“That’s how knowledge works. It builds up like compound interest.”
If you’re curious to see my full notes on any book, just ask.
* = personal favorites.
Here are a few Books I Return To
2024
The Gospel of Luke, John, Acts, Romans.
The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers - Amy Hollingsworth
Invent & Wander - Jeff Bezos
The Communication Code - Steve Cockram
Extreme Ownership - Jocko Willink
Building: A Carpenter’s Notes on Life and the Art of Good Work - Mark Ellison
2023
Bringing It To The Table - Wendell Berry
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke
The Memory of Old Jack - Wendell Berry
Excellent Advice for Living - Kevin Kelly
“To manage yourself use your head; to manage others use your heart.”
“Don’t mistake a clear view of the future for a short distance.”
“You can find no better medicine for your family than regular meals together without screens.”
“To have a great trip, head toward an interest rather than to a place. Travel to passions rather than destinations.”
The Optimist - David Coggins
It's just men guessing while trying to sound authoritative, which is a lot of fishing. It makes fleeting experts of us all.
Nobody said it was easy, nobody even said it was logical. But many beautiful things place principles over logic.
An experienced angler is never rushed, his actions are unhurried.
Fishing offers an internal reward, and that personal satisfaction is enough. This is the same reason why a good lunch, a proper three-hour lunch, where wine is ordered by the bottle not the glass-is so rare and rewarding. This escape is not exactly illicit, but it certainly takes you outside the course of events of the day.
The Storyteller - Dave Grohl
Men and Rubber - Harvey Firestone
The One-Straw Revolution - Masanobu Fukoka (in progress)
The Search for the Genuine - Jim Harrison
Masterpiece in Progress - Sean Delaney
The Daily Dad - Ryan Holiday (in progress)
The Great CEO Within - Matt Mochary
2022
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This was the most enjoyable book I've read in many months (Hannah Coulter and anything by David Whyte are up there too, of course)! It's technically a book about food and cooking but the writing was so fun throughout I found myself laughing and relating most ideas to life in general. I expect if my Grandma were to casually explain why and how she cooked her best off-the-cuff meals, it would be eerily similar to Adler's book.
I especially loved her ideas on transformation. "small acts of transformation are among the most human things we do." and "when we exert tiny bits of our human preference in the universe, we feel more alive." This sounds like creativity to me! We see this everywhere, take homeownership for example. A new homeowner immediately works to make their mark, to transform the house into their home.
Adler also talks about canning and preserving foods in way we can reflect deeper. "What you choose to preserve, is a clear reminder of where and when and how you have lived." Life is continually moving past us. What we choose to hold on to is a sign what we value most. My aim is to choose investing my time, especially garbage time, rather than spending it thoughtlessly with people and events that I'm happier letting pass by.
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"I decided to conceive and build a microcosm: a place of my own that would also be a tool for exploring architecture."
In classic Pollan form, he wanted a writing house so from the journey of making that a reality comes a beautifully written and nuanced book about architecture. He built a writing house in his backyard over the course of two and a half years. This book is the finished product of daydreaming, learning and pursuing each curiosity that crossed his mind in the process.
Of course, I loved the many mentions of A Pattern Language. "In a strange and wonderful way, A Pattern Language manages to combine a rich poetry of everyday life with the monomania of someone who believes he has found a key to the universe."
I am in the design (re: dreaming) phase of building a playhouse for Caroline today so the timing of this book is emphasizing the romantic optimism that comes from beginning any new project.
"No good work whatever can be perfect, and the demand for perfection is always a sign of a misunderstanding of the ends of art.” - John Ruskin
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"When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."
As someone who enjoys reading, it was eye-opening to learn how a true reading master approaches books. It felt like reading an interview with the best in the world at something talk about their craft. The Nathan Chen of reading is C.S. Lewis. Lewis was clearly a disciplined and engaged reader. He explored wide-ranging topics and genres and seemed to fully enjoy and absorb the best qualities of any book he opened.
On originality - "No man who values originality will ever be original. But try to tell the truth as you see it, try to do any bit of work as well as it can be done for the work’s sake, and what men call originality will come unsought."
Growth is not the same thing as change. - "A tree grows because it adds rings: a train doesn’t grow by leaving one station behind and puffing on to the next."
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"Craft is a process of continuous feedback in which the craftsman’s working suppositions are subject to constant fact-checking by the real world."
Craftsmanship is an avenue to engage directly with life and pursue quality in whatever work is in front of you. Part memoir and part philosophy, Korn discusses the meaning that can emerge from years of practice and focus on improving a skill. It's even more applicable when this skill creates something tangible in the world. In order to withstand the hard work and patience of becoming a master, you must have a deep love for the skill to begin with.
