Good stuffs (videos, links and books)
One night I accidentally clicked on one Keeping Up with the Kardashian video and YouTube started to assume that I needed to know every bit of their lives. One video played automatically after another. After an hour of uninvited YouTube suggestions, I thought, "Wait a minute, what am I doing? What does their favourite cake flavour having to do with me?"
I stopped watching their dramas and started digging for good stuffs to watch and read.
After a tough 2017, my goals for this year are to be more financially-savvy, focused and disciplined. Here are some resources that I find extremely useful:
Finance
This YouTube channel is a gem. I was illiterate when it came to money and accounts, but typical finance books bore me to death. This channel covers multiple topics from budgeting, managing your debts, to practical steps for lifestyle changes. I like that the information they share are very simple and actionable. If you are a newbie like me, you will enjoy their videos.
On focus and discipline
If there is one man I really want to hang out with, it's Tim Ferriss. I love this guy. He is a prolific writer and speaker, and he produces excellent podcast. I listen to his interviews every time I feel like scrolling Facebook infinitely instead of working. In this episode with the tennis queen, Maria Sharapova, they talk about how important it is to stay focused and disciplined. I write notes about this podcast to remind myself to stay focused whenever I start watching random cat videos.
Goal
setting
I don't know about you but I'm not good in making plans and thinking ahead. Plans can be pretty daunting and abstract to me. What I do is I imagine what I want to achieve and start drawing the map backwards. Most of the time whiel I'm making plans, I'll start to doubt myself if I can really achieve them and think if I'm too unrealistic. Fear paralyses me.
Then I heard about this Ten-Year Plan exercise from Tim Ferriss. I guess
you’ve heard of vision board, this exercise is similar to that. It's pretty simple and straightforward. Basically you picture your life in ten years' time and write down every single detail of that vision, without holding back and any fear. Once you have the ideas on paper, they are less imaginary and more plausible. And you are more likely to reach those goals.
I totally agree with this concept. You will naturally navigate towards what you want, so it is better to get that picture crystal clear.
These books
are very helpful too.
Personal Development
The Magic
of Thinking Big – David J. Schwartz
This book encourages you to think beyond your current status quo, and it guides you on how to rethink your life and strive for excellence. One part I find extremely useful is the three failure diseases: procrastination, excuse-itis and detail-itis. I am guilty of all three. Now I tend to catch myself in the midst of them and think "Gotcha! Stop that."
Good quote: “The thinking that guides your intelligence is much more important than how much intelligence you have.”
Living the
80/20 Way – Richard Koch
I guess you've heard of the Pareto Law or the 80/20 principle, I find it interesting but not exactly sure how to apply this into my daily life. This book gives you clear examples and tactics on how to design a life that you enjoy. What I like about this book is how easy it is to read and understand.
Lean In:
Women, Work and The Will to Lead – Sheryl Sandberg
A friend recommended me this book because she knows that I'm a quiet and non-confrontational introvert, with the hope that Sandberg's stories and career path will inspire me to think far and aim high. Conventional social expectations on women are still very common, but the dynamic is shifting. This popular book deserves all the attention it gets. I see myself in some of the cases in the book where women are afraid to speak up and defend themselves.
Good quote: “What would you do if you weren't afraid?” I think I'll be a cool kid.
Biographies
Paths of
Glory – Jeffrey Archer
Wild: From
Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail – Cheryl Strayed
These two books are the best of the bunch. They talk about two incredible journeys - one to the Mount Everest and another one to the Pacific Crest Trail in the US. Both authors are incredible story-tellers, so the readers are instantly drawn to follow them to the wild nature, adventures, and the most impressive of all, the inner struggles along the way. The two books are so different in their plots, but essentially they talk about the journey of conquering a challenge and the determination to complete their quests. I highly recommend these books to anyone who is battling a long fight, such as paying the house loan or attending graduate school.
Business
Purple Cow:
Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable – Seth Godin
Seth Godin is one of my mentors, though I've never met him before. His views on business, education and management are so in-depth and realistic. This is a short book which you can finish in an afternoon, without much business principles or complicated hacks in it, but his arguments got you thinking, "What makes something impressive and another mediocre? What makes a person unique and another average?" Think of a purple cow in the midst of brown cows - it's remarkable.
Most of these books have audio books that you can download on Audible or YouTube. In addition to that, I wrote a post about my favourite podcasts – I still listen to them when I am driving or working. Hope you find this post useful. Have a productive year ahead!
No comments: