A&B #50

Alex & Books #50

August 15, 2021

Hey everyone,

We achieved several cool milestones this week so I want to take a second to share them with you (after all, you made this possible):

  • We passed 7,000 newsletter subs

  • We passed 36,000 followers on Twitter

  • We passed 150,000 followers on Instagram

The bigger Alex & Books grows, the more time I can spend creating content, sharing book reviews/recs, reading tips, and inspiring

to read books.

Thank you for helping make this possible! 🙏

Alright, let's dive into this week's newsletter.PS: I have a little gift for you ladies & gents at the bottom of this newsletter...

    📚 Book Lessons:

    This week's book is You're Too Good To Feel This Bad by Nate Dallas.Nate’s book is like 10 self-improvement books wrapped into one. He covers several health-related topics such as sleep, breathing, diet, exercise, mindset, meditation, and many more areas that play a vital role in achieving better health. If you're looking to improve your health, you'll enjoy this book. Here are 3 lessons from it:1) Prioritize Your SleepNo matter how healthy you eat or how much you exercise, your body and mind cannot function at a high level without proper sleep. Here are some scary stats to consider: You're 3-5x more likely to get a cold or infection when sleep-deprived. A person who only got 4 hours of sleep is 6x more likely to get into a car accident than someone who slept 8 hours. Being awake for 19 hours straight impairs your cognitive abilities to the same level as someone who's legally drunk.If you're serious about living, you must be serious about sleeping: Aim to get 8 hours of sleep daily. Try to go to sleep and wake up around the same time each day. Cut out caffeine and alcohol. Avoid looking at screens or eating late in the night.If there's only one thing you take away from this newsletter, let it be this: prioritize your sleep.2) Drink More WaterJust as lack of sleep can be incredibly harmful, so can lack of hydration. When you're dehydrated: You suffer memory loss and lack of concentration. Anxiety levels rise and you become more irritable. Inflammation increases and your body gets stiff and tired.How powerful is water? Research shows that drinking 5 glasses of water a day reduces the risk of heart attack by 41%. The Mayo Clinic recommends drinking 2.7 liters of water per day for women or 3.7 liters for men. Follow this two-step plan for 30-days and watch your health transform: Eliminate all beverages that aren't water. Drink more water. 3) Change Your Mood Through MovementDoes your body dictate your mood or does your mood dictate your body? The answer is both. A recent Harvard research study found that low-power poses (like slumping in a chair) increased cortisol (a stress hormone) levels by 17% and decreased testosterone by 10%. While high-power poses (standing like Superman) decreased cortisol levels by 25% and increased testosterone by 19%.The group using power-poses also reported feeling stronger and performed better in mock interviews than the low-power pose group.And the craziest part? Each group only held the poses for two minutes–so in two minutes, they were able to drastically alter their physiology without the use of drugs and at zero cost!

      ✅ Actionable Advice:

      1) Prioritize your sleep:

      • Cut out caffeine and alcohol.

      • Aim to get 8 hours of sleep daily.

      • Avoid looking at screens or eating late in the night.

      • Try to go to sleep and wake up around the same time each day.

      2) Stay hydrated:

      • Eliminate all beverages that aren't water.

      • Drink more water (2.7 liters for women and 3.7 liters for men).

      3) Practice power-poses:

      • Here's an image of 5 high-power poses you can practice and 5 low-power poses you want to avoid.

        🎧 Podcast Update:

        Here are a few of my favorite lessons from my podcast with Nate:

          📖 Reading Lesson:Here's how to read ANY book in just ONE week.Or watch me explain this tip in 30 seconds here.

            ⭐️ Weekly Quote:"There are two motives for reading a book: one, that you enjoy it; the other, that you can boast about it."–Bertrand RussellChoose your motive wisely.

              🙏 Support:As a thank you gift for your support, here's an exclusive discount on A&B merch:

                Thank you for your support everyone, I'll see you next Sunday!Read on,Alex W.

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