"There is a deep centeredness in trusting one's hands, mind, and imagination to work as a single, well-tuned instrument, a centeredness that touches upon the very essence of fulfillment."
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link to book
“Two basic (& powerful) lessons to learn from gardening:
1. Through our actions, we have the power to make things thrive
2. Neglect is deadly”
This book was about getting kids "radically engaged" with the outdoor world and nature around them. This is a concept I find important, aspirational, and challenging in all the right ways as I raise our young daughter now. I received this book as a gift. It's an awesome feeling to have a friend that shares something so aligned with my own deep parental wishes.
The author was camping foraging, gardening, fishing, and hunting to engage his own family with nature. Some are obviously more effort than others but there are tons of examples and ideas of where to start with each of them.
"they're building up valuable mental muscles as they learn how to manage boredom without giving up or turning to external distractions like devices. What's more, these long stretches of time without the glory of immediate success reinforce the concept that cool things happen to people who stick with a pursuit even when it's uncomfortable or deadly boring."
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Captain Abrashoff recounts his story and the leadership principles he used to turn around the USS Benfold, one of the worst performing ships in the navy.
Leadership principles:
lead by example
listen aggressively
communicate purpose and meaning
create a climate of trust
look for results and not “salutes,”
take calculated risks
go beyond standard procedure
build up people’s confidence
generate unity and improve people’s quality of life as much as possible
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notes coming soon-ish
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This book encourages athletes, or anybody really, achieve mindfulness and become a more calm and fulfilled person.
Be in the moment
Playful
Don’t put too much stress on yourself to perform
Enjoy the process rather than just the outcome
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notes coming soon-ish
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The best book I’ve ever read on strategy and managing a team to accomplish projects. I’m working on a longer summary that will be linked here when complete.
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link to book.
“I have always loved a window, especially an open one.”
Another wonderfully fantastic story from Wendell Berry's town of Port William. Jayber Crow is the town barber for most of his life and tells the tale of the town, which of course is of its people, from his own eyes. This perspective is not keen on the changes that come from technology, impatience, loss of community, and striving for more for more's sake.
“Some of the best things I have ever thought of I have thought of during bad sermons.”
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“Stuff is eaten by dogs, broken by family and friends, sanded down by the wind, frozen by the mountains, lost by the prairie, burnt off by the sun, and washed away by the rain. So, you are left with the dogs, family, friends, sun, rain, wind, prairies, and mountains. What more do you want?”
This book was a masterclass in simple living, balancing pushing yourself and resting. Bernd Heinrich, writes about living, running, studying, and cooking from a small off-the-grid cabin in the Maine woods. I agree with his thinking on stressing our bodies and minds in order to end up stronger, most of which he compares to his decades of observing and studying animals.
"The hard running and training that is required to excel and that most people can't do because it is too demanding of effort and time produces damage to the body. That is what aging does, too. But there is a huge difference between those kinds of changes. The body has repair mechanisms for "getting into shape" when that damage is the stimulus to repair. After recovery has occurred and the body has achieved a new norm, a rejuvenation process can occur that takes the body to a higher level than previously existed, produced by having used the slight damage as a building stimulus. On the other hand, when the same stress is applied during the time before recovery from the previous damage has occurred, it produces further breakdown, and a continued cycle of breakdown akin to psychological aging occurs."
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“Beauty isn’t enough on its own, but it makes life better. Country people always knew that before they were made slaves to the gospels of industrial efficiency and consumerism”
Beyond beautiful and enjoyable writing, this book about a shepard farming in England made me think. The ideas that pushed me to explore more all revolved around long-term thinking. In particular, applied to agriculture, farming, and our food sourcing. We hear “get big or get out” in regards to farming. What if that‘s only possible for a relatively short time period? Only now are we seeing bigger issues this may cause. Among the most pressing is soil deterioration. If we can’t replenish our soils properly, safely, and naturally, how much longer can we support growing food and livestock?
”farming was reduced to a financial and engineering challenge, rather than a biological activity.…
we created a society obsessed with food choices and ethics while disconnecting most people from the practical agricultural and ecological knowledge to make these choices...
people worry about what they should eat, but lost sight of how their local landscapes should be farmed
A farmer’s focus shouldn’t be about spending the minimum amount of time on the land. We should be present on the land constantly, understanding and utilizing its systems and processes better, caring in a hands-on way.“
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a good summary of takeaways
I send a letter to friends, family, and fellow curious people that collects what I’m writing, reading, and thinking about. It's my effort to digest and make sense of both what I consume each month and what's on my mind.
Get my 📫 Side Notes letter here. 👇
2021
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This was just wonderful (thank you Ben Fred!) and I will definitely be exploring every other story from this series by Berry.
