📚 Meditations for Mortals, Mind Magic, and Napoleon's Library

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👋 Hey everyone,

Here are a few popular posts you may have missed:

• 11 Reading tips from Ryan Holiday.

• 17 Reading tips from psychologist Rob Henderson.

• 10 Lessons from “How to Change” by Katy Milkman.

PS: Do you have an awesome product or service that you want to get in front of 40,000+ smart people? If so, check out my Media Kit to inquire about sponsoring this newsletter.

📚 Book Summary:

Instead of just one book summary this week, here are 3 short summaries from books I’ve enjoyed recently:

📖

1) “Meditations for Mortals” by Oliver Burkeman

Similar to Oliver’s previous book (“Four Thousand Weeks”) this book is a productivity and anti-productivity book at the same time.

It’s not about meditation, but rather it’s filled with 28 short lessons that will teach you how to accept the fact that we have limited time here on Earth and will never accomplish all of our goals, how to stop feeling productivity anxiety, and how to find and focus on what actually matters in life.

If you suffer from being too Type A or want to stop your productivity porn addiction, this book will help.

📖

2) “Mind Magic” by James Doty, MD

If you ever wondered whether manifestation or visualization has any truth to it or if it’s all a hoax, this book is for you.

In it, Dr. Doty shares the latest scientific findings about manifestation from neuroscience and psychology, and also shares ancient wisdom and personal stories, to show how manifestation has helped others.

Throughout the book, Dr. Doty provides actionable steps to practice mindfulness and meditation, become aware of your attention, overcome limiting beliefs, and channel your mind to help achieve your goals.

Disclaimer: Just manifesting success won’t work. It points you in the right direction and gives you a vision to go after but you still have to do the work.

📖

3) “Napoleon’s Library” by Louis Sarkozy

Before Napoleon conquered the world, he conquered the library.

This book dives into Napoleon’s reading habits, his favorite books and genres, and how his relationship with books changed over the years.

It also does a great job of giving you access to Napoleon’s mind and showing how the books he read influenced his life, politics, and campaigns.

If you’ve read other biographies of Napoleon and want to dive deeper into his life or you love books about books, you’ll enjoy this one.

✅ Actionable Advice:

If any of these topics sound interesting, consider checking the books:

• Slow productivity or anti-self help → “Meditations for Mortals”

• The science of manifestation or visualization → “Mind Magic”

• Fan of French history or Napoleon → “Napoleon’s Library”

💎 Weekly Gem:

Product: Libby App

If you want to read ebooks or listen to audiobooks for free (and legally) you’ll love Libby.

It’s an app that lets you borrow ebooks and audiobooks from your local library.

All you need is to enter your library card number (also free to get from your library) and you’ll be able to borrow up to 5 ebooks or audiobooks for 21 days.

It’s super easy to use and great for anyone who wants to read tons of books without spending hundreds of dollars.

Thank you for your support, read on everyone!

-Alex W.