It was really hard to narrow it down to just one book.
I love Play Optimal Poker by Andrew Brokos and also The Joy of Poker by Jason Su. As far as life books that have empowered me, I like The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.
But the one book that most sums up my philosophical view of the world — which is really weird because I mostly just read non-fiction books — is The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.
It’s a great book, and I highly recommend it to everyone. It captures many concepts from new-age nonfiction books but encapsulates them into a fictional story.
One of the themes that resonates the most with me, especially at this stage of my life, when I feel like I've lived a thousand lifetimes, is the theme of having a personal legend.
Joseph Campbell refers to it as "answering the call" in The Hero's Journey. And I’m really, really, really good at answering the call, no matter how ridiculous it seems.
I've been called the fool many times in my life. I'm okay with that. There's a tarot card called The Fool, and I really think that represents me because I get these calls. Everyone gets them, by the way, yet most people ignore them. We're kind of trained not to follow them.
The main character has a dream about a treasure hidden near the pyramids of Egypt. He’s a shepherd in a small Spanish town with no idea how to get to Egypt — or even why he should.
He meets a king along the way who tells him the dream is his personal legend, and he must go on that journey. Along the way, he encounters numerous obstacles and challenges, but through each one, he learns something.
Don’t ignore the call
I think that's the part that we're supposed to experience in life. Most people, sadly, ignore their personal legend and follow a traditional path in life. They get a good job that pays the bills. There’s nothing wrong with that, other than this feeling that something is missing — something their soul is longing for.
They probably had an urge to do something else at one point, something they brushed off as being ridiculous, like perhaps becoming a painter and abandoning a traditional job for an artistic endeavor. But it wasn’t encouraged by society, so they ignored it.
I relate to the character’s journey. I've always wanted to be an actor. So, I dropped out of college to move to LA and figure out how to act. I knew nothing about finding a career in acting, including how to find a manager or agent.
That decision led to a series of events in 2005, eventually starting a whole career that didn’t even exist when I left college. That was following my own personal legend. YouTube wasn't even around yet. And when it did come around, I fell into it while pursuing acting and comedy.
The journey always ends at home
The protagonist in The Alchemist travels to Egypt and encounters numerous people. But then he gets beaten up by these criminals at the pyramids, who thought he had money on him.
He said he didn’t have any. He explained he was there digging for treasure after dreaming about it. The robber said to him that he had also had a dream, and that there was treasure buried under this tree in a little town in Spain, but he was not foolish enough to follow that dream.
It was then that the main character realized his little hometown, where he first had that dream under that sycamore tree, was where the treasure was located. He travels back home and finds the treasure.
Just like in The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell explains how the journey always ends back at home. The hero answers the call, embarks on a journey, and finds many treasures, which they bring back home to share with the world.
I've answered something like five callings in my life. When I read The Alchemist, I identified most with that part of the story. There is a lot of symbolism in the character’s journey. But the themes are relatable if you've ever considered following a wacky dream that you had.
I think that's definitely the way to go in life. Follow that dream.
Nikki Limo is an American actress, comedian, YouTube personality, and professional poker player. Originally from Santa Barbara, California, she gained prominence for her work on YouTube and later gained success in the poker world.
She is currently an ambassador for Club WPT Gold. Use code NIKKI at signup! Follow Nikki on X or Instagram.
