Can’t Decide What to Read Next? Let Us Help!
- Written by Rein Trotzuk, December 15th, 2020
In today's world, we are blessed to have what is seemingly endless amounts of information available at any time. However, with so many options available it can sometimes be a bit overwhelming to make certain decisions in life. Whether it’s choosing what to wear, what to eat, what to watch, or what to read, these once simple decisions are becoming harder and harder. Have you ever sat in front of the TV for 30 minutes just trying to decide what to watch on Netflix? I know I sure have. The more choices we have to make during the day can lead to a phenomenon called decision fatigue.
What is decision fatigue?
Decision fatigue was first coined by an American psychologist Roy F. Baumeister. He explains that decision fatigue can occur when people make a bunch of decisions throughout the day. This eventually leads to reduced willpower causing you to make poorer decisions or to not make any decisions at all. Have you ever noticed that successful entrepreneurs such as Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg often wore/wear the same outfit each day? This makes sense because by limiting the number of simple decisions we make each day we can focus on the important decisions that matter most to us in life.
Some simple strategies I use for choosing my next book:
When it comes to selecting my next book here are a few simple questions I like to ask myself:
Does this book align with any of my core values in life?
What books are highly rated within different online reading communities? Some of my favorite sources are Goodreads, Booktopia, and Amazon.
What books have been recommended to me by family or friends? Or what books continuously come up during different podcasts I listen to? If one or more of my favorite mentors recommends a book I am more likely to give it a read.
Am I familiar with the author's style of writing? Sometimes it can be beneficial to stick to an author you have enjoyed in the past.
What 3 books have made the biggest impact on my life?
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R. Covey
What I liked about this book:
Even though this book was written in 1989 the principles taught here are truly timeless. To me, that is the most important thing as in today's society we are going through exponential change. Learning techniques on marketing strategies or how to run a business can become obsolete in a short period of time. However, I truly believe the principles in this book will be valuable over a lifetime.
What are some of my favorite learnings from this book:
In this book, Covey describes the importance of being proactive and looking at the big picture in life. By doing so we tend to focus on things we can control vs reacting or worrying about things that are out of our control. Not only do we have the ability to choose the way to react to any given situation, but we should also take the responsibility to do so in a positive manner. Covey stresses the fact that we all need to become clear on our highest-end goals in life and make sure that we align our day-to-day activities to these goals. Think to yourself, what do you want to be known for when you leave this world?
Once we have a true understanding of our deepest desires in life he suggests that we have the courage to pleasantly, unapologetically say NO to things that don’t fit within those priorities. It’s ok to say no to things in life when you have a bigger YES burning inside. As Covey states “The enemy of the best is often the good". So don’t let what seems to be good at the moment stop you from becoming your best in the future.
When entering into a relationship or deal in life (personal or professional) always think “win/win”. Covey suggests to work towards a mature agreement with integrity, where both sides of the party benefit. When thinking of a “win/win” agreement it is suggested that you review the desired results, guidelines, resources needed, who is accountable, and the consequences if it isn't reached. We should always try to come to a win/win agreement but if circumstances don't allow this then it’s ok to think “win/win or no deal”.
The last principal that really hit home for me was the idea that we all have emotional bank accounts just like we have physical bank accounts. We want to try and focus on making more deposits into other people's emotional bank accounts rather than withdrawals. Examples of deposits can be, keeping commitments or simply showing integrity and being honest. We want to be loyal to those that aren't present and by doing so we will gain the trust of those that are present. Examples or withdrawals can be, criticizing, condemning or complaining.
How Not to Die - Dr. Michael Greger
What I liked about this book:
Throughout my 10 years of engineering study and work I have become quite conditioned to collect and analyze information, problem-solve, and make decisions based on this data. When someone gives their opinion or recommendation on a topic I often want to know what scientific data backs this recommendation. This is exactly what I love so much about Dr. Greger and his book How Not to Die. This book is packed full of double blind, placebo controlled studies towards diet and nutrition. These are considered to be the “Gold Standard” when it comes to scientific research studies. This book completely changed my view on food and opened me up to a brand new world of the many benefits behind a whole food plant based diet.
