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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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December 8th, 2023 | by Kyle Brennan
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Thought of the Week
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Every day when I inevitably confront a task I don't want to do, I say to myself,
"Accept the initial agitation."
Whether it's getting out of bed, going to the gym, writing, or taking a cold shower, the agitiation and unwillingness to do the thing is going to be there.
Dr. Andrew Huberman explains, "The agitation and stress that you feel at the beginning of something—when you're trying to lean into it and you can't focus—is just a recognized gate. You have to pass through that gate to get to the focus component."
I once heard Ed Sheeran share this analogy about songwriting. He said it's like turning on an old faucet full of muddy water. Each day, you have to let out enough of the shitty brown water before it eventually starts to cipitate clean water.
We face those same hurdles any time we try to focus deliberately on something hard. After you finally convince yourself to get out of bed, you don't think about it the rest of the day.
All you had to do was get over that initial agitation.
Once you're up, the momentum is driving you forward. It's just about pushing through the inertia.
"The agitation is indeed the doorway to the whole process."
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What I'm Reading
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At the end of the last century, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was a booming coal-and-steel town filled with hardworking families striving for a piece of the nation’s burgeoning industrial prosperity. In the mountains above Johnstown, an old earth dam had been hastily rebuilt to create a lake for an exclusive summer resort patronized by the tycoons of that same industrial prosperity, among them Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and Andrew Mellon. Despite repeated warnings of possible danger, nothing was done about the dam.
Then came May 31, 1889, when the dam burst, sending a wall of water thundering down the mountain, smashing through Johnstown, and killing over 2,000 people. It was a tragedy that became a national scandal.
The Johnstown Flood is an absorbing, classic portrait of life in nineteenth-century America, of overweening confidence, of energy, and of tragedy. It also offers a powerful historical lesson for our century and all times: the danger of assuming that because people are in positions of responsibility they are necessarily behaving responsibly.
Rating: 4.1 / 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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What I'm Watching
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This is a fantastic show that a few people recommened to me over the last few months. I was finally able to get three free months of AppleTV after cancelling Ted Lasso so I'm back on board!
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Shrinking is a comedy about a group of therapists (Jason Segel, Harrison Ford, Jessica Williams) who form a bond over their shared experiences treating not only their patients problems, but their own life issues. Very funny and relatable.
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Podcast I'm Listening To
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Lex Fridman is quickly becoming one of my favorite podcast interviewers. He is super humble, knowledgable, and willing to ask uncomfortable questions. His guest list has also quickly become a who's who of the world's most powerful people - Elon Musk, Kanye West, Benjamin Netanyahu, Mark Zuckerburg, and now Jeff Bezos.
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It's not often you get to hear a long-form interview with the founder of Amazon and Blue Origin. I found Bezos to be incredibly smart and well-spoken. I had the urge to stop and take notes multiple times when he spoke about the various creative ways he makes decisions, organizes meetings, and manages his schedule.
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Product I'm Loving
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Lauren and I have a problem that many couples in the intercontinental divide of digitization may encounter. I, on the one hand, prefer to organize all of our live events in digital form on our shared Google calendar. Lauren, on the other hand, prefers the old-school analog version.
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As you can imagine, this leads to many events going unnoticed by both parties.
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One solution we came up with was to make both of our calendars as visible as possible, by putting them front and center where we will always inevitably find ourselves: the refrigerator.
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This magnet is awesome and doesn't look clutter-y on a stainless steel fridge. It's got different color markers with erasers so you can make it as simple or fancy as you like.
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Quote I'm Pondering
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“The moment that you feel that, just possibly, you’re walking down the street naked, exposing too much of your heart and your mind and what exists on the inside, showing too much of yourself. That’s the moment you may be starting to get it right.”
-Neil Gaiman
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Keith and Kyle sit down to discuss the modernization of Disney World, Keith's experience running a Half Marathon, the Bush administration's strategy, or lack thereof, during the War in Iraq, and Kyle's personal experience and opinions on the Ice Bath fad.
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Books Mentioned 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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