“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

link to book
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.
link to book
"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
link to book
"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."
link to book
"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."
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."
link to book
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
link to book
notes coming soon-ish
link to book
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
link to book
notes coming soon-ish
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.
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.”
link to book
link to book
link to book
“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."
link to book
“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.“
link to book
link to book
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

link to book
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
link to book
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
link to book
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
link to book
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*

All 68 leadership lessons

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.”

— Rene Descartes

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.”

— Joseph Addison

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.”

— Wintley Phipps

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.”

— Mortimer J. Adler

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.”

— Abraham Lincoln

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.”

— Mark Twain

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.”

— Socrates

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.”

— Edmund Burke

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

* = personal favorites.

2024

2023