This read was a masterful tale that left me pondering the beauty of a simple life, working hard as a family, sharing all of life's challenges and celebrations with close friends, and being content with what you're given.
I have no doubt I will be remembering these lessons and the feelings Berry's writing builds inside me for a long time.
"Most people now are looking for "a better place," which means that a lot them will end up in a worse one...There is no "better place" than this, not in this world. And it is by the place we've got, and our love for it and our keeping of it, that this world is joined to Heaven."
"The work was freely given in exchange for work freely given. What you owed was considered paid when you had done what needed doing."
Recommendation - Continue with more of Berry's stories based on the Port William membership
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I listened to this one read by Will.
It was entertaining to hear some of the wild stories that have built his life (up through music, to TV, and onto Movies and family life) though it ended a bit odd.
He's benefited from constantly honing in his clarity and focus on the most important next move whether if was for his career, marriage, or raising children.
“There is no wall. There are only bricks. Your job is to lay this brick perfectly. Then move on to the next brick. Then lay that brick perfectly. Then the next one. Don’t be worrying about no wall. Your only concern is one brick.”
“How we decide to respond to our fears, that is the person we become. I decided to be funny.”
Recommendation - Memoir - Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey
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Junger explores the advantages of a tribal society including loyalty, belonging, and a sense of meaning in our individual lives.
He uses examples from Native Americans, war veterans, and members of the Peace Corps.
It's a great read that calls attention to the negative items that come from a decisive culture focused on our differences rather than our shared experiences; we are all stronger when we come together
"What would you risk dying for - and for whom - is perhaps the most profound question a person can ask themselves. The vast majority of people in modern society are able to pass their whole lives without ever having to answer that question, which is both an enormous blessing and a significant loss."
"Adversity often leads people to depend more on one another, and that closeness can produce a kind of nostalgia for the hard times"
Recommendation - Essay - A Case for Compulsory National Service by Joe Wells
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Set during his wild hunting experience in the Arctic backcountry tracking caribou, Easter argues that we are detached from the things that make us feel happy and alive, like connection, being outside, effort, and perseverance.
Exposing ourselves to a variety of discomforts can help us feel grounded, confident, and resilient.
He discusses discomforts such as physical (exertion), climate (exposure to cold), and hunger (fasting) which all can lead to a stronger outcome in the long run.
"problem creep" - as we experience fewer and fewer problems, we don’t become more satisfied. We just lower our threshold for what we consider a problem. We end up with the same number of troubles. Except our new problems are progressively more hollow.
“Preventing kids from exploring their edges is largely thought to be the cause of abnormally high and growing rates of anxiety and depression in young people.”
Recommendation - Book - The Upside of Stress by: Kelly McGonigal
The Gift of Failure: How the best parents learn to let go... - Jessica Lahey
Fantastic read from a teacher and parent who has learned the hard way to lean into raising kids to have autonomy and resilience.
She makes a very clear point that rewards may get results in the short term, but when it comes to encouraging long-term enthusiasm for learning, they are terrible motivators.
I haven't read many parenting books specifically, but I can't imagine I'll find another one that I underline nearly as much.
"The failure our children experience when we back off and allow them to make their own mistakes is not only a necessary part of learning; it's the very experience that teaches them how to be resilient, capable, creative problem-solvers."
"Control disrupts our sense of intrinsic motivation...just about anything humans perceive as controlling is detrimental to long-term motivation, and therefore, learning"
Recommendation - Book - Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
Why Fish Don’t Exist - Lulu Miller
The perfect book to kickstart my reading momentum again.
A fascinating (true) story that dives into the Chaos that is life.
Life is messy and no matter how much we try to neatly keep things in order, nature has a way of reminding us where we stand.
"The soul-ache...vanishes with active out-of-door life and the consequent flow of good health."
"Nowhere is the sky so blue, the grass so green, the sunshine so bright, the shade so welcome, as right here, now, today"
Recommendation - Book - The Feather Thief
A Reverence for Wood - Eric Sloane
A book about wood, our once complete dependency on it, the ways it weathers, and how to use it for building, warming, cooking, protecting, and feeding this one had me enthralled the entire time.
It was filled with beautiful, hand drawn photos that helped describe the nuances in each section.
The writing was elegant, direct, informative, and just plain fun.
"Nothing can take over as completely as man: he has had many complex relationships with the forest in the course of history, but where solid concrete appears, those relationships seem to end and man’s dominance becomes complete”
Wood was “a substance with a soul…From cradle of wood to coffin of wood, the life of man was encircled by it”
Recommendation - Book - Hand Tools: Their Ways and Workings
Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries - Safi Bahcall
Fantastic framework for making small bets within an organization that can produce huge results.
Split the group working on a loonshot away from the structure and expectations of the rest of the organization.
