Posts

Extreme Ownership - Jocko Willink and Leif Babin - 2015

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  Recommended by: Not specifically but Scott read this (see his review on the blog) Length: 8 hours audio (short) Thesis: The team leader is responsible for everything. If your team is underperforming, it is your fault. If your commander is unhappy with your team, it is your fault. What I liked: Really good true stories from the Iraq war. The audio is funny because Jocko and Leif are so intense and sometimes they used real sound effects such as explosions. What I did not like: The ending was weak. It ended with a business example and then went into an excerpt from their other book. Should you read it: Maybe - def some good advice here but not the best book ever. Other: A big thank you to all who served and now serve in the U.S. armed forces. What I am reading next: In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson  

Buy Back Your Time - Dan Martell - 2023

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Let me try a new format. Recommendation: Yes by Coach Cathy (thanks) Length: 8 hours audio (short) Thesis: As your business makes more money calculate your buy back rate and hire staff to do more of the tasks you don’t want to do so you can focus on the tasks that really light you up and repeat this endlessly.  Should you take time to read it: maybe (more relevant if you own a business or are thinking of starting one) What stood out to me from the book:   The buy back calculation as discussed in the book is as follows: if you make 200k a year divide that by 2000 then divide that by 4. This is your buy back rate. So in this case you can afford to pay someone $25 an hour to complete a task you dont like to do. For example maybe you don’t like reading your email or organizing your calendar. You could hire an administrative assistant. With the extra time you free up you can focus on something that you do like to do and that will make your business more money. As you make ...

Boundaries - Dr. Henry Cloud & John Townsend - Scott Goggins

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  A book I think most people should read. Not because they wrote this book in such a cool way that it stuck with me, its more so just the concept of boundaries. I thought about it before but never to the extent that this book portrays. It essentially is just a way to protect yourself and they give you permission to put yourself first which can be hard when your mom or grandmother are guilt tripping you. There are some interesting lines. So your parents raise you and as you are deciding what to do in life you decide you want to live in California while they are in Maryland. Your parents then say 'we provided for you all these years and have taken care of you and you are going to move to California and not let us see our grandchildren?'. My irl response is dang they are right, they have done a lot for me maybe I shouldn't go. The book argues that if they did these actions with 'love' then they were done not to be paid back. So you aren't in debt to them because it...

I dont want to talk about it - overcoming the secret legacy of male depression - Terry Real - 1997

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  I read this one. Pretty academic. Fairly long. Way ahead of its time for 1997. Attia read this book and really liked it.  Super relevant if you were a victim of childhood trauma.  The case studies and autobiographical information in this book were really good and at times sad.  The text is a bit academic. I had to read and reread a lot.  Attia’s book was more relatable to me as I thankfully have the best family ever! Fair warning: don’t marry anyone with unresolved childhood trauma that you don’t know about. They will externalize it and you are going to end up in couple’s therapy trying to resolve it lol. So if I ever date again lol I am going ask if they want kids and if they have unresolved childhood trauma such as abuse or neglect. And of course they can work through their trauma in therapy, but it is not easy. And I guess this is a mean perspective but at least it is a realistic one.  Looking forward to reading Scott’s review of “Boundaries.” Next I t...

The Secret Race - Tyler Hamilton, Daniel Coyle - 2012

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  I think Scott’s review was not really fair to this book. He said it was good and worth reading but I think it is much better than that, especially if you are an endurance athlete.  The legal angle is very interesting. The personal angle is really good. The cheating scandal is intriguing and the bike racing is awesome. The moral value about telling the truth is important. Even though the protagonist was a cheater too, his story teaches you to never give up and to try hard at life no matter what happens. There is a lot of honest humanity in this book.    This should most definitely be added to our staff picks and this is a must read for any endurance athlete and probably for all people. I think this book is highly highly underrated.  I listened to this one and I think this was better than reading because I could hear the emotion in the reader’s voice. This made the race commentary segments so much better.  My view on doping: Before reading this book I would...

Killers of the Flower Moon - David Grann - 2017

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  Shout out to Scott and Goodreads 2025 yearly recap. Goodreads was right on with this one. Highly entertaining and highly unbelievable even though it is nonfiction.  Remember always follow the money. I have not seen the movie but I am sure it is good. Really incredible and really really sad. Most of the book I was like did this really happen and was thinking the poor Indians, this is not fair. I thought the beginning/middle were better than the ending. I read this one (didn’t listen).  So yeah, read it for sure and you’re welcome. But don’t read it on a dark night if you are alone in your house because I did that then started hearing things lol. I put this book up there with the River of Doubt by Candice Millard.   Ok I should be done with The Secret Race soon which is also really really good (thanks Scott)! 

Outlive - Dr. Peter Attia - 2022

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  17 hours audio but I would say better to read this one because chat says that for highly technical subject matter you retain the knowledge better if you read it. I tend to agree. If I was distracted at all while listening I had to rewind.  A few takeaways from this book: This doctor likes exercise more than diet and sleep for longevity. Genetics are very important. Humans struggle a lot now because our evolution is not used to modern life.  Grip strength is directly correlated to longevity. Strength training is not more important than cardio. Cardio is not more important than strength training. You should do both strength training and cardio.  Gum health is related (but it is not causal) to alzheimers.  Vo2 max is directly related to longevity.  Let me expand a bit. This doctor thinks a bad diet will hurt you more than a good diet can help you and at the end of section on diet says don't overthink diet, go outside now and do some exercise. For me there is...