Audio Books:
A few years ago I had to be honest that my client commitments and training schedule didn’t allow for deep dives into books. I tried audiobooks but found them to be excruciating. One day, I sped an audiobook to 1.5x speed and I felt my brain lock in! Somehow the speed made a difference and I’ve never looked back… I love them.
On Repeat:
Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life
By Henri J. M. Nouwen. I’m learning that Discernment is the Catholic practice of listening for the word of the Divine (god, the creator, universal spirit, whatever you like to call it) in the day-to-day. (And no, I’m not Catholic). What the book has done is to orient me towards having a musical relationship with life itself. I am constantly listening for cues and clues to inform my action and behavior and it had made life feel like a scavenger hunt and a theatre combined. When I walked into the market recently, there was a song playing over the PA system and the lyrics felt timed to what I needed to hear in that moment. I go back to this book because of the way its read.
https://www.audible.com/pd/Discernment-Reading-the-Signs-of-Daily-Life-Audiobook/1632518007
Previous Reads:
The Rigtheous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion (WOW WHAT A FUCKING BOOK! Probably the most powerful book I’ve read in 5 years) I was naive about the author, a liberal social scientist, until I started to share my exuberance of the book with friends. It turns out the author, after applying the scientific method to his life work, slowly started to develop empathy and then value in conservative thinking (not to be confused with republican). Since then, he has become a polarizing figure which is ironic since the book is all about “the blind men and the elephant.” Turns out that our brains are influenced and make decisions on emotion first, and then we quickly post-rationalize why we made a decision as a way to prove our viewpoint correct. This post-hoc wiring is what the book starts with, but then goes on to reveal a myriad of ways that our brains come to the wrong assessments about things. Deeper into the book we learn about moral matrices and how liberals and conservatives differ. Here, liberals will not be happy to find out that they are in the deficit. The author tried for years to help liberal politicians write speeches that had a balanced moral matrix. This book had such a profound impact on me that it made me see a movie in my head that would help bring people back to dialogue. There’s no way to capture the treasures in this book in a page. It’s truly fantastic.
Synchronicity, the Inner Path of Leadership
Wish I had read it a 21. The author, a bad-ass litigation attorney, gets a cosmic phone call that leads him to search for a higher purpose and it upends his life. He meets David Bohm, a nuclear physicist who was part of the Manhattan project and who introduces the author to Dialogue, the ability to speak from a place that’s free of personal agenda in order to solve problems. Each chapter becomes an awakening that recontextualizes the book. The book becomes about the power of language as an inventive (vs descriptive) force and celebrates being animated by a cause greater than one’s self. I wept when I read it and have modeled my career around the distinctions in this book including dialogue, creativity, and how to enter curios, flow states that benefit all.
https://www.amazon.com/Synchronicity-Inner-Path-Leadership/dp/B0000544OC
San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities
By Michael Shellenberger. This book was an eye-opener because I learned about how naming and shaming prevents evidence-based solutions from helping people. He shares that policies that appear very well-meaning can wreck havoc on life as we know it and much of that comes from obstacles that prevent people from saying what is so. His observations in politics in California describe a complex and frustrating pastiche of post-modernism, a homeless-industrial-complex, and policy makers that knowingly fund distractive programs because their hands are tied by what they can and cannot say. Despite the evidence being presented to them. This was a WOW book.
https://www.audible.com/pd/San-Fransicko-Audiobook/0063093642
The Brain That Changes Itself: Personal Triumphs from the Frontiers of Brain Science
A truly astonishing book about neuroplasticity and the brains incredible capacity to change structurally. The book combines beautiful science along with stories of perseverance, not only from stroke survivors or people who were born with disadvantages, but to the scientists themselves who had to endure punishing resistance from their own peers as they fought to undo centuries of beliefs around relating to the brain in terms of a machine. (Thanks Descartes). I ended up looking up every scientist and program mentioned in the book as a followup, including BrainHQ.
https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Brain-That-Changes-Itself-Audiobook/B002V9Z6RU
Lost Connections
Lost Connections was an important book for me to understand the hard-wired, physiological response we share in response to isolation.It felt like a “homecoming” regarding my observations and concerns with disconnection from country/ group / tribe / society / family / status and so on. To synopsize: Just as our knee gets inflamed if we knock it (with the inflammation later becoming a deterring to healing), so it goes with the mind. We appear to be hardwired such that when we are disconnected / isolated for one reason or another, the mind’s “inflammatory response” is to further isolate and to become more skeptical of humans and less likely to reach out. We are hard wired to sleep less deeply and socialize less, once we feel isolated, leading to a spiral. The first half of the book is spent speaking about antidepressants because this author has a specific personal concern about it. In the second half though, he shines as he brings his ideas together. So much so that I have outlined these 7 chapters separately and I can send them to you if you desire.
