Pressed Into Hands

I think this book should be required reading for any business school student. Or even if you want to be more familiar with business, in general, The Personal MBA gives a good overview without scaring you off with too much technical detail. It was a pleasant surprise that this book was more than business; it included…

A defining trait in our species is the will to strive forward. Kalanithi captures that with his posthumously published book that he wrote while dying of stage IV lung cancer and through that journey trying to more deeply understand the purpose of his work, the life he has lived and has left to live, and the lives and…

The world is a complex system made up of many smaller systems all interacting, and we can benefit from viewing things from a bigger picture; seeing the connections. With that knowledge, we can design better systems and adapt and influence the systems in our communities and the world as a whole. This book was an…

This timeless book by Dale Carnegie is a story about respect and empathy. We all should take notice of the little things, showing our appreciation for others and commitment towards building a relationship. The lessons from this book are simple one's that we sometimes forget, if made awarer, we could have many more…

Pragmatic Thinking and Learning was an insightful journey into better understanding how the brain works and then using that knowledge to extend and get the most out of our minds. Although, the book it marketed towards programmers and uses some technical analogies, it still is a very engaging read for a wide range of…

Timeliness wisdom. Life is long, if you know how to use it. That is the statement which underlines the essence of these series of letters written by Seneca to his friends and mother. It felt like a was listening to a mentor and friend and the Stoic concepts in this book have impacted my life. This is a character and…

A major theme was that ambitious people should create a company that doesn't just have a small incremental improvement, but a 5x-10x+ shift that has the potential to move humanity a bit forward. Thiel made many bold statements and some other contrarian views, and I loved it. Zero to One was an audaciously brilliant…

I'll gladly take Cal Newport's kind of career advice over Peter Drucker's any day of the week. Whereas I felt like I was positioning myself to be an optimal cog in the machine while reading Peter Drucker's writing, reading Newport's So Good They Can't Ignore You, felt so empowering and liberating. He provides a…

Writing is a craft that can be improved; you aren't born with superb writing abilities. This book is a good start to improving your writing. One central point of the book is that good writing comes from a desire to write well, with repeated effort and careful editing. Your writing should not be to overly detailed or…

A goldmine of wisdom that has stood the test of time. Marcus Auerlius writes a series of personal notes to himself as reminders on how to live a good line. A man of great values and character, it was necessary to use logic and rational to solve life's challenging problems and not be broken down by temptation. He…

Never Eat Alone is about the power of relationships. Ferrazzi's philosophy on life is that you can't succeed without the help of others. Ferrazzi's main tool is generosity to connect with the world around him, which includes helping friends connect with other friends. The title of the book comes from the image of…

Essentialism at its core is simplifying and focusing on the things that matter. Being essential, is prioritizing and taking back control of your life, if you don't set the boundaries, someone else will and sometimes that means you've got to say no. We can't do it all, so we need to find where we can make the highest…

I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. Despite some repetitive elements in the 50th Law, which would of made more sense if the book was much longer and needed a big recap, which it doesn't, the book focuses heavily on conquering fear, incorporating episodes from the rapper 50 cent's life. Some of the key themes…