The 25+ Books Gen. Mattis Recommends Reading
It’s always a good idea to learn from smart people and know which books they recommend.
James Norman Mattis is the current the U.S. Secretary of Defense.
However, he is probably best known for serving as a U.S. Marine Corps general.
James Norman Mattis is the current United States Secretary of Defense, but is probably best known for serving as a U.S. Marine Corps general.
Mattis is one of the most admired leaders serving America today and credits books as one of the best tools available to becoming a great leader. His personal library is said to house over 6,000 books!
I’ve found that reading a ton of books is a common trait among many successful individuals, including Stephen King, Ernest Hemingway, James Altucher and Elon Musk.
Secretary of Defense James Mattis.
In an email from November 20th, 2003, Mattis wrote:
“The problem with being too busy to read is that you learn by experience (or by your men’s experience), i.e. the hard way. By reading, you learn through others’ experiences, generally a better way to do business, especially in our line of work where the consequences of incompetence are so final for young men.”
He continued by saying:
“Thanks to my reading, I have never been caught flat-footed by any situation, never at a loss for how any problem has been addressed (successfully or unsuccessfully) before. It doesn’t give me all the answers, but it lights what is often a dark path ahead.”
It’s clear that Mattis is a strong advocate of reading books. So, without further ado, here are the books he recommends reading:
“With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa” by E. B. Sledge
“One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer” by Nathaniel Fick
“Scipio Africanus: Greater Than Napoleon” by Basil H. Liddell Hart
“Gates of Fire” by Steven Pressfield
Pressfield is an amazing author and I highly recommend reading his other work, especially “The War of Art.”
“Military Innovation in the Interwar Period” by Williamson Murray
“Before the First Shot Is Fired: How America Can Win Or Lose Off The Battlefield” by Tony Zinni
“For Country and Corps: The Life of General Oliver P. Smith” by Gail Shisler
“Sherman: Soldier, Realist, American” by Basil H. Liddell Hart
“Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary” at War by Robert Gates
I recently got this book, Gates served as Secretary of Defense (the same position Mattis now runs) and worked for the CIA and National Security Council.
This is an impressive list of books and I hope to someone day read all of them. As a civilian who has never served in the military, I’m oblivious to how the military functions, what actually happens in war, and how wars impact countries and the world as a whole–which is something I believe more people should learn about.
As Mattis wrote in his email above, reading books is the easier path to knowledge instead of learning from other people’s experiences, i.e. the hard way. And although books won’t give you all the answers, “it lights what is often a dark path ahead.”
So read often and as much as possible!
If there’s a book on this list that you think is a must-read, let me know in the comments below. Thank you everyone! -Alex W.
For just a few dollars, books give you an enormous amount of valuable information that can help change your life. It’s practically high-robbery. So take advantage of this and read as much as you can.
Also, if you want to check out my list of recommended books, you can find that here.
If you enjoyed this article, consider supporting our site or signing up for our monthly newsletter. Thank you!
"Atomic Habits" by James Clear
Learn how tiny changes can lead to remarkable results.
Find easy and proven ways to build good habits and break bad ones.
This is one of the best books on productivity I’ve ever read.
Book Summary:
“Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones” by James Clear, provides readers with a proven framework for improving themselves in both their personal and professional lives.
Clear is an expert on habit formation and teaches readers exactly how to form good habits and break bad ones, and the importance of tiny changes.
Everyone has bad habits that they want to get rid of, this book teaches you the four laws needed to replace bad habits with better ones. Clear draws on proven ideas from biology, psychology, and neuroscience to create an easy-to-understand guide for making good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible.
Readers will learn how to:
make time for new habits (even when life gets crazy);
overcome a lack of motivation and willpower;
design your environment to make success easier;
get back on track when you fall off course;
...and much more.
Author James Clear.
Author Bio:
James Clear is an author and speaker focused on habits, decision-making, and continuous improvement. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Entrepreneur, Time, and on CBS This Morning. He is a regular speaker at Fortune 500 companies and his work is used by teams in the NFL, NBA, and MLB.
His website receives millions of visitors each month and hundreds of thousands subscribe to his popular email newsletter at jamesclear.com.
Book Lessons:
1) Strive To Be 1% Better Everyday
“If you can get 1 percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done. Conversely, if you get 1 percent worse each day for one year, you’ll decline nearly down to zero. ”
Clear starts his book with a story about the British cycling team, who, to put plainly, weren’t very good. Since 1908, British riders won just one gold medal at the Olympics and in 110 years, no British cyclist had ever won the Tour de France.
Then in 2003, the team hired a new performance director named Dave Brailsford.
Brailsford’s strategy was to search for tiny marginal improvements in everything the team did. His idea was that if the team could get 1% better in every aspect of cycling, it would compound into a huge advantage.
So Brailsford and his coaches made every improvement, no matter how small:
They redesigned the seats for more comfort.
Added rubbing alcohol on the tires for better grip.
Gave riders electrically heated overshorts to maintain ideal muscle temperature.
Switched racing suits for better aerodynamics.
But, it didn’t stop there.
They tested different massage gels for fastest muscle recovery.
They tested pillows and mattresses for the best night’s sleep.
And much more.
Each change made a tiny, tiny difference. But put together, the changes were enormous.
From 2007 to 2017, the British Cycling team won 178 world championships, 66 Olympic or Paralympic gold medals and 5 Tour de France victories.
The same strategy can be applied to one’s personal life, constant small improvements over time accumulate into a major positive outcome:
Saving $250 each week isn’t much, but it multiplies into $1,000 a month and $12,000 saved by the end of the year.
Going to the gym 3 times in one week won’t get you in shape, but do it every week for a year and you’ll completely transform your body.
Reading 15 pages a day is not a lot, but it accumulates into 105 pages a week, 420 a month, and 5,040 pages a year. An average book is 250 pages, so you’ll end up reading 20 books a year just from reading a little bit each day.
So remember, becoming 1% better today may not seem like much, but with time, it can make a huge difference.
How much of a difference does 1% make? If you can get just 1% better each day, you’ll end up with results that are nearly 37 times better after just one year.
2) Focus on Your Systems, Not Your Goals
“It wasn’t the goal of winning the Tour de France that propelled the British cyclists to the top of the sport...The goal had always been there. It was only when they implemented a system of continuous small improvements that they achieved a different outcome.
”
The idea of forgetting goals and focusing on systems instead is one of the most important lessons readers can learn from this book.
Here are a few problems that arise when people focus on goals:
#1: Winners and losers have the same goals.
Every athlete that goes to the Olympics has the goal of winning a gold medal, but only one will finish in first place. It isn’t the goal of winning that propels the athlete to the top of the sport, the goal had always been there.
