Books
Radical Honesty: How to transform your life by telling the truth by Brad Blanton, PhD. (Amazon) is the definitive source for transforming your life by telling the truth. It is by far the most important book I’ve ever read about how to stop lying NOW and start living a life of honesty. The Buddha is quoted as saying “Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.” As far as I’m concerned, this book is a must-read for everyone, including people who believe they have no problems telling the truth. The way Blanton breaks down how to enter an intimate relationship by talking about every past partner and your current emotions about them – this is the kind of stuff that is uncomfortable at first, but does incredible things for the relationship. Knowing where someone stands with past lovers leaves no space for your mind to wander when they’re in town. The author also talks about how telling the truth frees you from undue stress caused by stacking lies to cover lies, and how to break down these barriers. The book is emotional, hard as hell to put to work, and worth every page. I read it for the first time in September of 2009, and will continue to read it every year.
Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh (Amazon) Written by Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com, this book is all about company culture and how big of an impact it makes. I ended up listening to this book on a road trip in November of 2010 down to Florida from Michigan, and couldn’t get enough of what Tony hit on. Zappos.com is a very successful company that started off selling shoes online, before anyone else did. What set them apart was not the shoe sales (most people still wanted to try them on before they purchased) – it was the incredible customer service that Zappos provided. Want a 6″ heel in red, but don’t know the right size? Order 4 different sizes, get them shipped (for free!) to your door, try them on with your dress, then send back the 3 that didn’t fit (again, for free). Zappos isn’t making the highest profits from each sale, but why should they care? They just got a customer for life.
This same mentality flows through the minds of the employees at Zappos. Take, for instance, their Interview Questions. We’re already using them at Tech Guys because they are so killer – and make perfect sense. They try to get all the information they need to know about the person, then see if they’re a good fit with the company culture. In the book, they talk about changing just 1% of things every day to make them more effective or fun. Maybe you change a form field in the software that everyone uses to be more friendly (“Woah, slow down there soldier. You need to give permissions to John Doe to view this before assigning ‘em the task!” instead of “Error. Insufficient Privileges”).
The Way of the Superior Man: A Spiritual Guide to Mastering the Challenges of Women, Work, and Sexual Desire by David Deida (Amazon) There have been times that I feel completely lost as a man, and I’m left to guess where I fit in. David Deida takes this problem that seems to be plaguing men and offers some words of advice to help see what really is going on, and how to find your purpose as a man. Reflecting back to the 1950′s with the macho Home Maker vs. Bread Winner family mentality to the 1970′s where women gained more social footings and men “grew out their hair and played drums in the woods”, to the 2000′s. The shift that Deida outlines is that young boys knew where they belonged in the 50′s – being a typical guy who is very masculine, linear focused and oftentimes, an asshole. Once women began demanding more respect and equal pay (and finally getting it), hoards of men retaliated and embraced more of a feminine side. This included music, dance, and all things associated with flow and the eternal feminine. Now, young boys are being raised in a world where they don’t know where they belong.
Gone are the days of seeing role models on TV that are productive. I read that 50 out of 51 surveyed TV shows on air today show the father figure of the family in a negative light. Think of Homer Simpson, Peter Griffin, Al Bundy. They are all deadbeats and the women in the family do the raising/work/shopping. Boys are stuck with this programming and can’t figure out where to belong. Do they work hard to be a strong man with purpose, drive and integrity? Probably not — here aren’t any role models for them. Instead, they spend their time playing video games, looking at porn and secluding themselves from any activity that takes them out of their comfort zone.
In The Way of the Superior Man, Deida dissects these problems one-by-one and offers solutions in the form of anecdotes, exercises and insights. For men, this is a book that should be read yearly, and re-read as often as it takes to live the message. I have the audio of Deida himself reading the book, and find it to be great to listen to any part of the book whenever I have a lull in reading/listening.
The Primal Blueprint: Reprogram your genes for effortless weight loss, vibrant health, and boundless energy by Mark Sisson (Amazon) There’s a lot of rage going on right now about optimal diet – and now we finally have science on our side. The field of Evolutionary Biology is making some serious headway on looking at clues to see what we are supposed to eat, and how our bodies should be composed. Mark Sisson takes cues from cutting edge science and has put together a Blueprint to map out exactly what it takes to be in the best shape of your life.
Some may not like his approach (no grains, processed foods or white sugar, low-carb, high fat), but all evolutionary signals point that this is the best way to treat out bodies. Just look at the guy – he’s 59, ripped, and could probably out-run me any day. His Blueprint goes past just diet, and adds in all of the basics to a healthy lifestyle. If you’re looking to change the way you eat, the way you look and feel, take a look at his Primal approach. Similar to Paleo (the paleolithic diet), Sisson shuns excessive consumption of simple carbohydrates like white sugar, soda, high glycemic fruit (simple carbohydrates raises insulin, which monitor fat storage). Grains and their sticky gluten parts are also omitted, making a sandwich something of the past. In return, he offers links and advice to finding high quality meats from local farmers (try EatWild.com), tips on different sources of fats, proteins and carbs, and a Workout of the Week (WOW). Solid stuff. Check out Mark’s blog here.
