Ben's Thoughts

Superlife

Using the body’s life forces, we can prevent any disease

A book (πŸ“• / πŸ“€ / πŸŽ§) by Darin Olien


Nowadays, most discuss the mind’s true potential and how it can rule the body. However, only a few stress the power inherent in our bodies already. The physique can take care of itself, yet we keep putting obstacles in our way to a healthy life through our eating habits, negligence, and illiteracy.

Unfortunately, we perceive weak health as a natural outcome of life. People over 40 will complain about weak knees, lack of energy, or digestion problems and finish with the phrase: “But I guess it’s okay at my age.” We got accustomed to feeling fragile and sick, yet nature predetermined something different.

There are no diseases as we know them. Sicknesses draw our attention to the more significant matters. But instead of searching for and solving the greater problem, we keep silencing those little symptoms because they disturb our peace. We try to eliminate the disease β€” like how the government ends a strike without hearing the protestors’ pleadings. If we listened to those signals and solved the issue, we would enjoy health instead of settling for “I guess, I’m fine.”

When we approach our bodies as if they were made to be energetic and healthy, we get into an offensive position, not a defensive one.

Only then can we prevent any illness, even cancer or diabetes

⚑️We decide how healthy we are at any age.

Hence, we shouldn’t accept “feeling okay” β€” we should strive to allow our bodies to be what they were made for β€” free from diseases and problems.

In this summary, you’ll discover five main forces of our body that predetermine our health and life: nutrition, hydration, oxygenation, alkalization, and detoxification. Learn to master these elements, and you will prolong your life and enjoy a healthy life.

The Obstacle is the Way

A book (πŸ“• / πŸ“€ / πŸŽ§) by Ryan Holiday


How do you view obstacles that stand in your way?

Marcus Aurelius, one of the most revered emperors of Rome, discovered an idea that has proven timeless. Even with a battle before him, he wrote a self-addressed formula for the many problems he was sure to face ahead. He found that obstacles should be seen as stepping stones and realized that impediments are nothing but a route to success. In time, this idea became fuel for millions of individuals from different spheres of life. This is an idea that resonates across generations while retaining its potency even today.

Many of those who understood the process described above went on to achieve greatness; they understood that it’s normal to face struggles. They knew that battles, barriers, and challenges create an essential part of the journey. Of course, all of this means that you have a golden opportunity to learn. This isn’t restricted to just a few people; you too can ride the waves of challenges to your destination.

⚑️An obstacle need not be a complete stop. Simply learn how to overcome it and do better next time.

Ryan Holiday reiterates this belief and acknowledges the mind game obstacles play on us. You come to terms with failure and settle for leftovers when your dream job, new business, or revamped health are just beyond the barrier. Sadly, your natural response is to keep it safe, to wallow in regret, and to remain helpless. Consequently, you hide behind fear by blaming the system, focusing all your strength on the factors that had dealt you an unfair hand.

Companies can also benefit from this advice. It can teach them how to become better people or brands. Also, it can open their eyes to faster and more efficient ways to do things that were previously labeled impossible.

All of this is only possible when you start to identify your obstacles. Without that, you’re swimming through mud. Is it the color of your skin that held you back, or is your qualification nowhere near the requirements for achieving your goals? Whatever they might be, you must have read somewhere about people who had better reasons to give up and had to find ways to go around barriers. According to Ryan Holiday, achieving this involves three interwoven forms of discipline – perception, will, and action. Read on to learn more.

Capital in the 21st Century

A book (πŸ“• / πŸ“€ / πŸŽ§) by Thomas Piketty


Wealth inequality is one of the biggest challenges confronting the world today

Many challenges face the modern world, some we know about, such as pandemics and climate change, and others that are less talked about, such as the subject of this summary. Throughout history, there have been subjects that have forced world leaders to collaborate, develop innovative ideas, and perhaps even take action that wasn’t all that popular. However, wealth inequality could be one of the biggest challenges the world faces.

There are countless people worldwide living in some degree of poverty, ranging from just making ends meet at the end of the month to not having enough food to eat or a roof over their heads. The truth is even more worrying when you consider the extreme weather that some have.

⚑️The idea that the rich can sit back and watch while the poor become poorer is a massive bone of contention across the world.

In an ideal world, wealth would be evenly distributed so that nobody would go without. But we don’t live in a perfect world. The way wealth, i.e., money, is distributed has long been a hot and highly controversial topic. However, Thomas Piketty decided to lift the lid on this challenging subject and unpick its origins to learn more about why wealth is so unevenly distributed and what we can do to fix it.