It’s only when they implement a system of continuous small improvements (more training, better diet, etc.) that they create a competitive edge over the competition and win gold.
#2: Achieving a goal is only a momentary change.
Imagine you have a messy room and you set a goal of cleaning it. If you can summon the energy to tidy up, you’ll have a clean room and achieve your goal, but if you continue following your old sloppy habits, the room will be messy again in no time.
You’re treating a symptom without addressing the cause. What you really need to do, is to create a system of habits that keep your room consistently clean (always make your bed in the morning, put your dirty clothes in the laundry bin every night, etc). Fix the inputs and the outputs will fix themselves.
#3: Goals are at odds with long-term progress.
Having a goal-oriented mindset and create a “yo-yo” effect. Many people set the goal of running a marathon and work hard for months, but after finishing the race, they stop running because they already achieved their goal.
You see this all the time when people have the goal of losing weight. They do crazy juice diets or insane cardio workouts and eventually lose the 15 pounds they wanted, but then after hitting their goal, they go back to their old habits of eating junk and sitting on the couch all day.
Clear has a great line in the book that says, “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems” (pg 27).
By creating a system of good habits, you’ll be able to achieve better results and create a stable long-term solution instead of focusing on reaching short-term goals that only provide a temporary solution.
Systems continue to provide results, while goals are hit-or-miss. (All images credit to JamesClear.com)
3) Design Your Environment for Success
“The most powerful of all human sensory abilities, however, is vision. The human body has about eleven million sensory receptors. Approximately ten million of those are dedicated to sight. Some experts estimate that half of the brain’s resources are used on vision.
”
For this reason, what you see can lead to a big shift in what you do.
Clear tells a story about the energy crisis of the 1970s, where Dutch researchers looked at energy usage in a suburb near Amsterdam. They found that some homeowners were using 30 percent less energy than their neighbors–despite the fact that the homes were of similar size.
So why did some owners use less electricity and others more?
Researchers found that homeowners who had the electrical meter in the main hallway of their house could easily observe and track their energy usage while others had the meter in their basement where they rarely checked their usage.
This example shows how a person’s behavior can be easily influenced by their environment, often times more than they consciously realize.
Clear then applies this lesson to everyday life.
It’s easy not to practice the guitar when it’s hidden in the closet.
It’s easy not to read a book when the bookshelf is in the guest room.
It’s easy not to take your vitamins when they are hidden in the back of the top shelf.
Once Clear learned this lesson, he set out to find ways to apply it to his daily life.
For instance, he used to buy apples because he wanted to eat more fruit. However, he stored the apples in the back of his fridge, but because they were out of sight, he often forgot about them. By the time he remembered about them, they had were already rotten.
So, Clear decided to take his own advice and redesigned his environment for success. He bought a large display bowl and placed it in the middle of the kitchen in the open where he could see the apples and easily grab one. This simple change led him from eating no apples all week to eating multiple apples a day!
Here are a few more ways people can redesign their environment for success:
If you want to practice playing guitar more often, place your guitar in the middle of your living room so it’s easier to start playing it.
If you want to drink more water, fill up a few water bottles or containers, and place them in common locations around your home.
If you want to read more books, keep a book on the nightstand near your bed so you can easily grab it and get through a few pages before going to sleep.
And for bad habits, you want to do the opposite and make things harder to do:
If you have trouble staying off your phone, leave it in the other room and turn off notifications.
If you’re wasting too much time watching television, move it to a room that you rarely go into, or better yet, sell it.
If you’re playing too many video games, unplug the console and put it in the closet after each time you play it so it’s harder to turn on next time.
“Self-control is a short-term strategy, not a long-term one,” Clear writes.
Instead of summoning a new dose of willpower every time you want to do the right thing, your energy would be better spent optimizing your environment.
The goal of behavior change is to make cues for good habits obvious while making cues for bad habits invisible. That is the secret to self-control.
Book Review:
I’d put this book in the top 3 best productivity books I’ve ever read, it’s that good.
James Clear did an excellent job with this book. It’s an easy and entertaining book to read filled with personal stories as well as scientific studies. There’s a lot of information to absorb, but each chapter ends with a summary and important lessons are repeated throughout the book.
This will definitely be a book that I will be reading more than once, that’s how much value you’ll find in these pages. I’ve already started applying a few of Clear’s lessons to my life and started seeing small, but promising results.
If you’re looking for an easy and proven way to build good habits and break bad ones (which is everyone), this book is for you. Read it, highlight it, take notes, and start applying the lessons to your life and achieve success that lasts.
Rating: 5/5 Stars
If you’ve enjoyed this article and want to get the book, click here or on the image below!
If you already read “Atomic Habits” here are some similar books I’d recommend reading:
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3 Reasons Why You Should Get A Home Gym
Would you pay $80 to get 52 days of extra work outs and 17 hours of free time?
Learn how getting a home gym improved my life and why you may want to get one yourself.
Having a home gym has greatly improved my life, here are a few reasons how it can benefit you too.
There are countless studies showing the wide range benefits of exercise, everyone knows this. Everyone also knows that they should be exercising every day for 30 minutes or so. At yet, not everyone does (myself included, no one is perfect) because life can get in the way.
I don’t have enough time today.
I don’t feel like going to the gym.
It’s too cold/hot out today.
It takes too long to get to the gym.
The gym is closed today.
There’s no shortage of excuses.
But, there’s actually a solution to ALL of these issues.
Sounds too good to be true? It’s really not.
The answer is a home gym.
And no, I’m not talking about having one of those fancy home gyms where an entire family can live in (like the one the Rock uses, although it is an awesome gym that goes with him wherever he shoots movies).
Dwayne “The Rock'“ Johnson’s traveling/home gym.
I’m talking about having a pull-up bar and a couple of dumbbells.
If you can afford a squat rack that you could also use to deadlift or bench press, or have a Body Solid home gym, that’s great. But, for the average person who doesn’t have a lot of extra space in their home or is short on cash, all you really need is a workout bar and some dumbbells.
You don’t need to spend $2,995 on fancy equipment like this to create a decent home gym.
Here’s a picture of my home gym.
My “home gym.”
That’s right, it’s just an iron gym workout bar, dumbbells, and a t-shirt that I lay on for ab workouts.
How much did this home gym cost me?
In total, $0. Well if you include the shirt it was $15, but the equipment was free.
My neighbors were moving apartments and made a big pile of things they were going to throw out. I saw the workout bar and figured I’d save it from going to the junkyard. The same thing happened with the dumbbells expect my dad got them from someone else that was moving out.
I’ll admit I got lucky, but even if you have to buy the workout equipment it will cost less than $80.
