600 + of the top optimal
living books…ever.

A.A. Long is professor emeritus of classics and affiliated professor of philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley. He is also one of the world’s most respected scholars of Stoicism. As per the inside flap, in this beautiful little (hand)book, he provides “splendid new translations and the original Greek on facing pages, a compelling introduction that sets Epictetus in context and describes the importance of Stoic freedom today, and an invaluable glossary of key words and concepts. The result is an unmatched introduction to this powerful method of managing emotions and handling life’s situations, from the most ordinary to the most demanding.” Big Ideas we explore include freedom vs. slavery, the ultimate target (progress!), wisdom daggers (ready at hand), Rule #1 of Stoicism, how to win at life and using our full powers.

Zen Master Genpo Roshi spent decades figuring out how to best help people develop enlightened awareness and came up with his revolutionary process called "Big Mind." In this Note, we'll take a peek at some Big Ideas from the Zen Master including how the root of suffering (dukkha) is getting stuck in one perspective and how that's about as effective as having a Maserati stuck in first gear. We'll also explore the place beyond idiot compassion as we become integrated human beings giving ourselves joyfully to the world.

I was first introduced to Phil Maffetone in Christopher McDougall’s great book Natural Born Heroes. Have you ever heard of Mark Allen? If you’re a triathlete you know he’s a legend. For those who might not know, Allen won the Ironman world championships an unprecedented six times. Triathlete magazine voted him the greatest triathlete of all time. You know his secret? Maffetone. In this book we get an overview of The Maffetone Method. Big Ideas we cover include the importance of remembering it's all about health AND fitness, making your workouts feel like a GIFT rather than a chore, how to build a super-strong aerobic base while burning fat for fuel and tracking it all via your #1 piece of equipment: that workout diary of yours with goals (what are yours?), strategies (yours?) and workouts (how're yours?). Ready to Optimize your energy and actualize your health AND fitness goals? Let's do this!

Dan Millman is one of my favorite teachers and deepest inspirations. This is a super concise, quick-reading book (150 pages) in which Dan synthesizes wisdom from many of his other books—shining light on how we can engage in the four purposes of life to create meaning in an ever-changing world. Big Ideas we explore include a quick look at the 4 purposes of life, the fact that daily life is your master teacher, the required classes in the school of life (and how you’re graded), the importance of deciding to decide (then going all in), how to live happily ever after, and making every moment extraordinary.

John Maxwell is one of the world’s authorities on leadership. He’s sold over 25 million (!) books. This is a quick-reading 127 pages packed with wisdom and Big Ideas on Maxwell’s eleven essential types of thinking—ranging from Big-Picture thinking to Realistic Thinking and everything in between. Big Ideas we explore include the power of targets for focused thinking, becoming a possibility thinker and anxietivity—how creativity and anxiety go together.

Neil Pasricha is a fascinating guy. A Harvard MBA and director of leadership development for Walmart who gave one of the most popular TED talks ever and published The Book of Awesome which sold 1m+ copies. This book is a fun, quick-read packed with great Ideas. We cover: The Big 7 ways science says we can boost our happiness, waking up with an Icky Guy (the good kind), how to add an hour to your day, a great question to tap into your purpose and wisdom from the greatest physicist ever (hint: create momentum).

I got this book after reading Dan Pink's To Sell Is Human. As he says in the front-cover testimonial: "The rare book that is both practical and profound." If you'd like to, as the sub-title suggests, get anyone (including yourself!!) to do anything (fast!), then I think you'll enjoy the book. Big Ideas we cover include: the 3 guiding principles and the 5-steps of the Instant Influence process, the law of psychological reactance (and how to avoid it! hint: focus on autonomy!), and creating an action plan plus a personal contract to rock it.

Pema Chödrön is a Buddhist teacher and prolific author with an incredibly strong, yet compassionate and grounded perspective. This book is all about facing challenging times with courage as we lean into our fears and grow. We'll explore a bunch of Big Ideas on everything from why we should meditate to how long the process of actualizing takes (roughly the rest of our lives :)!

One of the classics of Positive Psychology, Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence established the fact that IQ doesn't account for why some of us succeed and function well and others don't. In this Note, we'll explore some (really) Big Ideas on how to scientifically get our emotional intelligence on—from the power of delaying gratification to how worrying can act as self-fulfilling prophecies.

Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer Prize-winning NY Times journalist (and Harvard MBA) who wrote the best-selling book The Power of Habit in which he walked us through the science of building better habits. In this book, he walks us through the science of being productive so we can be smarter, faster and better at everything we do. It’s a great book packed with fascinating stories and practical applications. Big Ideas we explore include the 2 keys to motivation, how to build your focus, the best way to set goals (think: Stretch + SMART), why disfluency helps learning and how productivity is all about choices.