The author takes on one of history’s more important question: ‘Why did history unfold differently on different continents?’ and demonstrates that geography and disparity in environments can explain most of the divergences in evolution between civilizations.

Societies that had a head start in food production all benefited from a geo-location that gave them access to  wild plants and animals that were suitable for domestication. This was critical for the accumulation of food surpluses, leading to the buildup of large populations enjoying a military advantage through mere numbers even before they had developed any technological or political advantage. Furthermore, these food surpluses could also feed non-food-producing specialist, setting these societies on a path towards developments of economically complex, socially stratified, politically centralized societies.

What I like most about this book is that, while scholarly, it is well written and presented in a very easy to understand way. If you have an interest in world history, or wish to be able to refute by A + B the ideas of human development based on race, this is the book for you : Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared DIAMOND.

The real question to ask yourself is how long would your company keep you on payroll if you were not fit to work for them anymore? Of course, good employers would keep you on payroll for a few months months to give you time to recover. But at some point, should you not recover fast enough, they have to make a business decision. This is where the income protection insurance kicks in.

How does it work?

Income protection will protect your greatest asset… your income.

It can replace up to 75% of your gross revenue, and kicks in when you need it most: when you are ill or injured and unable to work. Thanks to it, you can focus on recuperating and getting well again while you know a regular income keeps coming in your way.

Technicalities

You can chose your deferred period – the number of weeks you have to wait before your insurance kicks in – so as to manage your premiums. Of course, premiums decrease as the deferred period increases.

You can also chose to insure your income for different periods of time. Usually, you can opt for an insurance covering you for 2 years, 5 years or even, until your “retire” at age 65.

Of course, insurance companies being insurance companies, most of them set a number of exclusions to their policies. Benefits may not be payable for accidents or illness arising because of drugs, alcohol, wars, pregnancy, and self inflicted injuries.

Three Advices

I hope these few lines helped you understand better what insurance protection is all about, and how it can help you. To wrap this up, here are three advices I give on a regular basis to people who think they don’t need it.

1. Don’t assume that you don’t need income insurance (or additional coverage) because you’re young and healthy. If you are under 35,you have 1 in 3 chances to be disabled for more than 6 months during your career
2. Even if your company is generous and provides with an income insurance benefit, don’t assume that it’s necessarily enough to cover all of your income replacement needs. Maybe it is. Maybe it isn’t. Take a little time to calculate your needs appropriately so as not to discover your income protection falls short when you need it. I quite like this calculator: MBF Calculator.
3. If you have a need for insurance, lock in coverage early, when the need first presents itself. If you wait too long, your flawless health history may deteriorate, and your rates will rise accordingly. Worse, should you health deteriorate or you suffer from a serious chronic condition, you may be unable to insure yourself down the road.

The method: getting rid of, defining, and organizing “stuff”

Most reader of self-development books are in search of control and perspective. David Allen’s concept is to allow you to focus on what’s important by removing all the “stuff” you need to do / plan out of you head. Here is how D. Allen defines “stuff”:

Anything you have allowed into your psychological or physical world that doesn’t belong where it is, but for which you haven’t yet determined the desired outcome and the next action step.

The best way to do that is to set in place a system which will ensure you identify and keep track of all the stuff that isn’t in the right place. You should then either(1) get rid of the stuff by either simply tossing the unimportant ones or delegating the ones you can, (2) define each one by its next actionable item, (3) tackle it straight away if it requires less than two minutes to complete, or (4) create a folder or places you trust where you be able to access it and come back to it easily.

If you follow this method, you should end up with a manageable list of actionable items and project, which reflect your priorities, and which yo can tackle following your time, your energy, and/or the context of any given moment.

Of course, you also need to update and review the stuff you accumulated, and the actionable you did not yet tackle on a regular basis to ensure you stay on top of your game.

What do I think?

I think GTD is a very good book with a strong system. The writing is engaging and D. Allen knows how to motivate. I worked the system for a few days and came out with the following conclusions:

1. I felt empowered after listing down all my “stuff”.
2. The best moment were getting rid of all the non-necessary ones
3. I found many useful tips on how to get my “stuff” actionable
4. I improved my organizing method
5. The full system needs to be updated very often.

Unfortunately the last point I raised is problematic with me. I always end up losing focus at some point in time, and end up with a non-updated system. I ended up frustrated, and re-initialized the process of getting my “stuff” actionable and organized two times already. Each time I reviewed my system and got rid of a few things D. Allen recommend. I now have a system which I adapted to my processes, and I just realized it is very close to the one JD discovered when he read Zen to Done: The SIMPLE Productivity Syste. I guess it will be my next read !

Should you read it?

Yes.  I highly recommend you read Getting Things Done. Even if you don’t use the system once you finished it, you will come out with many nuggets of wisdom and actionable you can incorporate in your own personal system.

You can start by borrowing it from friends to discover it. If you like it and want to have it on your bookshelves to refer to it later on you can always buy it from Amazon down the road.

Rich Dad Poor Dad advocates financial independence through investing. The reading is easy, the concepts are engaging, yet, there was always a tickling at the back of my head while reading it. I always felt it was too good a story to be true. Why was that?

Mr Kiyosaki’s philosophy is to reach financial freedom by purchasing income-generating assets instead of liabilities. Great idea. Who would not want to be earning money passively. The tickles started when he described a few of his accomplishments. They were too good to be true. The time he bought a property for $20,000 and sold it immediately for $60,000 comes to mind to most people who read the book.

Yet, like every book, there is some good in Rich Dad Poor Dad. It simply defines what an asset is, it advocates the value of passive income, and it reminds us the value of creativity in our lives. All three are important concepts and it is good that such a book help popularize them worldwide.

Is it enough to earn a recommendation? No.
Instead of Rich Dad Poor Dad you should read the following one: The Wealthy Barber. It teaches the same lesson, with the same sound concepts, but without any self-promotion ans salesmanship.

Interesting Reach Dad Poor Dad reviews
If I Were a Rich Dad – Slate
Review: Rich Dad, Poor Dad – The Simple Dollar
John T. Reed’s analysis of Rich Dad, Poor Dad – John T. Reed