Books

Notes: “As far back as the 1800s, scientists like Philippe Tissié and August Bier noted that an unsound mind can help an athlete ignore pain and push his or her body beyond its naturally conservative limits.” Example: Jure Robič won the Race Acros...

The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon  A good behind-the-scenes look at Jeff Bezos and Amazon. Amazon is a company that is ubiquitous now but has been overshadowed by other big companies during its growing years. It felt like ...

Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson took me 30 minutes to read. Change is inevitable, but sometimes our complex thought process prevents us from adapting to change. We could also be in the comfort zone or too lazy to adapt. The book is a parable...

My goal in reading this book is to answer four questions (see below) that I had with regards to skills mastery. The author, Anders Ericsson, is the leading researcher in the field of human performance. He has performed numerous studies on the subject,...

Cal Newport's So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love  is a book that is easy to read yet contains many profound ideas. Notes: Big Idea: Don't Follow Your Passion Important note: There are people, l...

Seth Godin is one of those guys who views the world on a different lens. In Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? , Godin talks about how one can become a linchpin. A linchpin is indispensable to any organization not only because of his/her artistry ...

I read this book after reading Anders Ericsson's book Peak . It pretty much has the same idea as Ericsson's albeit Ericsson's book is more comprehensive. In addition, Ericsson is the leading researcher on human performance so if you want to save...

Edward de Bono created five terms (TO, LO, PO, SO, GO) to explain his five steps to productive thinking. There is so much information in the book that reading it once is not enough. It is more of a manual that helps when one is stuck in the thinking...

There is a lot of science and research in this book. All of it are fascinating. I have been a fan of neuroscientist David Perlmutter ever since his book Grain Brain . He mentions fasting and a specific diet for a healthy gut as tools for a healthy...

This book precedes Dr. Perlmutter's best-known books Brain Maker and Grain Brain,  yet some of the science he shares in this book is the same in his two famous books. I have enjoyed the neuroscience part of this book and have largely ignored the p...

Derek Sivers is one of my mentors. I e-mail him whenever I make big life decisions. His book, Anything You Want , is a collection of all his blog posts that relates to his company CD baby, and his views on business and life. Derek started CD baby...

The basic premise of Mind Over Money  is: We let money control our thinking, sometimes in counterproductive and even destructive ways. We need a better understanding of our psychological relationship with money. Claudia Hammond backs her ideas ...

I am a big fan of Tim Ferriss' work. I listen to his podcast and read his blog every week. The 4-Hour Work Week is not a book that you read only once. It is a manual that you refer to as you build a business and lifestyle that allows you to work...

I have had Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi recommended several times by people I respect. I am not a fan of tennis but I decided to give this book a try. Well, the book did not disappoint. Agassi seemed very genuine in telling his stories....

Programming is all about problem solving. It requires creativity, ingenuity, and invention. It’s not that the teacher teaches; it’s that the student learns. The learning is always up to you. Wetware - human brain cells or thought processes reg...

Outliers: The Story of Success  is one of my favorite books of all-time. I have since been a fan of Malcolm Gladwell after this book. Through case studies, Gladwell argues that being an outlier (a person who doesn't fit into our normal understanding ...

On the Shortness of Life  is an essay written by Lucius Annaeus Seneca, also known as Seneca the Younger, a Roman-Spanish Stoic philosopher. Stoicism seemed like an esoteric concept when I first encountered it (I somehow relate the word to mysticism and...

I have read many blogs on buddhism only to be confused by it. As the title suggests, this book does dissect buddhism into a plain and simple language. This is the best resource on buddhism in my opinion. Notes: Life is changing. We are not the...

Elon Musk is a successful billionaire with extravagant ambitions. With a stated life purpose of “turning humans into space colonizers,“ some people tag him as crazy. This book gives a compelling and detailed look at how Elon came to be as author Ash...

I have read many books on how to find happiness. I'll help you save time: disregard other books on happiness, this is the only book that you need.  Notes: Four factors in an individual's quest for happiness: wealth, worldly satisfaction, spirituality, ...

How To Win Friends and Influence People is a classic. I forgot how I stumbled upon this book but I am glad I did. This book was a revelation to me in terms of connecting and building rapport with people. Here is a summary of the principles from...