The workout bar goes for $25 and you can use it to do pull ups, chin ups, push ups and crunches. With this bar alone, you can work out your chest, arms, and abs–three very important body parts.
Here are a few exercises you can do with the iron gym bar, it goes for about $25 (link).
I’d also recommend getting some dumbbells–the ones with adjustable weights (you can add or subtract weights to the bar instead of buying multiple dumbbells of different weights).
Together, this will cost you about $80 for the bar and weights, but it’s well worth and here’s why. Having a home gym eliminates all of the excuses for not working out.
Reason 1: Convenience
The gym’s too far?
No worries, the home gym is in the next room.
Too cold or hot outside?
No problem, you can work out indoors and adjust the room temperature.
Gym's closed?
All good, the home gym is always open.
Don’t have enough time to workout?
Good thing the home gym is here and you don’t have to commute to and from a gym.
To make it even better, you can get some chores done around the house while you recover between workout sets. In my last workout, I managed to sweep all the floors in my apartment and dust the rooms as well.
At your home gym, you can also play whatever music you want or listen to podcasts or just workout without any noise or distractions found in a regular gym.
Reason 2: You’ll Workout More
Before I had a home gym, I only worked out 3 times a week. I’d do chest, legs and back. Since I hit the main body parts, I’d often slack off when it came to working out other body parts.
However, with the home gym, I consistently workout my arms, shoulders and abs, as my 4th workout of the week.
One additional workout a week may not seem like much, but it does add up if you do the math. Going from working out 3 times a week to 4 times is a 14% increase in my weekly workout. That still seems little, so here’s some bonus math.
1 additional workout every week.
There are 52 weeks in a year.
That’s 52 additional workouts every year.
One extra workout a week quickly adds up to 52 extra workouts a year. Imagine how much stronger and in-shape you’ll be with 52 extra days of exercise.
Reason 3: You’ll Save A Lot of Time
You will save time from not having to commute to and from the gym. Let’s say it takes the average person 10 minutes to get to the gym, so 20 minutes round trip.
Multiply 20 minutes by 52 weeks and you’ll get 1,040 minutes.
Divide that by 60 minutes and you’ll get 17.3 hours.
That’s right, you spend 17 hours a year just going to and from the gym.
That’s almost a full day that can be spent with friends, family, reading books or growing your business.
So who wouldn’t want to save 17 hours and get 52 extra days of workouts every year?
I know I would.
Two books that I’d recommend reading related to working out are:
The first book is by a book about weight lifting and diet by the legendary Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the second book is by a Navy SEAL who teaches people how working out and having more discipline actually leads to a better life.
In exchange for a few bucks and a couple hours, a book will give you an enormous amount of valuable information that can help you in life. It’s practically high-robbery. So take advantage of this and read as much as you can.
If you want to check out my list of recommended books, you can find that here.
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"Tribe of Mentors" by Tim Ferriss
This book is a collection of interviews from experts in nearly every industry.
Learn how to become a writer, why failure leads to success and why being busy is a decision.
Book Summary:
“Tribe of Mentors” by Tim Ferriss, contains shortened interviews from many of the people Ferriss grew up viewing as idols or demi-gods. The book is similar to “Tools of Titans” but covers different guests and questions.
No matter your challenge or opportunity, something in these pages can help.
Among other things, you will learn:
More than 50 morning routines—both for the early riser and those who struggle to get out of bed.
The best purchases of $100 or less (you'll never have to think about the right gift again).
How to overcome failure and bounce back towards success.
How to meditate and be more mindful (and not just for those that find it easy).
Ways to thrive (and survive) the overwhelming amount of information you process every day.
And much more.
Author Bio:
Tim Ferriss is an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, and Tools of Titans. He runs the Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded 200 million downloads and been selected for “Best of iTunes” three years running.
Author Timothy Ferriss.
Lessons:
1) If You Want To Be A Writer, Start Writing
“I had always wanted to be a writer. So I started writing that very evening. The next day I signed up for a class at NYU in creative nonfiction writing. ”
The quote above is from an interview Tim Ferriss did with Susan Cain, a New York Times bestselling author. However, Cain didn’t pursue her passion for writing for decades. She actually went to Harvard Law School and worked as a corporate lawyer on Wall Street.
One day a senior partner in the firm told Cain that she wouldn’t be promoted to partner and Cain started crying and left the office. She went for a bike ride around Central Park and contemplated her future. She remembered that she had always wanted to be a writer so that evening she went home to write and signed up for a class at NYU the next time.
Boom.
She wanted to be a writer, so she pursed writing. Just like that.
And you may not even need school to become a writer.
Neil Strauss, an eight-time New York Times best-selling author, got rejected from journalism school earlier in his life. He looks back on this with a smile since he ended up learning through experience rather than academics and eventually became a columnist for the NYT.
So if you want to be a writer, start writing–today.
Author Tim Ferriss talking about his book “Tribe of Mentors.”
2) Failure Is Part of the Path to Success
“Adversity. Everybody spends their life trying to avoid it. Me too. But the best things that ever happened to me came during the times when the shit hit the fan and I had nothing and nobody to help me. Who are you really? What do you really want? Get out there and fail and find out.”
That quote is from Steven Pressfield, an accomplished writer who has worked in advertising, screenwriting, fiction, narrative, non-fiction and self-help. But before he was a well-known writer, he wrote for 17 years before earning his first penny from writing.
That’s right, he worked on his craft for 15+ years before finally getting paid for his work.
During those years, Pressfield taught school, drove tractor-trailers, worked on offshore oil rigs, and picked fruit as a migrant worker. Instead of looking for a life-hack or shortcut to success, Pressfield advises college students to “Get out into the real dirt world and start failing” (pg 6).
And Kyle Maynard would agree.
Kyle Maynard.
Kyle Maynard is a best-selling author and entrepreneur. He is known for becoming the first quadruple amputee to reach the summits of Mount Kilimanjaro.
When Ferriss interviewed him, Maynard said “It’s almost more difficult to think of a time when an apparent failure didn’t set me up for success. Failure is inextricably connected to any major success I’ve ever had” (pg 15).
So if you do fail, don’t fret. Pick yourself up and keep moving. Just like Pressfield and Maynard have done.
3) Being Busy Is A Decision
“If we use busy as an excuse for not doing something what we are really, really saying is that it’s not a priority. Simply put: You don’t find the time to do something you make the time to do things.”
That quote comes from Debbie Millman, one of the most influential designers of today and founder of Design Matters, the world’s first and longest-running podcast about design.
Millman says that using “I am too busy” as an excuse to not do something, is pure nonsense. People do things that they want to do, period. People will make time to watch Game of Thrones, but will be ‘too busy’ to read a book or exercise.
