📚 My most popular newsletters, NYC reading party, and Stoicism.

🙏 Support:

This week’s newsletter was made possible by Write of Passage.

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👋 Hey everyone,

This is the 200th edition of the A&B newsletter!

To celebrate, I wanted to share with you some of the most popular newsletters I’ve written in the past few years:

• 4 Journal books worth buying

• 3 Life lessons I wish I knew earlier

• How to host a 2-hour reading party

• Summary of “Million Dollar Weekend”

• 3 More life lessons I wish I knew earlier

• How to use book summary apps like a pro

• 10 Awesome and free websites for readers

• 6 Life-changing books you can legally read for free

🏙️ NYC Reading Event

I’m hosting a reading club on July 30th from 7pm-9pm in Brooklyn!

Think of it as a run club but for readers–you’ll get to read your book and meet interesting people.

There are only 30 tickets left so if you’re interested, grab yours ASAP.

PS: My friends at Bookum are sponsoring two spots. The first people to use code “BOOKUM1” or “BOOKUM2” can get a free ticket.

📚 Book Summary:

This week's book is The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday.

The Daily Stoic shares 366 days of Stoic insights and exercises that will help you become calmer, wiser, and live a better life. If you want to get into Stoicism or are already a fan of it, this book is for you.

Here are a few key lessons from it:

📖

1) Never Complain, Never Explain

"Don't allow yourself to be heard any longer griping about public life, not even with your own ears!" –Marcus Aurelius

All of us have things we could complain about, even when things are going well.

Have you ever complained while on vacation or at a fancy dinner? Or maybe you love your job but there are one or two things that really annoy you.

But where does that thinking get you? Nowhere, other than a negative state of mind.

Benjamin Disraeli, a former British prime minister, had a motto of "Never complain, ever explain." He said this because, like Marcus Aurelius, he knew that it's so easy to complain about this or that, but voicing your complaints to yourself or others doesn't accomplish anything–except for spreading negativity.

So when you catch yourself complaining, ask yourself, "Can I change this?" If you can, take action. If not, accept it.

📖

2) You Choose The Outcome

"He was sent to prison. But the observation 'he has suffered evil,' is an addition coming from you." –Epictetus

A valuable Stoic principle to remember is that every event is objective. Meaning we get to decide whether it's good or bad for us.

For instance, a young Malcolm X went to prison for being a criminal. But he chose to make prison a good experience by spending his time reading and studying. He left prison as an educated and motivated man who would help make huge progress in civil rights.

Here's a more personal example: When I was 21 I got into a biking accident and broke my shoulder. This event by itself can be seen as "bad" but since I couldn't play sports I had a lot more free time and spent it building Alex & Books. So I would say my accident was actually a "good" thing (here's the in-depth story).

So remember, you get to choose the outcome of events.

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3) Everything Is Always Changing

"Meditate often on the swiftness with which all that exists and is coming into being is swept by us and carried away. For substance is like a river's unending flow, its activities continually changing and causes infinitely shifting so that almost nothing at all stands still." –Marcus Aurelius

There's a famous metaphor by Heraclitus who said, "No man steps in the same river twice. Because the river has changed, and so has the man."

There are only two options when it comes to change: Be resentful that change is happening and try to stop it OR accept it and embrace it to better prepare for the future.

For example, a lot of people are worried about all of the changes that AI will bring. We already have AI that can do the work of designers, writers, drivers, and even doctors.

Instead of hoping lawmakers ban AI to prevent it from replacing people, the better option is to figure out how to use AI to maximize your productivity or maybe even how to start a new business using it.

Everything is always changing. Embrace it.

✅ Actionable Advice:

1) The next time you feel the urge to complain, ask yourself: "Can I change this?"

• If so, take action.

• If not, accept it.

2) Share a "negative" event that you turned into a "positive" one.

• Respond to this email with a negative event that you were able to turn into a positive one and I'll share the best ones in next week's email.

3) A few quotes from the book worth reflecting on:

• “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

• “If a person gave away your body to some passerby, you’d be furious. Yet you hand over your mind to anyone who comes along, so they may abuse you, leaving it disturbed and troubled—have you no shame in that?”

• “We should not trust the masses who say only the free can be educated, but rather the lovers of wisdom who say that only the educated are free.”

• “It may take some hard work. But the more you say no to the things that don’t matter, the more you can say yes to the things that do.”

• “Control your perceptions. Direct your actions properly. Willingly accept what’s outside your control.”

• “Everything is change. Embrace that. Flow with it.”

• “A degree on a wall means you’re educated as much as shoes on your feet mean you’re walking. It’s a start, but hardly sufficient.”

• “You don’t control the situation, but you control what you think about it.”

💎 Weekly Gem:

Documentary: Fight, Inc.

I’m not a huge fan of combat sports, but this documentary is still an awesome watch for anyone interested in business or leadership.

The documentary takes you behind the scenes of the UFC, how Dana White runs the company, and what it took to make it the massive success it is today.

Dana might look like a meathead, but the fact that he bought the UFC in 2001 for $2 million and sold it in 2016 for $4 billion shows you that he’s a savvy businessman and someone worth learning from.

Thank you for your support, read on everyone!

-Alex W.