https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Connections-Uncovering-Depression-Unexpected/dp/163286830X
The 12 Rules for Life
This writeup is an outlier because unlike my other write-ups below, this one is NOT a synopsis of the book, which I am deeply enjoying. Jordan Peterson is a complex and important human being. He rose to prominence because of his commitment to moral pursuits and the life choices he had to make as a result. One was when the Canadian government created laws regulating speech, specifically around how transgender people were to be addressed. There is now a documentary about him because Jordan’s logical and elegant defense of free speech both created a platform for him to share his “12 rules” and created a hostile opposition who, from my observation, aren’t actually listening to or understanding him. Now we have the author, the book, and the countless YouTube videos of his lectures on personal responsibility and the hostility that he endures from pundits which expose their biases. If you want to get a fresh perspective on things like the patriarchy and are itching for a formula to bring more meaning into your life, this is the manual. It hits on everything, and I mean everything, that has to do with living as a human being in the 21st century. I strongly suggest watching the BBC interview linked above. This book is immensely important for the world.
https://www.audible.com/pd/12-Rules-for-Life-Audiobook/B0797YBP7N
Digital Minimalism
By Cal Newport. The name of this book is deceptive because it appears to be talking about something tech related but the book is actually about the battle for our soul. It’s an efficient, elegant and research based book about what our mobile / online habits do to our humanity and a very clear way of how to deal with it with a practical plan that works. This is a follow-up on his book called Deep Work (reviewed below). I can’t recommend it highly enough, I have changed all of my social media and email habits since reading this book and I am blown away by the shift in my mind and my experience of life.
https://www.audible.com/pd/Digital-Minimalism-Audiobook/B07LGF8TCJ
Thinking Fast and Slow
Not an easy book to read, it’s long and technical. It’s hard to skip or speed through because it’s so dense. One sentence can hold the key to big awareness. It brings sanity and science to the thing we may take for granted the most, which is how we come to decisions and choices, especially gut ones. The system 1 mind is the fast mind, the instinct mind, recognizing a crying face in an instant. System 2 is slower, solving “148 x 13” which actually consumes energy (glucose) when doing so. That makes it so people are more reluctant to use System 2. And the book goes from there, using example after example of showing how we are hardwired to make poor decisions. It’s a deep, technical book and it’s one of the only audio books where I’m often rewinding or taking a break for a day. The book gets into data about how we make decisions that don’t take time into account, how we underestimate marriage, but from a science / data place. It will make you become a patriarchal libertarian.
https://www.audible.com/pd/Thinking-Fast-and-Slow-Audiobook/B005TKKCWC
Tribal Leadership
Probably the most useful book I’ve ever read with regards to being able to predict what is driving the behavior of people and organizations. This book, after studying thousands of people and hundreds of companies, helps illustrate how the language of each organization and subgroup defines the reality of that group and that this happens in 5 distinct stages. Stage 1: Life sucks. Stage 2: My life sucks. Stage 3: I’m great (but you’re not). Stage 4: We’re great. Stage 5: Life is great! Weirder yet, these stages can be accurately described by people who aren’t even studied in the process. I STRONGLY recommend this book for anyone who either works with, manages, or is considering joining a group or workforce. It’s TREMENDOUS. Apple inventing the Macintosh was a Stage 5 company.
https://www.amazon.com/Tribal-Leadership-Leveraging-Thriving-Organization-ebook/dp/B0012GTZFC
How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big.
By the creator of Dilbert. Modern takes on demystifying why things work and why they don’t, from a systems perspective vs. a cosmic / spiritual one.
Scott is a trained hypnotist. He describes incredibly nuanced things like “rings of responsibility” in a beautiful, efficient and entertaining way. Full of useful concepts, especially around energy management, learning psychology and developing systems vs goals. All are easy to implement. Scott talks about the chemistry of happiness, the most influential words in English, and even diet / wellbeing. I have read it 3 times. :) Essential.
How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big Audiobook | Scott Adams | Audible.com
Atomic Habits
By James Clear, this is a tour-de-force step-by-step course on how to understand and hack habits. My personal experience and belief is that habits and identity are so profoundly interwoven that one cannot change one without the other. James flips the equation on its head by starting with identity, that thing that is most invisible to us yet drives our daily decisions. The book is fantastic and stands very well in its own legs. It’s even more impactful if you’ve read Power of Habits by Charles Duhigg. The book comes with PDF exercises and a clear course of action. I changed my morning wake-up routine the day after I read the book.
https://www.audible.com/pd/Atomic-Habits-Audiobook/1524779261
Into The Magic Shop
By James R. Doty, MD. The true story of a poor kid living in Lancaster who stumbles into a magic shop and comes across a woman named Ruth who teaches him, as a pre-teen, how to sit still. His father is a violent alcoholic and he has zero chance of escaping this place. But somehow with Ruth’s help it happens. This is a book that explains intention, visualization and the heart from a neurosurgeon’s perspective. A quick and enjoyable read.
https://www.audible.com/pd/Into-the-Magic-Shop-Audiobook/B01AVENKVK
The Power of Habit.