The problem with these excuse is that is lies to people. It can make someone believe that they are justified for not doing something that they need to do. Millman says that “If you want to do something, you can’t let being busy stand in the way, even if you are busy. Make the time to do the things you want to do and then do them” (pg 26).
Conclusion:
“Tribe of Mentors” by Tim Ferriss is an interesting book because instead of diving deeply into one subject, readers get a little peek into many different topics and gain nuggets of wisdom from a wide-range of experts.
That said, this book is a jack of all trades, but master of none–which isn’t necessarily a good or bad thing. The best way to use this book is to skim through it, and if you read something that interests you, check out the full podcast on Tim Ferriss’ website or learn more about the guest by reading their books or watching their videos.
Rating: 4/5 Stars
If you’ve enjoyed this article and want to get the book, click here or on the image below!
If you already read “Tribe of Mentors” here are some additional books by Tim Ferriss:
For literally 5 bucks and a few hours of time, a book can give you an enormous amount of valuable information that will help you in life. It’s practically highway-robbery. So take advantage of this and read as much as you can.
If you want to check out my list of recommended books, you can find that here.
If you enjoyed this article, consider supporting our site or signing up for our monthly newsletter. Thank you!
Work Looks Like An Enemy, But It's Actually A Friend
Work may sometimes seem like an enemy, but it is actually be your friend.
In this article, I talk about a personal experience and what it taught me about work and life.
Life is all work, but that may not be a bad thing.
A few days ago, my friend and I were driving to a friend’s house when we got into an honest conversation about life.
We talked about how, as we get older in life, more and more problems pile up that require us to work more.
Right now, we have to deal with working to supporting ourselves, but we also have a lot of other things, such as:
work on exercising and eating well to take care of our health
work to keep our apartments clean by vacuuming, doing the dishes, dusting and other chores
work to keep clean our cars clean and running well
work to maintain relationships with friends, family and significant others
work to take care of a pet
even planning a vacation often takes a lot of work
And more things will add on in the future.
Soon we’ll have all of that and work on supporting a family, work on raising children, work on cleaning up after kids, work on finding a place to live, work on taking care of our parents in old age and so on.
It’s just work, work, and more work.
But, here’s the thing, work is really the best, and perhaps the only option we have.
Take working out for example.
For the past few years, I’ve been working on getting in shape. This means lifting weights 3 to 4 times a week.
Now working to motivate yourself to get to the gym and working on actually lifting the weights is already difficult, but then try adding in injuries.
About two years ago, I finally achieved my goal of bench pressing 225 pounds, something I’ve been working on for a while. Then one day September day, I went mountain biking with a friend. It was a perfect sunny day. We had a lot of fun and we already talking about coming back sometime.
Then on the last run down, I hit a ditch and went flying about 15 feet down the mountain.
Picture taken a few hours before my crash.
When I opened my eyes, my head was in the dirt. I tried to pick up my bike with my right arm, but I couldn’t. Luckily my friend came to help me out and walked me down the mountain. I went to the first-aid office, but was told to go to the hospital.
There I learned I separated my shoulder. After the adrenaline wore off, anytime I moved my arm, the pain felt like a thousand needles going into my arm.
Post mountain-biking picture. I’m smiling because I couldn’t feel anything and thought I simply sprained my arm. I would soon learn that it was a bit worse.
Here I am, trying to get in shape and putting in the work to do so by constantly going to the gym, and I decide to have some fun and go mountain biking and now I have to deal with being injured and work on recovering.
For months I didn’t work out, which caused me to lose a lot of my strength and muscle mass that I spent years building. I also lost a lot of weight, about 20 pounds.
I was not able to lift weights or play basketball, two of my favorite activities.
Although it sucked (a lot), quitting or just doing nothing wasn’t going to do anything for me. Nor was complaining about life, being negative or angry at life.
I had only one option, and it was the best option to take: To work.
I worked on healing my shoulder by constantly icing it, taking multi-vitamins and supplements to help with healing, going to a physical therapist and actually doing the daily exercises he recommended.
It took me about a year to get to the point where my shoulder felt pain-free to move around. But, when I returned to the gym, I lost almost all of my strength. My bench had dropped from 225 lbs to 95 lbs.
It took another year of constantly hitting the gym and slowly building up my strength week after week, before I was finally able to bench 225 pounds again.
Since then, I’ve also hit new personal records in deadlifting, shoulder press, chest press, and other exercises.
I recently hit a new chest press PR (personal record). When I first got back to the gym I could only do 25 pounds.
Now I could have used my shoulder as an excuse to never work out again or say I’ll never be as strong as I was before, but that wouldn’t have done anything for me.
Even today, injuries continue to happen. I had a go to a chiropractor for a back injury after someone elbowed me during a basketball game and I’m currently dealing with lateral epicondylitis (better known as tennis elbow).
But quitting isn’t going to help. Instead, work will: working on recovering and learning from my injuries, working on stretching, and working on lifting with proper form.
So although work can sometimes seem like a bad thing, it isn’t. Working to have a clean room is better than not working and having a dirty one; working on maintaining relationships is better than doing nothing and being all alone; working to build a good life is better than doing nothing and living a bad one.
Of course, when things go south in life work may seem like the last thing you should do, but give it a try. Push through, and get to work on making things better.
Two books that I’d recommend reading if life seems too difficult are:
The first book is by a well-known psychologist that talks about how changing your perspective can change your life, and the second book teaches people how working and having more discipline in life actually leads to more freedom.
In exchange for a few bucks and a couple hours, a book will give you an enormous amount of valuable information that can help you in life. It’s practically high-robbery. So take advantage of this and read as much as you can.
If you want to check out my list of recommended books, you can find that here.
If you enjoyed this article, consider supporting our site or signing up for our monthly newsletter. Thank you!
Meeting Jocko Willink & Leif Babin
Last week, I was fortunate to meet Jocko Willink & Leif Babin
The two are former Navy SEALs turned business consultants and authors
Read my story of how I met these two AWESOME guys
How I Met Jocko Willink & Leif Babin
I’ve been a big fan of Jocko and Leif ever since I read their book “Extreme Ownership.” Every now and then you read a book that is so impactful it literally changes your perspective on life, and this book did just that. If you haven’t read it, you can read my book review here and a separate article about it here.
I’ve been following Jocko and Leif on Twitter ever since I read their book and noticed that they were going to do a book signing event to promote their new book “The Dichotomy of Leadership.”
The book signing image Jocko tweeted out.
Since the two were only doing a few meet and greet events, I knew I had to attend. So when September 27th came, I drove an hour and a half to the Hilton Garden Inn at Staten Island. The venue was packed with people; I’d say there were around two or three hundred people. Interestingly, a lot of young kids were there as well.
