Philosopher's Notes

Bill Gurley wrote Runnin’ Down a Dream for anyone who wants more than a paycheck and suspects work can be one of the most meaningful expressions of a life well lived. The core message is simple and powerful: life is a use-it-or-lose-it proposition, and eighty thousand hours is far too long to spend doing something you do not love. Gurley offers a practical playbook for stepping off the conveyor belt, chasing your curiosity, finding your obsessive interest, honing your craft, and having the courage to run down your dream, whether you are just starting out or changing direction midcareer. It is optimistic without being naive, grounded in real stories, and relentlessly focused on the parts of success we can actually control. Big Ideas we explore include The Conveyor Belt, Obsessive Interest, Hone Your Craft, It’s Never Too Late, and Use It or Lose It.

This is the third Note I’ve created on one of Ben Hardy’s great books, and Personality Isn’t Permanent is all about one of the most empowering ideas in modern psychology: people can and do change, a lot. Ben systematically dismantles the myths that keep us stuck, then walks us through a practical framework for becoming the architect of our own personality by getting clear on our future self, choosing one major goal, making committed decisions, and redesigning our environment to support who we want to become. It is packed with practical wisdom on confidence, identity, goal-setting, and the power of strategic ignorance in a world full of distraction. Big Ideas we explore include The Myths of Personality, The Truth of Personality, Chasing Your Hero, Your ONE Major Goal, Decision Fatigue, and Strategic Ignorance.

If you are into football, leadership, or sustained excellence of any kind, Bill Belichick is one of the most believable voices you could study. Widely regarded as the greatest football coach of all time, he makes it clear in The Art of Winning that winning is not a moment, a mindset, or a motivational speech, it is a process built through preparation, consistency, discipline, and relentless improvement. What makes the book so powerful is that Belichick is not interested in hype, he is interested in what actually works. Over and over again, he brings us back to the same truth: the price of success is paid in advance, confidence comes from doing, and the only success that matters is sustained success. Big Ideas we explore include Win All the Time, 1-2-3 the 49%, Consistency, Discipline, and Confidence.

Albert Ellis basically founded the cognitive behavior therapy movement, and this book is a practical, funny, deeply useful guide to doing exactly what the title promises: controlling your anxiety before it controls you. What makes Ellis so compelling is that he did not just create REBT in theory, he used it to conquer his own fears, then spent decades helping others do the same. This book is packed with practical wisdom on the difference between healthy and unhealthy anxiety, why uncertainty is part of life, how our irrational beliefs create so much unnecessary suffering, and why universal self-acceptance is one of the most powerful tools we have. Big Ideas we explore include Meet Your Heroic Guide, Anxiety, Uncertainty, Irrational Beliefs, and Self-Acceptance.

Dan Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson have written some of the most practical and powerful parenting books I’ve ever read, and The Yes Brain is all about how to help our kids develop the qualities that matter most: balance, resilience, insight, and empathy. As per the subtitle, this book is about cultivating courage, curiosity, and resilience in your child, but what makes it so powerful is that it ties all of that to the deeper goal of helping our kids build a truly healthy, integrated brain and, ultimately, a eudaimonic life filled with meaning, connection, and equanimity. It is packed with practical wisdom on how to expand our kids’ window of tolerance, teach response flexibility, model these qualities in our own lives, and help bring forth the inner spark within them. Big Ideas we explore include Eudaimonic Brains, Integration, Window of Tolerance, Response Flexibility, and The Inner Spark.

Donald Robertson is one of my favorite writers and humans, and this is the fourth Note I’ve created on one of his books. He is one of the world’s leading scholars and practitioners of Stoicism, but what makes his work so powerful is that he so clearly practices what he teaches. In Marcus Aurelius, Donald gives us the perfect biography of the Stoic emperor, weaving together Marcus’s inner life, private philosophy, and outward actions while showing us how Stoicism shaped his character under the immense pressures of power. This is not just a book about a Roman emperor, it is a practical look at virtue, self-mastery, mortality, and what it means to live in agreement with Nature. Big Ideas we explore include The Choice of Hercules, To Himself, Epictetus, On Loan, and The Ideal Sage.

George Raveling was known to many simply as Coach, and if you know anything about his life, you know that title barely begins to capture the man. From his extraordinary journey through basketball, leadership, mentorship, and service, to the way he impacted people like Michael Jordan, Phil Knight, and so many others, Coach lived a life that made a profound difference. Co-written with Ryan Holiday, What You’re Made For is not a memoir so much as an exploration of purpose and meaning, and a call to reflect on your own path, question the arbitrary limitations placed upon you, and ask what you were made for. It is packed with hard-won wisdom on trailblazing, studying books, winning the day, serving others, and making your life count. Big Ideas we explore include To Truly Live, To Be a Trailblazer, Study Books, Win the Day, and Make It Count.

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.

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.

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.