Clean up – Paragraphs look jumbled as is. 3 books per topic?
Change link colors (Naval Green?)
NEED Book then link to page w actionable steps
VISION
Nobody figures 100% of life out… the most powerful man in the world taught me that. Clueless at 15, at 24 I made this list of books I wish read earlier. Why?
Peace & Happy
Money & Freedom
Fulfillment & Human Connection
Our beliefs are pre-downloaded software in our brains from our childhood, parents, and friends. Millionaires, CEOs, software engineers, NFL, NBA, musicians, and business owners have hundreds of years of experience distilled into 8 hours of audiobook.
People have been thinking about this shit for thousands of years, it’s not a mystery.
GOAL: I want to be 103 and proud of the life I lived. None of this stuff is new. Humans been thinking for 4000 years. Why reinvent the wheel?
“Man’s flight through life is sustained by the power of his knowledge”
Austin Miller
Top 8 Recs for Ameriacn Ignorance
“What do I do with my life”
The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason in 1926 (and maybe Think and Grow Rich or Rich Dad, Poor Dad) – Short, easy read. How to make money. If not enough money. If financial struggles. Financial Advisors recommend. Nobody gets anywhere in this modern day without some cash stacks. Whether we like it or not, money management is a building block upon which many other lifestyle choices rest. Short, easy read. Perhaps the first step to a fortunate financial future. This book provides a handful of tips but more so this quick read reframes the mind when it comes to finances: Throw a stone a day.
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho 1988 – Perhaps the cornerstone of modern reads for finding purpose in life… or at least the pursuit of happiness.
4000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman 2021 – A manifesto for those of us in the corporate machine. Tasks, responsibilities, priorities – How do you make time for everything when everything demands all our attention all the time and all of it’s important. Emails. Taskers. Bosses. Coworkers. This tool-based philosophy has taught me how to handle the tasks in the first place. Caught up in a bit of the hamster wheel of the 9-5 this book totally reframed how I prioritize my day and what is truly important at the end of it. This feels like a philosophy book disguised as self-help.
12 Rules for Life (a morale compass?) by Psychologist Jordan Peterson 2018 – Essentially a modern day playbook for a meaningful life. After what I imagine is thousands of hours with clients and lectures Dr. Peterson has a wealth of knowledge surrounding meaningful lives and I don’t know that I’ve listened to an interview by him that hasn’t made me rethink the way I am living. His objectivity, reasoning, and passion make his wisdom exponentially more enjoyable to retain. If there was one modern book to set you straight, offering advice of meaning and happiness sustainably through life it’d likely be this one.
Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins (if prefer history or story telling I recommend Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand instead) – This dude showed that you can crawl your way out of any hell hole that exists. The book touches on racism, domestic abusive, overeating, household growing up. I didn’t think you could teach grit in a book… and then I read this. Any time I find myself at the bottom of the barrel with nothing left to give I think of this man running an ultramarathon on Ritz crackers and gushers… and I find more within. Goggins challenges you to question who the hell you are and what you stand for. He makes you question if the problems we’re having are real problems.
Essentialism by Greg McKeown – The speed of modern day life only seems to get faster and faster. Ancient philosophers have been sorting this stuff out for thousands of years, this book just happens to be a modern day adaptation with modern day examples and an easily digestible (but thought provoking) way of how to determine what truly matters to me as an individual. “What is the most important thing right now”. I was in a bit of a rut, looking to improve my decision making, this book was it. Not only decisions, but also deciding which decisions are even important in the first place. Eliminating the useless bs (incredibly hard to do) and devote a larger portion of that energy to the ones that matter.
Die With Zero – Helped me w hyper frugality, was terrified of going broke. You’re always going to be working to make more money to acheive wealth. What the fuck is wealth to you. There’s a compelling story of a dude who has $4 billion and keeps saying – I’ll retire next year. He doesn’t. We continue to live the life of the habits we build. In an ideal world, everyone has enough money to survive, this book flips the notion of saving on its head, discussing money as a tool and how to use it to get what you truly want (even if you don’t know it yet). After we have the absolute bare minimum to live off of, I’d suggest this book to nearly anyone with basic financial knowledge. It offers an unconventional way to use the money we’ve got.
Never Split the Difference – Easily one of the most influential books I’ve ever read. As someone who likes to argue, this book blatantly pointed out how obviously wrong I was going about it. It completely rehauled my approach to debates, relationships, conversation and attacking the problem not the person. Labels. Mirrors. Tone of voice. Body language. Picking an agreed upon point in the future. Written by a former FBI hostage negotiator, this book is good shit.
15 minutes in and I knew I’d have to reread. I’ve come to learn relationships are the core to nearly all good lives and come to appreciate this book even more. As a riled up, fiery, frustrated, self conscious, self aware, insecure, adventurous, thoughtful but misunderstood and passionate kid, this book rocked my world. It completely transformed how I approach conversations, colleagues, friends, bosses, family, coworkers, and romantic relationships. This book hit even harder when I learned of the 5 Regrets of the Dying.
Meditations? – Stair Step to big boy reading. Perhaps more influential when you’ve got some stability and not trying to figure out the immediate path forward. Chief Ellis.
“If you haven’t read 100s of books you are functionally illiterate. Your experiences alone are not enough to sustain you”
Marine General Jim Mattis – Call Sign Chaos
Honorable Mentions
Meditations – Easy read. Should be mandatory, can be a dense read
Emotional Intelligence 2.0 – Easy read
5 Regrets of the Dying (article works just fine)
Ikigai
Digital Minimalism
How to Live 24 Hours a Day
“The truth is, I don’t read for self-improvement. I read out of curiosity and interest. The best book is the one you’ll devour“
– Naval Ravikant
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs
Too Lazy
If you’re too lazy to read (or can’t, I get it) here are the most useful quotes, short articles, and videos I’ve watched.
Clean up – Paragraphs look jumbled as is. 3 books per topic?
Change link colors (Naval Green?)
NEED Book then link to page w actionable steps
—
PHASES OF LIFE
Perhaps the most valuable thing we can do is learn from the experiences of others. Humans have been living and solving shit for thousands of years. One of the best habits I’ve picked up is identifying historical role models and reading their stories.
1 Wake Up Call
“There’s this tiny voice inside that’s telling me to go the other way but everyone else is going this way”
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. You have to trust in something—your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever”
Steve Jobs, Founder of Apple
Wake Up Call: We grow up on autopilot, unconscious of the life we begin to pave. One day we wake up and realize we’ve been on a path the whole time.
Unaware ofProblem->Aware – Madi, Juli, me HS, Deems.
A New Earth ~ Juli rec, realized she was stagnating in a 10 year marriage and needed to get out. Wake up call.
