reading fiction a lot lately… like a real lot.

You know how I said this post was about two helpful books and “The Purpose Code” is one of them? Yeah, well, I cheated a little bit. The other is actually a series of books.

Not only that, but the series started in 1997… and it’s still going strong! I’m late to the game getting on board with this, but I still want to share.

Killing Floor (Jack Reacher #1) by Lee Child

When we were in Arizona last spring as part of our big RV road trip, we spent a couple of nights camped at our friends Steve and Courtneys house. Steve’s parents were also there for a visit and one morning we were all talking about different books we’ve been reading. I don’t remember who mentioned it, but someone there suggested that I check out the Jack Reacher series of books and a couple of people there concurred.

I figured I’d give it a shot. Wow, I’ve been missing out! I started with the first book, “Killing Floor”, in March and I’m almost halfway done with book #15 right now, “Worth Dying For.” I only slipped a couple of non-fiction books in the mix during this time (one of which was “The Purpose Code”)… they’re that good.

The book series chronicles the adventures of Jack Reacher, a former major in the United States Army Military Police Corps now a drifter, roaming the United States taking odd jobs and investigating suspicious and frequently dangerous situations, some of which are of a personal nature.

Jack Reacher (book series) – Wikipedia

If you’ve watched the Jack Reacher movies with Tom Cruise, these books are worlds better. I watched the movies and thought they were good, but that’s not Jack Reacher.

On the other hand, if you’ve watched the Reacher TV series with Alan Ritchson on Amazon Prime that came out in 2022, they nailed it! That show is a fantastic representation of the books. Season 3 starts in just a few weeks!

There are 29 books in the series so far with more to come. Plus, he’s written at least 18 short stories and novellas in the Jack Reacher series. That’s a heckuva lot of books around one guy!

Every time I start one, my expectations are in check – I mean, how many great books can one author write? Um, a lot, apparently, These have all been fantastic and I’m already wondering what I’m going to do when I get caught up with all of them!

I’m very happy with these and consider them to be some helpful books for mind, empathy, cognitive stimulation, and just a great way to let your imagination run rampant for a while. He’s very good at leaving you hanging at the end of each chapter so it’s hard for me to read these before going to sleep because I cave a lot with… ok, maybe one more chapter – I gotta see what’s about to happen!

The books have all been written by Lee Child, though his younger brother (going under the pen name Andrew Child) has been co-authoring the books since book #25. At some point, Andrew will then continue the novels on his own.

If you’re looking for some great fiction books to read, this is one you don’t want to miss out on:

The Jack Reacher series of books – by Lee Child / Andrew Child


So there you have it folks – two helpful books (ok, one book and one book series) that have been very beneficial in my life lately. Hopefully, you might find them useful as well.

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Have a great week and I’ll talk to you soon!

Plan well, take action, and live your best life!

Thanks for reading!!

— Jim

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