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One Sentence-Summary: Deep Work proposes that we have lost our ability to focus deeply and immerse ourselves in a complex task, showing you how to cultivate this skill again and focus more than ever before with four simple rules. Favorite quote from the author: “If you don’t produce, you won’t thrive, no matter how skilled or talented you are.” Deep Work suggests that being able to completely immerse yourself in a complex task is a rare, valuable and meaningful skill. The second part of the book then outlines four rules you can use to cultivate a deep work ethic. Here are 3 lessons from Deep Work to help you go from busy to brilliant: 1. There are four strategies for deep work, all of which require intention. 2. Productive meditation can help you work deeper, even while you’re taking a break. 3. Stop working at the same time each day. Deep Work Summary Lesson 1: Use one of these four deep work strategies, but be intentional about it. Cal Newport isn’t one of those “one-size-fits-all-advice” kind of people. He knows that different things will work for different people, so when making his case for deep work he suggests four different strategies: 1. The monastic approach. Monastic comes from monastery – the place where monks live. It means shutting yourself off completely, for example by moving to a cabin in the woods to write a novel, and not come back until it’s finished. 2. The bimodal approach. This prioritizes deep work above everything else. You could set a 4-6 hour block each day for deep work, for example, where you lock yourself in your office, similar to the monastic approach. However, once that block is over, you’re free to do everything else that might be on your plate. 3. The rhythmic approach. This chunks down your work into time blocks, similar to the Pomodoro technique , and uses a calendar to track your progress. For example you’d plan your week ahead of time and put 10 blocks of 90 minutes on your calendar, and make working with timed blocks a habit. 4. The journalistic approach. If you have a busy daily routine, this works well. What you do is to simply dedicate any, unexpected free time to deep work. Being intentional about your deep work approach requires monitoring how you spend your time, so one of your first steps in making this decision should be to track your habits . You’ll quickly be able to separate productive from unproductive time and spot patterns. Lesson 2: Make the most of unproductive time with productive meditation. This is an idea that Cal Newport calls it productive meditation, and it comes down to using your “unproductive” time to do deep thinking. For example, if you’re taking the subway to work each morning, and know you have 30 minutes to and from work, in which you can’t do much else, use this time to try solving a complex problem in your mind. Commuting, showering, household chores, buying groceries and taking a walk (with or without your dog) are all great opportunities to think. The next time you have some “down time”, in which you do menial tasks, latch on to a big problem, try to see sub-problems of it, break it down and solve it. Lesson 3: Quit work at the same time each day, and stick to it. Cal has a habit of ending his work day at 5:30 PM, every day. No emails, no internet, no to-do lists, no computer after that. He describes his practice in this 7-year old blog post , and while his systems evolve, planning both work and free time have remained a constant factor. Your brain needs some space each night to wind down, and it won’t get that if you have an as- much-as-possible work ethic. Limit yourself by quitting work and not checking email, or, even better, shutting down your computer, at the same time each day. This way, you’ll have a fixed slot of free time every day to recuperate. Your mind will keep working below the surface , but you won’t burn yourself out by working around the clock.
