“Choose not to be harmed and you won’t feel harmed. Don’t feel harmed and you haven’t been.”
– Marcus Aurelius
Hey friends,
Greetings from LA and Hawaii.
My wife and I (Mike) went for a 3-hour hike at Kuliouou Ridge Trail in Oahu this last Sunday and it was delightful. Here’s a pic I snapped of our view at the top.
Beautiful, right?
Here’s what we want to share with you this week.
If you haven’t discovered Jordan Peterson yet, we recommend glancing in his direction. He’s a Canadian clinical psychologist and a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. The Jordan Petersen Fan Channel releases videos of Peterson’s lectures, which cover interesting topics such as “How Hitler was Even More Evil Than You Think”, “How to Know Your True Friends”, and “The Real Reason for Marriage” from a psychological perspective. He’s easy to listen to and his lectures will make you see things in a new light.
Yesterday, we read this valuable advice in The Daily Stoic: “The next time you find yourself in the middle of a freakout, or moaning and groaning with flu-like symptoms, or crying tears of regret, just ask: Is this actually making me feel better? Is this actually relieving any of the symptoms I wish were gone?”
ARK INVEST recently released their Big Ideas Report 2021. This report looks at market innovation and expectations for deep learning, Bitcoin, 3D printing, electric vehicles, and many other industries. Its goal is to provide investors with the information they need to make smart investment decisions. It’s free to download (just click on the above link).
We finished reading Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. This book documents the infamous 1996 Mt. Everest disaster (where 8 people died attempting to descend from the summit) from a first-person perspective. It’s thrilling, interesting, and difficult to put down.
We enjoyed listening to episode #496 of Tim Ferriss’ podcast. On it, Kevin Rose and Tim discuss couples therapy, lucid dreaming, and the pros and cons of Bitcoin (we particularly enjoyed the advice about crypto-investing, which is closer to the beginning).
Here are some of our favorite articles from the week…
Why You Should Share Your Expertise To Grow Your Consulting Business by The Visible Authority
Putting Time in Perspective by Wait But Why
An Amazonian Transition by OM — this is about the implications of Jeff Bezo’s recent transition from CEO to Executive Chairman at Amazon.
The Science Behind the New 4-Second Workout by Elemental
Do you really need to take a vitamin? 5 things to know before you buy by CNET
Also, here are a few of the books that YOU recommended to us last week…
The Trusted Advisor by David Maister
The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and The Age of Amazon by Brad Stone
Finally, we love this poem: If by Rudyard Kipling.
“If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!”
The Challenge of the Week is to spend a few minutes journaling first thing after you wake up each morning. Consider your first thoughts of the day. Then consider why those are your first thoughts, and whether those are the thoughts you wish to be thinking when you first wake up.
Until next week,
Mike & Alec