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True and False Magic
A Tools Workbook
by Phil Stutz
I love Phil Stutz. If you’ve been following along, you know he’s my Yoda, my spiritual father, and one of the people who has most profoundly shaped my life and work over the last decade. This is the fourth Note I’ve created on one of his books, and like Lessons for Living, reading it felt like sitting in a coaching session with him. In True and False Magic, Phil gives us a practical workbook on how to access our infinite potential by leaving the Safety Zone, becoming a conduit for higher forces, and doing the hard thing even when every part of us wants to avoid it. The message is pure Phil: your potential exists outside your comfort zone, action drives creativity, and the only way to build a life of real power is to keep the promises you make to yourself. Big Ideas we explore include Your Infinite Potential, Higher Forces, The Safety Zone, Action Drives Creativity, and You Must… Keep promises to yourself.
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Wisdom Takes Work
Learn. Apply. Repeat.
by Ryan Holiday
This is the fourth book in Ryan Holiday’s Stoic Virtue Series, following Courage Is Calling, Discipline Is Destiny, and Right Thing Right Now, and it delivers what the title promises: wisdom is not something you possess once and for all, it is a practice of learning, applying, and repeating over the course of a life. Ryan brings together stories of readers, writers, philosophers, athletes, generals, and statesmen to show that wisdom requires study, reflection, physical discipline, humility, and the willingness to make mistakes without being broken by them. He reminds us that we can talk to the dead through books, build a second brain by capturing what we learn, strengthen the mind through the body, and become wiser not by pretending to know everything but by staying teachable and doing the work. Big Ideas we explore include Talk to the Dead, Create a Second Brain, A Healthy Mind in a Healthy Body, Make Mistakes, and Exemplary Leadership.
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Hidden Potential
The Science of Achieving Greater Things
by Adam Grant
Adam Grant is one of THE most respected and popular thinkers/authors/writers in the world. In Hidden Potential, he challenges the common belief that greatness is mostly born rather than made and shows how we can all rise to achieve greater things. Instead of obsessing over natural talent, Grant focuses on the often overlooked skills of character that help us get better at getting better. Along the way, he shows why imperfectionists often outperform perfectionists, how deliberate play can transform the daily grind of practice, why progress sometimes requires backing up before moving forward, and how we can redefine success around growth and character rather than status and accolades. Big Ideas we explore include Skills of Character, The Imperfectionists, Deliberate Play, Backing Up to Move Forward, and Redefine Success.
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On the Meaning of Life
by Will Durant
Will Durant is one of the great philosopher-historians of the twentieth century, and in this short but powerful book he tackles the ultimate question: What gives life meaning? After being confronted by a man who said he would end his life unless Durant could give him a reason to keep living, Durant realized he wasn’t satisfied with his own answer. So he wrote to one hundred of the most respected thinkers of his era, asking them what gives their lives purpose, energy, and fulfillment. The result is a fascinating collection of reflections from figures like H.L. Mencken, Vilhjalmur Stefansson, and Mohandas Gandhi, followed by Durant’s own deeply personal response. The answers vary, but they converge around work, service, love, and the pursuit of something larger than ourselves as the foundations of a life worth living. Big Ideas we explore include The Letter, H.L. Mencken on laying eggs, Stefansson on carnivore, Gandhi on battling evil, and Durant answers his own questions.
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Beyond Belief
The Science-Backed Way to Stop Limiting Yourself and Achieve Extraordinary Results
by Nir Eyal
Nir Eyal is one of the leading thinkers exploring the intersection of psychology, behavior design, and human potential. He’s the author of Hooked and Indistractable and has spent years studying why we do what we do and how we can regain control of our behavior. In Beyond Belief, he turns his attention to one of the most powerful forces shaping our lives: the beliefs that quietly determine what we think is possible. The core idea is simple: motivation doesn’t just come from goals or rewards. It comes from belief. When we believe our actions will lead to meaningful results, we persist longer, see more opportunities, and act with greater agency. Drawing on research from psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral science, Nir shows how to replace limiting beliefs with practical ones that expand possibility, build resilience, and help us turn challenges into fuel for growth. Big Ideas we explore include The Motivation Triangle, The Three Powers, A New OS, Circle of False Promise, and Extraordinary Lives.
