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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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May 19th, 2023 | by Kyle Brennan
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What I'm Reading
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The Prophet is a book of 26 prose poetry fables written in English by the Lebanese-American poet and writer Kahlil Gibran.
The Prophet depicts life and action and motive as they should be. In all, it is a wise soul (a prophet) sharing his learning and wisdom to people that need spiritual guidance in order to become the best humans they can be. It is delivered in a semi-biblical fashion to give the words more weight; they are inspiring and uplifting, and they are spoken with pure altruism.
This book shows us that love is central to everything. Gibran expresses his ideas as poetic essays. He talks about life and death, love, religion, and spiritualism in such a profound manner that it will sink deep into our souls.
A couple of my favorite quotes from the book:
“Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror.
But you are eternity and you are the mirror.”
"Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music."
Rating: 3.7 / 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Article I'm Saving for Multiple Re-Reads
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"Perhaps you will learn from this that books are sacred to free men for very good reasons, and that wars have been fought against nations which hate books and burn them. If you are an American, you must allow all ideas to circulate freely in your community, not merely your own.
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If you and your board are now determined to show that you in fact have wisdom and maturity when you exercise your powers over the education of your young, then you should acknowledge that it was a rotten lesson you taught young people in a free society when you denounced and then burned books— books you hadn’t even read. You should also resolve to expose your children to all sorts of opinions and information, in order that they will be better equipped to make decisions and to survive."
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Podcast I'm Listening To
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Dr. Alok Kanojia (Dr. K) is a psychiatrist, Harvard Medical School instructor, co-founder of HealthyGamerGG, Twitch streamer and a YouTuber.
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Humans face a predicament that has never been seen in our history, a massive overload in daily stimulation and information. The effect of constant exposure to social media, video games, and porn is not good, but thankfully there are a number of powerful ways to take back control of your attention.
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Expect to learn the correlation between video game usage and mental health, why our brains are uniquely addicted to looking at screens, whether dopamine fasting is actually legit, the problem with watching porn at a young age, how to combat screen addiction, why some people always feel like they have brain fog, how to find meaning in your life and much more...
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How I'm Using ChatGPT
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Everyone and their mother is talking about ChatGPT and the dangerous future of AI. My stance is that it's only going to become more ubiquitous over time so I might as well be an early adopter. I've used ChatGPT already in the last few weeks for a number of things - proofreading my blog posts, recommending ways to, and summarizing articles and top trends in the advertising industry for work.
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But recently I found one of the best use cases for it - Travel Itineraries. Lauren and I are heading to Yellowstone National Park next month, and with only a few days there, I knew logistic planning was going to be a big part of the trip. But rather than read through dozens of travel blogs with ads, stories, and multiple different sets of circumstances, I used my old friend ChapGPT. Sure enough, it laid out a full itinerary by day that we'll likely be adopting.
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Here is the prompt I used:
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You are Travel Agent GPT, plan a road trip for me from the afternoon of Friday, June 23rd to the evening of Tuesday, June 27th leaving from Bozeman, Montana and staying in West Yellowstone for two nights, then traveling down to Jackson, Wyoming for the remaining three nights and staying at the Anvil Hotel. We depart from Jackson, Wyoming early Wednesday morning. We would like to visit all of the important landmarks in Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park. With limited time in each, please recommend a strategy to maximize our time in each park. Also, recommend great spots in each area for breakfast and dinner. It is our two-year wedding anniversary and we'd like to do some fun affordable activities like fly fishing or horseback riding as well.
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If you're new to ChatGPT and aren't sure where to start, check out this list of prompts:
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Quote I'm Pondering
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People like you more when you are working towards something, not when you have it.
— Drake
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Podcast Episode #8 is Out Now!
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Keith and Kyle sit down to discuss what they’ve learned from starting a podcast, feeding one’s passion in life, the creative enthusiasm of record executive Rick Rubin, and the consequences of a flawed educational approach to literacy in NYC schools. Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts
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Books discussed in this episode:
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Check Out My Amazon Favorites Bookstore
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Browse my favorite book selections hand-curated by me. I also earn commissions so if you buy anything, those earnings get reinvested right back into this fancy newsletter ;)
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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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