"To live is to learn." In keeping with this mantra, here are the books I've read / listened to over the past month.
I am a firm believer in the philosophy espoused by Elon Musk, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and countless other high-performers. The person who works 80 hours per week will accomplish twice as much as the person who only puts in 40 hours per week. Period. If you want to achieve your goals, work harder. Sleep faster.
This said, the 4-Hour Work Week is a must-read for anyone who wants to get more out of life. I realized immediately upon starting this book I was a believer in the NR even before I heard the term. It's why I left my executive position a few years ago for a different life path. In listening to this audiobook, there are so many simple tactical strategies and researchable references, that I’ve now purchased the hardcopy of this book.
This short inspiring book defines the opposing forces of ‘Resistance’ and the ‘Muse’ that will guide artists to ‘Break Though the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles’. Simple, and brilliantly written, this is definitely a book to re-read when motivation drops low.
[Aug 2, '18: I just read a great blog by Steven Pressfield: How to Undertake the Artist's Journey. It's brilliant food for though.
A timeless classic, that I’ve re-read a few times. Everything from “The Secret”, to much of Tony Robbins early work draws from this book.
It is somewhat repetitive and is dated in its language, but the message is powerful,“You have to imagine it before you can make it happen.”, and the tactics are simple.
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Read more books
[The following was originally posted Feb 12, '18 to the previous website.]
Read more books! This was a 2017 resolution of mine that failed miserably, and was rebooted in 2018 with a twist. In addition to setting aside a little time every day to read, I’m now downloading audiobooks to listen to in the car and while running. While I don’t drive great distances, I do run far. Listening to audiobooks has proven an absolute brilliant strategy. Readings so far this year include:
Awaken the Giant Within – Anthony Robbins
Unshakeable – Anthony Robbins
Man’s Search for Meaning – Victor Frankl
Tao Te Ching – Lau Tzu
The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho
All of these books I highly recommend. While all not strictly martial arts oriented, I will provide brief musings on various books here from time to time, if only to help inspire others, and more candidly, to aid with my own retention.
Beginning with the Tao Te Ching. A topic we cover periodically in karate class is ‘focus’. Where do you look when you face an opponent? If you look intently on any one thing, it captures your attention and leaves you inattentive to everything else. If you look at an opponent’s fist, you won’t see his kick. If you look at his eyes, you can’t see his friend moving in from the side. Wherever you focus, your attention narrows. Instead maintain a diffuse focus to maintain as wide as possible peripheral vision. In the Tao Te Ching it is written, “The person who focuses on one thing sees nothing. The person who focuses on nothing sees everything.”