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Positivity
Top-Notch Research Reveals the 3-to-1 Ratio That Will Change Your Life
In Positivity, Barbara Fredrickson presents the research behind her broaden-and-build theory and the now-famous 3-to-1 positivity ratio that separates languishing from flourishing. This is not about toxic positivity or denying life’s pain, but about cultivating enough genuine positive emotion to build resilience, creativity, connection, and purpose. Drawing from decades of affective science, she shows how small daily emotional shifts compound into greater well-being, stronger relationships, and a life that both feels good and does good. Big Ideas we explore include Languish or Flourish, Broaden and Build, The 10 Positive Emotions, Buoyancy, and Your Future Self.
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Your Future Self
How to Make Tomorrow Better Today
Hal Hershfield’s Your Future Self explores the science of “future self-continuity” and shows that many of our worst decisions happen when we treat our future selves like strangers. Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience and behavioral research, he demonstrates that when we strengthen the connection between who we are today and who we’ll become tomorrow, we save more, procrastinate less, make healthier choices, and live with greater intention. The core idea is simple but profound: how you imagine your future changes how you behave in the present. Big Ideas we explore include Current You & Future You, Caterpillars, Conquering Procrastination, Pre-Commitments, and Time Traveling.
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The Top Five Regrets of the Dying
A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing
by Bronnie Ware
Bronnie Ware spent years caring for people in the final weeks of their lives and had the courage to ask them what mattered most. The answer became The Top Five Regrets of the Dying. The most common regret was not living a life true to oneself, followed by working too hard, not expressing feelings, losing touch with friends, and not allowing more happiness. This memoir weaves her own Hero’s Journey with bedside wisdom that forces us to confront death, clarify our values, and choose differently while we still can. Big Ideas we explore include On Regret, On Death, The #1 Regret, Purpose, and Happiness, each inviting you to live with courage, presence, and far fewer regrets.
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Heroes of History
A Brief History of Civilization from Ancient Times to the Dawn of the Modern Age
by Will Durant
I can’t quite believe I made it this far without reading Will Durant. I knew the famous line about excellence being a habit was his poetic paraphrase, not Aristotle’s, but I had never actually sat with his work until that 101 books in 101 days stretch. Heroes of History made me fall in love with the man. Written in his mid-nineties after more than sixty years mastering his craft, this book is Durant the philosopher writing history, inviting us into what he calls a “Country of the Mind” where the great souls of civilization still live and teach. We meet Confucius and his call to reform the world by cultivating the self, Pericles and the Golden Age of Athens with both its brilliance and its shadows, Jesus as the greatest spiritual revolutionist, and Michelangelo as a testament to disciplined creative labor. Big Ideas we explore include Meet Your Heroic Guide, Confucius, Pericles, Jesus, and Michelangelo, each reminding us that history is philosophy teaching by example, and that leadership begins with the mastery of your own character.
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Transcend
The New Science of Self-Actualization
As I mentioned in my Note on Rise Above, I’m a very big fan of Scott Barry Kaufman, and Transcend shows exactly why. In this book, Scott answers Abraham Maslow’s late-life hope that someone would carry his work forward, and he does it with love, rigor, and a modern scientific lens that feels like Maslow 2.0. The centerpiece is a brilliant upgrade to the famous hierarchy of needs: ditch the pyramid and picture a sailboat, with a secure hull (Safety, Connection, Self-Esteem) and open sails (Exploration, Love, Purpose), dynamically integrated as you move through life’s oceans. Scott then tests Maslow’s theory, distills the most evidence-backed characteristics of self-actualization, and takes us beyond self-actualization to what he calls healthy transcendence: integrating your whole self in service of cultivating the good society. Big Ideas we explore include A New Metaphor (Pyramid to Sailboat), Self-Actualization (10 characteristics), Exploration (adversity as fuel), Purpose (live it wisely), and Transcendence (a Heroic north star).
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Rise Above
Overcome a Victim Mindset, Empower Yourself, and Realize Your Full Potential
I’m a VERY big fan of Scott Barry Kaufman, and this book only deepened that admiration. Scott is one of the most cited cognitive psychologists in the world, a professor at Columbia University, and a leading voice on intelligence and human potential, but what strikes me most is his depth of wisdom and humanity. In Rise Above, he takes on sensitive topics like shame, trauma, victimhood, and trigger culture with nuance and scientific rigor, showing us how to shift from toxic passivity and toxic agency to grounded empowerment. Drawing from ACT, Maslow, character strengths research, and his own astonishingly Heroic story, he makes the case that life is hard, uncertainty is inevitable, and no one is coming to save you, and that is precisely where your power begins. Big Ideas we explore include Meet Your Guide, WARNING: You Might Have a Case of Life, The #1 Emotional Skill (Life-Acceptance), Healthy Selfishness, and Find the Light Within (Harness Your Strengths).
