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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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January 13th, 2022 | by Kyle Brennan
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- Evolution is lazy. Intelligence evolves to give us an advantage over the other animals on our planet. But once a problem is solved the trait stops evolving. We're just intelligent enough to be smarter than our planet's other animals. We're as smart as evolution made us, so we are the minimum intelligence needed to ensure we can dominate our planet.
- Decide for future you. On the Huberman Lab Podcast, Jocko Willink said, "The more future-focus I act, the better my life becomes." Every time you make a decision based on how it will affect your future positively, you're setting yourself up for success. Act for the future version of you.
- Naval's Razor: If you can't decide between 2 choices, take the path that's more difficult/painful in the short term. Doing this will counteract "hyperbolic discounting," the brain's tendency to overestimate short-term pain and underestimate long-term pain.
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What I'm Reading
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David Goggins never fails to motivate. In his second book, Goggins goes deeper into his days as a competitive ultra-marathoner, running distances up to 240 miles in less than 5 days.
After living through a gruesome childhood, Goggins developed a mental toughness that is second to none. He calls it his Mental Lab. He takes note of when he’s feeling sorry for himself, and never allows himself to take the easy way out. He writes how doing the hard things, and constantly putting yourself in difficult situations is actually the best way to go through life. By proving you're capable of pushing past your discomfort, you realize you’re capable of more than you could ever imagine.
The only drawback is that after 180 pages, you get the point. I put it down about 2/3rds of the way through since I got out of it what I needed, especially after already reading his first book, Can’t Hurt Me. @davidgoggins
Rating: 3.3 / 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
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What I'm Watching
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Back again for season 3, John Krasinski is the perfect Jack Ryan. After several movies with Harrison Ford, Alex Baldwin, Ben Affleck, and Chris Pine, I think they've really nailed it. I'm a sucker for any movie, book, or TV series with a lone operator who saves the world and Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan series fits that bill perfectly.
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This season sees Jack race across Europe to stop a rogue faction within the Russian government from restoring the Soviet Empire through nuclear weapons and assassinations.
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Popular Blog Post
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There are certain actions or guardrails you can put in place to keep yourself focused for long stretches of time. These aren’t “hacks” or short-term tricks that will save you time, these are important disciplines to maintain throughout your career for any pursuit you are aiming for.
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Today's Medium Post
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Being a good writer doesn’t have much to do with talent.
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You’d be surprised to know that most of the writers you admire wouldn’t credit their skill as what made them successful.
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Latest Podcast Episode
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Keith and Kyle sit down to discuss The Osage Reign of Terror, the birth of the FBI, book recommendations for beginners, and how obsessive behavior can be beneficial.
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Books discussed in this episode:
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Quote of the Week
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[Friendship]... was two people who remaind together, day after day, bound not by sex or physical attraction or money or children or property, but only by the shared agreement to keep going, the mutual dedication to a union that could never be codified. Friendship was witnessing another's slow drip of miseries, and long bouts of boredom, and occasional triumphs. It was feeling honored by the privelege of getting to be present for another person's most dismal moments, and jknowing that you could be dismal around him in return.
- Hanya Yanigahura, A Little Life
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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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