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The Observe and Rapport Newsletter
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A weekly guide of my favorite books, articles, products, and lifestyle habits.
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November 26th, 2022 | by Kyle Brennan
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I value discipline more than most things. While courage is the willingness to put your ass on the line, self-discipline is the ability to keep your ass IN LINE. We're all subject to our own self-destructed habits - being lazy, drinking too much, not being present in your relationships, and on and on.
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While the world is unpredictable, one thing we do control is how we take care of ourselves. Taking lessons from history's greatest figures like Lou Gehrig, Queen Elizabeth, Napoleon, and Martin Luther King Jr, Ryan Holiday instills the lessons from Stoic philosophers. By being a little hard on ourselves, it makes it harder for others to be hard on us.
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Self-discipline is not a rejection of pleasure but a way to embrace it. Treating our body well, moderating our desires, working hard, exercising, hustling - this is not a punishment. This is simply the work for which pleasure is the reward. One of my favorite Stephen King quotes that can really be applied to anything difficult in life is, "I don't like to write. I like to have written."
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As @jockwillink famously coined, Discipline = Freedom
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What made this book so compelling for me was Jonathan Franzen's acute psychological eye. His ability to get inside family dynamics and deconstruct relationships, to create tension and suspense through the ways we get along with each other (and don’t) was astounding.
The novel takes a look at a seemingly normal midwestern American family. While from the outside they appear to have achieved all of the successes they each hoped for, internally their family is tearing itself apart at the seems.
Each of the characters of the Berglund family struggle with their effort to be 'good' and their freedom to be otherwise, but ultimately their identities are so bound up with each other that they're perhaps not as free as they realize -- and this, Franzen seems to suggest, might be what saves us
Rating: 4.1 / 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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This was an incredibly unique stand-up special, and I absolutely loved it. Ari Shaffir grew up in an Orthodox Jewish family and even moved to Israel where he lived for two years to become a rabbi before leaving the religion altogether and becoming a stand-up comedian. The special is hilarious and educational at the same time. He pokes fun at all of the sacred cows of not only Jewish tradition, but other faiths as well.
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I'm fully aware of how annoying it is to hear someone tell you your back pain is all in your head, but Dr. Howard Schubiner has some valuable things to say about it.
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His message is simple: Your pain is real. Of course it is, otherwise, you wouldn't be in agony. But pain is also created in the brain. If you broke your ankle right now, it would hurt like hell, right? But if you broke your ankle while being chased down by a lion, your brain could override that pain and deal with it later.
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Physical symptoms can have non-physical causes. In other words, the brain can cause almost any symptom to occur even if there's no structural injury or explanation for it. When I get stressed, my chest gets tight and my neck gets inflamed. Why is that? Really, it all comes down to the power of the brain.
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While the idea that your pain may not be caused by a structural issue might be somewhat hard to take, (especially since most of us are used to thinking that way), it's actually really good news.
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Our brains are powerful and pliable. According to Dr. Schubiner, we can re-teach our brain when it comes to certain associations and triggers around our chronic pain. In the end, this might allow us to eliminate our pain – without medicine or invasive surgery. If we're open to it, we can change the way our brain reacts to the emotions and situations that trigger our symptoms.
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Books and words can change your life. Wisdom is written from books in hopes the next generation can learn from them and evolve. Life is complicated, and I’m obsessed with sifting through recorded knowledge and finding little nuggets of wisdom I can use to learn and grow.
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Don't Forget to Check Out Our Latest Podcast Episode
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Keith and Kyle sit down to discuss Kyle’s recent trips to India and Hawaii, the future of Architecture, and the particular brilliance of Russian authors.
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Books discussed in this episode:
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If you don't know where you're sailing, no wind is favorable.
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What's on My Reading List?
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Kyle's Published Work
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33 Life Lessons on My 33rd Birthday
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Thirty-three was a big one. Mostly because I became a dad. Our daughter was born on New Year’s Eve — a fitting arrival for a kid destined to reset everything. It’s been a beautiful, if slightly sleep-deprived blur ever since. I’ve only been “Dad” for less than ten months, but if I’m being honest, I’ve been preparing for the role for over …
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Depth Over Downloads: Why Spending Time with Books Still Matters
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Everyone wants faster information. But no one asks if faster information leads to better understanding — or a better life. In the age of AI and tweet-sized wisdom, we’ve confused information with transformation. But there’s a massive difference between knowing what a book says and being changed by it. The Delusion of Instant Learning In a recent interview, political journalist Ezra Klein admitted he once believed …
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The Jack Reacher Approach to Never Being Caught Off Guard
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There’s no difference between a pessimist who says, ‘Oh, it’s hopeless, so don’t bother doing anything,’ and an optimist who says, ‘Don’t bother doing anything, it’s going to turn out fine anyway.’ Either way, nothing happens.” —Yvon Chouinard, Founder of Patagonia I don’t read much fiction, but I’ve always been hooked on Lee Child’s Jack Reacher. He’s not your typical …
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