Check out some of the latest PNTV Episodes.
You Are Special
Words of Wisdom for All Ages from a Beloved Neighborby Fred Rogers
I got this book after watching the wonderful (!) documentary on Mister Rogers called Won’t You Be My Neighbor? It's a collection of wisdom gems from various sources-a quick-reading portal into Mister Rogers’ brain that has an amazingly calming, uplifting effect. (At least it did for me.) Simply reading his words seemed to elevate my consciousness and make me a kinder, more patient person. Big Ideas we explore include: Be the best at whatever you are, our #1 Job in life (hint: Encourage others!!), I Like You (just the way you are), being a living example, Mister Rogers' creativity (hello, torture!), perfect parents/kids? (nope!), and the gap (the essence of human creativity).
The 5 Second Rule
Transform Your Life, Work, and Confidence with Everyday Courageby Mel Robbins
Mel Robbins is funny, witty and wise. Her TEDx Talk (called How to stop screwing yourself over) is one of the most popular of all time, with more than 18 million views. This book is also super popular—with over 1,000 Amazon reviews. It’s pretty awesome. Actually, the book is REALLY (!) good. In fact, Mel Robbins’ 5 Second Rule might just be one of THE most elegantly efficient Tools we can use to close the gap between who we’re CAPABLE of being and who we’re ACTUALLY being. (Seriously.) Big Ideas we explore include The 5 Second Rule (and how/when to rock it), how to win the game of life (hint: start, stay in, for the long game!), excitement + anxiety (and how they feel the same in the body), managing distractions (today a good day?), and changing your life with one moment of everyday courage.
Why We Sleep
Unlocking the Power of Sleep and DreamsMatthew Walker is one of the world’s leading neuroscientists and sleep experts. He’s a professor at UC Berkeley (and former professor at Harvard) who has spent decades studying why we sleep and how to, as per the sub-title of this book, unlock the power of sleep and dreams. As you know if you’ve been following along, I’m a HUGE advocate of Optimizing our sleep as a fundamental practice in Optimizing our lives. This book has made me EVEN MORE bullish about the power of sleep. The consequences of chronically depriving ourselves of the sleep we need? Well, they’re astonishingly devastating—dramatically increasing the odds of having everything from mood disorders to cancer (and everything else we don’t want). Big Ideas we explore include the fact that you're more likely to get struck by lightning than have the gene that let's you get by on less than the recommended sleep, the universality of sleep (even worms sleep!!), resetting baselines, the iPad effect (did you know how much using one before sleep messes w/your melatonin?), and some tips to Optimize your sleep TONIGHT!!!
Digital Minimalism
Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy Worldby 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!
Can’t Hurt Me
Master Your Mind and Defy the OddsDavid Goggins is a former Navy SEAL (and Army Ranger) who used to hold a Guinness World Record for completing 4,030 pull-ups in 17 hours. These days he’s setting records as an ultra-endurance athlete. But he wasn’t always Mr. Superhero. In this great autobiographical self-help book, David walks us through his transformation from being a 297-pound exterminator to a “Who IS this guy?!” superhero. If you’re into SUPER (!!!) intense demonstrations of how to conquer ourselves to do the seemingly impossible (and don’t mind a stream of f-bombs—lol) then I think you’ll love this book as much as I did. Big Ideas we explore include: The Accountability Mirror, bringing your best (when you feel the worst), hero callouses (let failures toughen you up!), the process (how to go from running 1/4 of a mile to 200+ nonstop), and bursting from the inside out (learn to endure!).
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