Excellent Sheep – Particularly useful for high performers in school… In life there’s no gold stars or participation trophy. This book helped me realize in HS and college I was merely playing a game, following the path. people who were taught to jump through the hoops, did, and then were left not getting what they wanted and in a bit of confusion. Meaghanne, Matthew, me, Ceilidh.
The Alchemist – Manifest Destiny, Dreams, Purpose Deems rec, Rex rec, Russ rec – Wake up call
5 Regrets of the Dying by Australian Caretaker Bronnie Ware – In the pursuit of personal and financial freedom, this book has been a bit of a compass offering tremendous insight into the available ways of life. I don’t know the best way to live. I’m a child in the grand scheme of life. Luckily, I don’t have to go hrough years of regret to find a life I want to live. Bronnie Ware describes her soul searching journey as a bit of a lost soul, explaining how she becomes a caretaker for elder people in their final weeks of life. She has incredibly powerful connections and aggregates the most common regrets of these 70, 80, and 90 year olds, male and female. Her 5 min Guardian Article was how I found her, and totally blew my mind that 2 of the 5 most common regrets dealt with remaining close with friends. The most common regret? “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me” Wake up call mom. Helpful later in life too
2 HS > “what do i do with my life?”
“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours”
Henry David Thoreau
People dog on self-help. They’re examples and stories of those who came before who were equally as confused and uncertain. They’re certainly not the end all-be all and more life experience makes them more redundant and less impactful. I do believe they can be quite useful.
It’s chaos! What the hell direction do I take?
The Alchemist 1988 by Paulo Coelho – Manifest Destiny, Dreams, Purpose Deems rec, Rex rec, Russ rec. This book is gonna rock your shit. I actually help off reading it in college, knowing that I ‘had to’ finish my degree. Find what the fuck you want. I imagine this book is most useful at an inflection point and time of chaos
Defining Decade: Common Pitfalls in your 20s by PhD Psychologist Meg Jay – A clinical therapist, Dr. Jay shares many of the questions, uncertainties, and insights from her 20-30 year old client base. She shares useful examples. Useful anytime in your 20s, particularly when feeling unsure of self and that ‘everyone else has it figured out’. It helped me feel less alone and understand plenty of other people my age were dealing with similar problems – That alone made it extremely useful and helps to avoid some common pitfalls when all we really want is to be understood and understand self. It also discusses sliding in relationships, communication, intentionality with our jobs, relationships, and family, as well as the usefulness of Weak Ties – Oftentimes we can help (and be helped) substantially from those friends of friends or people we aren’t necessarily bros with (tough to hear as a serious introvert) I recommend this book a few times on this list. Ironically, recommended by a now weak tie, a good friend from over a decade ago (thx Ethan). For me, often times that feeling of uncertainty came (and comes) from that feeling of being lost… not having a sense of purpose. Sometimes we just gotta pick a direction and say “f@$k it I’ll figure it out”. Growing up, it feels like we’re in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight, but if don’t start swimming in a direction, we’ll stay in the middle of the ocean.
Seven Spiritual Laws of Success 1994 pocket sized book (114p) by Deepak Chopra – Recommended by perhaps my favorite artist Russ. Much of his music fuels me through the emotional roller coasters and he cites this as much of his fuel.
Show Your Work by the “writer who draws” Austin Kleon – Highly recommend for anyone with an inkling of creative, entrepreneurial, or adventurous spirit. Creative Expression – Creativity is the core to finding self. This is a very brief (almost a picture book) read that has had a tremendous impact. It seems like the more we create the more we figure out who we are and where we want to go. I’ve listened to enough podcasts to know that nobody truly knows where they want to go… that’s part of the beauty of it – We get to keep evolving and discovering different parts of self. There is no end state. Understanding our idols gives us insights into our values. Creation allows our minds to evolve, regardless of what the creation is. Show Your Work shifted my perspective from thinking that creation was a self-righteous egotistical act to one that allows us to connect with other humans and understand ourselves. ‘Permissionless Creativity’ is a wildly underrated hobby – It helps us understand self and is a deeply enjoyable way to spend time.
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill –
12 Rules for Life by Dr Jordan Peterson –
5 Frames of Mind or Please Understand Me – Need self awareness. How do you think? What are you uniquely good at? This helps dramatically figure out the types of role and positions you’d be good at.
Miles, Ceilidh, Find Self- Problem Aware -> Solution Aware Ally & Meaghanne sorta need path but $ so move to step 3. Miles – needs path. (soorttaaa Seth)
Related
4 Hour Work Week by entrepreneur and podcaster Tim Ferriss – Gary Vee’s undeniably infectious “do what you’re passionate in” is echoed a bit more subtly in this book. It offers some practical tips to find what you enjoy and Tim Ferriss’ personal journey of several failed business attempts before coming out on top. He offers a few cheeky workarounds to society’s status quos which I like and a path to creating more passive income – How do we make use of our natural talents and the internet to scale our value to more people.
4000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals
Crush It by CEO Gary Vee – Offers an against-the-grain business route to financial and personal freedom. Digital creation is a huge portion of this book – Even if the goal isn’t to create a Fortune 500 company, this book offers tremendous insights into using our passions to connect with fellow humans and create if not an income stream, a vehicle to pursue our passions and bring more joy in our lives. This shit doesn’t happen over night, but if you don’t start it won’t happen at all. Gary Vee does a nice job of straddling the line between business and creating something that you’re passionate about. We can make all the money in the world, but with no joy, what’s it worth?”And after all, if you do really like what you’re doing, it doesn’t matter what it is, you can eventually turn it – you could eventually become a master of it. It’s the only way to become a master of something, to be really with it. And then you’ll be able to get a good fee for whatever it is. So don’t worry too much. That’s everybody is – somebody is interested in everything, anything you can be interested in, you will find others will”
3 Disgruntled Worker
Be not afraid of going slowly, be afraid only of standing still.
Ben Franklin
Time to subtly change life – Me in MS and Vegas – Once have some stability – me, Chelsea, rex, dad?
4000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Brit Oliver Burkeman – If in the work force and not uber content, couldn’t offer a better book. This book helps push back against the machine… while you’re in the machine. It’s less of a, “I quit my job and gonna travel the world” kinda way but in a more palatable “I understand the benefits of my job and may even enjoy, but I’d like to enjoy my life a little more” type of way. It was incredibly useful to read in the thick of stressors at work and trying to figure out how to balance life with work with relationships with hobbies and busy busy busy all the time. It helped me prioritize what truly matters to me. After venturing down a plethora of productivity rabbit holes, Mr. Burkeman remained frustrated that all these gurus gave tips on how to “get more done” but never address the underlying problem that we’ll never get ‘it all done’. The average life span is ~4000 weeks and Burkeman roots his arguments to prioritize what’s truly important in the only real motivation for doing anything – The finitude of life. Death seems to put a lot in perspective in terms of what’s important. “There’s an infinite number of ways we could spend our time productively”. ‘You’ll never get to travel to all the countries you want to, so by speeding up the rate at which you see them, you’re merely cheapening the value of each individual experience’
Die With Zero
5 Regrets of the Dying by Australian Nurse Bronnie Ware – Arguably the 3 minute article is just as good. I find myself referencing stories from the book of regretful elderly folk who died with unborn wishes. I use this as a guiding framework for my life.
