It takes about 21 days of listening to become a master on audible (the amazon or the audiobook app). Master comes after Scholar, it is “the badge” at the top of the tree on that app.
This week I’ll light up the Master badge on audible.
Not that there is something to celebrate or shout about, but audible books are becoming such a huge part of society and certainly such a big part of my life in the last few years, that I have had to think about whether those 21 days have been well spent and well used, not to mention the money that I spend monthly for the app (about 7 quid).
I listen to books first thing in the morning when I walk the dog, and last thing at night when I walk the dog, on my way to work and on my way home from work and to lots of other places.
I don’t listen to them all the time, because I just can’t be a***d and other times I just want to let what I’ve listened to soak in. I want to think about it and reflect and other times I want to listen to music but other times I also think it’s boring to listen to a book.
But it crossed my mind when I was thinking about it, that there are 3 different reasons why I listen; The first is entertainment, I find it hard to get through the serious books unless I’m entertained, and sometimes I just need entertainment; and one of the best and most entertaining books I listen to was “Cloud Atlas” by David Mitchell. The second is infotainment, that’s a great one, that’s when it’s information but also entertains and that’s everything by Malcom Gladwell or Daniel Pink or any of those type of authors. The third one is study and that’s quite hard, that’s like Jordan Peterson or the book I’ve done recently by Noam Chomsky or the one I’m doing at the moment by Joseph Campbell, these are hard going, you need to concentrate on these and sometimes you have to listen to certain parts of them more than once.
I always have a book by the side of my bed, usually more than one, but sometimes it can take me weeks or even months to get through a single classic book, just because I don’t have the time in my life to get it. But I have done dozens and dozens on my way to being a master on audible, that have entertained me, infotained me, and also allowed me to study when I would have never otherwise studied.
That’s got to be worth it for 7 quid a month, I think.
Blog Post Number- 1987