Note: The Bookrat email is a spin-off from Anthony Pompliano's Pomp Letter. You will receive all future book summaries here, while still receiving Pomp's finance, economics, and bitcoin commentary on The Pomp Letter. Our goal is to separate the two types of content to make it easier to consume.

Hidden Genius by Polina Pompliano

I read one book per week. Last week’s book was Hidden Genius by Polina Pompliano. Highly recommend reading it. If you are interested in the individual highlights that I made in the physical book, you can read those here. Hope you enjoy these notes every week.

Book’s main argument:

By studying the people who are at the top of their industry, you begin to recognize patterns and common traits. These insights can be applied to your daily life. Whether you are studying an ultra-marathon runner, a journalist, an MMA champion, or a movie star, winners always seem to do similar things. This book unpacks dozens of patterns that Polina Pompliano (my wife!) uncovered after studying thousands of the world's most successful people.

5 Big Ideas:

💡 Idea #1 — One of the best ways to increase retention of learning is to pursue people-focused learning. Polina was having trouble remembering details in school about historical events, so she started to learn the story of people's lives and her retention drastically increased. She writes:

"As I made my way through the education system, I realized something important: Stories trigger emotion, and emotion triggers memory."

"People-focused learning: the notion that people and their stories are at the center of any learning pursuit."

This strategy is not only about information retention though. Stories have been passed down for centuries and many of the people you probably look up to had people they looked up to before their success.

"If I want to improve my decision-making or develop mental resilience, I can choose a person who best embodies the idea about which I want to learn."

"Some of the world’s most successful people discovered their own hidden genius by first studying the genius of those who came before them."

💡 Idea #2 — Many successful people use an alter-ego as they rise through the ranks of their industry. Kobe Bryant had "Black Mamba" on the court. Beyonce had "Sasha Fierce" on stage. And David Goggins had "Goggins" when on the race course. Polina explains:

"Adopting an alter ego is an extreme form of “self-distancing,” a psychological tool that helps people reason more objectively and see the situation from a slight distance."

"One way people can create a temporary alter ego is through illeism—the act of referring to oneself in the third person."

An alter-ego is not only used by people who are trying to do the impossible. The idea can be applied by anyone who wants to simply create a better version of themselves.

"The point is that you’re not permanently tethered to the identity you currently have—you can alter it to get closer to the person you want to become."

“When you create an alter ego, it actually feels like we have a choice, and we’re not identifying with who we are in that very moment but that we have a choice to be who we want to be. WHen we distance slightly, we give ourselves the ability to choose.” — Lauren Johnson

💡 Idea #3 — People are obsessive about the food they put into their body, but they are careless about the information they put in their brain. Polina calls this a "content diet." She explains:

"What you eat is who you are, and what you read is who you become."

"We often neglect our “content diet”—the information we feed our brains with on a daily basis."

"A large portion of our content diet is determined by the people whose opinions we value and words we absorb."

One excercise you can do is a "content audit." Look at the books, podcasts, tweets, and television you consume. Evaluate the people you hang out with and the conversations you have. Is this getting you closer to the person you want to be? Polina writes:

"A content audit — I took an honest look at the content I consumed on a daily basis."

"If you go about your day without a content strategy, you run the risk of falling into an echo chamber full of one-sided opinions."

"When it comes to your brain, you need to get off autopilot."

💡 Idea #4 — The idea of building an audience has become more popular in recent years. Sometimes you will hear people talk about building a community though. Are these the same things? Or are they radically different? Polina writes:

"Audience refers to the group of people who may be interested in the content you produce—they consist of the people who listen to your podcast, who read your newsletter, or who follow you on Twitter. Your community consists of likeminded people who are driven by a mutual purpose or interest and they devour the content that you produce while also interacting with you and other community members on a regular basis."

Polina points out an awesome quote from Chris Brogan:

“The difference between an audience and a community is which way the chairs are facing.” - Chris Brogan

So how do you build a community of people in your life?

