Episode · The Daily Stoic · 2024-03-21
Ryan Holiday & Cal Newport: books mentioned on The Daily Stoic (Mar 2024)
Cal Newport: Take The Pressure Off Productivity
Cal Newport discussed On Writing by Stephen King, Moneyball by Michael Lewis, It's a Book! by Lane Smith, The Four Cardinal Virtues by Josef Pieper, The Lean Startup by Eric Ries, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey, and Getting Things Done by David Allen.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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On Writing
On Writing by Stephen King is a celebrated memoir and masterclass that blends the author's personal experiences with practical, no-nonsense advice for aspiring writers.
Discussed“so stephen king famously does this right he talks about that in on writing”
Where to get it
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Moneyball
Moneyball by Michael Lewis is a celebrated nonfiction book documenting how the Oakland Athletics baseball team leveraged analytical models and statistical data to gain a competitive edge.
Discussed“actually this is an argument in Michael Lewis's uh Moneyball he's like Billy Bean was just not good enough at baseball that he had to really figure out the game of baseball”
Where to get it
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It's a Book!
It's a Book! by Lane Smith is a charming children's picture book that humorously explores the nature of reading, technology, and traditional books through a conversation between a clever monkey and a tech-obsessed jackass.
Discussed“Like I always tell people for me, the most important phone call probably in my life is when I decided to write a book. I called a family friend who was an agent and said, 'Explain to me how to sell books, and in particular what would be the very narrow path that like a 20 or 21-year-old could follow”
Where to get it
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The Four Cardinal Virtues
Discussed“And then it's okay, we're going to do the four cardinal virtues books, we're going to, you know, really push the studio quality pod, you know, the plays. It was like you push chips in, right?”
Where to get it
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The Lean Startup
The Lean Startup by Eric Ries is a foundational business guide that advocates for validated learning, rapid experimentation, and minimum viable products to help entrepreneurs build successful companies without wasting time or resources.
Discussed“And you can actually see this by looking at business advice literature like books like the popular books, right? So in the 80s and 90s, he was like, the big name is going to be Stephen Covey, right?”
Where to get it
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The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R.
Discussed“So you get seven habits, you get first things first, read these books, they're very optimistic, they're all about self-actualization. If you've ever read these books, it's like, you figure out your roles in life, yeah.”
Where to get it
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Getting Things Done
Getting Things Done by David Allen is a globally recognized productivity and stress-free management framework designed to help individuals capture, clarify, organize, and execute tasks efficiently.
Discussed“Yeah, you go back and read David Allen, what you get, what's his goal? Occasional moments of Zen-like peace, among the mind, like there's nothing to turn you into a processing machine and a survival process you, right?”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (9) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“in discipline is Destiny I contrast these two Civil War generals”
“uh I talk about I tell the story of the Cuban Missile Crisis in Stillness is the key which I think is another example of of this idea of stepping back and seeing the big picture”
“i talk about i tell the story of the cubican missile crisis in Stillness is the key which i think is another example of of this idea of stepping back and seeing the big picture”
“So early in grad school, I'm at MIT. I had published these two books about how to be a good student, right? And I had a blog.”
“I think this book, Slow Productivity, is like the most of the books I've written where it's a question I have.”
“I want to be better at like really something I'm really working at like when I wrote Deep Work, for example, it was, yeah, I came out of this environment, the theory group at MIT, in which like focus was the number one thing.”
“And so I was like, I got to really—I really got to clean up my understanding of these intuitions and instincts I have about slowly working towards what matters because I've actually created a lot of things as I've gotten better and gotten more stature and the opportunities are everywhere. And I felt like I was in danger of impeding”
“As you’ve mentioned, obstacles away sold a great number of copies, but you received a modest advance. The publisher’s hesitance reflected the dynamic values you expressed earlier; it may not feel fair on the surface initially, but building on smaller wins has its benefits.”
“In your case, truly the obstacles away sold incredibly well over time, closing the loop on the early takes of its career and growth.”