May 2023
Hey all,
“Tsundoku” is a Japanese term that describes the habit of acquiring books but not reading them, resulting in a growing stack or pile of unread books. To me, that stack of books is enticing and motivating. What sucks, however, is when you finally get to that book that friends have been telling you that you’ll love and it’s a complete dud.
There was a time when the sunk cost fallacy had an impact on me and I would finish the book just because I started it. Maybe it’s the stack staring me in the face or just my old man-ness that encourages me to say “no” more often, but if I’m not sucked into the book in a few chapters, consider it donated.
Fortunately, I’ve been on a good run lately. Here are some books that I’ve read so far this year that I highly recommend:
The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
Killing the Mob by Bill O-Reilly
The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukanoff and Jonathan Haidt
Do Hard Things by Steve Magness
Range by David Epstein
Boundless Parenting by Ben Greenfield (still reading but great so far)
If you’re interested in more recommendations then check out my full list here. If you have any good recommendations to add to facilitate my tsundoku then let me know in the comment section.
Read well,
Brian
May Blog Posts
Mind
An Interview With The Author of For a Dollar and a Dream: State Lotteries in Modern America
100 Tips To Live A Better Life (My 100th article!)
Body
Dad
Kids Behavior Management: 25 Parenting Tips and Tricks (Part 1)
Interoception With Kelly Mahler: What It Is & How To Enhance It
Guest Post
I wrote an article for Therapy Den: 7 Science-Backed Ways To Improve Your Mental Health
Things I’ve Learned
Mind
This article in the Journal of Consumer Research proposes the idea of women using a female-to-female code of “mate guarding” through the use of luxury goods.
“We propose that women use luxury products to signal to other women that their romantic partner is especially devoted to them.
We hypothesise that women’s flaunting of luxury possessions therefore functions as an intrasexual signalling system: women use luxury products to send signals to other women in order to deter those other women from poaching their romantic partner.”
Morgan Housel on The Art of Spending.
Yes, this is the second Housel reference already and yes, I also highly recommend listening to or reading this content he put out about spending money.
Body
Why tall, leggy people run faster in the heat. A study compared 171 triathletes who competed in an Ironman. Of all three events, running provided the biggest leg up to the lanky.
I really thought “public region” would get some higher representation in this graph.
More and more people are latching on to the link between nutrition and mood This article, Can food help alleviate anxiety?, highlighted two main things to eat for lower anxiety based on the research:
Probiotics and fermented food
Omega-3 fatty acids (more on how to do that here)
And two diets, also based on research:
The Mediterranean diet
The keto diet
The Exercise Blueprint for Longevity by Physiologically Speaking
Get your eyes checked! Impaired vision is one of the most impactful and simultaneously preventable factors that I see in my clients on a daily basis. I stumbled upon this article that highlights 10 factors about vision, including:
Surprisingly, 80 percent of vision problems worldwide could be avoided or even cured with prompt medical care and regular eye examinations. In particular, a leading cause of blindness among adults over 50 is cataracts, which are treatable with surgery.
Ben Greenfield talks about holistic cancer care in his latest podcast. If I were diagnosed with cancer, these are the strategies I would use right away. He mentions books, protocols, and a variety of readily available things you can start doing.
Dad
“There is no failure in sports.” Giannis Antetokounmpo offers a great lesson for kids (and adults).
Jack Raines wrote a thought-provoking piece on why we should be having more kids. One of his points is “The Bored Parent Hypothesis”.
I have this half-baked idea that one’s number of children is inversely related to their availability of fun/interesting alternative activities. If you are a 20-something living on a few dollars a day in an undeveloped country, you don’t really have many things to do (excluding work) besides creating an army of your own miniature genetic replicas.
But if you live in a developed, first-world country in the Year of Our Lord 2023, you have a lot of ways to spend your time that does not involve making babies. You can enjoy a luxury previously unknown to most of our ancestors: chill with your friends. You can travel for fun, ski, engage in this weird modern phenomenon known as “hobbies,” create art, and learn a foreign language.
You have options.
Subconsciously, we know that children mark the end of this period of vast optionality by introducing a really, really big responsibility. This is the first-world problem of all first-world problems, but I do think that some young people in developed countries today are hesitant to have kids because there’s just a ton of fun stuff to do when you don’t have kids.
Of course, I’m speaking as a young dude in a developed country who thinks there’s a ton of fun stuff that doesn’t involve having kids.
Do you agree?
The younger we give kids smartphones, the worse their mental health. Here’s a great article (with suggestions) based on an interesting study. One of many data points is above.
Constant Adult Supervision is Destroying Kids’ Mental Health. Peter Gray on how being too safe can backfire.
You’d think! But here’s the catch, Gray explained: Everyone has something called a “locus of control.” When you have a well-developed INTERNAL locus of control, you feel you can handle things, solve problems, make your own decisions. You are in control of your life.
An EXTERNAL locus of control is when you feel people or forces outside of you are in charge. Someone else is directing you. You don’t have the ability — or even the opportunity — to deal with the problems and possibilities of everyday life. “And people who lack that ability, regardless of age, are far more susceptible to anxiety and depression,” said Gray.
Emily Oster from ParentData surveyed 1,400 parents to find out what the best and worst baby products were. For what it’s worth, here are my thoughts:
"Best" ones I disagree with: butt spatula. I thought it was the greatest invention in the world at first but then it became more pain than it was worth. Put the butt cream on your finger, wipe it on your baby's butt, wipe your finger residue in the diaper, then wash your hands when you're all done. This way takes out need to find the spatula and wipe it off in the sink afterward.
"Worst" ones I disagree with: carrier. Carry your baby on your chest early and often. This helped to manage colic and improve my kid's mood while allowing me to do some weighted walks (modified rucking?), free up my hands for cooking and cleaning, and get us both outside more often.
Best Of The Month
Here are a few of my favorite things I listened to, read, and used this month.
Podcast
Here’s the description: “Serial entrepreneur and bestselling author, Gary Vaynerchuk joins Chris to discuss cultivating happiness by embracing kindness, enhancing self-awareness, and finding a balance between things you love. He and Chris also dig deep into the power of taking ownership of our actions and choices, making amends with people and share tips on raising confident and resilient kids by instilling practical self-esteem.”
Book
The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel.
Product
My family treated me to a new bike for my birthday, the FlexiSpot Desk Bike Chair Workstation. It’s awesome. It lets me write at night while still getting in some Zone 2 cardio which also doubles as a bit of a pick-me-up to crank out some work.
Quote
"The idea is to make it as easy as possible in the moment to do things that payoff in the long run.” —James Clear
What did you learn this month?