"Forming an emotional connection is at the heart of community. And authenticity is at the heart of emotional connection."

💡 Idea #5 — Every single successful person was forced to bet on themselves at some point in their career. Some wanted to do it and others had no other choice. But it is the common thread through every story. Polina writes:

"Once we’ve reached a certain level of success, we get comfortable and complacent. We wrap our identities around jobs, relationships, and material possessions—all things we could lose. Over time, we begin to trust ourselves less, and leave our destinies in other people’s hands. It’s the one thing preventing us from unlocking our own hidden genius: We are scared to bet on ourselves."

Anyone can apply this lesson to their life. There is no better time to start than now.

"When you bet on yourself, you fundamentally understand that you can be more than one thing in life."

"All successful people bet on themselves. And there is no bad time to start doing that. Create something that lets you tie your identity to something that actually matters—your own name. Nothing is more liberating, or more powerful."

Memorable quotes:

“A man’s alter ego is nothing more than his favorite image of himself.” - Frank Abagnale
You can break the rules only when you know the rules.
“The truth, for me at least, is that creativity is primarily the result of hard work and study.” — Grant Achatz
Suffering begets growth.
If you don’t break, you’ll transform.
The two key ingredients for trust are time and consistency.
Happier couples had a ratio of five positive interactions to every negative interaction.
“Great stories happen to those who can tell them.” — Ira Glass
People are only boring if you ask the wrong questions.
“I think you’re a master when you realize you know nothing.” - Garret McNamara
Changing your mind is a feature, not a bug.
We yearn to combat loneliness and be a part of something bigger and more purposeful.

Pomp’s Takeaways:

This book was written by my wife, Polina Marinova Pompliano. As any husband will tell you, I really wanted to give her a hard time about it. But the book is fantastic. She not only studied hundreds of people in preparation of writing it, but she was also able to weave different stories together in an entertaining and memorable way. Highly recommend reading it.

My first big takeaway is how much success in an industry comes down to persistence. The people who have conquered a field have usually been at it for awhile, experienced many obstacles along the way, and simply stayed focused on their goal. Persistence is not the only thing that will make you successful, yet it is a required ingredient for almost every story.

My second big takeaway is how prevalent compounding is across life. Most people think about it in terms of financial gain, but you can also see it in non-financial aspects of your life. Polina included a quote from Naval Ravikant that perfectly sums this idea up: “All returns in life, whether in wealth, relationships, or knowledge, come from compound interest.”

My third big takeaway is the common pursuit of learning across so many different people. They are intellectually curious. They are obsessed with figuring out how to perfect the skill to reach the top of their profession. The long hours, tough times, and constant stress is worth it. They must improve. They must learn. There is a great lesson in that. You can start doing it today.

My fourth big takeaway is how contagious greatness can be. After reading the book, you are inspired to be better at whatever you do on a daily basis. Whether it is exercise, work, or being a better human, you will feel a kick in the ass. The people featured in the book also made those around them better. The bar for success was at the highest standard. They pushed everyone around them. Iron sharpens iron and greatness begets greatness. It doesn't matter the field. Be great.

My last big takeaway is a personal one — I am incredibly impressed by my wife. She wrote this book right after having our daughter. Imagine all the stress and complexity of caring for an infant, while also writing a book. I have no clue how she did it. Her hard work, intelligence, curiosity, and persistence inspires me on a daily basis. It is amazing to see your best friend achieve their dreams. I'm so glad we get to share it with all of you as well.

Buy Hidden Genius by Polina Pompliano

As I mentioned, last week’s book was Hidden Genius by Polina Pompliano. Highly recommend reading it. If you are interested in the individual highlights that I made in the physical book, you can read those here. Hope you enjoy these notes every week. Reply to this email with your thoughts, including what you agreed or disagreed with. I will respond to as many emails as I can.

-Pomp