48 Days to the Work You Love
How to Live on 24 Hours/Day 1926 – Short and quick read. People struggled with the exact same problems of progress and meaning 100 years ago. The book poses the question “How do I spend my days?”
Related
Digital Minimalism
Please Understand Me by David Keirsey – If certain people don’t make sense to you or people don’t understand you, or you feel a bit out of place… Holy shit I read 1 passage from this book and it revolutionized the way I think about humans. As a deeply misunderstood Myers-Briggs INTP, I needed to read this book… or at the very least, this passage. I didn’t understand why it was so difficult for me to fit in with the average bear, or why I ‘clicked’ so deeply with a few specific people. This book gave me a tremendous amount of validation and helped me understand who tf I was after personality test after personality test… who is Colin? It explained so much of my confusion with myself in the world.
Courage to Be Happy – Meagh – Written by a Japanese Philosopher so I already knew it was going to be good. It helped me resist the wave of hustle culture and “do more” we’re often surrounded by (similar to 4000 Weeks). Gifts from those close to us I find to be particularly eye-opening and this one was.
My Course?
Projects of Worth Virginia Woolf
Hormozi and Willimason
4 Finally – Fulfillment & Purpose
Searching for more fulfillment in day to day – Gaining awareness end of life is near and how to – Become more effective
5 Regrets of the Dying – Recommending this twice because learning from those at the end of their life and those who inspire us may be the most influential thing we can do. Sorta reminds me of this
Happiness Hypothesis by Psychologist Jonathan Haidt – Helped me understand what happy was and how I could find meaning in my everyday work while shifting to find other work I enjoy more. We all have a different set point of happiness. Some peoples’ are higher than others. For others, in the words of Hopsin “Life is naturally hell, you have to work to put a smile on”. Jonathan Haidt is a social psychologist and has a beautiful writing style that makes it a fun book to read. He includes tons of the science, how the brain works, and data to back it. I love this piece of it, but it’s interwoven into the narrative very nicely as to not be a science book. Despite circumstances we can’t control, Haidt offers insights into how to make our lives more enjoyable today. I highly recommend if interested in psychology or grappling with ways to make the best out of circumstances we don’t necessarily have control over. Our animal impulses are the elephant, our logic and reasoning are the rider trying to will the elephant in another direction. We have to coax ourselves and work with our brains not against it. (I would argue there’s also intuition – an old dusty map the rider could choose to or to not listen to)
Ikigai – This is the type of concept that grows over time… subtle shifts in our daily habits to pursue quality relationships, hobbies that bring us joy, and community. This book did a nice job of subtly shifting my approach in life to prioritize the things I’m passionate about. It doesn’t completely rock your shit, like The Alchemist does, it offers insights into the subtle yet powerful japanese concept of the Purpose of Life. It describes lifestyles and different examples of lifestyles to include a Japanese director who spent his final day still drawing and creative expression.
Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi – Quality relationships are the single biggest determining factor to happiness (13 mins TedTalk) As a bit of a former loner I used to find it difficult to find meaningful connections with people, so I’d avoid. Social friends have opened my eyes to the power of relationships and I’ve since made them a far more integral part of my daily life Socialization with less tolerable people can lead you to finding more tolerable ones. “Poverty is the isolation from people who can help you make more of yourself”
Digital Minimalism
5 Exploration
Looking to add something, subtly shift life – 3) “How the fuck do I create a life I’m proud of living”. Have talked to several people older than I who have recommended these books or reached a plateau in their life. These become useful. Why wait until retirement to learn about life? Creating a Customized Life – Solution Aware -> Product Aware. Seth
Self Actualize – Anytime You’re Interested 4) Help society, Rafi reads, Naval reads Classics) – any learning is good learning. Sometimes, though, seems like we do it out of order. School teaches us topics… it teaches us the what before we even understand the Why –
Beginning of Infinity
Flatland
Fabric of Reality – fav books by Naval Ravikant
Omnivore’s Dilemma –
The Bowl of Light –
Freakonomics – Read early, new I wanted to follow – First book that really made me realize I enjoyed statistics, psychology, emotions, and what drives people
Thinking Fast and Slow
Life of Trees
6 Weapons of Influence
Mushroom Book
Biographies!! “Your idols give you insight in to your values”
As I kept reading about people who inspired me I have been slowly able to piece together a picture of how I want my life to look.
—
AMERICAN IN GENERAL
Other humans have been dissecting this shit for 1000 of years. Life’s a game. Use the wealth of others’ knowledge to break down my own barriers.
These books solve hurdles like anxiety, insecurities, and awful bosses.
a) WAYS OF LIFE
“Life’s a single player game”
Naval Ravikant
Bad Habits
Atomic Habits by James Clear
Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
How to Live on 24 Hours/Day
7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Best way we can be better is to learn from people who already are better
48 Laws of Power – Case studies of influential people throughout history: Carnegie, Chanelle, Tolstoy, etc
Badass Humans (Bios)
What better way to get good than study the most influential people in modern day and history?
Green Lights
Malcom X
Seabiscuit
Jobs
The Setup
Unbroken
Cant Hurt Me
Kiss of Kill
Let My People Go Surft
Call Sign Chaos – I’ve had military buddies highly recommend this book. Combine the 12 hour audiobook with my free spirit and it wasn’t a personal favorite. For adventurous, somewhat delinquint, or highly opinionated people I’d much rather recommend Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War. Col John Boyd wasn’t promoted to General because he was an asshole and stuck to his belief system over the usual brown-nosing to promotion. Badass article about him To Do or To Be (5 mins).
Related – All 3 of these are on my list
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius ~170 AD – Thoughts from, at the time, likely the most powerful man alive. These are essentially insights into this man’s mind, showing that at no point do problems go away. We constantly wrestle with our own minds
The Analects by Confucius, ~400 BC
Ways of Life/Happy
(versus customizing life?? Collin happy not customized?) – This section is primarily about making ourselves happy given the circumstances we have to deal with… This doesn’t mean we can’t work towards enjoying our life even more. I’ve found it beneficial to disregard what we can’t control, enjoy the present for what it’s worth (there’s always something to be grateful for) and work towards the life we want. This section is about happy now and has overlap with Customized Life and Financial Freedom.
