Think Like A Monk
Originally I was going to read The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, but then I found out the guy actually wasn’t a monk when he got the Ferrari (he was a high-powered lawyer). Not that impressive! Jay Shetty of Think Like A Monk, on the other hand, is the real deal: he actually was a penniless monk in India for years before coming back and making it big as an influencer and writing this book, so I think he might have the better takeaways from monkery, at least for me.
Honestly, though, I still don’t really get the whole monk thing. It seems really inefficient to spend years doing nothing but meditating when you can reach pretty much the same level of enlightenment by doing DMT a few times, which takes like an hour max per trip. No need for any monk-ey business!
I wouldn’t be saying this if I didn’t have some personal experience, because I think I did quite well for myself on my latest DMT trip. I met a bull-headed entity who promises his followers productivity (and through that wealth). I knelt before it and it reached within me and took something out, declaring that if I wished to serve it, whatever it was would only get in the way. I think it may have been self-doubt that it took, or possibly laziness (sloth I think is the fancy term?).
In any case I had more startup ideas in the week after that than I’ve ever had before, although ever since then I’ve noticed that for some reason dogs bark at me A LOT. I think they just can’t stand to see me so successful. Dogs have gotten unbelievably lazy and complacent these days thanks to everyone pampering them, we need to get them back to work pulling sleds in Alaska or something before they become totally useless.
The Art of War
I haven’t read it yet (it’s a bit too old for me) however my uncle Robbie is a big fan. He says that diligent study of this book along with Machiavelli is the secret of his current success as the third best-selling used car salesman in Marin County.
The 48 Laws of Power
Excellent book, I’ve been thinking lately that my ideal country would have a legal system like Sharia law, except based on the laws in this book instead of the Holy Quran. I’ve heard a lot about tech guys starting charter cities in Central America or Africa, maybe I could go found “Kitropolis” based on this idea. Or, there’s supposed to be tiny island nations in the Pacific that you could theoretically take over with just a hundred guys carrying guns. Sounds like a startup idea!
12 Rules For Life
Unfortunately I can’t say much about this book because the first rule is “You do not talk about the 12 rules for life” (so is the second rule for that matter, so it must be super important not to). Shame!
Bushido Management: How the Japanese Crush Their Competitors Samurai-Style and How You Can Too
This book is a bit dated by now, however the Japanese basically invented productivity back in the day so it’s good review of the fundamentals. There are though a few things that probably wouldn’t fly these days, like consulting frog statues for investment advice or sending katanas as a threat to competitors or uppity underlings. Also the whole section about dealing with (or even making using of??) sōkaiya is absolutely perplexing.
Digital Minimalism
Haven’t read it yet but everyone I follow on social media RAVES about this book so it must be pretty good.
Meditations
It’s wild how relevant his thinking still is a couple thousand years later; I mean just look at how popular meditating still is. Being a Roman Emperor is surprisingly similar to being a startup founder, I think Marc would have done VERY well for himself in the Valley.
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
This book caught my eye at a Hudson News in SFO because of the swear in the title – finally a book that cuts the bullsh*t and gives it to me straight! Self-help with ATTITUDE!
Lifespan
My main takeaway is that this stuff called “adrenochrome” is really important, but I’m not really sure where to get it. I checked and it’s not available at any of my usual supplement stores, not even the sketchy online ones that sometimes sell stuff that’s technically illegal. At the very least I’m absolutely brimming with virgin blood, which is supposed to be great for staying youthful.
Eat That Frog!
I was skeptical at first but then I remembered that the French have been eating frogs for decades and look at everything they’ve accomplished. Better than you think!
Business Secrets of the Pharoahs
If you think about it, the pharoahs were kind of like the first CEOs. In a sense, we are also the successors of legacy of the Pharoahs here in the Valley: the world’s tallest pyramid, after all, is the Transamerica Pyramid in downtown San Francisco. We still have much to learn, however.
My Forthcoming Book (not the actual title, just a placeholder for the title of the book I’m writing)
I’m currently working on writing a book myself, about the “snowballing productivity” theory I’ve been developing lately. The basic idea is that the more productive you become, the more books/blog posts/podcasts/videos about productivity you’re able to consume, which make you more productive, which means you can consume more productivity content, and so on increasing exponentially. Eventually you will become like one of my role models, the guy in the movie “Limitless”, except you won’t have to do drugs (unless of course one of the really effective productivity tips you learn about is taking Adderall or something). It’s still in the early stages but I think it’s going to be really good.