8. Atomic Habits - James Clear

I really enjoyed this book.  The main take away is we can change our lives by making tiny changes to our daily habits.  He shares tangible steps on changing your habits.  What is the secret of highly productive people?  Why do some people not have to think about productivity as much as others?  It all boils down to habits!   I do a lot of his tips intuitively.  I'm obsessed with my pursuing my goals, and I've started forming daily habits to pursue them.   One technique/concept in the book I found particularly thought provoking was habit stacking.    This starts with a base habit then slowly builds habits on top of the base habit.  For example:  habit 1 is putting work out clothes on when you first get out of bed.  Then building up habits to actually work out.    This is basically carving out a new neural pathway.  Once you start on the pathway, you naturally follow it to the desired result.

This one is a 4.  I might read it again so it's worth having in my collection, but I'm not obsessive about it...so I don't need it both on Audible and Kindle :)

7. Make your Bed - William H. McRaven

This little book is an adaptation of Admiral Raven's commencement speech at University of Texas at Austin.  It's a short read and to the point.   It would make a great gift for graduation.     I enjoyed it, but it's not one I'm going to go back to often.   However, I may gift it to less avid-readers who need inspiration to take control of their lives.   It's full of anecdotal wisdom on making the most out of life, facing challenges squarely, and focusing on what what you can control (ie, making your bed) when life feels out of control. 

I give this one a 3 - a good read, but not one I need in my personal collection.   I will probably pass mine on to someone I feel will benefit from it.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck - Mark Manson

In a existential, mid-life crisis I found myself questioning my career choices.  I signed up for therapy, and reached out to other veterinarians.  I was giving too many f*cks about too many trivial matters.  I was taking the f*cks of others too seriously.   Other vets recommended the book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson.   I ask for your tolerance in advance for the language of this post, but the use of the F-bomb seems appropriate in the face of this book.  If you can't tolerate the use of that particular 4-letter word, this book is definitely not for you.   Just to keep my blog more consistent with my usual, I'm going to use the word flip instead.

So what is this book all about?  Basically if you asked Deadpool to rewrite a combination of Boundaries by Townsend and Cloud and other self help books, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck would be the result.  It's fun to read with numerous anecdotes...and the profanity is significantly reduced in the second half.

We all are human beings...finite creatures with limited energy, time, and resources.  We will all have problems, but Manson encourages the reader to choose your problems wisely.  Choose what problems are worth the struggle!  We have a limited amount of flips to give so give them out wisely! Instead of focusing our life on outward values, inward values will bring greater content.  For example, if your goal is to be more successful than Bob, you won't appreciate your personal success as long as Bob is more successful than you.   Values like integrity, doing your personal best, work/life balance etc...will define your personal contentment.   Another theme of this book that provoked great thought was the concept that suffering leads to self improvement.   Suffering is expected and a normal part of life.  It's what propels us into becoming better people, better workers, better spouses...and better-ness in general.

Overall this was a fun summer read, but you can find the information presented more eloquent (more PC way) in other books.   There will be certain people that I recommend this book for, but not all!