Happiness Hypothesis by Psychologist Jonathan Haidt –
5 Regrets of the Dying
Peace is Every Step by Naht Ticht Hanh
The Art of Living by Naht Ticht Hanh
Peak Mind: Find Your Focus, Own Your Attention, Invest 12 Minutes a Day – For the longest time I was looking for an excuse to meditate. Similar to the way I was looking for an excuse to start writing but couldn’t find one, the practice of meditation evaded me for a long time. I was nervous to start, a little bit embarrassed. I never did quite find the perfect solution, but my Therapist friend who lived with monks certainly helped. The free trial on HeadSpace was useful, though I wish I got more background knowledge. Neuroscientist and psychology professor Dr. Amishi Jha has a decent 1 hour podcast with Brene Brown and this is her book.
The Courage to Be Happy
Ways of Living/Wanderers
/Customizing Life/Lost (versus happy?? Collin happy not customized?)
Wade Davis
How to live 24 hours/day?
Show your work?
ikigai?
Wanderers of the World
(Miles, me, Deems) – “Not all those who wander are lost”. I wish I had a little more guidance growing up through High School and then later in college. I knew I didn’t quite want the 9-5 grind, but wasn’t sure what I was looking for. These books along with, Custom Life & Happy, have been of serious benefit. I wish I found them a couple years earlier, so I’m here to share them with you.
The Alchemist
Think and Grow Rich
The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter–And How to Make the Most of Them Now by Meg Jay –
12 Rules for Life
b) YOU VS YOU
“You should be far more concerned with your trajectory than your currently results”
James Clear
Generalized Anxiety
Perpetually in between fight or flight. Can’t fully relax. Always mildly worried about something.
Peak Mind – Generalized Anxiety
How to Change Your Mind – What you can find through meditation or psychedelics
Related
Peace is Every Step by Nhat Thich Hanh – Most Peaceful man alive? rec by jon kabat zin? Found in some Reddit rabbit hole, this thread for book recs on anxiety has been quite useful and many users recommended Nhat Thich Hanh. I guess this guy has been described as ‘the most peaceful man alive’ and opens with a quote from his inspiration, the Dalai Lama. Will report back with more that I find. Hundreds of other Reddit users found this thread incredibly useful for anxiety, sharing experiences and how they overcame it.
Breaking the Habits of Being Yourself
Breath – This is a cool read that straddles the line between health and anthropology. James Nestor essentially travels the world talking to different specialists (completing a study with Stanford Med at one point on nasal breathing) to understand how the human mind and facial structure has evolved. Over the last 100 years our facial muscular structure has devolved somewhat because of processed foods so we’re not chewing as much – The result is we’re all ending up like pugs, unable to breath… and is often times the massive cause of poor sleep quality. Mouth Tape for the win.
Defining Decade – Author is a clinical therapist for 20-30 years olds and consolidates lessons from dozens if not hundreds of anxious, aimless, and misunderstood young clients.
4000 Weeks – Sometimes our duress comes not from not knowing where to go, but from doing too much. I often find myself chasing so many waterfalls. It’s not sorted but I at least understand now we’ve got a threshold as to what we can take on
Thrill for Nature
Kiss or Kill: The Confessions of a Serial Climber by Mark Twight – In a tie with David Goggins’ book Can’t Hurt Me for absolute most visceral, raw, and emotion evoking grit out there. In true stories of his life, Twight recounts near death, and sometimes deathly experiences alpine climbing in the mountains.
Way of the Rock Warrior
Into the Void
Eric Horst Episodes 21, 23, 24, 26, 28
Uphill Athlete?
Training for the New Alpinism?
Long Term Goals n Habits
(Perspective, Discipline, and Perseverance)
Pretty sure long term vision is at the core of being human, being able to create a “counter factual reality”. We don’t get there without long term and short term goals… Each day is a short term goal in a way… Habits are those daily goals
Atomic Habits by James Clear – You likely don’t need to read this whole book. I personally haven’t. But his visuals helped me tremendously.
Infinite Game by Simon Sinek – Mental. Sometimes we get caught up chasing our tails… in work, school, relationships… and from what I can tell, it happens all the time in Business – CEOs need to please their stockholders… that means quarterly profit. Consistent quarterly means safety, and sometimes that doesn’t mean taking the necessary risk. This dude’s books (and vids ~20 mins) are always good.
Grit – Seems weird that you could teach grit in a book, but hey, I would’ve said the same thing about leadership before reading this book (turn ship). I heard once upon a time they did a study to see who’d graduate the United States Military Academy West Point and found ‘Grit’ to be the primary determiner, independent of intelligence, talent, background, socioeconomic class, or any other variable. I haven’t read it myself, I suppose I’m skeptical that a book teaches this, but hey, David Goggins book shaped me tf up.
Related
Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins – Wanted to fight a grizzly after reading this book. I still use its principles today.
Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action – “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how” – Friedrich Nietzsche. I want to read this book just because the 20 minute Ted Talk was so damn good. I use those principles fairly regularly. I have no doubt this is a phenomenal book for both self and leadership roles.
Resilience – Be a savage
Similar to leadership, I used to think you couldn’t teach it in a book. But by learning what others are capable of – their stories and internal dialogues, people like David Goggins, we can train our selves to be more like them.
Cant Hurt me – ‘Don’t put me on a pedastal. As soon as you put me on a pedastal you are relieved from your duties of making yourself the most savage person you can be’ ^^ Paraphrasing
Unbroken
Kiss or Kill
Related
Gates of Fire – “This book made me feel like I could run through walls”
Related
Extreme Ownership – Feels like the world works against us a lot of the time. A simple concept from this book totally reframed my perspective – “Even if it’s not my fault, I look at ways in which I made the situation worse and could have done it better”. The simple act of always finding ways I could have improved help me dramatically
Happiness Hypothesis – I’ve become the most frustrated and desperate when I felt I had no control over a situation. This book, written by a psychologist, gives insights onto how to regain control from a scientific perspective… and ultimately happiness over life.
Trapped, Trauma, & Mental Chains
Breaking Habits of Being Yourself by Dr. Joe Dispenza – Reommended to me by a therapist. “Dr. Joe Dispenza shares that you are not doomed by your genes and hardwired to be a certain way for the rest of your life. This is a cool recommendation because it’s not the traditional self-help genre and is instead a scientific approach to how to reprogram your biology, thinking, and quite literally rewire the brain, combining the fields of quantum physics, neuroscience, brain chemistry, biology, and genetics.
Courage to Be Disliked – For recovering People Pleasers – someone who has done the things and checked the boxes and still somehow found herself not too happy with the job that levied itself upon her. “If you need something done give it to the person that’s busy”. I’m told this book illuminates the path we ourselves have to pave – Nobody else tells us how to live. The 2nd book by the same author is The Courage to Be Happy and is written from a similar perspective.