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The Way of Excellence
A Guide to True Greatness and Deep Satisfaction in a Chaotic World
I started reading Brad Stulberg’s The Way of Excellence at 4:30 a.m. and finished it the same morning, and I was basically writing “WOW!” in the margins the whole time. In a world of shallow distraction and performance busyness, Brad gives us a clear, grounded path to “true greatness and deep satisfaction” by defining excellence as Mastery + Mattering, then walking us through the biological, psychological, and philosophical foundations that make excellence feel so alive when we create it. It’s not perfectionism, optimization, or obsession, it’s caring deeply, showing up with integrity, enjoying the climb, and stacking consistent reps for heroic decades. Big Ideas we explore include What Is Excellence? (Mastery + Mattering), the Foundations (biological, psychological, philosophical), the courage to Care, Goals (process over outcomes), and Consistency (a superpower).
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Dopamine Nation
Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence
I got this book years ago when it first came out, and I went hunting for it again after Jonathan Haidt quoted its unforgettable line in The Anxious Generation: “The smartphone is the modern-day hypodermic needle, delivering digital dopamine 24/7 for a wired generation.” Anna Lembke, the medical director of Stanford Addiction Medicine, delivers a clear, compassionate, deeply practical look at how pleasure and pain work in the brain, why abundance is frying our reward systems, and what we can do about it. Her core message is simple and sobering: every pleasure has a cost, repeated indulgence raises our dopamine set point, and we become “cacti in the rain forest,” drowning in stimulation while becoming more sensitive to pain and less capable of real joy. The antidote is not vague willpower, it’s wise constraints, strategic “self-binding,” dopamine fasting to restore balance, and the courage to tell the truth about what we’re doing and why. Big Ideas we explore include The Pleasure-Pain Balance, Dopamine Fasting (D-O-P-A-M-I-N-E), Self-Binding (space, time, meaning), Radical Honesty, and Prosocial Shame.
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The Prism
Seven Steps to Heal Your Past and Transform Your Future
by Laura Day
This is the first Note I’ve created on one of Laura Day’s books, although it’s one of three of hers I’ve now read. To be very direct, I tend to have an allergy to “psychics.” Then Alexandra told me I would really love Laura’s take on the ego and that I should read this one. I follow orders from my Boss, so I grabbed the book, flipped straight to the chapter on “Ego,” and was instantly hooked. Laura argues that the ego is not the enemy, a fragile ego is. A healthy, integrated ego is the structure that allows us to channel energy, heal our past, and consciously create our future. In The Prism, she walks us through seven Ego Centers, often described as chakras, and shows how strengthening them builds the strength, flexibility, and resilience required to manifest what we truly want. It’s spiritual, yes, but deeply practical and shockingly grounded. If you’ve ever wrestled with the role of ego in growth, purpose, and transformation, this book will challenge and empower you. Big Ideas we explore include Be the Hero of Your Own Story, The Ego Is Not the Enemy, The Seven Ego Centers, The Chakras in Practice, and A Little-Known Law, You Can’t Cheat.
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Primal Intelligence
You Are Smarter Than You Think
Angus Fletcher opens this book by taking us inside classified training he helped design for the most elite Special Operations forces in the U.S. Army to test a radical thesis: we’ve misdefined intelligence. Fletcher is a professor of story science at Ohio State and his work has been called "life-changing" by Brené Brown and "mind-blowing" by Malcolm Gladwell, but what makes this book so compelling is how practical and real it is. He argues that intelligence is not just logic, data, or IQ, it’s primal. It’s intuition that detects the exceptional, imagination that defines a clear strategy, emotion that acts as a compass for growth, and commonsense that helps you act wisely under uncertainty. This was one of my Top 5 books in my 101 books in 101 days sprint because it challenges how we think about thinking and gives us a concrete way to perform better when it matters most. Big Ideas we explore include The Four Powers, Intuition as noticing the exceptional, Imagination and your ONE Thing, Emotion as fuel and guidance, and Commonsense as Now +1.
