“Start with a calm and quiet mind.”
– S.N. Goenka
Meditation
[one_half]Meditation has become an irreplaceable part of both of our lives.
[/one_half][one_half_last]Suggested Resources on Meditation
- Vipassana 10-Day Silent Meditation Retreat – one of the most impactful experiences either of us ever had.
- Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabot Zinn – the best introductory book on meditation
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Productivity
[one_half]One of the areas I enjoy working on the most.
[/one_half][one_half_last]Suggested Reading on Productivity
- Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss – the book that started it all for me; this is where I learned it was ok to work fewer hours as long as you produced results.
- Deep Work by Cal Newport – hugely important book on the value of dedicated, focused work which has become increasingly rare with the omnipresence of mobile technology.
- Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy – for a procrastinator like myself, this book was extremely helpful in driving home the point that focusing on the hard things first makes the rest of the day seem easier and more productive.
- 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey – one of the classic “self-help” books that I put off reading for years because of a stigma I had attached to it. Stupid move. This book introduced or reintroduced concepts like emotional bank accounts, starting with the end in mind and production/production capability balance to name a few.
Suggested Products for Productivity
- Be Focused App (Pomodoro Technique) – helps my distracted mind focus for long stretches of time. Here’s a short description of how it works.
- Bose QuietComfort 35 Soundproof Headphones – a little pricey but these things are invaluable; once they go on I enter into my own world. Not sure how I would focus without them.
- MacBook Pro – I’m an Apple snob to be sure but the MacBook Pro runs so fast and so smoothly that I’m rarely disrupted by any technical issues.[/one_half_last]
Philosophy
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[/one_half][one_half_last]Suggested Resources on Philosophy
- Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss – This is where I learned that reality can be molded to however I want it.
- Mindset by Carol Dweck – a psychology book that has profoundly influenced my life philosophy. Read my post on it here. [/one_half_last]