A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle, 2005 – Of the dozens of books read clawing her way out of an unfulfilling 10 year marriage, this is my therapist friends #1 recommendation.
Excellent Sheep by William Deresiewicz, 2014 – The education system is set up against you. It isn’t set up to help the individual, rather validate the top 5% and pat you on the back – that becomes addicting. But life doesn’t give you any gold stars or pats on the back. An old friend from High School had read this book, going off the Brazil, staring an online business. After college, this book proved showed me our path to walk is ours alone even when others open doors we aren’t fulfilled by.
How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence by Michael Pollan, 2018 – “There’s a good book Michael Pollan wrote recently called How to Change your Mind, and I think it is a brilliant book everybody should read. Psychedelics are a bit of a cheat code in self-observation. I don’t recommend drugs for anybody, you can do it all through pure meditation. If you want to accelerate ahead, you know, psychedelics are good for that.” Naval Ravikant
Related
Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins – I can’t imagine enduring the abuse, racism, weight loss, and suffering this dude went and continues to go through. I don’t know there’s a better living example of “choose your suffering”. Makes you feel you can run through walls… and shows how he does.
4000 Weeks – Perfect if in the workplace grinder. We want to please everyone and do well in work and life and relationships… there’s only so much time in the day. You don’t get to do everything. Our lives are finite.
Interpersonal Connections
Hot take: Negotiations are literally the core of all interactions and miscommunication is literally the core of all arguments (Self awareness and empathy also help)
Never Split the Difference by former FBI Negotiator Chris Voss – Easily a top 3 book I’ve ever read. Easily. This book has revolutionized how I operate on a daily basis – The words I use, how I treat people, the questions I ask, the conversations I have. Anything good about how I treat people can damn near be attributed to this book. It’s helped with interpersonal relationships, negotiations, getting what I want, helping other people get what they want, the whole 9 yards. Some major takeways were an emphasis on tone of voice. We convey a tremendous amount of information by our tone, improv hammered this home. 7-38-55 >> 7% of our meaning is conveyed with words. 38% by tone. And 55% by body language. Mirrors. Labels. How questions. You vs I. I vs you. Going to the balcony. That’s right. Agreeable future point in time. Chris Voss is a former hostage negotiator for the FBI and includes examples after examples, it’s impossible not to fuse his message into everyday life. 15 minutes into this audiobook and I knew I’d have to read it again. “You don’t have to agree with their point of view but you do have to understand it”. Study where 2 antithesis organizations argued incessantly >> new rule implemented where you have to restate your opponents POV before sharing yours. 0 arguments.
Emotional Intelligence 2.0 – Short, easy read with tons of benefits… especially coming from someone who self identifies as overly logical (I don’t always factor in the human element). Emotional Quotient is far more malleable than our Intelligence Quotient. Not only that, but it’s a far greater predictor of success than IQ.
Please Understand Me – Humans all think differently. How do you think and how do I think? Personality tests, sure, may have some truth may not… 1 thing is for certain > Humans think very differently. As a Myers-Briggs NT, specifically INTP, understanding my own mind and how it differs from others has been perhaps the single greatest confidence in self I’ve gotten.
Never Eat Alone – Taken me awhile to appreciate the value of interpersonals
Getting Past No by William Ury – A short 2 hour book on negotiations. A delightful refresher after reading Never Split the Difference. Recommended by Tim Ferriss. I listened as a brush up when I was pitching lots of things to my boss and coworkers. Going to the balcony. Having an alternative to negotiate off of. Understanding your opponents POV and building a golden bridge backward. Phrasing your arguments as asking for advice. Saving opponents reputation. Everyone reports to someone, that includes consituents. Humans are naturally good creatures who just want what’s best for themselves and close ones. Once we can stop claiming that x person is evil or y person is going to end the world, we’ll be a hell of a lot better off – Creating calm conversation to negotiate a better future for everyone.
5 Frames of Mind – There are different types of intelligence. Each of us is good at different things and understanding how humans think differently.
Related
Innovation Code – Understanding different baseline worldviews and how humans fundamentally think differently – That’s a good thing and different people are good for different things. Approaches from an innovation context. Can use to build different teams and increase or decrease the types of people you need. Some people are rule based, some are information based, some are people based, some are goal based. We each have each within us to different degrees.
Secret Powers of Negotiating by Roger Dawson – Another recommendation by Tim Ferriss as one of his most impactful books on negotiations. I haven’t gotten around to this one just yet, but I intend to read it and it’s another quick option. Any improvement in negotiations and humans, I think, would be substantially better off.
Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When the Stakes are High – Not a book on negotiations. Conv
Radical Candor – “Communication from a leadership perspective”
Psychology
(Understand Human Minds)
Thinking Fast and Slow
Freakanomics – Fascinating examples of how the human mind works. Biases. Persuasions. Rationalizations. “They set out to explore the inner workings of a crack gang, the truth about real estate agents, the secrets of the Ku Klux Klan, and much more.” Humans are slightly more likely to marry people with names that sound similar (John and Joan). Nominative determinism – 2002 by psychologists Brett Pelham, Matthew Mirenberg, and John Jones: For example, they found more dentists named “Dennis” or “Denise” than would be expected by chance.
6 Weapons of Influence
48 Laws of Power
Related
Never Split the Difference – Not only did this book entirely rework the way I communicate with people but it has also been the single greatest tool to understanding how and why people act the way they do – Understand how they think first
Crucial Conversations – “Not a book on negotiations… but it’s a book on negotiations”
Outliers
Debt: The First 5000 Years?
Understand Your Mind
Please Understand Me by David Kiersey. People think differently. Unbelievably validating as and MBTI INTP (for whatever weight that carries) this book, and specifically this passage made the whole world click Passage for INTPs (or any NT for that matter) here
5 Frames of Mind rec by Robert Green
Innovation Code by Jeff DeGraff – Although approached from an ‘innovation’ perspective, this book offers subtle insights into the different ways people think. Part of it genetic, part of it environment. This book doesn’t describe a personality, but rather 4 worldviews that each of us have. Everyone has pieces of the Artist, Engineer, Sage, and Athlete in our brain, but 1-2 primarily dominate our worldviews. Are we idea, systems, people, or goal oriented. Without understanding the frameworks, as a creative (frenetic) ‘Artist’ I sometimes struggle to execute on my grand vision in a practical manner. I’ve since realized that by pairing with people with other dominant ideologies (namely Engineers and Sages), I am able to involve other people that can help me make it a reality. The idea is that our dominant worldview is our greatest strength because it makes us unique, but it also gives us blind spots others may not have. Working with others makes this far more efficient. Jeff DeGraff has been called the ‘Father of Innovation’ and whose ideas Project Mercury are largely based on.
