Review – Stillness is the Key by Ryan Holiday Ryan Holiday wants you to find stillness. He explores this concept through his usual lens of historic figures, repetition, and stoic philosophy. This recipe has worked in his previous books, and again it makes for convincing reading.
When readers ask about habit formation, I always point them to James Clear’s blog. Now I’ll be pointing them to his book, Atomic Habits. Atomic Habits Book Review full disclosure: I was provided with an early release copy of this book.
“Wiping out the fear isn’t what’s important, facing it is” Review In March 2012, I was scared. By myself, in a country where I didn’t speak the language, headed to a job that felt way over my head. At home, I had been living a life decided by others.
Have you ever thought to yourself, “What’s wrong with you? Why can’t you keep it together?” Who are you arguing with? In this short but highly actionable book, David Levin presents a unique framework for thinking about your ‘Inner Game’.
A short but incredibly useful impetus to learn about oneself. Review Originally an article for The Harvard Business Review, this short volume covers how to create your career path by understanding yourself. As it’s not really a full book, there aren’t any how-to guides or in-depth tactics for figuring out who you are or how to manage yourself.
“Much of what we’ve been told about the qualities that lead to achievement is logical, earnest–and downright wrong.” - Eric Barker Review In “Barking Up the Wrong Tree”, Eric Barker (see what he did there?) takes a look at some common misconceptions about success.
If there’s anyone who knows how to reinvent himself, it’s James Altucher. He’s run hedge funds, started companies, lost it all with said companies, written books, hosted TV, and blogged about the worst moments of his life. His willingness to be vulnerable in his writing sets him apart from the sea of ‘amazing’ self-help gurus.
Gateless - a “self-improvement” book that will actually improve your life. Review Fantastic, actionable advice on setting up your life to constantly improve. Marshall and Zau organize the book around “Four Currencies”: Capacity, Network, Signal, and Assets. They go into depth about how to improve these areas and discuss common pitfalls.
Pragmatic and brutally honest advice in the self-help sea of useless feel-good bullshit. Review I was expecting recycled content from Manson’s blog and The How To Not Give a Fuck Subreddit, but there’s plenty of new material here. The book touches on interesting and often unsaid truths about our behavior and values.
Update: it’s been brought to my attention that some of the scientific claims made in this book may be incorrect or misrepresented by the author. When reading any book, it’s important to read with a critical eye. Read more on this discussion here.
The Last Safe Investment offers great advice about spending wisely and investing in yourself. Review A quick note: some people are put off by the authors’ dismissal of investing in the stock market. I don’t agree with their suggestion that stock market investments are worthless.