For Book DetailOne Sentence-Summary: Rich Dad Poor Dad tells the story of a boy with two fathers, one rich, one poor, to help you develop the mindset and financial knowledge you need to build a life of wealth and freedom. Favorite quote from the author: “The main reason that over 90 percent of the American public struggles financially is because they play not to lose.” Rich Dad Poor Dad is a modern classic of personal finance and favorite finance book of all time. Although the book is controversial and often takes criticism, people still believe it’s worth reading. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have sold over 32 million copies. Robert Kiyosaki tells the story of his two Dad’s in his childhood. His own father and the father of his best friend. While he speaks affectionately of both, they were very different when it came to dealing with finances. Rich Dad Poor Dad Summary Many of us are too afraid of being branded as a weirdo, in order to exit the rat race . We let the two main emotions everyone has around money dominate our decisions: fear and greed. That’s why we still stick to the outdated mantra “Go to school, go to college, get a job, play it safe.” when in reality no job is safe any more . For example, when you get a raise at your job, a wise choice would be to invest the extra money. Put it into something that builds wealth like stocks or bonds, which has risk, but a lot of potential. Maybe you find a good fund with a 60% chance to double your money within a year, but a 40% chance of losing it all. However, most likely your fear of losing the money altogether will keep you from doing so. But when your greed takes over, you might then spend the extra money on an improved lifestyle. You might buy a fancy new car, and the payments eat up the money, for instance. This way you’re almost certain to lose 100%. This already gives you a glimpse of how important it is to educate yourself financially. Since we receive no financial education in school or college, sadly, this is entirely up to you. Look around and you’ll see plenty of financially ignorant people in your own life. Just take a look at local politicians. Is their city in debt? Your mayor might be great, but unfortunately, he probably doesn’t know how to deal with money. For the same reason 38% of Americans don’t save anything for their retirement. The only way for you to counteract this is to start now. Today is the youngest you’ll ever be, so take a close look at what you can and can’t afford. This way you’ll be able to set realistic financial goals, even if it means waiting for that shiny new BMW. Next, adopt the mindset of “work to learn” instead of “work to earn”. Take a job in a field you have no clue about, such as sales, customer service or communications, to develop new skills – you never know what they might be good for . Set aside 5% of your income each month to buy books, courses and attend seminars on personal finance to start building your financial IQ. The first step toward building wealth lies in the mindset of managing risks instead of avoiding them. Also, learn about investments to understand that it’s better to not play it safe because you’ll miss big potential rewards. Don’t start big, just set aside a small amount, like $1,000 or even $100, and invest it in stocks, bonds, or even tax lien certificates . Treat the money as if it’s gone forever and you’ll worry less about losing it. As soon as you start your journey towards wealth, you’ll realize that it’ll be quite a long one. That’s why it’s important to stay motivated. Kiyosaki suggests creating an “I want” and an “I don’t want” list. Include items like: “I want to retire at age 50.” or “I don’t want to end up like my broke uncle.” Another idea is to pay yourself first each month. Take the portion of your salary you want to spend on stocks or your financial education, invest it, and pay your bills afterward. It’ll create pressure to be creative in making money and show you what you can afford. Use your money to acquire assets instead of liabilities. Assets are stocks, bonds, real estate that you rent out, royalties (for example from music ) and anything that generates money and increases in value over time. Liabilities can be cars with monthly payments, a house with a mortgage, and of course debt. Anything that takes money out of your pocket each month is a liability. There’s no rush. Just stay at your full time job and “mind your own business”. In this case, your job is what pays the bills and your business is what makes you wealthy. Build your business on the side and use it to invest in assets until your assets eventually become the main source of your income. You can even file a corporation to be taxed only after you’ve earned and invested, instead of being taxed before investing as an employee and trying to live off what’s left. The most important thing is that you start today. You are your own biggest asset, so the first thing you should put some money into is yourself.