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Mind Magic
The Neuroscience of Manifestation and How It Changes Everything
James Doty was a clinical professor of neurosurgery at Stanford and the founder of CCARE, the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education. It breaks my heart to write that in the past tense. I’m not typically a fan of the word “manifesting,” but this is the book that changed my mind because Doty grounds the best of that world in modern neuroscience and throws away the pseudoscience. He shows us that the real secret isn’t about the universe, it’s about agency, attention, and the power of your own mind. Manifesting, properly understood, means clarifying an intention, embedding it in the subconscious, and aligning your focus, emotion, and behavior so your brain stays oriented toward what matters most. Big Ideas we explore include the real secret (agency), reclaiming your power to focus, clarifying what you truly want, removing the inner obstacles of fear and self-doubt, and the ultimate superpower that makes it all work: FOCUS.
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On Character
Choices That Define a Life
by General (Ret.) Stanley McChrystal
I read this book the day after I read Admiral William H. McRaven’s Conquering Crisis. Admiral McRaven and General Stanley McChrystal are two of my favorite leaders and authors, and they both share the same rare combination of real world gravitas and practical wisdom you can apply immediately. This is the second Note I’ve created on one of General McChrystal’s books, and On Character is exactly what the subtitle promises, a collection of sharp, thoughtful essays on the choices that define a life, organized into three parts: Conviction, Discipline, and Character. McChrystal gives us a simple equation that is as elegant as it is demanding, Character = Convictions x Discipline, meaning if you lack either deeply held beliefs or the discipline to live up to them, the product is zero. Big Ideas we explore include character as convictions multiplied by discipline, your life take two, obsession as the price of the exceptional, what a hero really is, and closing the gap with the final roll call.
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Conquering Crisis
Ten Lessons to Learn Before You Need Them
Admiral William H. McRaven is one of my Heroes. I admire so much about him, his decades of service to protect our freedoms, his embodiment of the ideals I aspire to embody, and the clarity of his thinking and writing. This is the fifth Note I’ve created on one of his books, and Conquering Crisis might be the most practically valuable yet because it’s a clear playbook for leading when it matters most. McRaven walks us through the five phases of a crisis (assess, report, contain, shape, manage) and then gives us ten lessons to learn before we need them. Big Ideas we explore include the five phases and ten lessons, “I own this!” extreme ownership, entropy and decisive action, the dynamic balance of speed and preparation, and morale as a leadership superpower.
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Supercommunicators
How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection
Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and one of the very best storytellers in the world when it comes to translating science into practical tools. This is the third Note I’ve created on one of his great books, and Supercommunicators might be his most important yet because it’s all about how to unlock the secret language of connection. Charles shows us that in every moment we’re actually having one of three conversations, practical (What’s this really about?), emotional (How do we feel?), or social (Who are we?), and the best communicators know how to match what the other person truly needs, to be helped, hugged, or heard. Big Ideas we explore include the three conversations, the four rules for meaningful connection, looping to understand as the #1 technique, how to approach tough conversations, and the ultimate rule beneath it all: LOVE.
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How Life Imitates Chess
Making the Right Moves, from the Board to the Boardroom
Garry Kasparov is one of the greatest chess players of all time, and as you know if you’ve been following along, chess has become a big part of life in the Johnson household. So I loved reading this book on one of our tournament weekends. Garry uses the game as a powerful mirror for life, showing us how mastery is built through discipline, resilience, and the willingness to step outside our comfort zone again and again. He reminds us that opportunities come dressed in overalls, that the inner game determines everything under pressure, and that the fastest way to improve is to attack our weakest points head-on. Big Ideas we explore include opportunities in overalls, mastering the inner game, pushing yourself to discover your potential, improving fastest by engaging your weaknesses, and seeing the whole board so you can win the Ultimate Game.
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The Forever Strong Playbook
A Six-Week, Science-Based Plan to Sharpen Your Mind, Strengthen Your Body, and Get Healthy at Any Age
Dr. Gabrielle Lyon is one of my favorite people on the planet, and one of the most important voices in muscle-centric health and longevity. This is the practical playbook that brings her Forever Strong philosophy to life. Yes, she doubles down on the science of skeletal muscle and protein as the foundation of vitality, but what really struck me was how much this book starts with identity and mindset. Before we talk food or training, we talk ethos. Big Ideas we explore include the Forever Strong ethos, muscle-centric longevity, how to think (clarity, ownership, discipline), how to eat (protein-forward simplicity), how to move (progressive strength and consistency), and the manifesto that seals the commitment.
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The Power of Regret
How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward
Dan Pink is an extraordinary storyteller and science synthesizer, and this is the fourth Philosopher’s Note we’ve created on his work, following Drive, When, and To Sell Is Human. In The Power of Regret, Pink dismantles the “no regrets” myth and shows how regret, handled well, can sharpen decisions, elevate performance, and deepen meaning. Big Ideas include the science and value of regret, the four core regrets (foundation, boldness, moral, connection), self-compassion (kindness, common humanity, mindfulness), what to do with regrets through practical repair and perspective tools, and redemption as the ultimate narrative.
