Business Book Review: Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte
In the raging river of information, Building a Second Brain, invites you to become the curator. Creating systems to empower your future self.
My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Length: 299 Pages
Publisher: Profile Books
Released: 2022
Key Takeaway for Personal Branding
Tiago Forte’s bestseller, Building a Second Brain, is your key to ‘Personal Knowledge Management’. A must-have skill for overcoming the overwhelm of our information era. Harnessing the abundance of information available to you in a systematic way. One that helps unlock your potential.
The Second Brain
The book reminds us that all great creators and thinkers of our time had ‘commonplace books’. Forte reintroduces this into our modern era as our ‘Second Brain’.
Forte’s ‘Second Brain’ proposes to build a body of knowledge that is external to your physical brain.
He believes that the time you first encounter information or an idea isn’t when you most need it. Building a second brain allows your knowledge to grow and simmer until you do. And you can use it to create and make better decisions when the time comes.
All efforts in building your second brain are to benefit your future self.
Forte’s secret to thinking as a curator lies in his CODE framework.
CODE
Capture: Keep what resonates
Organise: Save for actionability
Distil: Find the essence
Express: Show your work
For your personal brand, Forte’s most critical reminder lies in Step Four - expression. Taking relevant information you’ve accumulated and sharing your unique point of view. Helping you make sense of your learnings in a meaningful way. Proposing that humans were born to create.
Favourite Quotes
We need a way to cultivate a body of knowledge that is uniquely our own, so when the opportunity arises—whether changing jobs, giving a big presentation, launching a new product, or starting a business or a family—we will have access to the wisdom we need to make good decisions.
Second Brain is part of a long legacy of thinkers and creators who came before us—writers, scientists, philosophers, leaders, and everyday people who strived to remember and achieve more.
…the “slow burn” allowing bits of thought matter to slowly simmer like a delicious pot of stew brewing on the stove. It is a calmer, more sustainable approach to creativity that relies on the gradual accumulation of ideas, instead of all-out binges of manic hustle.
We need to adopt the perspective of a curator, stepping back from the raging river and starting to make intentional decisions about what information we want to fill our minds.
Think of yourself not just as a taker of notes, but as a giver of notes—you are giving your future self the gift of knowledge that is easy to find and understand.
It’s not a matter of having enough raw talent. Talent needs to be channelled and developed in order to become something more than a momentary spark.
Writing creates new knowledge that wasn’t there before. Each word you write triggers mental cascades and internal associations, leading to further ideas, all of which can come tumbling out onto the page or screen.
Building a Second Brain is your guide to making the information you consume useful. Forte’s frameworks are among the most practical you’ll experience in any business book. It’s a masterclass in being a note taker, so you can be the ultimate note giver to your future self.
Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte: Available on Amazon.
