|
|
|
|
|
The Observe and Rapport Newsletter
|
A weekly guide of my favorite books, articles, products, and lifestyle habits.
|
|
July 7th, 2023 | by Kyle Brennan
|
|
Want this newsletter delivered to your inbox every week?
|
|
|
What I'm Reading
|
|
Nobody sits us down and teaches us how to love. So we’re often thrown into relationships with nothing but romance movies and pop culture to help us muddle through.
Jay Shetty's (@jayshetty) book is good. It's comprehensive, with advice from therapists, insights from the Vedas, and common sense. In my opinion, there are better books out there, but this is a solid foundational review if you need some fundamental guidance on where to start.
This book is written about love using Eastern philosophies as a roadmap. Much of this is straightforward - what you may expect. Yet, I particularly enjoyed the chapter about learning how to fight. Fighting, done well, actually benefits relationships.
If you're in a relationship, fights are inevitable. Shetty explains that if you and your partner can learn to neutralize each other's egos and pursue the root cause of the argument as a team rather than attack each other's faults, you will win together.
"Every time one of you loses, you both lose. Every time the problem loses, you both win."
Rating: 2.8 / 5 ⭐️⭐️
|
|
|
Song of Solomon is the one that asks the most of its readers. It’s not a book that enchants immediately.
The characters – at least in the beginning – are all awful or at least infuriating, and it’s difficult to know who to get behind. But as the story unfolds, the complexity and humanity of the characters are revealed so that they begin to earn the reader’s sympathy and affection.
By the end you realize that the psychology of each and every one of them makes perfect sense, that their personal experiences and generations of history have subtly shaped who they became, and that this tapestry of lives is telling a much bigger story. Even the characters’ names – Milkman, Corinthians, Guitar, Pilate – seemingly so whimsical, are emblematic of profoundly important truths.
For the first half, I was unsure really what the thrust of the novel even was. If you had asked me what it’s about, the best I could have managed is ‘the story of a well-off, urban black family in 20th century America’. It meanders and ambles around, in ways that seem so unstructured as to be frustratingly messy and, beautifully written though it is, those early chapters lacked some sort of hook. Gradually though, it emerges that the family’s (relative) wealth has disconnected, alienated and trapped them; that their upward mobility, especially for the women, has limits; that each one of them is isolated and alone even while living all together under one roof.
Rating: 3.8 / 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
|
Article I'm Reading
|
|
I am a huge fan of Andrew Huberman (@hubermanlab) and what he is doing to promote health through scientific literacy. Listening to his podcast has helped me learn a ton about how to maintain a more steady level of energy throughout the day by implementing things such as morning sunlight viewing, zone two cardio, ice baths, time-restricted eating, and putting effort before rewarding myself.
|
|
Highly suggest you check him out if you haven't already. You can watch or listen on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube.
|
|
My Most Recent Blog Post
|
|
|
The main reason we stop doing something we love is because we forgot our love of doing it for enjoyment’s sake and replace it with the desire to be good at it.
|
|
What I'm Using to Focus
|
|
Another Andrew Huberman recommendation. 40 Hertz binaural beats have been shown in a number of peer-reviewed studies to increase focus and concentration. I like to throw on my Bose headphones to make sure I get the full surround sound effect. It took me 10-15 minutes to get used to it but after that I found I was able to concentrate on my work far more easily.
|
What I'm Using to Hydrate
|
|
With these brutally humid New York summer days, it's important to hydrate properly. Especially now that I'm with the fire department, I lose sweat at an alarming rate.
|
Lots of people hype about Liquid IV and its magical hangover cure powers. While it does work wonders on bachelor parties, I have found that it has a ton of sugar and other nonsense ingredients in it. LMNT on the other hand, is a low-card electrolyte power with no sugar. It's simply salt, citric acid, magnesium, potassium, and stevia.
|
From drinking this daily, I've found that the magnesium has actually helped me get better sleep as well. I have no affiliation with the company (although I'd like to), but here is podcaster Chris Williamson's code for his show Modern Wisdom. You can also buy on Amazon.
|
Quote I'm Pondering
|
|
"What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow. Our life is the creation of our mind."
-- The Dhammapada
|
|
Podcast Episode #8 is Out Now!
|
|
Keith and Kyle sit down to discuss how bad The Grateful Dead is, the benefits of therapy even if you think you don't need it, how impactful Arnold Schwarzenegger is on American culture, and how Napoleon, all things considered, was kind of an asshole.
|
Books discussed in this episode:
|
|
Check Out My Amazon Favorites Bookstore
|
|
|
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 ;)
|
|
  
|
Reminder to share this newsletter with friends and family! Subscribe link here
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Kyle's Published Work
|
|
|
|
|
|
33 Life Lessons on My 33rd Birthday
|
|
|
|
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 …
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Depth Over Downloads: Why Spending Time with Books Still Matters
|
|
|
|
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 …
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Jack Reacher Approach to Never Being Caught Off Guard
|
|
|
|
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 …
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