Apply a systems mindset to all decisions made so each group understands why or why not something is working.
"While the individual man is an insoluble puzzle, in the aggregate he becomes a mathematical certainty." (originally Sherlock Holmes)
"As teams and companies grow larger, the stakes in outcome decrease while the perks of rank increase. When the two cross, the system snaps. Incentives begin encouraging behavior no one wants. Those same groups—with the same people—begin rejecting loonshots."
Recommendation - Book - Made in America by Sam Walton
The Effective Executive - Peter Drucker
A classic for a reason.
The first few steps to becoming a great manager begin with learning to be effective with your own time, thoughts, and decisions.
Everyone could benefit from knowing where your time is going, which decisions are worth making, and what is increasing your energy spent on items that you value.
"Intelligence, imagination, and knowledge are essential resources, but only effectiveness converts them into results."
"If the executive lets the flow of events determine what he does, what he works on, and what he takes seriously, he will fritter himself away “operating."
Recommendation - Book - Letters from a Self-made Merchant to His Son - George Lorimer
Perennial Seller - Ryan Holiday
This book is about creating something that will stand the test of time, a masterpiece, or anything great.
It then describes how to market it and present it in a way that is compelling for a specific audience.
A common thread is how the focus and work required to create something that will stand out is difficult and time-consuming.
"A willingness to trade off something—time, comfort, easy money, recognition—lies at the heart of every great work."
"In the way that a good wine must be aged, or that we let meat marinate for hours in spices and sauce, an idea must be given space to develop. Rushing into things eliminates that space. Another reason for the drawdown period is simply to prepare for the mammoth nature of the task ahead."
Recommendation - Book - The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
The Choice - Eli Goldratt
This book connects the Theory of Constraints to living a full life.
Goldratt argues that in order to live a full life we must be able to think clearly, which is simple but difficult in practice.
The four obstacles that prevent us from thinking clearly are - 1) We see reality as complex, where we need to find the Inherent Simplicity, 2) We accept conflicts rather than attempting to remove them, 3) We blame situations on others behaviors instead of looking for explanations, and 4) We think "we know", rather than challenging our own assumptions.
"we face two alternatives: one is to bitch about reality and the other is to harvest the gift it just gave us, the knowledge of what has to be corrected...Freedom of Choice"
"when we are involved in a situation that is handled as a win-lose situation, we will be more protective than generous. And when we are not satisfied with the end result we'll naturally blame the one that pushed us into that unsatisfactory situation; we'll blame the other side."
Recommendation - Book - The Goal by Eli Goldratt
The Cafe on the Edge of the World - John Strelecky
A fun and quick read about reflecting and then acting on your purpose in life.
The main character is guided to discover his own PFE (Purpose For Existing) through magical conversations with the diner staff.
They continually reference 3 questions to help him get there. 1. Why are you here? 2. Do you fear Death? and 3. Are you fulfilled?
"You can't fear not having the chance to do something if you've already done it"
"The challenge is to realize that something is fulfilling because we determine it's fulfilling. Not because someone else tells us it is."
Recommendation - Book - Into The Magic Shop by James Doty
A Craftsman's Legacy - Eric Gorges
This book is a collection of stories and lessons from the guests on the PBS show under the same name, hosted by Gorges.
I hadn't heard of the show prior so I thoroughly enjoyed the insights shared by so many different types of craftspeople.
I'm consistently intoxicated by the work, focus, quality, and disregard for what's easy that true craftsmen seem to all share.
"Excellence requires staying in the present moment, concentrating on what's in front of me right now, condensing and contracting the world down to a size where I can control it. It requires focus"
"When we are creative, we are tapping into the younger and more idealistic version of ourselves. The one that doesn't care if it's any good, if we know what we're doing, who's going to see it, what their response will be, and how we're going to feel about that response. That openness is part of being alive"
Recommendation - Book - Mastery by Robert Greene
The Three Marriages - David Whyte
This book is a beautiful argument against the idea of balance, especially between work and life.
The author explains how we should aim for work/life harmony instead and how we seek different items from all 3 marriages we enter.
The 3 marriages include one with another person, one with our work, and one with ourselves.
"A real work, like a real love, takes not only passion but a certain daily, obsessive, tenacious, illogical form of insanity to keep it alive."
"We leave the beckoning blank page of our life completely empty because we don’t have confidence in the particular first sentence that confronts us."
Recommendation - This blog post - What's your time preference?
A Pattern Language - Christopher Alexander
Learning these 253 patterns is an ongoing project - (@apatterntolearn)- I tweet one pattern every day at 11:11 am CT which will make them easy to learn, recognize, and recall.
The Practice - Seth Godin
Seth is a master of creating, creativity, and distilling ideas clearly from a variety of angles.
