3 Things I Learned about Life from Shattered by Timo Fischer

Shattered by Timo Fischer is a brand new ebook that deals with life, love, relationships and conflict.

Timo is a blogger and author from Germany. His self improvement blog focuses on things such as

• Personal goals and success
• Bodybuilding, nutrition and fitness
• Mindset, mood and motivation for younger men

His brand new book Shattered: Breaking you Illusion to Unlock Your Mind is his debut release in the philosophy and morality genre.

I’ve enjoyed reading Timo’s blog (you might have seen links to his site on a few of my posts) over the last few months so I was quick to snap up his book when it was released.

Here’s what I’ve learned by reading it:

Self Help Doesn’t Need to Mean Spoon-Fed

When I bought Fischer’s book, I was expecting to be reading a self-help title similar to much of his online writing. I was presently surprised to find that Shattered is nothing of the sort.

Instead Shattered is a collection of sayings, wisdom and short essays on a variety of subjects including relationships, love, life, success and conflict. It’s easy to pick up and read a few at a time or take longer to read through a chapter at once.

The book is short at 39 pages but it would be easy to read and re-read as a reference book or if you had a spare few minutes waiting for the train or for a friend to show up.

A lot of books around the self-help genre can patronise however this book leaves the reader open to make their own conclusions about what they are reading.

I found myself examining what I was reading against my personal beliefs and preconceptions. Any book that makes you do this is worth reading.

(Cover design by Adam Costello)

You Don’t Have to be Old to be Wise

If I’m being honest, I probably knew this already. I’ve met plenty of young people wise beyond their years. And a fair few older people who could have taken a leaf out of the young peoples’ books.

I’m often reminded of this quote from the Book of Job:

It is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding. It is not only the old who are wise, not only the aged who understand what is right.

Fischer is a young man who is wise beyond his years. The introduction to Shattered cites the works he has read and have ultimately influenced his writing including Marcus Aurelius, Sun Tzu and Nietzsche to name a few.

As you read the book you start to see the influences on Timo’s writing and thinking from the aforementioned but even more unexpected sources like Donald Trump.

It would be supremely arrogant for someone like me to say I have nothing to learn from someone like Timo and his writing has distilled many of the writers listed above into short sayings or Maxims, as referred to in the book.

Some examples of my favourite maxims from Shattered:

If you run into a wall and pretend it doesn’t exist, you’ll never make progress. The wall will never change, so it’s you.

You can wish for whatever you want; it’s your choice, but to have one’s wishes come true always comes with a price. Every deal has a catch.

And a deeply personal one for me:

Being yourself can be really troublesome therefore you should always be able to adapt and change.

Self Publishing Has Transformed Literature

One of the most striking lessons from this book is how easy it is for young authors to get their work out there. Ten years ago, Fischer would have had almost no chance to publish this work and have it available on the public domain. Print self publishing was wildly expensive.

Now it’s possible to make works like these available to the public. Other examples of impressive self published successes include Gorilla Mindset which was one of the self publishing successes of 2015.

Hopefully more aspiring writers will be inspired by Timo’s example and take time to develop and publish quality material and books. As a self-confessed bibliophile, I would only ask that you let me know about it so I can check it out.

Final Thoughts on Shattered by Timo Fischer

Shattered is an impressive debut from an intelligent and well read young author. Whether you agree with all of the sayings and opinions is less important than if this well considered and deep work makes you think about your own beliefs and values.

If your mind is opened when it was closed, then it truly has been unlocked.

 

P.S. You can buy Shattered: Breaking your Illusions to Unlock Your Mind Here