Many scholars and economists have pondered the subject. Karl Marx debated whether the way private capital works leads to it being

held by fewer people, i.e., the rich simply becoming richer. Many also consider business competition and technological progress a driving force that could perhaps reduce wealth inequality and bring the classes closer together.

Throughout this summary, you will learn the main findings of Thomas Piketty’s extensive studies and have a glimpse into what the future may hold. From inherited wealth taking over to the possibility of taxation of the wealthy, what do the years ahead hold?

Man’s Search for Meaning

A book (πŸ“• / πŸ“€ / πŸŽ§) by Viktor Frankl


The search for meaning in suffering can result in a stronger mind

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

The first stage of imprisonment manifests itself as “shock.” Upon incarceration, many inmates faced the frightening feeling of a new, cruel reality. As was common with inmates at concentration camps, the newbies were forced to cope with being snatched from normalcy and cast into a hell-like existence.

⚑️The first few weeks of being an inmate are confusing because you’re still struggling to reconcile your past and present realities.

Shock gave way to apathy β€” a total disregard for emotion. Since the paramount desire of the prisoner was to protect their inner self, apathy was essential to prevent them from bothering about anyone but themselves. The author suggests that as the exterior hardens and dulls, we can feel stronger on the inside.

⚑️While the inmates’ bodies deteriorated at the Nazi concentration camps, their minds and souls became stronger, and a connection to the powers beyond the physical world heightened in this condition.

The prisoners coped with their misfortunes by developing vivid dreams of the future, visualizing a cessation of their suffering.

There was no need for trivial desires for anything that didn’t ensure the prisoners’ survival. As such, there was a drastic dip in libido among the inmates. They didn’t care for much, except politics and religion, with religion as first and foremost. As it would seem, our spirit grows stronger as we search for meaning during hard times. So, those with a strong spirit could withstand even the worst physical torture.

Viktor Frankl also claimed that love was a key component in the will to survive. Simply knowing that you have someone to live for makes it easier to survive in a tough situation. Suffering may be deathly, but love is as strong as death.

In the face of trials and death, love keeps the mind alive. The memory about a loved one is enough to keep it together.

It was also helping to have memories of the easier times. An incarcerated person’s mind replays fond memories and keeps him in a state of blissful reminisce as a form of relief. It can also become more attuned to art, beauty, and nature or even heighten the prisoner’s sense of humor.

Man’s search for meaning chronicles author Viktor Frankl’s experiences as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps during the second world war. Frankl learned a lot about survival through his experiences and those of the inmates he keenly observed.

You may not ever be in a concentration camp, but suffering is an unavoidable part of life. Frankl took notes of the traits and beliefs that made some inmates survive the harsh conditions others couldn’t withstand, and after leaving the camp, he taught others these principles. Now it’s your turn to learn them. This summary will show you what to do in an emotional crisis and how to find meaning even in pain.

“Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how!'”

Viktor E. Frankl

Life Stages

I have played around with this for some time but a general framework has begun to emerge. From my life experience I believe we go through four distinct stages:

  1. In our early years, we learn to exist with others.
  2. In adulthood and into middle age, we learn to separate self for others.
  3. As we grow older, we learn to rejoin others with independence.
  4. At the tail end of our lives, we learn to not give a f*ck.

These are general stages, they do not correspond to ages or life status. Some people never experience them all and sadly become stuck in the early stages. Some are able to move through these stages rapidly and reach level four in their early 20s. A healthy individual is able to flow back and forth between level three and four.

Stage 1 – Existing with Others

As I watch my kids grow up, this stage hit me squarely between the eyes. We are born early, not fully formed. We begin as a lump of flesh and bone, needing a caregiver to meet our every need. It is all food, rest and comfort early on. As we mature in our early first and second year we begin to touch the exterior world. We pick up objects, put them in our mouth and roll them on the floor just far enough so that we need to move our body to retrieve them. Then we are thrust into school or childcare and are forced to deal with other little humans that are around our same age. Through this process we learn the mechanics of self control, so we can move our bodies and then we learn to interact with others.

It takes us years to learn how to empathize with others and read their emotions like our own. Some of us never make it to this stage. As we grow older relationships move into our orbit and leave. After a certain amount of collisions we are adept at mirroring others emotions and picking up on their state. We have had many relationships and some remain and have stayed with us. Usually this look like a handful of good friends that persist after high school as well a strong relationships with our nuclear family.

