I’ve heard it said a few times that you learn a lot from biographies. I’ve come to discover that these accounts often hold a lot of truth and reality; especially those that are written after the death of the subject, and autobiographies written in one’s old age.

When you’re younger, you still have a lot at stake and your entire future ahead of you. The likelihood is higher too that some of the characters in the story of your life are still alive and telling the whole story may impact them in one way or the other. So to be reasonable you either get their permission, change names to protect their identity or give the account such that they are not mentioned or sensitivities are removed. The problem with this is that some vital lessons get lost in the process.

It seems that on the other hand, people who are more advanced in years care more about leaving a legacy and are often more selfless, as though they have come to learn during their many years of sojourn in the earth that no one is perfect and that there is real value in sharing your experiences (both good and bad) with others so they can learn from them, avoid the pitfalls and become better as a result. This is quite a sacrifice… when you expose your weakness so that someone else can be strong.

There are a number of biographies for you to use as leverage to be better and to live better. These days some of them are made into movies. I watched one recently – Race, a 2016 biographical sports drama film about an African American athlete Jesse Owens. Others – Pursuit of Happyness (2006), Concussion (2015). There are so many others.

Don’t miss out. Great value here.