I recorded part of the event; unfortunately, I only had my phone so the image and audio quality isn’t the best, but I figured something was better than nothing.
After Jocko and Leif were done speaking, there was a quick Q&A session. After that, it was the moment everyone had waited for–lining up to personally meet Jocko and Leif and have their books signed.
The line was incredibly long, I waited about an hour till I got to the front, but Echelon Front later tweeted that the last person had waited 3+ hours on the line to meet the two authors.
Here are a few pictures from the event!
Getting my books signed by Jocko while talking to Leif. Check out the huge line in the background.
When I got to the front of the line, Jocko greeted me with a firm handshake and I handed him my books. I then shook hands with Leif. These guys were super nice and humble, they asked me what I learned from the books and were glad to see I was getting after it.
I then took a picture with them, shook their hands again, thanked them for their work and moved along so others could get their chance to meet these two great men.
I brought “Extreme Ownership” and “The Dichotomy of Leadership” to the event.
Picture of my signed books.
If you haven’t read any of Jocko’s books, here are three that I HIGHLY recommend reading (you can get the book by clicking on the images):
“Extreme Ownership” focuses on leadership and taking responsibility in business and life.
“Dichotomy of Leadership” is a deeper dive of EO and focuses more on the balance leaders must have in business.
“Discipline Equals Freedom” focuses on motivating people to overcome obstacles, reach goals, fight weakness and procrastination, and Jocko’s personal workouts from beginner to advanced athletes.
Jocko has also written a couple books for kids. Although I haven’t personally read these books, they have received high remarks and reviews from a ton of people online.
If by any chance Jocko or Leif are reading this, just want to say it was awesome meeting you guys and thank you for all the incredible work you’ve done. I wish you all the best with Echelon Front and I hope you continue to write great books!
For just a few dollars and a couple hours, books can give you an enormous amount of valuable information that can help you in life. It’s practically high-robbery. So take advantage of this and read as much as you can.
If you want to check out my list of recommended books, you can find that here.
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An Update To Alex and Books Readers
Hi everyone! Here is an update on what’s been going on
From Key lesson posts to YouTube videos
Plus enter for book giveaways!
Hello everyone, Alex here!
Just wanted to give an update on everything that has been going on. For starters, I’m back in grad school, but I will still work on releasing a new article or video each week.
Here are some of the most popular recent articles:
Also, here are three books that I’ve recently read and highly recommend:
I’ve also updated my full-list of highly recommended books, you can find that here.
In addition to writing articles, I’m working on creating YouTube videos to make lessons more engaging. Here is one of my most recent videos.
It would mean a lot of me if you gave the video a thumbs up and subscribed!
Also, I’ve been creating key lessons posts on Instagram & Twitter. If you like these posts you can follow me on :
Instagram: Alexandbooks_
Twitter: Alexandbooks_
Key Lessons from ”Total Recall” by Arnold Schwarzenegger. 🔑📚
— Alex and Books (@AlexAndBooks_) September 17, 2018
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Tag a friend that can benefit from these #lessons ! 💬👇
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#books📚 #schwarzenegger #theterminator #mrolympia #arnoldschwarzenegger #hollywood #booklessons #keylessons #greatbooks pic.twitter.com/rP5zFUK4aI
I’ve also been doing book giveaways, so make sure to follow me on Instagram or sign up for my newsletter if you’d like to win a free book. Here is the last winner:
If you’d like more updates like these, sign up for the Alex & Books newsletter here!
Lastly, Alex & Books is a free website that doesn’t have any ads because I want learners to have a good experience, but it does cost money to run a website. It would mean the world to me if you would donate to keep this website up. Every $1 helps!
Thank you everyone for reading this article. Remember: keep reading, learning and improving. Stay positive, learn from your mistakes and keep working hard!
Cheers,
Alex W.
"Smarter Faster Better" by Charles Duhigg
The best-selling author of “The Power of Habit” Charles Duhigg is back with another great book
The book teaches eight tips that will make you more productive in life and business
Here are three important lessons from Duhigg’s book.
Book Summary:
“Smarter Faster Better” examines eight key productivity concepts—from motivation and goal setting to focus and decision making—that explain why some people and companies get so much done.
Drawing on the latest findings in neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral economics—as well as the experiences of CEOs, educational reformers, four-star generals, FBI agents, airplane pilots, and Broadway songwriters—this painstakingly researched book explains that the most productive people, companies, and organizations don’t merely act differently.
Author Charles Duhigg.
Author Bio:
Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative reporter for The New York Times and the author of “The Power of Habit” and “Smarter Faster Better.” He is a winner of the National Academies of Sciences, National Journalism, and George Polk awards. A graduate of Harvard Business School and Yale College, he lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two children.
Lessons:
1) To become more motivated, make the task a choice not a chore
“The trick, researchers say, is realizing that a prerequisite to motivation is believing we have authority over our actions and surroundings. To motivate ourselves, we must feel like we are in control.
”
Charles Duhigg writes that motivation is more like a skill, such as writing, that can be learned and honed. An important lesson to learn is that taking control of the task and making it a choice instead of a chore, will increase your level of motivation to get it done.
Duhigg writes that “When people believe they are in control, they tend to work harder and push themselves more. They are, on average, more confident and overcome setbacks faster” (pg 19).
One of the best ways to prove that we are in control is by making decisions. Each choice reinforces our perception of control and self-efficacy. Interesting, even if making a decision delivers no benefit, people still want the freedom to choose what they do.
“Motivation is triggered by making choices that demonstrate (to ourselves) that we are in control–and that we are moving toward goals that are meaningful. It’s that feeling of self-determination that gets us going. ”
In a study by the Marine Corps, researchers found that “the most successful marines were those with a strong ‘internal locus of control’–a belief they could influence their destiny through the choices they made” (pg 23).
The author goes on to say that people with an internal locus of control tend to assign responsibility for themselves, not to things outside their influence. For example, if a student with a high internal locus of control fails a test, he’ll think “I need to study harder” instead of thinking “This teacher is horrible.”
Internal locus of control has also been linked with “academic success, higher self-motivation, and social maturity, lower incidences of stress and depressions, and longer lifespan” (pg 23).
So what does this all mean?
It means you should think of ways to take control over a difficult task and take responsibility instead of doing nothing or putting the blame on outside influences.
Duhigg gives an example of when his email inbox was filled with a ton of messages, which caused him to feel overwhelmed and resulted in him procrastinating on the task. So what did he do?
He took control. He made the choice to reply to each email with just one sentence. That’s it. When he took control, he felt more motivated and the task of replying became easier and he finished his work in thirty-five minutes.
