Books I’ve Read

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I’d always been more of a music guy, but in 2017 I made a point to read at least 12 books and fell in love.

While everyone talks about the benefits of physical exercise on mental health, I’ve found reading (and learning in general) to have the same if not a greater effect on my happiness.

Whether it’s general learning or reading about a specific challenge I’m facing, I mostly stick to non-fiction history, psychology, business, or self-help — although in 2019 my goal is to read at least one fiction novel.

NOTE: I’ve switched to Audible audiobooks to maximize my reading time – I aim for 30+ minutes per day. While I definitely retain less, I still get 80% while having much more opportunity to “read”.

All-Time Favs

• The Power of Habit – Charles Duhigg // Explains how habits work. Really helped me uncover not only bad habit loops, but a lot of mental health triggers as well.
• The Paradox of Choice – Barry Schwartz // Basically the more choices you have, the unhappier you are, especially if you’re a maximizer – someone who has to evaluate every option before making a choice – which I am/was.
• Rich Dad, Poor Dad // I was raised in the Midwest. I was taught to not spend money. I’m really good at not spending money, but to my detriment. This book helped me
• How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence – Michael Pollen // The title says it all. Interesting read on consciousness, mental health, and the potential of psychedelics.

2019 Books

1. 21 Lessons For The 21st Century – Yuval Noah Harari
2. The Obstacle is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph — Ryan Holiday
3. Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams — Matthew Walker, PhD
4. The Happiness Track: How To Apply The Science of Happiness To Accelerate Your Succes — Emma Seppala, PhD
5. Why Buddhism Is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment — Robert Wright
6. The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism — Timothy Keller
7. The Surrender Experiment: My Journey Into Life’s Perfection — Michael A Singer
8. Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products — Nir Eyal
9. The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire – Deepak Chopra
10. How Will You Measure Your Life – Clayton M. Christensen
11. The Higher Self, The Magic of Intuition – Deepak Chopra
12. The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success – Deepak Chopra
13. Creative Affluence — Deepak Chopra
14. American Psychosis | How the Federal Government Destroyed the Mental Illness Treatment System –– E. Fuller Torrey, M.D.
15. The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains
    –– Nicholas Carr
16. Stick with It: A Scientifically Proven Process for Changing Your Life-for Good –– Sean D. Young
17. The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living –– Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman
18. Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness
    –– Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein
19. Trust Me, I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator
    –– Ryan Holiday
20. Brain Rules (Updated and Expanded): 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School –– John Medina

2018 Books

1. Sell or be Sold
2. Overdressed: The shockingly high cost of cheap fashion
3. What’s Mine is Yours: The Rise of the sharing economy
4. 22 immutable laws of marketing by al…
5. Synchrodestiny — Deepak Chopra
6. Contagious — by Berger // Awesome book on virality and marketing
7. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
8. Paid Attention
9. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
10. Designing Your Life: How to build a well lived joyful life
11. The Code of An Extraordinary Mind
12. The Art of Choosing
13. Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging
14. The Four Agreements
15. How To Win Friends And Influence People
16. The Way of the Buffalo // The story of vintage shop Buffalo Exchange
17. Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion
18. An Unquiet Mind
19. Thinking In Bets
20. How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence
21. How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban
22. Designing your life // Great exercises on how to map out what matters to you and why and what you should do about it. Also, allowing yourself to prototype potential life paths before diving in.
23. Play Bigger: How Pirates, Dreamers, and Innovators Create and Dominate Markets
24. Thirst: A Story of Redemption, Compassion, and a Mission to Bring Clean Water to the World // The story of Charity:Water
25. Building A Story Brand
26. Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School – John Medina

2017 Books

1. 4 hour workweek // The classic lifestyle design book. Good for restructuring your life goals.
2. 4 hour body // Like workweek, but for working out and diet
3. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck // Not actionable, but helpful for mindset
4. The Confessions of an Economic Hitman // Learn about American Imperialism and how you’re benefitting from our bullying
5. The Power of Habit // Life-changing book about habit formations
6. Tools of Titans // Another Tim Ferriss book of just interviews w/ people. Can skip through it easily. Good to see what successful people do.
7. Rich Dad Poor Dad // Game-changer on financial mindset
8. Principles — Ray Dalio // Super technical finance and mindset. Some good life lessons
9. How to win friends and influence people // I’ve been reading this once a year. It’s crazy important.
10. The Fourth Turning // Steve Bannon & Trump’s playbook. Pretty boring read. Does give perspective on what they were/are trying to accomplish.
11. Think and Grow Rich // Meh, like rich dad poor dad but worse.
12. The Amazing Seller Podcast // Awesome, but focuses on selling on Amazon and start private label stuff.
13. Extreme Ownership // Tbh didn’t finish this bc I felt I got the point. If you’re a leader, everything is your fault, and successes are your employees win. Never blame anyone else. Solve the problems
14. Smarter Faster Better // A less tight version of power of habit

Pre-2017 Books

1. Zero to One
2. Tipping Point — Malcolm Gladwell
3. The Hypomanic Edge // Tells the stories of (likely) bipolar historical figures including Christopher Columbus, Alexander Hamilton, and more
4. The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter — And How to Make the Most of Them Now
5. Benjamin Franklin Biography
6. Delivering happiness
7. The Paradox of Choice // Life-changing book on how more options make your life hell
8. The Blue Ocean Strategy // Biz book, tight
9. Lean Startup
10. Ogilvy on Advertising
11. Why Nations Fail
12. Outliers – Malcolm Gladwell
13. Blink — Malcolm Gladwell
14. David and Goliath — Malcolm Gladwell
15. The Art of Seduction – Robert Greene
16. The 48 Laws of Power — Robert Greene
17. Never Eat Alone
18. Start With Why
19. …others I don’t remember