Related
Never Split the Difference
How to Change Your Mind
Peak Mind
Biographies – “Your idols give you insight in to your values”
c) GENERAL
“What you don’t know can, an absolutely will hurt you”
Unknown
Declutter Ur Home/Minimalism
The Life Changing Magic of Tidying by Marie Kondo – Marie is a Japanese professional organizer and consultant (Japan, so I already knew it’d be good). I got about 20 pages in and had to put the book down because I knew I was not yet in a state of mind prepared to totally revamp how I organize and thing about things in my space. I didn’t want to half ass reading this book, so I fully intend to pick it up again when I’m ready for a full mindset shift (uh-oh spring cleaning). No. 1 tip – Everything needs a place to live.
Relatedto Declutter
Let My People Go Surfing: The Lessons of a Reluctant Business Man – My hat goes off to Yvon Chouinard and the company he built, Patagonia. Perhaps the most ethical and environmentally conscious company built (I don’t know that many companies)
Environmentalism
Omnivores Dilemma
Related
Let My People Go Surfing
Financial Freedom –
For me there’s been substantial overlap between financial freedom, a customized life, and being happy. Happiness has largely consisted of creative expression, freedom, and my ability to progress forward uninhibited. I needed financial freedom to do this things, but the act of working to this freedom has been in and of itself a fun journey to go on… a fun challenge – And that’s all life’s about, right? Fun journeys and people we love? These are primarily financially free focused books.
Richest Man in Babylon
Rich Dad, Poor Dad or Think and Grow Rich
4 Hour Work Week
Crush It
Steal Like an Artist
Psychology of Money
Romantic
To have this topic be taboo to me seems so silly. One things American culture does far better than other countries is the open marketplace. This allows us to tap in to taboo markets rather easily and perhaps one of the reasons I love comedy so very much. It’s a topic 100% of people face, yet so few talk about. Why the female orgasm need ramin a mystery shall be a mystery to me. In the words of my good buddy Finn “There’s books on that shit… and I promise they ain’t using their dick”
She Comes First – Admittedly, I was seriously skeptical reading this knowing it was written by a man. That being said he is some sex doctor (whatever the hell that is) and provides substantial information and tips on the female orgasm from a scientific perspective. Anecdotally have had more success and been able to be more open with partners as well. Nobody teaches you how to satisfy your partner, so we learn through trial and error (and lots of error) and potentially from friends. Ironically, an old roommate recommended this book and it has been quite interesting, informative, and useful. Another problem solved.
The Setup – Exceptionally timid feel im inconveniencing – Certainly a controversial book on this list, though my wish is not to withold knowledge from people. This guy very clearly objectifies women and a self-admitted sex addict. That being said, I was quite shy and working out how better to talk to girls, reading a book written by someone so far in the extreme was helpful for me to get me out my shell. This being said, helpful I think to understand what is it you need to solve your problems and where can you get that info. This book is what I needed to have a healthier relationship with women and not feel as if I were a total inconvenience to people all the time #thxchildhood
“If you don’t take your food as medicine you’ll have to take your medicine as food” (For discipline see Resilience)
General
Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor – Anthropology meets biology meets history meets health. He discusses, instead modern Western styles of health, historical thousands years old breathing techniques for higher quality life. Nestor travels the world understanding how humans biology has changed over time – Our faces shrunk, brains got bigger, noses got mushed. That mushing is worsened as Americans ate more processed food in the 20th century, resulting in decreased facial structure. Mouth tape for sleep. 3-7 breathing for Olympic run times. 5.5 seconds is the ‘perfect’ breath. Americans are ‘over-breathing’ ourselves into anxiety and don’t use our diaphragm. I’ve changed the way I breath on a daily basis as a result of this book – fascinating yet easy read.
Protocols by neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman – Absolutely love Huberman’s wholistic approach to health, happiness, and fulfillment (1 min). Each individual is different, we’ve got to find what works for us. His podcasts are kickass and he wrote a book with all the easy techniques.
Sleep
Circadian Code by Satchin Panda, 9 hours – Beware: My best friend became terrified of shitty sleep after reading a quarter of this book. As a former D1 athlete (albeit not that good), sleep is literally the cornerstone of skill acquisition, recovery, and mental dexterity.
Food
This is Your Brain on Food: An Indispensable Guide to the Surprising Foods that Fight Depression, Anxiety, PTSD, OCD, ADHD, and More by Uma Naidoo – Eat to treat your body nicely. I’ve been looking for a good book on diet and ways we can change the inputs in to get different inputs out. I find it fascinating that our brain is literally created and developed and neural pathways are formed from energy, ie the food we consume. So the food we intake is quite literally creating our brain.
Eat to Live: The Amazing Nutrient-Rich Program for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss, Revised Edition by Joel Fuhrman – Full disclosure haven’t read, but I imagine a useful read for those dieting. Eating the wrong foods make us feel worse and crave calories, this book is explains why. “It explains how and why eating the wrong foods causes toxic hunger and the desire to over consume calories; whereas a diet of high micronutrient quality causes true hunger which decreases the sensations leading to food cravings and overeating behaviors”
The Mountain is You: Limiting Beliefs. Half of the the health and every other battle is the mental game.
Atomic Habits by James Nestor
Why We Sleep by Dr. Matthew Walker, 12 hours – His MasterClass was kickass so I’d recommend if curious (or get subpar sleep) ~20% decreased heart attacks on Daylight Savings and ~20% increase on the day we lose an hour of sleep. Melatonin isn’t sustainably useful. ~50% Americans deficient in Magnesium which helps regulate sleep. Sunlight in the morning and afternoon also help. His 20 min TedTalk will get you a good intro. I’d recommend in main, it’s just more scientific and understanding – perhaps too long for simply improving sleep.
Miscellaneous Self Help
People dog on self-help. The words might not be Marcus Aurelius or Abraham Lincoln or Nelson Mandela, but the palatability of these books can make them easily digestible. The more you read the more the same concepts are hounded hone… that doesn’t make them any less useful in the short term.
7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey 1989 – Haven’t personally read becuase, you know, I’m already effective… jk, studying any wildly influential people will be beneficial – If we can learn the habits and understand the day-to-days of people we aspire to be… well, the sooner we start those habits, the sooner we’ll get there.
