When a Book Finds You

I started reading Stories Sell by Matthew Dicks because I wanted to become a better storyteller. Not just for writing or giving talks — but for life. For how I run my business, how I connect with people, how I understand myself.

Storytelling always felt like an art to me. Something intuitive. Messy. Human. But halfway through the book, I started to feel… off. Like I was forcing it. Too many tactics. Too many formulas. It felt like trying to learn salsa dancing by memorizing footnotes. Maybe it’s the book. Maybe it’s me. Maybe my moment just isn’t aligned with it right now.

Sometimes it’s just that. Don’t force it.

So I paused. Closed the book. No guilt. No pressure. Just space.

And that same morning, as I was finishing this podcast with Leandro González Sicilia (Inversión Racional), he casually drops a book recommendation: Capital Returns by Edward Chancellor.

Never heard of it. But the title stuck.

I open Goodreads and mark it as “Want to Read.” Done. Cool. Move on.

But the universe wasn’t done.

Later that day, I’m cycling back from work, headphones in, half-tired brain cruising… and I hit play on another podcast episode from We Study Billionaires — TIP 729. And there it is again: Capital Returns. The entire episode is Clay…