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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 12th, 2023 | by Kyle Brennan
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Thought of the Week
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Relax for the same result.
Years ago I listened to a podcast episode where Tim Ferriss interviewed entrepreneur Derek Sivers. One story he told has stuck with me since listening to it. Whenever I get burn-out of overwhelmed with life's trivialities, I always come back to the story he shared.
Every day, Derek would ride along a beautiful seven and a half mile ocean-front bike path in Santa Monica, California. He would go as fast as he could - full-on, 100 percent, head-down, red-faced sprinting.
He would finish exhausted and look down at his watch loop time: 43 minutes. Every time.
After a few months, he was less enthusiastic about his bike rides. He had mentally linked it with being completely exhausted.
Then one day, he decided he would do the same bike ride, but at his own pace. He would just chill, take it easy, and dial it back maybe 50 percent of his usual effort.
Lo and behold, he had a beautiful, relaxing ride. He was relaxed, smiling, and looking around - barely giving any effort. He saw dolphins in the water, a pelican fly overhead. He was in awe at the beauty and couldn't help but say "wow!" and smile.
When he finished, he looked down at his watch: 45 minutes.
"Wait - what?!?!" he thought. How could that be?
Apparently, all of the exhausting, red faced, full-on push-push-push he had been doing for so long had only given him a 4 percent boost. Derek realized he could just take it easy and still get 96 percent of the results.
He could go the same distance, in about the same time, but one way left him exhausted, and the other way, rejuvenated.
I think of this often. When I notice that I'm all stressed out about something or driving myself to exhaustion, I remember Derek's story about that bike ride and I remind myself that I can dial back my effort by 50 percent and still accomplish everything I want to without the exhaustion.
It's amazing how much you can get done just as well and just as fast, with what feels like half the effort.
"Which then makes me realize that half of my effort wasn’t effort at all, but just unnecessary stress that made me feel like I was doing my best."
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What I'm Reading
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Ordinary Men is an essential Holocaust book about a unit of German men who partook in the killing of thousands of Jewish men, women, children and the old by firing squad. Their task was to execute the orders, no matter how inhumane and gruesome. The author traces the moral degradation of those men and demonstrates how quickly they ceased to feel remorse about what they were to do.
Before WWII most of them, as the title suggests, were just ordinary men. Most had families and ordinary occupations, yet, it only took a few months for these ordinarily non-violent men to turn into mass murderers, exterminating thousands of people like it was just another day at the office.
It is very graphic in the description of the executions in it’s brutality and one cannot fathom how the majority of these men carried out such heinous crimes. And while it is easy to judge what they did in those times and under the circumstances that they did it, to kill a child, not to mention a human being, in the way they did it, is unforgivable.
This was not an easy read. It’s unfathomable what people are capable of in the heart of war. The book was brutal to get through and I had to pause multiple times just to give myself a break from the harrowing stories of death throughout the Holocaust.
Rating: 3.9 / 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
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My Latest Article
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The Pareto Principle, also called the 80/20 principle, states that roughly 80% of outcomes come from 20% of causes. This means that 20% of our positive habits are likely driving 80% of our overall happiness.
The habits that endure are the ones that impart lasting transformation — or as I like to put it — the habits yielding the highest “ROI” (Return on Investment).
In the past year, I made a few small changes to my daily habits that drove significant results to my overall well-being.
I want to share them with you in hopes that one (or several) of them will drive you to try the same.
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What I'm Watching
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I don't know what got into me this month, but I'm very WWII-heavy. Watching this was the perfect pairing to Ordinary Men where I could read stories about the war and then witness them on film from the 1940s.
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No movie could elicit such powerful emotions, and it's why I love documentaries. It's raw footage depicts an amazing mix of intense war and personal struggles. Covering the cold and icy battles of the Eastern Front, the tropical skirmishes in the battle for Japan, the dusty conflict in the African desert, and the all-out war in the rural Western Front, it truly encapsulates the true meaning of a World War.
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Article I'm Reading
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I've had the pleasure of watching Novak Djokovic play tennis live several times at the US Open. One of the most amazing things I noticed when watching him was his composure - he never once looked tired, frustrated, or felt sorry for himself. His presence was stoic, and I don't doubt that it was intentional. Tennis is as much of a mind game as it is physical - and Novak has clearly mastered both.
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He keeps himself in tremendous shape, doing yoga, pilates, pliability training, and VO2 max thresholds. His diet is dialed and his mental game is top-notch. That's what it takes to be considered one of the greatest to ever do it.
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12 Wealth, Health, & Happiness Habits I'm Prioritizing in 2024
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Quote I'm Pondering
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I have learned that whenever I think "I don't have enough time to do that" what I usually mean is "I don't have enough energy" or "I am not actually interested in doing this.
What I need to do a better job of is not managing my time, but rather caring for myself and identifying my true interests. When I am well rested and working on something I am genuinely excited about, finding time is rarely a problem.
- James Clear
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Keith and Kyle sit down to discuss how stupid Dry January is, various examples and statistics that provide a reason to be generally optimistic about the future, the wisdom of Charlie Munger, and to wrap up the episode, Keith tells a hilarious joke.
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Books/Essays 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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