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How to Know a Person
The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen
by David Brooks
David Brooks is one of America’s most insightful writers and commentators, and this is the third Philosopher’s Note we’ve created on one of his books, following The Road to Character and The Second Mountain. In How to Know a Person, Brooks becomes obsessed with the foundational social skill that shapes the quality of our lives and communities: the ability to truly see someone else, and help them feel seen in return. Big Ideas we explore include Illuminators vs. Diminishers, how suffering shapes us, empathy as a trainable art, crafting a coherent life story, and what we really see when we look at others. This is a profound invitation to become the kind of person who brings out the light in everyone you meet.
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Think Big to Win Big
The Bigger You Believe, The Bigger You Achieve
This is the eighth book in Darrin Donnelly’s Sports for the Soul series and the eighth Philosopher’s Note I’ve created on his work, and it delivers exactly what I’ve come to expect from him: a fun, fast-moving sports story packed with practical life wisdom. In Think Big to Win Big, a struggling sportswriter learns from a big-vision coach that top achievers separate themselves by the size of their thinking, the boldness of their goals, and their ability to focus on the next play. The message is clear: you live up to your expectations, so raise them. Think bigger, act with intensity in small increments, rebound quickly when you lose, and keep setting new goals that stretch you toward your potential. Big Ideas we explore include Big Thinkers, The Magic of Thinking Big, :05, When You Lose, and Your Next Big Goal.
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The Five Love Languages
How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate
Gary Chapman’s classic book offers a simple, practical framework for building a loving, lasting partnership after the initial “in love” high fades. The core idea? You and your partner often “speak” different love languages, so even sincere effort can miss the mark unless you learn what fills your partner’s emotional love tank. We explore the shift from falling in love to real love, the Five Love Languages (Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, Physical Touch), plus the practical discipline of choosing love through consistent, focused attention, encouragement, and everyday behaviors that make deposits in the relationship bank account.
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The Next Conversation
Argue Less, Talk More
Jefferson Fisher is a trial lawyer, writer, and speaker who’s helped millions of people get better at communicating in everyday arguments and difficult conversations. This is one of the most practical, immediately useful communication books I’ve ever read. Fisher boils it down to a simple operating system you can run in real time: align with your values, regulate your nervous system before you respond, speak with assertive confidence, and aim for connection, not victory. Big Ideas we explore include Your Values (who are you at your best?), Rule #1 (say it with control), Rule #2 (say it with confidence), Rule #3 (say it to connect), and the 47-Seconds (the essence distilled).
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The Power of Showing Up
How Parental Presence Shapes Who Our Kids Become and How Their Brains Get Wired
by Dan Siegel
Dan Siegel is a Harvard-trained psychiatrist and one of the world’s leading voices on relationships, mindfulness, and parenting. In The Power of Showing Up, he and Tina Payne Bryson share the essence of what helps kids thrive: you do not need to be perfect, you need to show up. Backed by the science of secure attachment, they give you a simple, practical framework for what “showing up” looks like in real life, especially when things get messy. Big Ideas we explore include Imperfect Parents, The Four S’s, What Makes a Good Parent?, Relational Trust Funds, and History Is Not Destiny.
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Be Your Future Self Now
The Science of Intentional Transformation
Joseph Campbell once said that when you find an author who grabs you, you should read everything they’ve ever written. That’s exactly what happened for me with Ben Hardy. I’d read 10x Is Easier Than 2x and parts of The Gap and the Gain, but The Science of Scaling flipped the switch, and I went all in, joined his platform, became text buddies, and tore through every book he’s written. Ben is beyond the real deal, a rare blend of prolific craft, strategic clarity, and lived integrity. In Be Your Future Self Now, he distills cutting-edge research on prospection and Future Self into a practical operating system for intentional transformation. The punchline is simple and demanding: your future drives your present, hope gives your life meaning, and your job is to clarify what matters now, eliminate lesser goals, and ship imperfect work until your Future Self stops being a concept and becomes a fact. Big Ideas we explore include Threat #1, Truth #1, Step #1, Step #7, and The Most Important Thing.
