Masterpiece Days 101

Digital Minimalism

Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World

by Cal Newport

Cal Newport is one of my favorite thinkers. He got his Ph.D. in Computer Science from MIT and is now a Professor at Georgetown. He’s also a bestselling author of a number of books. Given the fact that the fastest way to Optimize your life is to STOP doing things that are sub-optimal AND the fact that (for nearly all of us) our use of technology is the #1 thing that “Needs work!,” it’s SUPER important for us to figure out how to best use all the technology available to us WITHOUT becoming lost in a tsunami of inputs. Enter: Our new philosophy of technology use: Digital Minimalism. Enter: My SUPER strong recommendation of the book and my ALL IN commitment to helping create a movement around the ideas in the book. As you know, I rarely say a book is a must read but this book is as close as it gets. Big Ideas we explore include the fact that your soul is engaged in a lopsided arms race, a definition + overview of digital minimalism, the importance of spending time alone (and the consequences of *not* spending adequate time alone), reclaiming leisure (get active!) and joining the Attention Resistance. Here's to Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World!

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Digital Minimalism & Masterpiece Days & Productivity

Best of Optimize Deep Work iPhone technology

My Morning Routine

How Successful People Start Every Day Inspired

by Benjamin Spall, Michael Xander

Benjamin Spall and Michael Xander created a popular site and interview series called “My Morning Routine” (they’ve now interviewed over 250 people) and this book is a distillation of the best stuff they’ve learned. As they say, it’s “Part instruction manual, part someone else’s diary.” If you’re looking for some simple, practical ideas and inspiring examples of how to Optimize your mornings I think you’ll dig it, too. Big Ideas we explore include how to avoid decision fatigue, what NOT to do if you want awesome routines (and to avoid reducing your IQ by 10 points), 5 tips for focused and productive mornings, your life as an experiment (with you as observer and subject) and evening routines (remember: tomorrow begins tonight!)

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Creativity & Masterpiece Days

creativity Habits masterpiece-days productivity willpower

Daily Rituals

How Artists Work

by Mason Currey

If you’ve ever wondered how some of the greatest mind’s in history—from poets, painters, and philosophers to playwrights, scientists and mathematicians—structured their lives to get their great work done then this may just be the book for you. Mason Currey does a great job of providing super concise and equally fascinating portraits of the idiosyncratic habits of 161 (!) iconoclasts ranging from W.H. Auden, Charles Darwin and Carl Jung to Stephen King, Benjamin Franklin and Mozart. The variety of approaches is inspiring and, more than anything (for me), feels like a permission slip to *really* (unapologetically!) own my own idiosyncratic style. If that sounds like fun, I think you’ll love the book as much as I did.

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Creativity & Masterpiece Days

creativity Habits masterpiece-days productivity willpower

When

The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing

by Daniel H. Pink

Dan Pink is the author of a number of bestselling books. We’ve covered a couple of those books so far: Drive and To Sell Is Human. This one, of course, is about timing. Specifically, as per the sub-title: “The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing.” As with all of his other books, it’s brilliantly written—weaving in fascinating stories with solid science and practical tools to cap it off. Big Ideas we explore include: The hidden pattern in everyday life, the importance of breaks (for the strong not the slothful!), your afternoon nappuccino, beginning before you begin, midpoints as sparks rather than slumps, and your new end-of-day ritual.

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Masterpiece Days

Naps oscillating

How To Live on 24 Hours a Day

by Arnold Bennett

I got this little book after Dale Carnegie raved about it in How to Win Friends and Influence People. Arnold Bennett was a contemporary of Carnegie’s. Born in 1867, Bennett was an English novelist and playwright. In this fun and funny tiny little booklet, he tells us that most people focus on how to get by on a budget of X dollars per day but what we really should be thinking about is how we can most effectively use the precious twenty-four hours we’re given every day! Big Ideas we cover include celebrating the daily miracle that is another 24 hours, some precautions before beginning (note: make it easy!), the importance of concentration (remember: science says: a wandering mind is an unhappy mind), and dangers to avoid as you Optimize (remember Rule #6).

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Masterpiece Days

Habits time management

Self-Reliance

by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson. He’s the great-great-grandfather in my spiritual family tree. We named our son Emerson after this great 19th century philosopher and when I imagine the heroes whose qualities I want to emulate, he’s on the top of the list. Big Ideas we explore include: Trust thyself (every heart vibrates to that iron string!), nonconformity (and the integrity of your own mind), what must you do? (vs. what will they think?), Hobgoblins (begone), your voyage (of a thousand zigs and zags), and the Royal You (act like that now!).

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Confidence & Masterpiece Days

20th Century Best of Optimize courage

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How to Kill Email Anxiety, Avoid Distractions, and Get Real Work Done

by Jocelyn K. Glei

This is a quick-reading, smart, practical guide on how to, as the sub-title suggests, “Kill Email Anxiety, Avoid Distractions, and Get Real Work Done. My kind of book. I *highly* recommend it. Big Ideas we explore include rats + rewards (real vs. random), progress hacks to conquer the progress paradox, saying “YES!!!” en route to saying “No” plus the physics of emails and 21st century superpowers.

