January 2019

The Rabbit Hole       Jump In.    My monthly newsletter covers the books I have read over the course of the month, the challenges I undertook as well as some other interesting articles, blog posts, interviews, tools, hacks, etc. Books The Elephant in the Brain by Kevin Simler How Asia Works by Joe Studwell The Systems Bible by John Gall The Marmon Group by Jeffrey Rodengen Out of the Crisis by Edwards Deming The Dream Machine by Mitchell Waldrop The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt Full list of books read in 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 Any book, which is at all important, should be immediately re-read Essays I want to become a better writer so will sporadically put out essays - my attempt to dig into fun, new, and/or surprising ideas. Besides becoming a better writer, I have found that writing helps me flush out my thoughts and ideas and this process makes it painfully transparent how little I truly understand. If I can't write about it or explain something simply, I don't truly understand it. I also believe that ideas beget ideas and I hope this process helps unlock and uncover more of them. Costanza's Law of Contrast Teacher's Reference Guides None Monthly Challenges No caffeine - first couple days were tough but made me realize the impact caffeine has on me (elevated heart rate, a bit of a frantic mood, etc.). I'll go back to regular coffee soon but limit it to 1 per day and might do one week of no caffeine per month to cycle off Other The Uncomfortable Practice Habits of a Champion The High-Return Activity of Raising Others' Aspirations Russ Roberts 12 Rules for Life (inspired by Peterson's 12 Rules) Meditating with Jaylen Brown Jim Margaff: His Lessons Will Live On How to Succeed in Business? Do Less Choline may help fight Alzheimer's Vinod Khosla on How to Build the Future Joe Wilson - The Dream Machine got me interested in Joe Wilson, the man who turned Xerox into the beast it was in the late 1960s Bret Victor - Inventing on Principle The importance and benefits of humane doctors The Biggest Returns - Morgan Housel Hardcore Histories - Supernova in the East II (a "drop everything" podcast) Sam Altman on How to Be Successful Amor Fati Amor. Blas "Problem avoidance is the strategy of avoiding head-on encounters with a stubborn problem that does not offer a good point d'appui, or toe hold. It is the most under-rated of all methods of dealing with problems. Little wonder, for its practitioners are not to be found struggling valiantly against staggering odds, nor are they to be seen fighting bloody but unbowed, nor are they observed undergoing glorious martyrdom. They are simply somewhere else, successfully doing something else. Like Lao Tzu himself, they have slipped quietly away into a happy life of satisfying obscurity. The opposite of passivity is initiative, or responsibility - not energetic futility. Choose your systems with care. Destiny is largely a set of unquestioned assumptions." - John Gall