David and Goliath (2013)

​David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants (2013) by Malcolm Gladwell is a great book to read. It helps you think about a different way to win.

The book starts with the famous story of the fight between a shepherd named David and the giant worrier named Goliath. In the story, although Goliath looks intimidating, he instead has fatal weaknesses of short eyesight and slow movement. Although David looks weak, his sling and stones are indeed a lethal weapon.

Gladwell uses this story and some other stories to tell some life lessons: 
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"Big fish in a small pond." sometimes is better than "a little fish in a big pond." To be successful, we not only need an environment with abundant or event privileged resources but also need the opportunities and place that foster our confidence. "What matters, in determining the likelihood of getting a science degree, is not just how smart you are. It's how smart you feel relative to the other people in your classroom."

Difficulty (desired difficulty) can become advantages, and the struggles could make us stronger. " Conventional wisdom holds that a disadvantage is something that ought to be avoided – that it is a setback or a difficulty that leaves you worse off than you would be otherwise.... but that is not always the case…..I want to explore the idea that there are such things as desirable difficulties."

People are not as strong as it looks. We are not as weak as you thought. "Giants are not what we think they are. The same qualities that appear to give them strength are often the sources of great weakness." "The powerful are not as powerful as they seem – nor the weak as weak."​

Read this to believe in yourself. ​​

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"Any fool can spend money. But to earn it and save it and defer gratification—then you learn to value it differently." - Malcolm Gladwell