For Book DetailOne Sentence-Summary: The Daily Stoic is a year-long compilation of short, daily meditations from ancient Stoic philosophers like Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, and others, teaching you equanimity, resilience, and perseverance via the three Stoic disciplines of perception, action, and will. Favorite quote from the author: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the thingsI can, and the wisdom to know the diffrence.” Stoicism is a popular philosophical concept that was born in Ancient Rome and Greece. Today, thinkers and researchers still find it relevant as it delivers valuable life wisdom. The stoic philosophy is simple in nature, but humans are complex beings that often overcomplicate things. Perhaps that is why we find it so difficult to implement. The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday is a great way to start learning about this philosophy and applying it in your own life. The book has 366 short readings that will help you find happiness in your day-to-day struggles—and eventually even in the most challenging situations. Here are the three most important lessons from the book that map the core principles of stoicism: 1. Perception gives course to your thoughts, actions, and ultimately everything you do. 2. We can change the course of our life by actively managing our actions and responses. 3. Will is the internal power we as humans possess and use to nurture hope. Philosophy is a large subject, so studying it may take much more than reading a summary about Stoics. However, these three core lessons might take you one step closer to understanding what a life lived in virtue means. Lesson 1: As humans, we must learn to control our perceptions about the world if we want to live purposefully. Stoicism is a philosophy that teaches us how to control our emotions and maintain emotional balance in all things. It is the practice of being able to achieve this state of emotional balance by training the mind to be objective, calm, and rational. The three core principles of stoicism are perception, action and will. We must learn how to master perception first by understanding that we can never control anything external to ourselves. All we can do is control our thoughts, actions and reactions. By mastering these things, we can achieve a greater level of happiness and satisfaction in life. You can’t control what happens to you, but you can control how you react to it by using your perceptions to guide your actions. For example, imagine someone steals your prepacked meal from the common fridge at the workplace. You may be upset but that does not mean you have to be angry or spend all day complaining about it. Instead, you can choose how to react appropriately and objectively. Either let it go or place a formal complaint, but never worry without a purpose. Lesson 2: Work on controlling your actions, instead of letting them control you. Mastering a skill is not an easy feat, but learning about the stoic philosophy will help you become much calmer, centered, and aware of your actions. Then, you’ll be able to focus on objective perceptions, leave your biases behind, and act accordingly. Action is a core component of Stoicism after perception is formed. This is because if your perception is in control, you are the one who is acting. But if your action is in control, then it’s like you are being acted upon. You should always be the actor behind every step of your life. Still, not every perception requires an action. What really should matter is the one thing that you can actively change. A perception remains just that without action. Therefore, to master the skill of being a stoic, you must first analyze your thoughts. Note if they’re subjective and try to move objectively through the chain of thought. Then, dismiss them if you cannot find a way to change the situation. Naturally, there’s only so much you can act upon. If someone says something mean about you, you’ll first form a perception about it. You’ll be angry, indifferent, or anything in between. Now, is there anything you can do about it? No – so there’s no need to act upon that. And there you have it – the Stoic philosophy applied. Lesson 3: Will sticks with us when everything else fades. The third core concept of the Stoic philosophy is will. So far, we’ve explored how perception must be interpreted, changed, and how action is a result of it. Action is not always necessary, and it’s a powerful act that can change our life. Will is an inner power that gets us through life’s bumpy rides. It’s the act of trying more or keeping hope alive, or pushing through hardship when life feels impossible. It also helps us see past the obstacle and build new, better ways from whatever sour lemons we’ve been thrown. Will is often interpreted as an unbreakable ambition to make the impossible possible. While doing such things indeed comes from our inner force, stoics find will to be more about a sense of humility, resilience, and acceptance. Under the toughest hardships that life prepares for each and every one of us, it is will that helps us go through. Both types of will are within us, but in times of true heartbreak, pain, and hurt from within, the silent will is our friend. When life sends us obstacles and challenges to bypass and grow stronger, ambitious will can take us farther. As humans, we have to discover these powers within ourselves and learn to harness them. The Daily Stoic Review The Daily Stoic delves into the three most important concepts of stoicism by studying 366 meditations from ancient renewed thinkers . The book addresses the natural thinking process of humans by pointing out areas of improvement that we can work on through a fresher perspective, acts of change, and the power of will. While highlighting the main concepts of this philosophy, the author proves a core point of thought – we can improve our life right away, starting from the way we think. A good life is all about perception, and material things rarely bring long-lasting happiness. Continuous improvement is the key to achieving wisdom.