He convinces us that in order to produce any creative outcome we should remain consistently focused on the process (a Practice); it's the only way through obstacles that stand in your way.
This book likely will persuade you to start, continue, or finish any project that you've had in your mind.
"When we embrace imposter syndrome instead of working to make it disappear, we choose the productive way forward. The imposter is proof that we’re innovating, leading, and creating."
"Artists actively work to create a sense of discomfort in their audience . Discomfort engages people , keeps them on their toes , makes them curious . Discomfort is the feeling we all get just before change happens"
Recommendation - These ideas pair well with Kyle Eschenroeder's The Pocket Guide to Action book and coincidentally he wrote more about "The Practice" in a past issue of Kyle's Files.
Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert Pirsig
This "classic" was difficult for me to get through; there were parts I thoroughly enjoyed and others that made me put it down for a couple of days before regaining the energy to continue reading on.
The author's overall philosophy around Quality is one I really connect with, albeit on a very simple level (it will take some time for all of his ideas to really settle into place for me).
Pirsig writes about what makes anything good, or Quality, which for me boils down to something similar to Tao, mastery, or this idea of Quality that I wrote about last year.
"To live only for some future goal is shallow. It’s the sides of the mountain which sustain life, not the top."
"the only real learning results from hang-ups, where instead of expanding the branches of what you already know, you have to stop and drift laterally for a while until you come across something that allows you to expand the roots of what you already know"
Recommendation - Shop Class as Soulcraft (this essay sparked the writing of one of my favorite books by the same name)
2020
Crossing The Unknown Sea: - David Whyte*
Humans have a instinctual need for our work to feel like it’s right for ourselves.
This journey to learn and accept what our vocation is in life is what our community desperately needs.
Expressing ourselves through uniquely personal work is the best gift we can give.
"At its simplest, good work is work that makes sense, and that grants sense and meaning to the one who is doing it and to those affected by it."
"Death is not impressed by what we have done, unless what we have done leaves a legacy of life...What is remembered in all our work is what is still alive in the hearts and minds of others."
Recommendation - Book - The Lion Tracker's Guide to Life by Boyd Varty
Greenlights - Matthew McConaughey
The Psychology of Money - Morgan Housel*
The Lion Tracker’s Guide to Life - Boyd Varty
Home Game - Michael Lewis
Hell Yeah or No - Derek Sivers
The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: - Eric Jorgenson
Into The Magic Shop: - James Doty
To Be A Runner - Martin Dugard
A Year In The Maine Woods - Bernd Heinrich
Letters To A Young Poet - Rainer Maria Rilke
The Timeless Way of Building - Christopher Alexander*
The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho (re-read)
The Infinite Game - Simon Sinek
Small Giants - Bo Burlingham
Journal of a Novel - John Steinbeck
East of Eden - John Steinbeck*
Between the World and Me - Ta-Nehisi Coates
Leadership: In Turbulent Times - Doris Kearns Goodwin*
Trying Not To Try - Edward Slingerland
The Vagabonds - Jeff Guinn
A Few Lessons from Sherlock Holmes - Peter Bevelin
Legacy: What the All Blacks can teach us about the Business of Life - James Kerr
How to Fail At Almost Everything and Still Win Big - Scott Adams
Optimists notice more opportunities, have more energy because of their imagined future successes, and take more risks. Optimists make themselves an easy target for luck to find them.
Focus on your diet first so you have enough energy to want to exercise. Exercise will further improve your energy and make you more productive, more creative, more positive, more socially desirable, and more able to handle life’s little bumps.
Once you optimize your personal energy, all you need for success is luck. You can’t directly control luck, but you can move from strategies with bad odds to strategies with good odds
learning multiple skills
learn to control your ego so you can pick strategies that scare off the people who fear embarrassment, allowing you to compete against a smaller field.
stay in the game long enough so luck has a better chance of finding you
Walking: One Step At A Time - Erling Kagge*
Directly inspired my write-up: On Walking
The Carpenter - Jon Gordon
Love - fear is draining, love is sustaining
Serve - Great leaders serve and sacrifice for others to help them become great
Care - Find unique ways to show that you care, then make it a habit
Your work should be a reflection of the very best within you.
Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community - Wendell Berry
You can’t act locally by thinking globally.
The Amish question “what will this do for our community?” Tends toward the right answer for the world.
We must recognize the limits of politics. It is much easier to improve a policy than it is to improve the community the policy attempts to affect.
An economy without limits is an economy without discipline.
We will see that in the long run the safest food supply is a local food supply, not a supply that is dependent on a global economy.
Siddhartha - Herman Hesse
Everyone can reach his goals, if he is able to think, if he is able to wait, if he is able to fast.
