I'm trying something new..... Level Up Links, a way to share some of the books, podcasts and other resources I've found helpful and interesting as of late. I hope you find these good as gold ;)
For this first edition I have 4 links and some key takeaways for you: the Dorie Clark book I just finished, a podcast that sleep expert Matthew Walker did with Shane Parrish of Farnum Street Blog, a cool Ted Talk about gravitational waves and one of the tools I use to level up
Check these out:
Link #1 - The Long Game: How to Be a Long-Term Thinker in a Short-Term World by Dorie Clark
I have mixed thoughts on this book. Dorie Clark has some great advice on an important topic BUT I didn't love her writing style. This type of Gladwell-esque book, where a main idea is supported throughout with case studies, is very popular in the non-fiction genre. Bummer if the stories that accompany the lessons don't jive with you.
That is what happened to me and despite feeling hesitant to recommend this book I'd like to share some salient points.
“The key to a meaningful life is to set our own terms for it.”
Being a long-term thinker requires courage but also results in courage. “Are you willing to do the work despite no guaranteed outcome?”
Clark argues that our obsession with "busy" is a) something we use to signal our social status and importance and/or b) a distraction we subconsciously use from asking the uncomfortable questions.
One of these is: What does a meaningful life look to you? To answer this question you need to create WHITE SPACE -space on your calendar to figure out what OPTIMAL means for you.
There are a lot of roads to "success" and figuring out what to pursue can be helped with:
When you establish long-term "RIGHT" goals think about the following:
When considering the lifetime of your career THINK IN WAVES. Clark breaks down the 4 waves of a career into:
While passing through these waves figure out how you can differentiate yourself
"We get a lot of inaccurate messages about success. Playing the long-game requires patience, especially when things don't work out"
I’ve been a long-time fan of Shane Parrish and his farnum street blog so it’s not surprising that his podcast The Knowledge Project is one of my favorites.
I really enjoyed this recent episode with Matt Walker, PhD. Well known for his book Why We Sleep, Matt Walker discusses several aspects of sleep, as well as, the criticism he received after publishing his popular book.
He describes his system for self-questioning when someone points out a potential error and discusses the discomfort of the process but the benefits of subsequent growth.
“If you fold in the face of controversy, in response to controversy, you are giving up the opportunity for important self-development and specifically the development of courage and resilience.” -M.W.
The parts of the conversation when Walker notes how he has “changed his tune” on some beliefs were the most interesting.
Check this podcast out if you are interested in:
• sleep duration-how much is enough? “true sleep need”
• effects of coffee on sleep
• the ins and outs of diagnosing clinical grade insomnia
• the role of genetics as a potential contributor to sleep issues
• the use of sleep aides “alcohol is anything but a sleep aide”
• sleep restriction therapy
• temperature as a key regulator for sleep
• orthosomnia
• sleep trackers (he uses the ouraring)
Link #3- What the Discovery of Gravitational Waves Means – a TED talk by Allan Adams
Since there’s a lot we cannot see out there, how else can we observe the universe?
We can listen. Adams, a theoretical physicist delivers this enthusiastic and informative talk about how gravitational waves were discovered and how with the building of LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory, we can hear the universe speaking to us. Very cool
Link #4- My favorite highlighter of ALL TIME
And I've tried a lot! A few years back one of my patients recommended this brand to me. It is the BEST. Check it out here.
If you shop on Amazon consider signing up for their smile program. I’ve been doing this for several years supporting a charity called The Round Up River Ranch.
At no cost to you they donate 0.5% of what you spend to the charity of your choice.
Photo credits: Aldebaran on Unsplash