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The First Rule of Mastery
Stop Worrying about What People Think of You
My dear friend Rear Admiral Daryle D. Cardone told me I needed to get this book. I follow orders from the Admiral, so I got it, loved it, and here we are. Michael Gervais is one of the most respected peak performance psychologists in the world, and as Angela Duckworth says, he brings the perfect blend of straight talk, science, and practical advice to the question that quietly constricts so many lives: why do you care so much about what other people think, and what do you do about it? The answer starts with naming the invisible force that limits your potential: FOPO, the Fear Of People’s Opinions. This book is a powerful reminder that the antidote to FOPO is not pretending you do not care, it’s caring deeply about others while trusting yourself enough to live in alignment with your purpose, then building a life that is bigger than your need for approval. Big Ideas we explore include FOPO, Your Self-Worth, The Antidote to FOPO, Bigger Than You, and What Will You Regret?
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Right Thing Right Now
Good Values. Good Character. Good Deeds.
by Ryan Holiday
This is the third book in Ryan Holiday’s four-part “Stoic Virtue Series.” We’ve already covered the first two, Courage Is Calling and Discipline Is Destiny, and we’ll cover the fourth soon, Wisdom Takes Work. As you know if you’ve been following along, I absolutely love Ryan Holiday. He’s an incredible writer whose work consistently challenges us to live with more virtue, courage, and love. This is the seventh book I’ve featured so far, and Right Thing Right Now may be his most urgent and practical yet. In it, Ryan reminds us that the Stoics weren’t interested in philosophy as theory, they were interested in philosophy as a way of being, doing, and serving. Virtue, or arete, is excellence in action, and justice, the highest virtue, is ultimately love lived through good character and good deeds. If you want a powerful, no-excuses call to realize your potential, master your craft, activate your Soul Force, and pay forward the goodness you’ve received, I highly recommend this book. Big Ideas we explore include The Ultimate Virtue, Realize Your Potential, Competence Is the Highest Form of Compassion, Satyagraha, and Pay It Forward Today.
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The Hero's Journey
Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work
Campbell is one of my heroes. A portrait of him passionately teaching hangs on my wall and inspires me daily as I strive to integrate ancient wisdom, modern science, and practical tools to help YOU live Heroically in the modern world. This is the fifth Note I’ve created on one of his books, and if you want to know why I love this man and his wisdom as much as I do, check out my other Notes on his work. As per the subtitle, The Hero’s Journey is “Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work,” and it’s essentially a powerful (auto)biographical tour through the life of the mythologist who mapped the universal adventure of the soul. Campbell dedicated himself to bridging East and West, science and religion, mind and body, and showing us that the Hero’s Journey is not just a story structure, it’s a call to become who we are capable of being. If you’re ready to answer your own call to adventure and live with more courage, love, and purpose, I highly recommend this book. Big Ideas we explore include The Call to Adventure, Campbell’s Path to Mastery, Relationships, Your Ego, and The Goats & The Tiger.
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The Let Them Theory
A Life-Changing Tool That Millions of People Can't Stop Talking About
by Mel Robbins
I’m a HUGE fan of Mel Robbins. So are MILLIONS of other people. This is the third Note I’ve created on one of her books, and The Let Them Theory lives up to its subtitle as “A Life-Changing Tool That Millions of People Can’t Stop Talking About.” Mel has a rare gift for distilling ancient wisdom and modern psychology into practical, unforgettable tools. The core of the book comes down to two powerful words: Let Them. If other people are doing what they do, thinking what they think, choosing what they choose, let them. Then comes the second half of the equation, and the real source of your power: Let Me. Let Me choose my response. It’s Stoicism, Radical Acceptance, and common sense wrapped into a tool you can use immediately to make your life easier and your relationships better. Big Ideas we explore include Two Powerful Words, A tool to implement wisdom, a way to unlock your power (and influence) and a love note to you from Mel and me.
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The Science of Scaling
Grow Your Business Bigger and Faster Than You Think Possible
by Dr. Benjamin Hardy and Blake Erickson
I got this book on the recommendation of a friend who’s a world-class branding expert supporting Heroic with how we communicate what we do. I started reading it while crafting our strategy for the next phase of Heroic and quickly realized this was not just another business book, it was an operating system. In The Science of Scaling, Dr. Benjamin Hardy and Blake Erickson distill the science of doing the impossible into a clear, disciplined framework for scaling businesses bigger and faster than you think possible. Big Ideas we explore include the Big 3 of Scaling (Frame, Floor, Focus), the four mistakes of goal-setting, using time as a tool to force better decisions, and simplifying your system so exponential growth becomes possible.