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Conquering Digital Addiction & Masterpiece Days & Productivity

Modern Classic Work

Organize Tomorrow Today

8 Ways to Retrain Your Mind to Optimize Performance at Work and in Life

by Jason Selk, Tom Bartow, Matthew Rudy

Jason Selk is one of the world’s leading peak performance/mental training experts. Tom Bartow is one of the world’s leading financial advisor trainers. Together they provide a manual on how to “start every day with more focus, confidence, and energy—by learning how to set the right priorities." Great stuff. Big Ideas we cover: Your 2 top questions for tomorrow, the Zeigarnik Effect, the importance of Nailing it, why fight-thrus are the key to creating habits, your new mental toughness workout, and repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition...

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Business & Masterpiece Days

action mental training priorities time management Top 101 Work

Manage Your Day-to-Day

Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Creative Mind (The 99U Book Series)

by Jocelyn K. Glei

If you’re looking to optimize your day-to-day-productivity, this collection of wisdom from some of the world’s leading creative gurus via 99U is a fantastic place to start. Big Ideas we explore include the importance daily routines, the most important thing you can do to boost your productivity, how screen apnea leads to things you don’t want and why rats love to check email.

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Digital Minimalism & Masterpiece Days & Productivity

action Deep Work Female Author Modern Classic time management Work

The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth

Live Them and Reach Your Potential

by John C. Maxwell

Do you want to reach your potential? If you’re reading this then the answer seems clear. The path to do so is pretty obvious as well: We must grow. And, as Maxwell advises, we must be intentional about it. Big Ideas we explore include a couple uber-powerful questions, Discipline as the bridge btwn your goals and accomplishments, trade-offs, and the magic of “Do it now!”

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Leadership & Masterpiece Days

Growth Modern Classic Work

The School of Greatness

A Real-World Guide to Living Bigger, Loving Deeper, and Leaving a Legacy

by Lewis Howes

Ready to attend The School of Greatness? Awesome. Lewis Howes shares his lecture notes from 200+ interviews with extraordinary humans for his uber-popular podcast. Lessons include Creating a Vision + Turning Adversity into Advantage, and Flexing Your Hustle Muscle. To greatness!

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Goals & Masterpiece Days

adversity greatness Hustle Modern Classics soul Spirit Vision

Making Life a Masterpiece

by Orison Swett Marden

Orison Swett Marden is a brilliant old-school writer who mixed a passionate optimism in our potential with an equally passionate commitment to integrity, grit, perseverance and all things good. I like him. In this book he shows us how to make our life a masterpiece by becoming the captain of our own ships, doing first-class work, and finding an hour a day to optimize as we achieving true success.

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Masterpiece Days & Purpose

20th Century Classic soul Spirit

The Message of a Master

by John McDonald

This little book features a mysterious master who teaches his secrets to living in harmony with Universal Law. I love stories like this. It’s a super quick-reading, invigorating little tale. In the Note we'll have fun exploring how to clean up our mental house, the importance of focusing on our ONE thing and keeping Mr. Mo on our side!

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Masterpiece Days & Purpose

soul Spirit

The Rhythm of Life

Living Every Day with Passion and Purpose

by Matthew Kelly

The-best-version-of-yourself. That's what Matthew Kelly is committed to helping us become and that's what this book is all about. In the Note, we have fun getting in tune with the Rhythms of Life as we explore the fact that everything is a choice, look at what we want to give our WHOLE life to and discover the mojo of great questions.

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Masterpiece Days & Purpose

Modern Classic soul Spirit

The Miracle Morning

The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life Before 8 AM

by Hal Elrod

Want to wake up every morning like it's Christmas? (Or otherwise fired up if xmas isn't your thing?) Well, it's time to make your mornings miraculous and Hal Elrod shows us how with his Life S.A.V.E.R.S. Do more before 8am than you thought possible and crush it day in and day out.

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Habits & Masterpiece Days

Modern Classic Top 101 Work

Win Forever

Live, Work, and Play Like a Champion

by Pete Carroll

Pete Carroll is the Super Bowl-winning coach of the Seattle Seahawks. His Win Forever philosophy was inspired by an awesome hybrid of Abraham Maslow, John Wooden and his own commitment to always competing while having a whole lotta fun. In the Note, we'll check out a few of my favorite Ideas to help us Win Forever in all facets of our lives.

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Masterpiece Days & Peak Performance & Positive Psychology

Modern Classic Sports Work

Turning Pro

Tap Your Inner Power and Create Your Life’s Work

by Steven Pressfield

Turning Pro. Steven Pressfield tells us that's how we win The War of Art against our nemesis Resistance. Brilliant stuff. In this Note, we'll take a quick look at Shadow Callings (w/a look at mine!), the blissful hell of Epiphanies and more goodness on how to officially turn pro.

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Creativity & Masterpiece Days

Modern Classic Top 101 Work

Wooden

A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

by John Wooden

John Wooden. He’s arguably the greatest coach EV-ER and this book is essentially one Big Idea after another. Wooden is all about the fundamentals and in this Note we’ll explore a few of my favorite Big Ideas on his old-school wisdom—from the fact that full effort = full success to the importance of becoming a realistic optimist.

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Habits & Masterpiece Days & Peak Performance

Best of Optimize Character Modern Classic Top 101 Volume II Work

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Questions & Answers (9)

How Can I Create Consecutive Masterpiece Days?

Is My Morning Routine Too Rigid?

How Do You Adapt the Miracle Morning Routine to Different Types of Personalities?

How Can I Balance Structure and Spontaneity in My Mornings?

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