The 7-day MONK MODE challenge that changed my life

About this video

The creator undertakes a challenge to read seven self-improvement books in seven days — each cover to cover within 24 hours, with a three-sentence summary and favorite idea per day — after originally planning ten in ten. Day one’s unnamed book leads with failure stories; its highlighted example is Thomas Edison at 67 watching his lab and decades of prototypes burn, then rebuilding and, as retold, having a breakthrough year. Day two is Simon Sinek’s ‘Start With Why’: people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it, and inspiring leaders communicate from why to how to what, as with Apple and Martin Luther King Jr. Day three is ‘The Alchemist’: a shepherd’s hero’s journey, whose core idea is that the universe conspires to help people clear on what they want, reframed as pursuing your duty or calling rather than staying in a pleasurable success fantasy. Day four is Alan Watts’s ‘The Wisdom of Insecurity’ (1951), on anxiety about the future and the ‘backwards law’ — the more you cling to breath, a breeze or a flower, the more you kill it. Day five is ‘The Psychology of Money’: doing well with money is more about behavior than intelligence, illustrated by Ronald Read, a janitor who, as retold, died at 92 worth over $8 million after living humbly and investing in blue-chip stocks for decades. Day six covers Michael Singer essays on karma, will and love, focusing on karma as cause and effect operating whether you see the cause or not. Day seven is Emerson’s essay ‘Self-Reliance’ (1841): nonconformity, trusting yourself, permission to change your mind, and ’to be great is to be misunderstood.’ A bonus day discusses Marcus Aurelius’s ‘Meditations’ after his girlfriend’s trip to the ER, presenting Stoicism as controlling what you can and accepting what you can’t, oriented to fulfillment rather than happiness. He concludes he would not repeat the rushed challenge because retention suffered, though he enjoyed it.

Key takeaways

• After a setback you have a choice to complain and stay broken or rebuild; obstacles and crises can become the path to growth.
• Start with why: lead with purpose before how and what, whether in business, leadership or your own motivation.
• Pursue your calling as a duty, not just a pleasurable daydream — clarity on what you want is presented as what allows help and momentum to follow.
• Money outcomes depend heavily on behavior, discipline and time, illustrated by the retold story of janitor Ronald Read building over $8 million by humble living and long-term blue-chip investing.
• Practice self-reliance and Stoic control: be willing to be misunderstood and change your mind, focus on what you can control, and read at a pace that allows retention.

Episode details: published October 31, 2022 · 31:37 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Clark Kegley’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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