How to Win Friends and Influence by Dale Carnegie 1936 – Good stuff, studies influential people
Essentialism
Think and Grow Rich
12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson
Mental Maps by Jordan Peterson
Related
4000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals – friggin awesome read for those of us in the workplace grinder
Money Mgt
Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason
Rich Dad Poor Dad
Die With Zero by Bill Perkins
Related
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Psychology of Money
Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Malkiel
Experts spend their lives researching stock picks – What advantage does your average bear have in the market? Quite technical, but some good nuggets. Discusses common pitfalls in stock bubbles and why we fall for them
Debt: The First 5000 Years – Very excited to read this book
(written for males, helpful for both)
Money Mindset
Struggled Relationship w Money (Frugal or Spendy)
Richest man in babylon
Rich dad poor dad
Think n Grow rich
Random Walk
Psychology of Money
Related
4 Hour Work Week
Crush It
Real Artists Don’t Starve
Travel the World
Vagabond Ralph Potts – Whether planning solo trip, backpacking, or moving to another country, this book helped give me courage to buy my one way ticket to Europe. It helped me to experience more of my experience and fully envelop myself in my travels. Ralph Potts shares his personal vagabonding journey in a manner that can easily be applied to daily life, citing story after story of juicy richness noting how we can use travel to enrich even our daily lives.
Alchemist
Related
Never Split the Difference – People are the most transformative part of travel in my opinion. The ability to deepen connections with people has far and away been the most influential part of my travels to the 12+ countries I’ve visited or lived in.
d) MISCELLANEOUS
“I don’t like that man, I must get to know him better”
Abraham Lincoln
Classics
“Wouldn’t have read if wasn’t forced in school, but bc I was, turned out useful”
1984 –
Fahrenheit 451
Lord of the Flies
The Jungle
Undaunted Courage – Do not give to a 7th grader. I assume it is good, but holy fuck so far removed from shit that is useful to us.
Guns Germs Steel – So fucking dense not even remotely useful. Perhaps I just was not interested in this book, but it was 0% relavent to my life at the time so I retained very little of the book. Maybe other kids found interesting, I could not keep my eyes or ears open for more than 120 seconds of this book at a time. If a book stops being useful, stop reading it.
Animal Farm
Catch 22
Count of Monte Cristo
How to Kill a Mockingbird
Innovation
How to Fly a Horse by Kevin Ashton – Although I have not gotten around to reading this book personally, a man by the name of Dr. Evil, after having got his PhD in aerospace engineering is substantially involved in the innovation and has personally told me this is the book on innovation that people come back to him saying it was riveting. I’m excited to read, currently wrestling The Silo Effect at the time of this writing. “If you asked people then what they wanted they would have told you faster horses”
The Silo Effect – Will report back when I finish.
Innovation Code – Each of us has defaults in the ways we think… and they’re very different from others. By understanding how we think we can also be wary of our blindspots, finding the correct people in a team to help us cover them. As an introverted-idea guy, I very much thrive when working with more social people who execute. Have had several examples of this and it makes work soo much more fun. Meaghanne. Seth. Hayes. Shane.
Range – Recommended by Air Force’s Osan Spark Cell, this book was highly recommended to me by 2 people I admire, discussing how often times the most creative ideas come not from specialists that have spent 25 years mastering their craft, but rather from those that have sufficient knowledge of many different fields. Nothing was new about the car – It mixed carriages with the internal combustion engine. Nothing was new about GPS – It mixxed satellite tech, radio signals, and mapping software. Nothing was new about the iPhone – It mixed the cameras, internet and phones. This book describes how oftentimes innovation isn’t as crazy as it might seem – It’s taking specialized information from lots of different fields and meshing them (thanks Sages and Artists)
Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries – As an Artist, this one seriously piques my interest. I love a good Loonshot. I haven’t yet read but heard very good things from the guy who hired me into the innovation space. Capt Bord
Leadership – If in charge of People
Turn the Ship Around
Radical Candor – Communication from a leadership perspective
Lazy Leadership (10 min LinkedIn article)
Related
Call Sign Chaos??
Extreme Ownership
Business
How to Become a Rainmaker by Jeffrey Fox
Crush It by Gary Vee
Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller
Show Your Work by Austin Kleon (and rest of the series)
Real Artists Don’t Steal by Jeff Goins
The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It by Michael Gerber
Skin in the Game rec by Naval Ravikant
Side Hustle/Solopreneur
Show Your Work by Austin Kleon, 2014 – Perhaps the shortest, easiest, most encouraging book for combining passions and creative arts into daily life. This book was the push that got me to start my first podcast, newsletter, blog, and this very website. Without, it all might just be an idea. His whole 3-part series is wonderful. Thanks Ali Abdaal for the rec.
4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss, 2007 – Gives a good mental reframe. Forward thinking. Tim points out the whole point of his book is to make himself obsolete, which I appreciate. The point of it isn’t to sell copies, but to inspire others to create fulfilling lives they’re proud of. Do, Have, Be came from this book.
Crush It by Gary Vee
Practical points to implement. Gary’s energy you either love it or hate it. His passion and experience makes it hard to believe every crazy word he speaks. There are ways out.
Related
Let My People Go Surfing: The Lessons of a Reluctant Business Man – Straddles the line between business, purpose of life, and genuinely enjoying the days. “If I was going to build a company, my employees were going to come to work on the balls of their feet and up the stairs 2 at a time”. Heavily discusses the environmental effects our actions take but also the building of a business with what Yvon saw as ethical and moral business practices – Patagonia. I became a full supporter of Patagonia upon reading this.
StoryBranding – Importance of a story in a brand, that includes personal brand as well
Note: I cannot stress this enough – Study people you’re interested in. That’s the best way to create a custom life. You’ll slowly pull useful tidbits from people you’re inspired by and subtly craft your own dream version of reality.
e) SEXY SPECIFICS
Someone else out there has already solved that exact same problem we’re having right now
Rex Yee
People Pleasers
Courage to Be Disliked – Simultaneously solved problem of poor relationships with my parents – or helped with it. The past is the past and we can’t control it. But the present is our very own decisions. Our parents did their oh very best with what they had… what they knew. At the time, sometimes that felt like not enough. But the present is our own choice and we can either hold resentment or let it go. An old girlfriend recommended to me this book and the Courage to Be Happy and found a tremendous amount of benefit from it – Deviating from what people expect from you. Excellent Sheep does a decent job of explaning how that came to be and the origins of the gold-star-school system… this book does a good job of walking you out of it.
High Achievers (in school)
Excellent Sheep – Poses the question: Is this really what you want?