The goal of his long search was nothing but a readiness of the soul, an ability, to think every moment, while living his life, the thought of oneness, to be able to feel and inhale the oneness.
Searching means: having a goal. But finding means: being free, being open, having no goal.
Not in his speech, not in his thoughts, I see his greatness, only in his actions, in his life.
Red Notice: A Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man’s Fight for Justice - Bill Browder
This was a fascinating true story about Bill browder going up against russian oligarchs, attempting to invest, and ultimately bringing to light some very sketchy business deals that were made to friends and family members.
Russia is the wild west.
7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy - Hamilton W. Helmer
A strategy must be simple but not simplistic
All Power starts with invention. Passion, monomania, and domain mastery fuel invention - not bloodless analytics.
The 7 power types: Scale economies, network economies, cornered resource, branding, counter positioning, switching costs, and process power.
Fundamental Equation of Strategy: Value = [Market Size] * [Power]
26 Jobs To Be Done - Mike Dariano (short e-book)
Part-of-the-reason people don't like change is that the loss is visible and the gain is unseen.
Consistently eat a certain way, work a certain way, and interact in a certain way and you will get a consistent result in each of those areas.
dot: Rory Sutherland - Mike Dariano (short e-book)
If you want new ideas, be irrational, test odd things, and cast a wide net. You’ll never know what you may catch.
"Marketing is the science of knowing what economists are wrong about."
That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix… - Marc Randolph
It's important to craft a Culture from the very start; adapt it with growth and work to keep it strong.
Culture is what you do, NOT perks. It's what your employees do by default when they are left to choose on their own.
You don't know what direction an idea will take. Better to start with a clear focus on day 1, learn, adapt, and move forward.
Don't be afraid to make decisions when you have the facts to make them.
Be open-minded but skeptical.
The Million-Dollar One-Person Business - Elaine Pofeldt
Do The Work - Steven Pressfield
The more important a call or action is to our soul’s evolution, the more Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.
Don’t think. Act. We can always revise and revisit once we’ve acted. But we can accomplish nothing until we act.
Your work-in-progress produces its own gravitational field, created by your will and your attention. This field attracts like-spirited entities into its orbit.
The opposite of fear is love — love of the challenge, love of the work, the pure joyous passion to take a shot at our dream and see if we can pull it off. Our greatest fear is a fear of success
finishing is the critical part of any project. If we can’t finish, all our work is for nothing.
So you’re taking a few blows — That’s the price for being in the arena and not on the sidelines. Stop complaining and be grateful.
The Lost City of the Monkey God - Douglas Preston
The Boys in The Boat - Daniel James Brown (re-read)*
TO go far and fast, you must work with others that you can trust blindly. by the giving of yourself, others benefit.
when you struggle through hard times with a team, any bond grows deeper.
one of my favorite books. each time i finish it, I have to row at the gym for weeks.
The Heart is the Bottleneck - Tiago Forte
A collection of 18 essays from Tiago posted on his site, Praxis blog.
The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
“The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest minds of past centuries.”
2019
Silence: In the Age of Noise - Erling Kagge *
Running with the Buffaloes - Chris Lear
On Caring - Milton Mayeroff
How To Walk - Thich Nhat Hanh
The Hard Thing About Hard Things - Ben Horowitz
My Life and Work - Henry Ford
The Screwtape Letters - C.S. Lewis*
Butcher’s Crossing - John Williams
What Makes Sammy Run - Budd Schulberg
Be My Guest - Conrad Hilton
Digital Minimalism - Cal Newport
The Club: How the English Premier League… - Joshua Robinson & Jonathan Clegg
The Mesa Method - Tiago Forte
Obvious Adams - Robert Updegraff
The Boron Letters - Gary Halbert
Can’t Hurt Me: - David Goggins
Keep Going - Austin Kleon*
The Upside of Stress: - Kelly McGonigal
Discipline Equals Freedom - Jocko Willink
Zen in the Art of Archery - Eugen Herrigel
The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival - John Vaillant
Range: Why Generalists Triumph - David Epstein
Make It Till You Make It - Brendan Leonard
The Path of Least Resistance - Robert Fritz*
Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller Sr. - Ron Chernow
essay Self Reliance - Ralph Waldo Emerson
essay Friendship - Ralph Waldo Emerson
essay On The Shortness of Life - Seneca*
The Last Pirate of New York - Rich Cohen
Sam Walton: Made in America - Sam Walton
An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management - Will Larson
Mastermind Dinners: - Jayson Gaignard
Am I Being Too Subtle: - Sam Zell
Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? - Alyssa Mastromonaco
Jonathan Livingston Seagull - Richard Bach
Shoe Dog: - Phil Knight (re-read)*
Shop Class as Soulcraft - Matthew Crawford (re-read)*
Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life - William Finnegan
Face to Face: The Art of Human Connection - Brian Grazer
Stillness is the Key - Ryan Holiday
The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
Journal of a Novel - John Steinbeck
Get Together - Richardson, Huynh, & Sotto
A Sense of Where You Are - John McPhee
Living Life Backwards - David Gibson
When I Talk About When I Talk About Running - Haruki Murakami (re-read)
suffering is optional; pain is inevitable, we can choose to learn from it.