Stage 2 – Separating from Others

As we get into the working world we are usually inundated with a new way or relating to others. Many never learn how to separate from others and are stuck at the beginning stages of this step. As we progress, we learn the rules of the new game and realize that separating is a necessity. We must not become consumed with others wants for us. We must develop our individuality and learn to put our needs and wants above others. If this does emerge, it usually does around the second or third job change. We learn that our skills are transferrable and that no one will look out for our well-being. We learn that we must be on our own if we are the thrive and grow. We maintain our earlier relationships, we make new ones and we learn to bifurcate our personality to be a whole human with people and a player in the working world.

Stage 3 – Rejoining the Heard

As we become established in our field, we begin to hold onto longer term and deeper relationships with those who share our outlook. They do not fit into our working would, or our old developmental framework (from our early years). Instead these people push us and we grow with them outside of our vocation. We join various tribes and ideally lead and push these groups forward.

Stage 4 – Autonomy

As we age we learn that we do not need to care for others or bend our will and use out time to save others. We are each on our own path and though nurturing and helping others rewards us, it is not necessary for our growth and too much of it will hurt us. Some skip to this stage and become the old cynics. Less likely is that we reach this stage in a mature and enlightened way. We learn to be autonomous and to give zero f*cks. We are free to do as we please and have surrounded ourself with others that support us and push us but don’t coddle us.

How we Get Here

Sadly our current society is blinded and dumb. Most people never exceed stage one, and those that do rarely get to stage two. A very competent executive is probably firmly in stage two and completely unaware. I would estimate that western society exists in these percentages:

  • 93% stage 1
  • 4% stage 2
  • 1% stage 3
  • 2% skipped to stage 4 “Cynical”
  • 0.1% Aware Stage 3 ↔ Stage 4

The goal is to become fluent with swapping between introspection and empathy without going too far in either direction.

The Grid: The Fraying Wires Between Americans and Our Energy Future

A book (πŸ“• / πŸ“€ / 🎧) by Gretchen Bakke


The Grid by Gretchen Bakke

Energy is an important aspect of this age as electricity is a big aid to technology

Developed countries are largely dependent on electricity. From hospitals to police stations to the information sector, power is an essential commodity in America. However, with increasing frequency on the grid, there is threat of electricity crashing down.

⚑️ The grid is a massive infrastructure that powers the United States, a tiny part of Mexico and much of Western Canada.

The grid is an interconnected network that includes wires, batteries, ports, syncrophases, switches, utility poles, power plants, transformers, and generators, which all play their part in keeping the country’s energy world running.

The grid is, however, worn out, which is causing America to have more frequent and longer power outages than other industrialized countries. This isn’t very good. Aside from the huge amount of money lost to these power outages, national security is at risk.

There are a number of threats to the grid, from squirrels to storm damage, overgrown trees, and people who target it with guns. But besides the growing threats, the grid itself has its shortcomings β€” though it is big, it is local due to the fact that it goes way back. It was built with a great deal of complexity that can’t stand the test of resilience. The grid calls for a much needed seething change in the power machine that keeps America “alive.” This summary is just the right read to find solutions to the challenges of the American grid system.

Capital Gaines

A book (πŸ“• / πŸ“€ / 🎧) by Chip Gaines


Capital Gaines by Chip Gaines book cover

The way you view things determines the way things happen to you

Life is an endless spiral, and if you are not careful enough, you’ll find yourself running the same circles over and over again. The worst situation is also a learning experience. A lot of people live their lives focusing on the bad things that could happen to them β€” this is a wrong mindset that breeds fear.

Fear is a barrier that stands between you and your potential. Once you eliminate fear, you’ll realize that you can actually take a lot of positives from a negative situation. Some of the world’s greatest people like Walt Disney, Albert Einstein, Michael Jordan, and Oprah Winfrey all learned from negative situations. You cannot afford to let negativity overcome you. Some of the stupid things you do can also be used as a learning experience to make you a better person, and that’s why this book is important.

⚑️There’s no single formula for lasting happiness; you must always make the best of your current situation and look forward to better days.

Chip Gaines, an experienced writer, has used his life as an example of how you can learn from doing stupid things. If you want to know how to make the best of a bad situation, then this is the right book for you.