On Digital Minimalism, the Fresh Prince, and An Embarrassment of Riches
On Digital Minimalism, the Fresh Prince, and An Embarrassment of Riches
Books that changed my life
Hello all!
Here is your weekly dose of books that changed my life.
1. Health and wellness
Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World
Summary
I apologize for not posting this book sooner. It is one of the books that I gift most often and a book that I’ve read more than once. And so should you! Very few people are immune to the effects mobile devices have on us. They are profound. You’ve already read about my appreciation of Newport’s Deep Work. His work on digital minimalism is just as impactful and this book provides both strategies and tactics to a healthier and more fulfilling life. [As an experiment, see how many pages of this book you can read before picking up your phone…let me know]
Warning: Devices dictate how we behave, how we feel, and somehow coerce us to use them more than we think is healthy, often at the expense of other activities we find more valuable (kid activities, nice moment without urge to document it for a virtual audience). It is not about usefulness, it is about autonomy. We seem to have stumbled into a digital life we did not sign up for.
Warning: The iPhone provided for the first time the ability to be continuously distracted from your own mind.
Insight: Apps now invade the evening hours you used to spend talking with friends or reading.
Quote: The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run. -Thoreau
Author:
Themes: Health and wellness, Productivity, Work hygiene, Living a full life
My personal notes from the book
2. Memoir
Will
Summary
Despite the infamous Slap (yeah, it’s ugly), I highly recommend Will Smith’s book, Will. This memoir is filled with remarkable stories of a complex human. Smith is vulnerable, genuine, and smart. You will be thoroughly entertained and inspired. This is one of those books you can’t put down. And if you grew up in the 80’s or 90’s, it’s even more special.
Story about building a brick wall. Stop thinking about the wall. 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. When focusing on the wall, the job seems impossible, never-ending. But when focused on one brick, everything gets easy. You can lay one damn brick! This is the difference between a task that feels impossible and a task that feels doable, but merely a matter of perspective. Are you paying attention to the wall or to the brick? No matter what you are going through, there is always another brick sitting right in front of you, waiting to be laid. The only question is, are you going to get up and lay it.
Insight: Dreams are built on discipline; discipline is built on habits; habits are built on training. And training takes place in every single second and every situation of your life: how you wash the dishes; how you drive a car; how you present a report at school. You either do your best all the time or you don't, if the behavior has not been trained and practiced, then the switch will not be there when you need it.
Quote: One of Bruce Lee's students asked him, "Master, you constantly speak to us of peace, yet every day you train us to fight. How do you reconcile these conflicting ideas?" Lee responds, "It is better to be a warrior in a garden, than a gardener in a war."
Author: Will Smith and Mark Manson
Themes: Memoir, Human psychology, Living a full life
My personal notes from the book
3. Living a full life
An Embarrassment of Riches: Tapping Into the World's Greatest Legacy of Wealth
Summary
This is a wonderful book about the role money has in our lives, both positive and negative. It’s refreshing, motivating, and thought-provoking. Excellent for all ranges of financial wealth. This is the last book by one of my favorite personal finance authors, Alexander Green. I covered his other books, The Secret of Shelter Island and The Gone Fishin' Portfolio in previous Three Book Thursday posts (they are all fantastic!).
Principle: If you have money and manage it conservatively, your worries should be few. Fretting about your investment returns is a lot less stressful than wondering how you're going to make this month's rent.
Soul searching: There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth–not going all the way, and not starting.
Insight: There are to types of people: those who try to win and those who try to win arguments. They are never the same.
Quote: It is almost impossible to overestimate the unimportance of most things.
Author: Alexander Green
Themes: Living a full life, Personal finance, Health and wellness, Wealth management
My personal notes from the book
That’s a wrap. Thanks for reading!
Please continue to share with me the books that changed your life!
Best,
Adam
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