“Figure out how this task is connected to something you care about. Explain to yourself why this chore will help you get closer to a meaningful goal. Explain why this matter–and then, you’ll find it easier to start. ”
2) Use Both Stretch and SMART Goals
“SMART goals often unlock a potential that people don’t even realize they possess. The reason in part is because goal-setting processes like the SMART system force people to translate vague aspirations into concrete plans.
”
SMART goals, also known as Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound, actually work. Duhigg found that “Some 400 laboratory and field studies [show] that specific, high goals lead to a higher level of task performance than do easy goals or vague, abstract goals such as the exhortation to ‘do one’s best’” (pg 118).
Having the good intentions of completing a goal is good, but coming up with a timeline and a way to measure success is even better.
SMART goals work best when paired with stretch goals that are often unclear and large. Stretch goals can spark innovation, writes Duhigg, but it can also cause panic or convince people that the goal is too big.
Here are a few common stretch goals: writing a book, creating a website, learning to play the guitar. These stretch goals are both exciting and frightening.
That is why it needs to be paired with a SMART system. “Stretch goals, paired with SMART thinking, can help put the impossible within reach” (pg 127).
For example, let’s say you want to run a marathon. Here is how the stretch and SMART goals would look like:
Stretch goal: Run a marathon
What is a specific subgoal: Run 10 miles without stopping
How will you measure success: Finish the run without walking
Is this achievable: Yes, if I run 3 times a week
Is this realistic: Yes, If I wake up early on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays
What is the timeline: Run 3 miles this week, 4 miles next week, 5 miles...
Duhigg writes that the most important thing to take away is that people need to have a large ambitious goal and a system for figuring out how to make it into a concrete and realistic plan. By breaking a large goal into subgoals, a person can check off smaller tasks and see progress as they get one step closer to reaching their final goal.
3) Write Things Down To Better Absorb Information
“When we encounter new information, we should force ourselves to do something with it. Write yourself a note explaining what you just learned...the trick is getting ourselves to see the data embedded in those decisions, and then to use it somehow so we learn from it.
”
Duhigg writes about a 2014 published study with researchers from Princeton and UCLA that looked at the relationship between learning and disfluency by looking at the difference between students who took notes by hand while watching a lecture and those who used laptops.
The researchers found that taking notes by hand was both harder and less efficient than typing on a keyboard. Longhand is slower and hands are more likely to cramp up. Students that used laptops, however, spent less time taking notes, and yet they still collected about twice as many notes.
However, and this is a BIG however, when the researchers looked at test scores of the two groups, they found that the hand writers scored twice as well as the laptop note takers.
The research group was skeptical of the results and conducted similar experiments several times. But the answer remained the same.
“The students who forced themselves to use a more cumbersome note-taking method–who forced disfluency into how they processed information–learned more.” (pg 265). This is a useful lesson to remember for all aspects of learning in life.
Duhigg says that if a person wants to lose weight, instead of just stepping on a scale and having your weight sent to an app, physically write down your weight each day and plot it on a graph to track progress. Similarly, if you’re reading a book, write down notes in the book or on a post-it.
“When you find a new piece of information, force yourself to engage with it, to use it in an experiment or describe it to a friend–and then you will start building the mental folders that are at the core of learning. ”
Conclusion:
“Smarter Faster Better” is a book for readers who really want to know the science behind being productive. The author is an NYT reporter and writes about several scientific studies and stories based on other people’s experiences.
For that reason, readers may feel disconnected from the author because he doesn’t give much insight into how he uses the lessons learned from this book, except in the very last chapter. That’s not a knockdown, I’m simply saying if you’re looking for a personal story or journey, you might want to read “The Productivity Project.”
However, if you do like scientific studies with real science to back up lessons instead of personal experiences, then I recommend reading this book. Regardless of which book you choose to read, both will make you more productive!
Rating: 4/5 stars
If you’re interested in reading the book, click here or on the image below!
For literally 5 bucks and a few hours of time, a book will give you an enormous amount of valuable information that can help you in life. It’s practically highway-robbery. So take advantage of this and read as much as you can.
If you want to check out my list of recommended books, you can find that here.
If you enjoyed this article, consider supporting our site or signing up for our monthly newsletter. Thank you!
"The Productivity Project" by Chris Bailey
Accomplish more by managing your time, attention and energy
Learn the truth about multitasking and the importance of the Rule of 3
Become more productive and a better time manager by reading this book
Book Summary:
"The Productivity Project: Accomplishing More by Managing Your Time, Attention, and Energy" by Chris Bailey is a result of a year-long series of productivity experiments Bailey conducted on himself. He also continued research and interviews with some of the world’s foremost experts, from Charles Duhigg to David Allen.
Among the experiments that he tackled: Bailey went several weeks with getting by on little to no sleep; he cut out caffeine and sugar; he lived in total isolation for 10 days; he used his smartphone for just an hour a day for three months; he gained ten pounds of muscle mass; he stretched his work week to 90 hours; a late riser, he got up at 5:30 every morning for three months—all the while monitoring the impact of his experiments on the quality and quantity of his work.
In an eye-opening and thoroughly engaging read, Bailey offers a treasure trove of insights and over 25 best practices that will help you accomplish more.
Author Bio:
Chris Bailey, a graduate of Carleton University in Ottawa, wrote over 216,000 words on the subject of productivity on his blog, ayearofproductivity.com, during a year long productivity project where he conducted intensive research, as well as dozens of productivity experiments on himself to discover how to become as productive as possible.
To date, he has written hundreds of articles on the subject, and has garnered coverage in media as diverse as The New York Times, The Huffington Post, New York magazine, TED, Fast Company, and Lifehacker.
Author Chris Bailey.
Lessons:
1) Identify Your 3 Most Important Tasks
“That may seem like an arbitrary number on the surface, but it’s large enough to fit the main things you want to accomplish, and small enough to make you think hard about what’s important. ”
Author Chris Bailey writes that the Rule of 3 is “the absolute best technique I’ve found to work deliberately and with intention.” And the good news is that this technique is super easy to implement.
At the beginning of each day, ask yourself “If I could only accomplish three things today, what would they be?” Do the same at the beginning of each week.
That’s it.
This technique will give you direction as to what important tasks need to be completed and will keep you from getting distracted.
Here’s an example of my 3 goals:
Today:
Edit and publish a new article for Alex and Books
Go to the gym to lift weights
Watch Joe Rogan Podcast with Elon Musk (Highly recommend watching)
This Week:
Create, publish and edit a new YouTube video
Invite close friends over and catch up with everyone
Finish reading “Tribe of Mentors” by Tim Ferriss
The goals should be simple, clear, and aligned with your values. Also, it doesn’t have to be all work goals. It’s called work-life for a reason. Make sure you include things like spending time with friends, family or your significant other.