For Book DetailOne Sentence-Summary: Ikigai explains how you can live a longer and happier life by having a purpose, eating healthy, and not retiring. Favorite quote from the author: “Essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.” Do you want to live a long life? How about a happy one? What if you could have both? The secret to a long life actually comes from finding joy and purpose every day. Most of us think of these ideals as mere dreams that only a select few achieve. The people of Japan, however, have practiced ikigai, their “reason to live,” for centuries. It helps them live longer, more joyful lives. This practice is what makes Japan part of the five Blue Zones of the world where people live the longest. Many people find themselves trapped in the never-ending need to do everything faster, better, and harder. In contrast, discovering your ikigai will help you slow down and enjoy life more. Identifying your life’s purpose will also help you live longer. Hector Puigcerver, author of Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life , is a native European who moved to Japan in 2004 and became enamored with Japanese culture. In this book, he breaks down how we can use ikigai to live better. These are 3 favorite lessons from his work: 1. Having a purpose is a vital component of longevity and happiness. 2. If you want to live a long life, follow the advice of some of the oldest people in the world. 3. To stay healthy throughout your life, make sure that you are moving enough. Lesson 1: If you want to be happy and live longer, discover your ikigai – a reason to wake up in the morning. Okinawa, Japan is home to some of the longest-living people in the world. Their secret is ikigai. The Japanese word has two characters: ‘iki’ which means life, and ‘gai,’ or value. Finding your ikigai can be as simple as asking four basic questions: 1. What are your strengths? Think of what you do better than everyone else. 2. What does the world need? Imagine something you see that the world lacks. 3. What are your passions? Picture the things that you could do all day without stopping. 4. What can you earn a living doing? You have to make money from your craft, so how can you do that? Your ikigai might take you a short time to discover, or it could take much longer. Once you find it, however, you may realize that you never want or need to retire. Aside from being made up by the Germans , retirement is associated with an increased risk for many health problems . Searching your ikigai is the perfect way to never retire and thus avoid deteriorating faster in your old age. However, your ikigai doesn’t have to be connected to your job. Your purpose may come from a hobby or your family relationships. Do whatever you find gets you up in the morning, just make sure that you never give it up. Okinawans forced into retirement continue to stay active with their hobbies and in their community, which helps them live longer. Research has shown that the elderly people of Okinawa have remarkably lower rates of dementia and heart disease as a result of their purpose and activity level. Lesson 2: Okinawan elders know a thing or two about well-being, and we should follow their advice if we want to live as long as they do. Seniors have so much wisdom to share with the world from their years of experience. Those of us that are young might sometimes pretend like we know everything, but we should learn a thing or two about life from the generations before us. One tip from Okinawan centenarians is to worry as little as possible . It helps to slow down, take your time, and realize that you don’t have to have it all figured out right away. Anxiety has a myriad of negative health effects . Focus on enjoying life for what you have, instead of being afraid of what might go wrong. A great way to do this is to connect with everyone around you, even strangers. Okinawan old-timers suggest smiling and having an open-heart towards everybody you meet. Your friendliness will help you develop many friendships throughout life. Okinawan elders recommend maintaining those relationships as well. When you become a grandparent your replacement of worry with friends may also help your grandchildren visit more often. Japanese centenarians also endorse eating healthy, waking up early, and making sure you have enough movement throughout your day. Lesson 3: A key component of staying healthy is to keep moving throughout the day, no matter how little. Residents of Okinawa suggest that you don’t always need to play a sport or go running to be healthy. Longevity and health are more about finding simple, consistent ways to move more through the day. Intensity may deter consistency, so Okinawans strive for simplicity in their forms of exercise. A walk around the neighborhood, day in the garden, or singing karaoke are just a few simple ways they maintain movement frequently. Radio Taiso, a Japanese radio show, has helped Okinawans exercise for years. Large groups of Japanese tune into the station and listen to directions on how to exercise. In the present day, most watch online or on the television, but the show still continues throughout the day in Japan. With simple exercises, like lifting your arms above your head and bringing them down again, Radio Taiso is an easy to repeat form of exercise for the Japanese. Whether you find an exercise program like that or not, always make time for small, consistent amounts of movement in your day. Ikigai is an incredible concept that can benefit many people. Whether you feel stuck in your job, want to live longer, or just desire a deeper level of happiness and meaning, finding your reason to live will help you.
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