Author: ben

A book (📕 / 📀 / 🎧) by Malcolm Gladwell

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It is not enough to ask what successful people are like; their ancestry and environment play equally significant roles in their success story

Rosetans, Italian migrants to New York, grow to a ripe old age and die of old age. By preserving their native lifestyle, they were able to avoid heart diseases, cancers, and other forms of diseases characteristic of old age. In transplanting the paesani culture of southern Italy to the hills of eastern Pennsylvania, the Rosetans had created a powerful, protective social structure capable of insulating them from the pressures of the modern world. The Rosetans were healthy because of where they were from, because of the world they had created for themselves in their tiny little town in the hills. Steward Wolf, a physician at the University of Oklahoma, studied the Rosetans, tested their blood samples and after consulting with his sociologist friend, John Bruhn concluded that the culture of the Rosetans was responsible for their strength and longevity of life.

The same holds true for successful people. What is the question we always ask about the successful? We want to know what they’re like — what kind of personalities they have, how intelligent they are, what kind of lifestyles they have, or what special talents they might have been born with. And we assume that it is those personal qualities that explain how that individual reached the top. We need to look beyond their nature to their environment to fully understand the factors responsible for the successes they achieve.

People don’t rise from nothing. We do owe something to parentage and patronage. The people who stand before kings may look like they did it all by themselves. But in fact, they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot. It makes a difference where and when we grew up. The culture we belong to and the legacies passed down by our forebears shape the patterns of our achievement in ways we cannot begin to imagine.

A Canadian psychologist, Roger Barnsley, was the first to draw attention to the phenomenon of relative age. He found that virtually all professional hockey players in Canada were born between January and March. The professional hockey player starts out a little bit better than his peers. And that little difference leads to an opportunity that makes that difference a bit bigger, and that edge, in turn, leads to another opportunity, which makes the initially small difference bigger still — and on and on until the hockey player is a genuine outlier. But he didn’t start out an outlier. He started out just a little bit better. The sociologist Robert Merton famously called this phenomenon the “Matthew Effect” after the New Testament verse in the Gospel of Matthew: “For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have an abundance.

But from him, that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.”

A book (📕 / 📀 / 🎧) by Robert Greene

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Power requires a set of learned skills

Everyone wants and needs power. Lack of it makes people miserable. But we must keep a balance between being democratic and civilized and standing strong enough not to be crushed by others.

The rules of the subtle power game will help you find that balance. Some think of these games as evil acts of taking advantage of others. While those people demonstrate a wish to avoid playing with power at all, they’re the ones who are the most skillful players. They manipulate people by displaying weakness. Those truly weak will never let their powerlessness show.

Robert Greene believes that the world is a game, and trying to avoid it will take power away from you. The laws discussed here will help you take control and use the power game to your advantage.

One crucial skill you have to master is control over your emotions. This ability is essential to make reasonable and rational decisions. In the same vein, learn to stay objective while analyzing a situation. You must be willing to reflect on your past to prevent making the same mistakes.

Keeping up appearances is also essential. Deception will hide your true intentions when needed.

You can learn the mentioned skills and the ones we’ll touch on below. After all, they don’t come naturally to people.

⚡️Power isn’t natural. It is a social game that requires studying people’s motives.

Robert Greene compiled 48 laws based on writings as old as three thousand years. These laws share a simple premise: some actions will bring you power, and some will not. Whether you study all of them or pick and choose those relevant to you, these laws will give you a deep understanding of power and ways to acquire it.

A book (📕 / 📀 / 🎧) by Eckhart Tolle

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There are two strong feelings that trap many of us: regret and anxiety

We are either full of regret for the things we did or failed to do in the past, or we are full of anxiety over future events we cannot control. Still, we somehow believe that we can live better, happier lives even if we are clueless on how to go about it.

There are several methods we can apply to resolve the inner conflict we experience. We can develop a healthy relationship with our past, present and future by exploring the lessons in “The Power of Now”.

“Nothing has happened in the past; it happened in the Now. Nothing will ever happen in the future; it will happen in the Now”

Eckhart Tolle

Living in the present moment requires careful training of our minds to overcome the self-destructive ways in which we have been using it.

From his own personal experiences involving depressing late-night thoughts, Eckhart Tolle shares how he literally found peace by discovering the source of pain and suffering.

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

A book (📕 / 📀 / 🎧) by Darin Olien

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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 — 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” — we should strive to allow our bodies to be what they were made for — 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.

A book (📕 / 📀 / 🎧) by Ryan Holiday

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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.

A book (📕 / 📀 / 🎧) by Thomas Piketty

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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?

A book (📕 / 📀 / 🎧) by Viktor Frankl

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

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 — 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

A book (📕 / 📀 / 🎧) by Gretchen Bakke

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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 — 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.