Keep at anything mundane long enough and it becomes contemplative and even meditative.
Life is unfair. It’s up to us to find the fairness; by acknowledging our shortcomings and then working hard to compensate for them.
it’s a thin wall between healthy confidence and unhealthy pride.
The Rise of the Ultra Runners: - Adharanand Finn
The Road- Cormac McCarthy
“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.”
2018
The Complacent Class - Tyler Cowen
Lessons From History - Will and Ariel Durant *
Jesus: A Biography from a Believer - Paul Johnson
What Color is Your Parachute - Richard Bolles
Sapiens - Yuval Noah Harari
Poor Charlie's Almanack - Peter Kaufman
Unbroken - Laura Hillenbrand
Between the World and Me - Ta-Nehisi Coates
The War of Art - Steven Pressfield *
The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand
Endure: - Alex Hutchinson
Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu / Stephen Mitchell
Conspiracy: - Ryan Holiday
Up From Slavery - Booker T. Washington *
Chop Wood, Carry Water - Joshua Medcalf
Letters from a Self-Made Merchant... - George Lorimer *
The Little Book That Still Beats The Market - Joel Greenblatt
Investing: The Last Liberal Art - Robert Hagstrom
Stoner - John Williams
American Kingpin - Nick Bilton
The Goal - Eliyahu Goldratt
This is Water - David Foster Wallace
The Pocket Guide to Self-Reliance - Kyle Eschenroeder
More Than You Know - Michael Mauboussin *
Bad Blood - John Carreyrou
The Feather Thief - Kirk Johnson
The Most Important Thing: - Howard Marks
Living with a Seal: - Jesse Itzler
Educated: A Memoir - Tara Westover
Closer to the Ground - Dylan Tomine*
The Art of Community - Charles Vogl
The Outsiders… - Will Thorndike*
The True Believer… - Eric Hoffer
All Marketers are Liars - Seth Godin
The Billionaire Who Wasn’t… - Conor O’Clery
When Breath Becomes Air - Paul Kalanithi
The Dhando Investor - Mohnish Pabrai
Beartown - Fredrik Backman
Us Against You - Fredrik Backman
Shadow Divers - Robert Kurson*
The Gambler: How Penniless… - William Rempel
How to Fight a Hydra - Josh Kaufman
Linchpin - Seth Godin
Modern Monopolies: - Alex Moazed
W. Buffett & Interpretation of Financial Statements - David Clark & Mary Buffett
The Art of Gathering: - Priya Parker
Buy Then Build: - Walker Deibel
Once a Runner - John L. Parker, Jr.
Not Fade Away - Peter Barton
On Confidence - The School of Life
The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction - Alan Jacobs *
I Love Capitalism: An American Story - Ken Langone
Hiking with Nietzsche - John Kaag
“Son, if the mountain were smooth, you couldn’t climb it.”
2017
The Unsettling of America - Wendell Berry*
Hillbilly Elegy - J.D. Vance
The Gene - Siddhartha Mukherjee
Walt Whitman - John Symonds
Resilience - Eric Greitens*
A Man Called Ove - Fredrik Backman
Born a Crime - Trevor Noah
Market Wizards - Jack Schwager
Born For This - Chris Guillebeau
Andrew Carnegie - David Nasaw
Socrates - Paul Johnson
Steal Like An Artist - Austin Kleon
Dharma Bums - Jack Kerouac
The Book of Joy - Desmond Tutu + Dalai Lama
The Underground Railroad - Colson Whitehead
The Compound Effect - Darren Hardy
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry - Neil deGrasse Tyson
Mozart: A Life - Paul Johnson
The Fish That Ate the Whale - Rich Cohen*
Scientific Advertising - Claude Hopkins
The World Beyond Your Head - Matthew Crawford*
Peak Performance - Brad Stulberg + Steve Magness
Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand*
Zillow Talk - Spencer Rascoff + Stan Humphries
Today We Are Rich - Tim Sanders
Benjamin Franklin - Walter Isaacson
The Advantage - Patrick Lencioni
The Carpenter - Jon Gordon
The Outsiders - William Thorndike
Principles - Ray Dalio
How Bad Do You Want It - Matt Fitzgerald
Being Mortal - Atul Gawande
The Power of Moments - Chip Heath and Dan Heath*
Thank You For Being Late - Thomas Friedman*
Where I Lived and What I Lived For - Henry D. Thoreau
The Pocket Guide to Action - Kyle Eschenreoder
Show Your Work - Austin Kleon
“In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you.”
