Hi All,
Welcome to the Weekly Rapport. A weekly guide of things I’m reading, doing, and experimenting with during this boring-ass quarantine. Enjoy.
My Latest Quarantine Book Recommendations
Every week I’m going to post a short video recommending three books. This week I share three books for personal development that will help you through our new way of living.
- Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
- Hate Inc. by Matt Taibbi
- I Will Teach You to be Rich by Ramit Sethi
Quote of the Week
The rich invest in time, the poor invest in money.
– Warren Buffett
What I’m Reading
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
I thought this book was going to be a little too science-y for my liking as it was 1) written by Richard Dawkins, 2) written in 1978 and 3) ia 300 page book about genes…
I was wrong. Dawkins writes in an effortlessly easy way for even the most elementary science student to understand. Does he sometimes drag on about things for a little too long, sure. That’s probably the only drawback about the book. But otherwise I learned a ton of things about evolution that gave me a different perspective on how things are passed from one generation to another.
The 5 A.M. Club by Robin Sharma
Robin Sharma, best known for his book The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, just came out with a new book called The 5 A.M. Club. You can guess what the main message is.
Told through a story of three characters, Sharma explains the importance of arising at 5 A.M. every day to harness your focus and energy for not only your mind, but also your health, soul, and emotional self. I’ve been getting up at 5 for the last two days, and I got to be honest it’s pretty great. Does it suck getting out of bed when it’s still dark out? Hell yeah it sucks. But by 10am I’ve already done pretty much everything I wanted to do and my energy is high, I feel accomplished and I earned a mid-day nap should I feel the need. Man I sound like a dad…
New App I’m Using
As you may have read already, I’ve had a consistent meditation practice of some sort since I was about 19 or 20. I’ve also used meditation apps like Calm and Headspace and enjoyed them but lost interest after a few months, or just didn’t feel like paying a subscription fee to literally sit and breathe in silence. However, for the last three years, I’ve been able to adopt my own meditation that lasts about 5-7 minutes without the aid of an app.
With the quarantine, it’s been a bit more difficult to stick to my routine and I feel like I’ve fallen into a meditation rut. My practice and technique has grown stale. Through several recommendations I downloaded the Waking Up app by Sam Harris. I’m on Day 5 and so far it’s been great. The meditations are daily 10 minute exercises that allow room for interpretation and adaptation. He guides you softly and allows plenty of room for contemplation and silence. I also got three free months with the promo code FERRISS 😉
New Podcast I’m Listening To
Honestly there are too many good podcasts out there now. The market is officially oversaturated. Just like Netflix. I can’t pick a lane and I can’t keep up with the new shows popping up left and right. I try to listen to my favorites as soon as they come out – Joe Rogan, Freakonomics, Revisionist History, Tim Ferriss, the list goes on. But now everyone and their mother has their own podcast that’s it’s impossible to keep up. When my favorites came out with one a week, it was easy. But I guess there really isn’t much else to do. I don’t drive as much as I used to, nor commute. But I do go on long walks, and I do go on long drives just to kill the time.
Andy Stumpf is a former Navy SEAL which is about all I needed to hear and his guests are awesome. I’m a sucker for anything Special Ops related.
What I’m Watching
Formula One Netflix
I could give two shits about Formula One. I don’t care about car racing and it’s never really excited me. That said, tons and tons of people on Reddit have been saying this Formula One show on Netflix is amazing. I watched one episode and was instantly hooked. The show is just so well done – the drivers, the money, the history, and the storylines are so juicy. Add to that the amazing cinematography, music, and interviews and you got yourself a really enjoyable show.
And finally, RIP to the great Jerry Stiller. One of my favorite outtakes from Seinfeld.
-KB