One of the most influential books I have ever read. Describes how the basal ganglia works by learning patterns, no matter if they are good or bad. Shows how these brain structures make it so that the patterns themselves are obscured from consciousness. Talks about how the 12-step program hacks the basal ganglia, giving participants a chance. How a football team finally needed faith to overcome bad habits. Why habits don’t go away (due to the circuitry of the brain) and how they can be triggered (environment, word, etc). This book opened the door to all other books I’ve read about social biology, the biology of ethics and epigenetic research.
The Power of Habit Audiobook | Charles Duhigg | Audible.com
Scattered
“Scattered: How Attention Deficit Disorder Originates and What You Can Do About It” is not unlike Charles Duhigg’s book in that it uses brain structure to describe behavior. Gabor Maté’s book is somewhat controversial. What I like about it is that it’s part of a growing movement to acknowledge the role of epigenetics in human experience. The book identifies ADD in a brand new way- as an emotional sensitivity (think: hayfever or similar allergy). What’s FANTASTIC about this book is that it talks about how ADD is experienced in systems where one person’s reactivity trains everyone around them. If I had a kid, I would consider this essential reading because it appears that one key period is when newborn scan for eyes, and the type of response they get can impact if they get locked into an “always searching for connection” circuit. A fascinating book.
Outwitting The Devil
Napoleon Hill is polarizing to say the least. He’s credited as being the grandfather of “The Secret” - the whole law-of-attraction thing. His claims to have rubbed elbows with the powerful (Like Dale Carnegie) are met with skepticism. The way I look at it is that an overweight running coach can still be an excellent running coach, even if he doesn’t run. Here, Napoleon writes an amazing book about my number 1 nemesis, looping. Looping is when I sit down to do work but then get up, distracted, and do anything but work, like going to the fridge. This book describes looping and other ways that the mind gets off track and drifts. I am grossly underselling his points. This was a powerful book that again reified the need for people, community and such, and had a profound effect on me. It just sucks that you have to endure the editor’s patronizing interruptions every so often. It’s a quick read.
https://www.audible.com/pd/Napoleon-Hills-Outwitting-the-Devil-Audiobook/B0051QF7L0
Essentialism
Maybe similar to Digital Minimalism - one of those books that’s great to hear and hard to do, teaching some techniques about how to focus on what’s essential and really how to say no to everything else.
https://www.audible.com/pd/Essentialism-Audiobook/B00IWZ6XGA
Letting Go.
This is a book about how un-metabolized emotions create hundreds of thoughts that we feel compelled to execute or at least dwell on. The author shows that by metabolizing an emotion the thoughts and concerns gently dissipate. It sounds so simple and it was- quite life changing. Bonus: Made me understand projection in a profound way. I’ve read it 3 times. This book was the beginning of me having one of the best year of my life- especially when read near the Scott Adams book as they compliment each other. Taking a Breathwork class would magnify this process.
Letting Go Audiobook | David R. Hawkins, MD. PHD. | Audible.com
The Total Money Makeover.
An evangelical Christian money wizard with his own radio show was able to help me see debt as a “product” that we are told to take for granted but is completely unnecessary. Lots of awesome details here and a quick read. This book helped get me out of debt like being shot out of a catapult. It mentions Jesus and scripture a few times, and I loved it. No nonsense.
The Total Money Makeover Audiobook | Dave Ramsey | Audible.com
Deep Work.
A book about how all great achievers develop the practice of deep work including the “log cabin” model to get away from distractions. It covers what social media / repetitive distractions do to the mind and how moving your attention from one thing to the next leaves an attention trail, making it even harder to achieve flow states.
Deep Work Audiobook | Cal Newport | Audible.com
Influence
The science of influence, concepts like social proof and how humans unknowingly mimic one another. This was a highly academic book that changed everything I believe about reality. Concepts like social reciprocity and mimicry are explained in detail. The author actually forces himself to get very very careful driving when he reads news about accidents because of this understanding. If news reporters understood the concept of mimicry, how would they report the news?
Win Bigly
Again, by cartoonist and hypnotist Scott Adams. How persuasion happens and specifically the hidden persuasive techniques used during the recent US election. Absolutely brilliant, it describes the 2016 campaign in detail, from the perspective of hypnosis and persuasion. Scott is politically far left and grows into understanding Trump when he hears one of Trump’s debates. He predicted the win a year before anyone else, logging every victory in detail, from the perspective of persuasive language.
Antifragile
A tour de force and somewhat complex book which asks the question “what benefits from being shaken up and stressed?” The human body, financial systems, jobs, all are discussed. It’s written by an options trader and made me reconsider a lot of the safety systems that are put in place that end up creating massive fails- which he calls Black Swan events. There’s no way to paraphrase this incredible book.
Books I’ve read but haven’t reviewed above
Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art (Incredible)
Sapiens (HOLY SHIT AMAZING, the history of mankind and how we destroy everything in our path because of our capacity to imagine. a MUST READ.)
The Rise of Superman is a book about fast-followers and how members in a group that work and mimic each other gain exponentially in their fields. Uses extreme athletes as an example.
Deep (about free diving, ends up being about the creation of life itself. We are wired to be in water.)