2016
The Three Year Swim Club - Julie Checkoway
The Art of Non-Conformity - Chris Guillebeau
The ABC's of Real Estate Investing - Ken Mcelroy
Good to Great - Jim Collins
Doing Good Better - Will MacAskill
So Good They Can't Ignore You - Cal Newport
The Time Keeper - Mitch Albom
Deep Work - Cal Newport*
Shoe Dog - Phil Knight*
Geography of Bliss - Eric Weiner
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
The Name of God is Mercy - Pope Francis
Mastery - Robert Greene*
The Obstacle Is The Way - Ryan Holiday*
The Innocents Abroad - Mark Twain
View From the Summit - Sir Edmund Hilary
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
Go Set a Watchman - Harper Lee
Measuring the World - Daniel Khelman
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty - James Thurber
Endurance - Sir Alfred Lansing*
How Will You Measure Your Life - Clayton Christensen*
A Monster Calls - Patrick Ness
Flash Boys - Michael Lewis
Chaos Monkeys - Antonia Garcia Martinez
Killing the Rising Sun - Bill O'Reilly
Ego is the Enemy - Ryan Holiday*
HP: Prisoner of Azkaban - J. K. Rowling
The Shepard's Life - James Rebanks
Travels in Alaska - John Muir
HP: The Cursed Child - J. K. Rowling
Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut
Letters From A Stoic - Seneca
“Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren’t very new after all.”
2015
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt - Edmund Morris
The Happiness of Pursuit - Chris Guillebeau
The Richest Man in Babylon - George S. Clason
Great Work - David Sturt
Travels with Epicurus - Daniel Klein
Zero to One - Peter Thiel*
The Everything Store - Brad Stone
Think Like a Freak - Dubner & Levitt
Field Guide to Ultrarunning - Hal Koerner
Natural Born Heroes - Christopher McDougall*
People over Profit - Dale Partridge
The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell
Clay Water Brick - Jessica Jackley
When I Talk About When I Talk About Running - Haruki Murakami
Give and Take - Adam Grant
Closer to the Ground - Dylan Tomine*
The Big Short - Michael Lewis
Run or Die - Killian Jornet
The Alchemist - Paulo Coehlo
Running on Empty - Marshall Ulrich
Raising the Bar - Gary Erickson
Breakfast with Buddha - Roland Merullo
Racing the Antelope - Bernd Heinrich*
Rich Dad Poor Dad - Robert Kiyosaki
The Boys in the Boat - Daniel Brown*
“The man who does not read good books is no better than the man who can’t.”
2014
The Promise of a Pencil - Adam Braun
Running and Being - George Sheehan*
Going the Distance - George Sheehan
Run! 26.2 Stories of Blisters and Bliss - Dean Karnazes
The Cool Impossible - Eric Orton
Looptail - Bruce Poon Tip
And The Mountains Echoed - Khaled Hosseini
Anthill - E. O. Wilson
Purple Cow - Seth Godin
Moonwalking with Einstein - Joshua Foer
E-Myth Revisited - Michael Gerber
Drive - Daniel Pink
How Not to Be Wrong - Jordan Ellenberg
David and Goliath - Malcolm Gladwell
A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
Packing Light - Allison Vesterfelt
The End of your Life Book Club - Will Schwalbe
Love Does - Bob Goff*
A Million Miles in a Thousand Years - Donald Miller
Inferno - Dan Brown
The Essential Sheehan - George Sheehan
The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking - Edward Burger
Bridge to Terabithia - Katherine Paterson
Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell
“Employ your time in improving yourself by other men’s writings so that you shall come easily by what others have labored hard for.”
2013
The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway
Get Big Fast and Do More Good - Ido Leffler
The 4-hour Workweek - Tim Ferriss
Eat Move Sleep - Tom Rath
Start Something That Matters - Blake Mycoskie
Shake The World - James Marshall Reilly*
Built to Last - Jim Collins
The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer*
What the Dog Saw - Malcolm Gladwell
Bleachers - John Grisham
“Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting.”
2012
Love is the Killer App - Tim Sanders*
Screw Business as Usual - Richard Branson
Anything You Want - Derek Sivers
Delivering Happiness - Tony Hsieh
Rework - Jason Fried*
Remote - Jason Fried
Golfing with God - Roland Merullo
The Longest Way Home - Andrew McCarthy
Mandela's Way: Lessons on Life, Love and Courage - Richard Stengel
The Client - John Grisham