Now why is it called the Rule of 3 and not the Rule of 2 or 5?
It’s because brains are trained early on to think in threes: the beginning, middle and end; the three bears; the three musketeers; gold, silver and bronze; our minds are wired to think in groups of threes.
Try to make this a daily ritual before you go to sleep each night. I find this works best on a calendar or you can also do it on your phone. At the end of each day and week, reflect on how realistic your three goals were.
Were they too small and easy? Or were they too large and intimidating? Reflecting on your goals and accomplishments will help you become better at using the Rule of 3 and will make you more productive than ever before.
2) Identify Procrastination Triggers
“The reasons you feel so much less mental resistance to watching Netflix than you do with doing your taxes is Netflix is far less boring, frustrating, and difficult, and it’s more stimulating and structured. Because watching Netflix has almost no procrastination triggers, we don’t put it off. ”
Procrastination is human. Simply put, the more unattractive a task or project is to you, the more likely you are to put it off. There are 6 main triggers that lead to procrastination:
Boring
Frustrating
Difficult
Unstructured or ambiguous
Lacking in personal meaning
Lacking in intrinsic rewards (i.e. it’s not engaging)
The more of these attributes a task has, the less attractive it becomes and the more likely you are to procrastinate.
For example, doing your taxes likely hits at least half of these triggers. That’s probably why about 7 million taxpayers fail to file their taxes on time each year.
Here are a few ways the author fights back against these procrastination triggers:
Boring: Go to my favorite cafe and have a fancy drink while working.
Frustrating: Work for 30 minutes then take a break.
Difficult: Research ways to make the work easier.
Unstructured or ambiguous: Make a detailed plan that lists very next steps needed to finish the task.
Lacking in personal meaning: Think about how this tasks will benefit you.
Lacking in intrinsic rewards: Reward yourself $5 to spend on anything for every 30 minutes of work.
Bailey finishes the chapter by saying that readers should also be aware of the costs of not doing the thing they are procrastinating. Not doing a project will lower your GPA, not doing your taxes will result in fines, etc.
Also keep in mind that every task, no matter how intimidating, can be broken down into smaller ones, which makes it a lot easier to get started. Cleaning an entire basement can be daunting, but cleaning one-tenth of it can be easy.
So remember to ask yourself why you are procrastinating, find out your procrastination trigger, and look for ways to flip that trigger and get started on the task.
3) Have A Maintenance Day
“My Maintenance Day ritual is incredibly simple, and incredibly powerful: throughout the week, I simply collect all of my low-return maintenance tasks on a list–everything from going grocery shopping to cutting my nails–and instead of doing them throughout the week, I do them all at once.”
Similarly to the Rule of 3, this productivity technique is easy to do and very beneficial to your life. You simply collect a list of little household chores, errands, and tasks, and do them all in one day.
This can include:
Grocery shopping
Meal prepping
Trimming beard and shaving
Cutting nails
Doing laundry
Watering plants
Reviewing Rule of 3 goals
Cleaning the bathroom
Vacuuming the house
To make it even easier, you can perform your maintenance tasks while listening to music or a podcast. For me, my maintenance day is usually Saturday mornings. I like to get all of these small tasks out of the way so I can enjoy my weekend and get a fresh start for the new week.
4) Have A Brain Dump
“To summarize decades’ worth of complex neurological research in one sentence, our brains are built for solving problems, connecting dots, and forming new ideas–not for holding on to information that we can simply externalize.
”
Through his research, Bailey concludes that the brain isn’t meant to store information but rather it’s meant to solve problems. Think about it, people would rather write down phone numbers on paper or save it on their phone rather than memorize the contact info of all of their friends and family members.
Readers should apply the same method to their work. A few simple examples include:
Making a to-do list to get the information out of your brain and onto paper to give your brain more room to solve problems
Putting appointments and meetings on calendars so you don’t have to memorize the person, place and time of the event
Writing down the grocery list so you don’t forget to buy the things you needed
This is what Bailey calls a “Brain Dump.” Write down all of the things that you need to get done, it can be on a notepad, phone, or laptop. And if something new pops into your head during the day, add it to your list. Instead of memorizing that you need to buy milk, eggs and paper towels after work, just write it down to remind yourself. Your head is not for holding ideas–it’s for having ideas and solving problems.
By externalizing your tasks and writing them down, you’ll free up mental space, get organized, reduce stress and increase your focus on important tasks.
5) Multitasking Is A Myth
“Unless you’re doing totally mindless work...your brain is simply not built to focus on more than one thing at once. In fact, your brain can’t focus on two things simultaneously–instead it rapidly switches between them, which creates the illusion that you’re doing more than one thing at a time.
”
Here’s a counterintuitive truth people need to understand, just you feel productive doesn’t mean you are–and the opposite is often true. Multitasking may make you feel like you’re completing four tasks at once, but the truth is the brain doesn’t work that way.
What is actually happening, is that your brain is rapidly switching between each task which creates the illusion of doing more than one thing. The only exception where multitasking works is if the other task requires very little attention. Such as doing chores and listening to music or watching a movie and eating.
Bailey points out that several research studies all come to the same conclusion: multitasking actually makes people less productive, more prone to errors and takes longer because it costs time and attention to switch between tasks.
However, when you only do one thing at a time, you give your work the attention it deserves.
Think about it, when you finished a project or assignment that did really well, you were likely completely focused on it and not listening to music, texting a friend, watching YouTube videos and working on the project at the same time.
This can be a difficult habit to develop because of all the external stimuli in the world: social media, text notifications, emails, and other things that try to steal your attention, but remember when you invest all your attention to one task, you’ll be able to accomplish a lot more in a shorter amount of time.
Make a conscious effort to push back against a wandering mind and continually bring your attention back to your most important activity. This will actually strengthen your attention muscle over time and help you control your brain instead of it being the other way around.
Conclusion:
This is one of the best books about productivity books that I’ve read for two reasons. First, the author has put in a lot of research and talked to several experts in the field and secondly, he has a Tim Ferriss-like style where he actually performs the experiments on himself to test the research.
The author also starts each chapter with a takeaway and ends with a summary and actionable item for the reader. Both are extremely helpful to readers and make it easier to absorb the important information found in the chapter.
The book is less than 300 pages and can be read in two or three days since it is told as a story rather than a textbook style work. If you’re looking to become more productive, I’d highly recommend reading this book. And make sure to apply what you learn!
Rating: 5/5 Stars
You can get the book here or by clicking on the image below.
If you've enjoyed "The Productivity Project" or are looking for another book about productivity, I highly recommend reading "The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results" by Gary Keller & Jay Papasan.
For literally 5 bucks and a few hours of time, a book will give you an enormous amount of valuable information that can help you in life. It’s practically highway-robbery. So take advantage of this and read as much as you can.
