Four Powerful Lessons From The Alchemist (That Might Change Your Life)

Fear must be overcome if we are to live freely.

Some things take time to get a foothold.

I first read The Alchemist in 2017. Then I was living in a high-rise apartment in Melbourne. I was desperate to travel, to get out of my corporate office job, and to live in a much warmer climate.

You’d think The Alchemist would have spoken to me. But it didn’t. It felt meaningless.

Fast forward to 2019. I’d quit my job, and I was travelling through (much warmer) Asia. I picked up a new copy of the book and ended up re-reading it on a remote island in Thailand.

Suddenly, The Alchemist held more meaning than I could have imagined.

Once canceled, now classic

Turns out, my experience was not too dissimilar to the experience of the book itself.

When The Alchemist was first published, it took years to gain traction. In fact, the first publisher canceled it due to a lack of sales.

It wasn’t until years later, after endorsements from a number of celebrities (like Madonna, who then told Oprah about it), that the book became popular.