January/February 2018: âThe Path to Success is to Take Massive, Determined Action.â - Tony Robbins Â
Books Bought
None
Books Borrowed (all @ Multnomah Public Library)
Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff (audiobook)
Living Forward: A Proven Plan to Stop Drifting and Get the Life You Want by Michael Hyatt and Daniel Harkavey
Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins (audiobook)
Outline by Rachel Cusk
M Train by Patti Smith
Principles by Ray Dalio
Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler
Light and Healthy 2011 by Americaâs Test Kitchen
Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget by Sarah Hepola
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck by Mark Manson
Unlimited Power by Tony Robbins (audiobook)
The Blood Sugar Solution 10-Day Detox Diet by Mark Hyman
The 30-Day Ketogenic Cleanse by Maria Emmerich
Books Read
Living Forward: A Proven Plan to Stop Drifting and Get the Life You Want by Michael Hyatt and Daniel Harkavey
listened to abridged version of Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins
listened to abridged version of Unlimited Power by Tony Robbins
listened to half of Fates and Furies by Lauren GroffÂ
skimmed a bit of The Blood Sugar Solution 10-Day Detox Diet by Mark Hyman
thumbed through Principles by Ray Dalio
flipped through a few pages of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck by Mark Manson
Thereâs nothing like a second baby on the heels of a new year to inspire a truly destabilizing self-improvement panic. While resolution-inspired-reading usually entails lightly perusing a hip new cookbook (âI really should cook artichokes moreâ)Â or flipping through a trendy new fitness book (âI really should try interval trainingâ), the self-doubt of 2018 probed more deeply, pressed more insistently. But like a biography of George Washington, I never thought Iâd read Tony Robbins and his ilk, despite knowing there was clearly some value in it. Self-help, particularly by the likes of white men who write because of or about their own material success, seems icky. (1) Self-help all too often is a stand in for motivational cliches so you can get your finances in order. And yet, here I am, hoping these quacks can guide me toward a more manageable daily experience.Â
And like most everything if you give it a chance, there was much here to be appreciated. While Unlimited Power and Awaken the Giant Within help inspire, Living Forward was the most practical and helpful, advocating simply for writing out your priorities in the form of a life plan.Â
A Life Plan is a short written document, usually eight to fifteen pages long. It is created by you, for you. It describes how you want to be remembered. It articulates your personal priorities. It provides the specific actions necessary to take you from where you are to where you want to be in every major area in your life. It is most of all a living document that you will tweak and adjust as necessary for the rest of your life. (pg. 36)Â
Despite the Christianity unnecessarily lurking at the corners, I spent 8 hours doing what they asked, and now have my own life plan. The process, including the task to write out what you want your friends, family, and colleagues to say at your funeral, was illuminating, and reading the document each morning has helped quell the panic significantly.Â
While the results have been encouraging, my deep dive into self-help is perhaps most unsettling as it appears alongside a fundamental disinterest in fiction. Fates and Furies is clearly excellent, and I canât find the drive to pick it up again. If self-help is a long look inward and fiction is a steady gaze out, is there a place for them to meet in the middle?  Â
(1)Â Or to put another way, where is the self-help book by a fireman about how to understand oneâs life, or the book by a teacher about how to organize oneâs priorities?