If you want to check out my list of recommended books, you can find that here.
If you enjoyed this article, consider supporting our site or signing up for our monthly newsletter. Thank you!
"Discipline Equals Freedom" by Jocko Willink
Life advice and thoughts from Jocko Willink–a 20 year Navy SEAL veteran turned business consultant and podcaster.
This manual will tell it to you straight, it cares only about making you better.
Book Summary:
“Discipline Equals Freedom: A Field Manual” by Jocko Willink is unlike any motivational or self-improvement book I’ve read. This manual will tell it to you straight–it doesn’t care about your feelings or about making you feel good. It cares only about making you better. Jocko doesn’t waste time talking nonsense or using filler words, he gets to the point and then moves on.
This book covers strategies and tactics for conquering weakness, procrastination, and fear, and specific physical training workouts for beginner, intermediate, and advanced athletes, and even the best sleep habits and food intake recommended to optimize performance.
Within these pages, readers will discover the keys to becoming stronger, smarter, faster, and healthier. There is only one way to achieve true freedom: The Way of Discipline. Read this book and find The Way.
Author Jocko Willink at TEDx. He gave an awesome talk, you can watch it here.
Author Bio:
JOCKO WILLINK is a decorated retired Navy SEAL officer, author of the book Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win, and co-founder of Echelon Front, where he is a leadership instructor, speaker, and executive coach. Jocko spent 20 years in the U.S. Navy SEAL Teams, starting as an enlisted SEAL and rising through the ranks to become a SEAL officer.
As commander of SEAL Team Three's Task Unit Bruiser during the battle of Ramadi, he orchestrated SEAL operations that helped the "Ready First" Brigade of the US Army's First Armored Division bring stability to the violent, war-torn city. Task Unit Bruiser became the most highly decorated Special Operations Unit of the Iraq War.
During his career, Jocko was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and numerous other personal and unit awards. In 2010, Jocko retired from the Navy and launched Echelon Front where he teaches the leadership principles he learned on the battlefield to help others lead and win.
Lessons:
1) Discipline Equals Freedom
The title of this book is also one of its most important lessons. It may seem like a contradiction at first, but having more discipline in your life will give you more freedom.
When you have discipline, you don’t let outside factors influence your life. You will be in control of your life, not your impulses, addictions or anything else.
For example:
If you want financial freedom, you have to have financial discipline.
If you want more free time, you have to follow a disciplined schedule.
If you want to have high levels of energy and be free to go hiking or rock climbing, you need to have the discipline to eat a healthy diet.
So discipline is good, but where do you get it?
Discipline comes from within. Sure you can have someone like a drill instructor or coach force discipline on you, but that will go away once the person leaves. Instead, you need self-discipline. You need to create a fire inside you that won’t go out.
Now you might be asking, “How do I do that?”
The answer is simple. Every action you take, gives you a chance at building self-discipline.
Do you eat an apple or chocolate bar for a snack?
Do you go to the gym or stay home and watch TV?
Do you read a book before bed or do you scroll through social media?
Every decision you take, gives you a chance to build your self-discipline muscle.
2) Sugarcoated lies
Don't fall for the lies (source).
This is one of my favorite lessons and it has reached meme status on the internet.
Jocko writes about how sweet and soft donuts can be and how a lot of the time they are free. Birthday celebrations, office parties, free breakfast Fridays, free donuts are everywhere.
So if someone offers you a nice sugary donut for free, it’s basically a sign from the universe that you should eat it right?
Wrong. Dead wrong.
Jocko says that donuts aren’t food. They are poison.
It’s the same with chocolate chip cookies, cake, soda...all junk food is JUNK. It doesn’t fuel you, it literally kills you. One bite at a time.
Think about it. You get a short ‘high’ feeling, but junk food won’t help you get stronger, faster, smarter, healthier or in any way better in life.
You don’t need junk food in your life. It will tempt you, but remember, these are SUGAR COATED LIES. Use your self-discipline to say NO to junk food.
3) GOOD Mindset
How does Jocko deal with a setback, failure or defeat?
Simple, he says the word “Good.”
Jocko tells a story of when he was in the SEAL teams and one of the younger guys came to Jocko to tell him about a problem or issue, and Jocko would just say to him: “Good.”
This happened a couple of times, but then one day as the young soldier was telling Jocko about a problem, and he said “I already know what you’re going to tell me.”
So Jocko asked, “What am I going to say?”
And the young soldier replied, “You’re going to say good. That’s what you always say.”
Jocko said “Well I mean it.”
Mission got cancelled? Good. We can focus on another one.
Didn’t get the new high-speed gear we wanted? Good. We can keep it simple.
Didn't get promoted? Good. More time to get better.
Didn’t get funded? Good. We own more of the company.
Got injured? Good. Needed a break from training.
That’s it says Jocko. When things go bad, don’t get frustrated–that won’t do anything–instead say “Good.”
Jocko makes a distinction to say that being positive is better than being negative, but that still isn’t enough to solve the problem. What will solve the problem, is action.
So whatever you may be going through, if you can say the word “Good,” then guess what? It means you’re still alive and you still have the energy to fight and make things better.
“So get up, dust off, reload, recalibrate, re-engage–and go out on the attack. ”
Conclusion:
This book doesn’t have any secrets to life, but that’s the point. THERE ARE NO SECRETS or SHORTCUTS. It’s just hard work, day-in and day-out.
The entire book is also in black and white, perhaps to convey the fact that the world isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. I believe it’s also to show that there is darkness and light in the world, and it’s up to you to decide which one you will follow.
People already know a lot of lessons in this book, such as work out often and don’t eat sugar, but when it comes from Jocko, there’s a much higher chance of it sticking in your mind. I think part of it is the amount of respect people have for him. This guy wakes up a 4:30 AM every day–even on Christmas and New Years– and works out, and posts a picture on social media as proof for everyone to see.
In the end, readers will have learned at least two valuable lessons from this book. The need to build self-discipline and the need to do. Don’t just read this article and read his book, but go and do. Do the work, do what needs to be done even if you don’t feel like doing it, do what will make you a smarter, stronger and a better person in life. Now, go and GET AFTER IT!
Rating: 5/5 Stars
You can get the book here or by clicking on the image below.
If you enjoyed this book or you're a fan of Jocko, I recommend reading his other book "Extreme Ownership."
For a ten bucks and a few hours of reading, a book will give you an enormous amount of valuable information that can help you in life. It’s practically highway-robbery. So take advantage of this and read as much as you can.
If you want to check out my list of recommended books, you can find that here.
If you enjoyed this article, consider supporting our site or signing up for our monthly newsletter. Thank you!
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