Female Orgasm
She Comes First – The taboo nature of this topic makes it difficult to talk about and next thing you know you’ve got a bunch of clueless overgrown 8th graders talking about girls having no idea how to please them. Blind leading the blind out here. I used to have a fair amount of anxiety around this topic… turns out there’s a book for this shit. (This Reddit thread and this X porno also helped)
Quiet Creatives (or want to be)
Show Your Work by Austin Kleon
“My Phone Eats Me Alive”
Digital Minimalismby Cal Newport – 30 day hiatus. Defining the benefit of tools. What value DO they bring? How can we get this same benefit without sucking up our souls. I was gifted this on Christmas by some I very much care about and it sat on my shelf for a year… so glad I read it. I still get sucked in to the Instagram rabbit holes, but this book totally transformed how I see social media now. I view it much more as a tool rather than the attention-siphoning dollar-sucker that CEOs wish it so very much to be
Related
How to Live on 24 Hours a Day by Arnold Bennett – Super quick and easy read, with good bit of value. Written in 1907, this book predates modern day day… by a lot. Despite that, it grapples with many of the issues that we blame on our phones. Everyone gets the same 24 hours in a day. It just depends what we do with them. Before tech people were sitting around wondering ‘what the hell do I do with myself’. This book has got options.
Intent: Give ppl ability to solve their own problems. Books I would rec to ppl to be basic functioning humans = top 5. Rest are recs to solve own problems – need to be findable.
Ppl could type problems into amazon but have no way of knowing if the book will actually solve their probs. This gives Colin’s stamp of approval. Vetted thru me or by extension my friends as it solves their problems
—
4000 Weeks – prioritizing what’s what. best decision making.
This book was the nail in the coffin getting me to realize there’s only a finite amount of time on this Earth, we won’t get to read all the books we want to, yet I can use books to solve problems I have right now. How do I prioritize those? What’s my most immediate problem? Someone else has already solved it, why not learn from them?
Happiness Hypothesis
Turn the Ship Around
Instead of accumulating random knowledge, we’ll devour the books most applicable to our lives.
These are categories I didn’t even know were categories. Books have done a beautiful job at helping me solve my problems. Perhaps they’ll help you the same.
I am putting this reading list together days after my 24th birthday. Within the past year, year and a half I’ve seriously stepped into myself, my confidence, and direction in life. I’ll sprinkle some of the stories throughout, but am living in Japan, dating a beautiful girl, and fascinated with the things I’m building. Ultimately, I’d say I’m pretty happy.
In a few years I imagine I’ll be much deeper into the exploration of the world. I’ve dug myself out of a bit of a mental hell, having used to hate being who I was. I put this list together to help young folks like myself have a way out. These are the books I have read and have revolutionized my perspective on the world.
OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS
Niche, Lotta effort, or Useful to others but concepts I got thru other means
Getting Past No by William Ury
5 Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware
Ikigai by – Not the one-stop-shop to solving all your problems but a short, useful read on fulfilling life. The Japanese just seem to have it figured out, man. (Plus they have the highest average life expectancy in the world)
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand – The story of a former Olympic Runner turned WW2 POW Louis Zamperini – I don’t know that my eyes were more opened to the world from many other books. Almost made the first list but Can’t Hurt Me takes the cake.
Meditations – “One stop shop stoicism” rec by Chris Williamson and CMSgt Ellis
Beginning of Infinity – Naval huuuuge rec, Using mathematics to describe understanding
Fabric of Reality
Flatland by Edwin Abbott – jake hanns rec perseptive w math short 80pg ei Beginning of Infinity
Show Your Work by Austin Kleon –
Atomic Habits by James Clear – The more I learn, dream, do, and experience, the more I internalize that life is all compounding interest. Money. Skills. Courage. Relationships. It’s all about the day by days. Success, in any realm, never happens overnight. The best people in the world got there over years of toil. The joys of life seem to come from the Pursuit Of. What are the habits that bring us joy, what’s a Perfect Day look like, and how do we set up our lives to get those over and over? And how do we get there? Habits. “The greats weren’t great because at birth they could paint, the greats were great because they paint a lot”.
Circadian Code – I reccomend this in part because of how passionate I am about sleep but also because of how god damn important it is yet we don’t take it seriously. My buddy told me this book put the fear of god in him and he’s never getting a bad nights sleep again.
The Bible – Despite not being overly religious, there have been 0 books that have sold more copies. If I were trying to create a Universal education for all of mankind and I was God… I would have written the Bible too. Haven’t personally read but I hear it’s good shit. “Most widely sold book ever”
Getting Past No – Originally rec’d by Tim Ferriss, this short audiobook (2 hours) was a beautiful follow-on and short refresher (similar principles) to Never Split the Difference. I hold that one as gospel, but this one helped me during a stressful time when I was pitching a lot. It helped me with arguments in my romantic relationships. I have since been complemented on my “ability to stay calm” and “negotiation skills”… not perfect but much better than I was, gotta pick your battles I guess.
Your Idols’ Biographies. Walter Isaacson phenomenal
Green Lights – It’s always a pleasure to read an entertaining book that’s useful. The audiobook is read by Mcconaughey as he tells story after story of his personal and professional life how he became to be him. Some great nuggets, straddling the line between stories and useful info.
Brain Droppings by George Carlin
Let My People Go Surfing: Lessons by a Reluctant Business Man by Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia
Steve Jobs
Malcom X by Malcom X – Fun, easy read of Malcom X journey. Damn near a thriller
EVEN OTHER RECS
Widely read self help or Recommended to me and haven’t read yet or Useful and reiterated previously understood concepts – still good
How to Win Friends and Influence People
Happiness Hypothesis
7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Digital Minimalism
Sapiens
1984 – Easily number 1. One of the few books I was mandated to read that I couldn’t wait to. Incredible story, depiction, and food for thought.
Brave New World
Kiss or Kill
Unbroken
Crucial Conversations – Conversations are the core of human existence. Reccommended to me by a goofy, charismatic, fiery 40 yr old dude who’s “just an angry kid from New York ready to beat someone’s ass”
We start out at different parts of problem. I guess I was unaware until senior year of HS. Then unaware until Jr year of College. Then became problem aware, then starting talking to Rex, then sol
HS – Unaware until applied for Academy
Academy up to Jr Yr – Unaware
Talked to Rex >> Problem Aware
Kept talkign to Rex >> Solution Aware (podcast, business, Gumroad, Minimalism, Money Moustache, Visualize Value)
Dan Koe >> Product Aware, bought product >> Solution Aware
Blogs, WW, Newsletter, X >> Most aware
Now I just execute >> Really Scared
Journey to happy, ie self actualization. Along way random friction points (talk to ppl – never split; leadership – turn ship; limiting self belief – gymnastics; relationships – how to make friends influence, 7 habits, 5 reg)
We are only capable of what we believe is possible. Reading other peoples’ stories has been a beautiful way for me to find out what’s possible. Another approach: 10x your goals. Even if just as a thought experiment, if your monetary goal is $50,000 per year, make it $500,000. If it’s $500,000 make it $5M. This practice forces me to expand the mind and see what’s possible.
If stay true to passions – Russ, Drake, Alan Watts, Matt MagrudMoney but not Happy (Jon Haidt dad) – 5 Reg Dying, Die w 0, Courage to
Leave a Reply