What are some of my favorite learnings from this book:
In this book Dr. Greger explains that from an evolutionary standpoint the majority of the human population is eating in a manner much different than our ancestors. Studies show that as we have moved towards eating more animal products and highly processed foods our risk of chronic disease (such as cancer) has significantly increased. He states that 80% or more of our risk towards chronic disease is related to our diet and lifestyle and not our genes. It’s also important to know that most western doctors are not highly trained in nutrition nor do they typically give nutritional advice when it comes to disease. The pharmaceutical industry is over a trillion dollar industry and they are more focused on treating the diseases rather than preventing them in the first place.
Part 1 of this book provides science backed studies on how a whole food plant based diet can help prevent death from the following top 15 killers in the wester world: Heart Disease, Lung Diseases, Brain Diseases, Digestive Cancers, Infections, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Liver Disease, Blood Cancers, Kidney Disease, Breast Cancer, Suicidal Depression, Prostate Cancer, Parkinson’s Disease, and Prescribed Medications. In 2015 around 1,750,000 Americans died from these alone which is the vast majority of all deaths. It should be in all our best interests to do our best to prevent the onset of any of these diseases rather than having to try to treat them after they occur.
In part 2 of this book Dr. Greger explains what you can incorporate into your life to prevent the top 15 killers. He calls them his daily dozen and they include the following: beans/legumes, berries, other whole fruits, dark leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, other whole vegetables and mushrooms, whole grains, nuts or seeds, 1 tablespoon of flaxseeds, 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric, plus other herbs and spices, 90 minutes of moderate exercise. After gaining a greater understanding of the health benefits of these in his book I have made it a priority to include these into my life as much as possible.
On average plant foods contain over 64 times more antioxidants than animal foods. Why is this important? Antioxidants help to fight off free radicals in your body that are causing cell damage or oxidative stress. The experts believe that by reducing cell damage we can reduce the pace at which we age along with our risk for chronic disease. Some foods rich in antioxidants are herbs, spices, berries, greens, green tea, dark chocolate and coffee.
Why We Sleep - Matthew Walker
What I liked about this book:
Sleep is something that I have always struggled with in my life and before this book I never knew just how important it was! Matthew Walker does an excellent job in explaining what exactly is happening when we sleep and why it is so essential in our lives. As with most things in life, once we have a fundamental understanding on why something is important we are typically much more likely to make lasting changes in our lives. This is one book that I can definitely say has changed my life for the better!
What are some of my favorite learnings from this book:
In this book Walker explains just how important sleep is for our ability to learn. Not only is it important that we get quality sleep before the learning takes place, it is also equally important to get quality sleep after the learning. Proper sleep helps us to prepare the brain for learning then retain the information afterwards. It essentially hits the save button on the new learnings as it moves memories from a short-term, vulnerable place and moves them to a more permanent long-term storage called the cortex. In one study it showed that there was a 40% reduction in the ability to make new memories when we are sleep deprived. Sleep deprivation can attack and block your brain's capacity for new learning that occurs in the hippocampus.
Sleep also plays a very important role in our overall health. When sleep was deprived by 4hrs in one night they saw a measurable decrease of natural killer cells by 70%! Killer cells help us identify and fight off dangerous foreign elements and diseases such as cancer. In under slept humans they noticed the upregulation of genes related to the promotion of tumors, chronic inflammation, stress and cardiovascular disease. Another fascinating fact is that during daylight savings time when we lose one hour of sleep they have seen a 24% increase in heart attacks but when we gain an hour of sleep, we see a 21% decrease in heart attacks.
Humans have not evolved to bank (or store) sleep like we have evolved to bank energy in our bodies through our fat cells. From an evolutionary standpoint we never deliberately deprived ourselves from sleep so we did not evolve with a mechanism to bank sleep. Therefore you cannot accumulate a sleep debt and then effectively pay it off later. In their studies they have noticed performance impairments at under 7hrs of sleep and they recommend that we try to get between 7 to 9 hrs each night.
Alcohol negatively impacts your sleep as it promotes more micro awakenings throughout the night and effectively reduces the quality of your REM sleep. It is a sedative drug which is removing consciousness rather than helping with natural sleep. With Caffeine, not only can it keep you up at night but it also affects the level of deep sleep. It has a half life of 5-6 hrs and a quarter life of 10-12 hrs. So if you drink a cup of coffee at noon there could still be up to a quarter of the caffeine in your system at midnight.
I hope you all enjoyed this content and I wish you all a good night's sleep!
