Principles
Principles - Ray Dalio
“Problems are like coal thrown into a locomotive engine because burning them up - inventing and implementing solutions for them - propels us forward. Every problem you find is an opportunity to improve your machine."
Principles is one of the best practical guides on life and management that I've read and one of my favourites in recent memory because of the extreme effort that went into making it as readable as possible.
This feels very much like a modern-day take of Stoic philosophy. Ray's own approach to business and life clearly has been influenced heavily by the Stoics.
The best part of the book is how each principle is clearly displayed as a chapter heading followed by each sub-principle or example subdivided even further to make it simple to pick out whatever information you need to apply in a given moment. This comes into play even more importantly in the second half of the book that's designed to be used as a business and management reference guide for how to handle different situations that are another "one of those."
Radical Acceptance
Radical Acceptance packs a really powerful punch for those who find it at the right time in their lives.
The subtitle for RA is "Embracing your life with the heart of a Buddha."
This is a book on mindfulness, meditation, and spirituality for those who are into that sort of thing. Like I mentioned I think for anyone who is struggling to find happiness or seems to be bogged down by troubles and sees no escape, Radical Acceptance as a book and as a philosophy can be extremely helpful.
Each chapter in the book addresses a different area in your life that you may be struggling to accept and provides guidance on how to deal with it. Tara is a psychotherapist in addition to being a teacher of Buddhist meditation and so the book is full of stories of Radical Acceptance being applied in tough situations, which might seem like radically anecdotal evidence (pardon the pun), but can be very helpful considering that the whole point is you've got to accept things and let go. There are also plenty of guided meditations included to help you deal with particular situations, which may make this an even better book in audio format.
I find a very close connection between the thesis of Radical Acceptance with the Latin amor fati - "a love of fate" which was embodied in Stoic philosophy.
If you're not quite ready to dive headfirst into something quite so mystical sounding, 10% Happier is a great place to start exploring mindfulness and meditation. Dan Harris actually comically makes mention of Tara Brach in the book several times as he encounters her at mindfulness seminars and warms up to her ultra-serene personality as he spends more time around her.
Growth Hacker Marketing
GHM is a cool little handbook for anyone who is involved in marketing, whether as an entrepreneur or simply out of interest for a critical component of how the top companies in the world got to be so big.
Growth hacking is what Ryan calls the new age of marketing, as the old-school tactics don't allow for the same analytical approach to determining what works and what doesn't with your customer base.
The three keys to growth hacks versus the old marketing playbook are using things that are testable, trackable, and scalable. While all three factors are important for modern growth hacks, being scalable really matters when the best way to stand out is to bake virality into the thing you are making.
The book is very short but worth its weight in gold. Understanding the principles behind what makes something go viral and which companies become successful today is the foundation that needs to be fully comprehended in order to stand out.
Musashi
“People do not give up their loves and hates as long as life lasts. Waves of feeling come and go with the passage of time. […] The world is always full of the sound of waves. The little fishes, abandoning themselves to the waves, dance and sing and play, but who know the heart of the sea, a hundred feet down? Who knows its depth?"
Musashi is an incredible book. If you’ve never read it, you need to put it on your list right now. It’s based on the life of the samurai Miyamoto Musashi who has his own non-fiction work in the Book of Five Rings, which this book is loosely based upon.
On episode 50 of the Jocko Podcast, Jocko Willink said that eventually he’d be covering Musashi in an episode and wanted to give everyone enough time to dig through the monstrous book before the spoilers from that episode came. It was set to coincide with episode 100 of the Jocko Podcast.
I prepared myself well in advance by reading Musashi in the spring and was blown away by the book.
It follows Musashi through the challenges that made him into the legendary samurai as well as great complexity with the interwoven stories of the other characters he crosses paths with. It’s a really engaging way to get a glimpse into some of the history of Japan as well as the samurai.
Trust Me, I'm Lying
TMIL is a tell-all story of Ryan's life as a "media manipulator" and director of marketing at American Apparel where he regularly spearheaded campaigns that would gain him national news coverage for AA or any of his other clients without directly having to pay for it.
While Ryan used his unique skill for benevolent purposes with his clients, he saw many others who were manipulating media for all kinds of purposes which is why he wrote this book and revised and updated it for today's world of fake news.
It's an awesome book and I would give it a perfect score if it weren't for the fact that since writing this book, Ryan has gone on to hone his writing even more and so in comparison, the writing is just a little less captivating to me in TMIL.
10% Happier
10% Happier is a book on mindfulness and meditation for people who are sceptical and don't believe in the "woo-woo" positivity that most books on meditation are replete with.
The book explores Harris' discovery of meditation following his on-screen panic attack as a newscaster live on ABC News. Harris knew that his "always on" mentality has led him to the breaking point.
If you don't think that there is anything miraculous about meditation, but think that it could help you be a little more at ease and grounded as the day-to-day stresses come flying at you, then this is a great book to help start you on your journey.
Siddhartha
“Everyone can perform magic, everyone can reach his goals, if he is able to think, if he is able to wait, if he is able to fast.”
Siddhartha is the story of a man's spiritual journey during the time that the Gautama Buddha lived.
Siddhartha grew up idolizing the aesthetics and joined the quest to discover Nirvana. The downfall in this for him was the disdain he felt for the "childlike" people who sought materialism and carnal pleasures.
To better understand this other type of life, Siddhartha leaves his simple life to learn from people following different paths through life in the city. He faces the trials and tribulations that his life had been sheltered from ever experiencing before and ultimately realizes that he had to go through it all to be able to truly let go of it and not look down on people not following his path with condescension.
The lesson of Siddhartha is that every person has their own path to follow and that you should be present to the moment and your surroundings and experiences.
Engineering The Alpha
Engineering the Alpha is your own guidebook to the hero's journey of improving your health, fitness, and vitality.
If you've accepted the call to action and are now ready to take action to build more muscle, lose fat, and become more alpha, this book is an undeniably great place to begin.
Terry Crews has stated that the diet and nutrition advice in this book has changed his life. How's that for an endorsement?
Tribe of Mentors
Tribe of Mentors is the ultimate guide to learning from world-class performers about virtually any topic you can think of. If you need to improve in any way, shape, or form, there's something in this book that can help you.
The Hero With A Thousand Faces
This text is the classic often referred to when studying the monomyth of The Hero's Journey as it relates to all stories of transformation.
Joseph Campbell and his writing have been highly influential in better understanding the connections that are found throughout mythologies from all societies and eras.
Read The Hero With A Thousand Faces if you're interested in writing, psychology, and mythology.