My top 5 books of 2019
/I read over 75 books in 2019, and it’s really hard to pick a “top 5”, so I reserve the right to change them :)
Caveat: these are books I “read” in 2019. They weren’t necessarily “published” in 2019.
(in no particular order)
How to be a power connector
I must have read over 20 books on networking in the past 2-3 years, and this one is hands down my favorite.
It provides practical solutions which take minimal time to implement, are very effective, and don’t have you spending extra time and energy.
It forces you to focus on the “quality” of your relationships, not “quantity”.
In fact, I’ve been implementing the methodology from this book for the past year, and found it highly effective not just at growing my network, but also at forcing me to assess the quality of the relationships I have, carefully thinking about who belongs in my network and who doesn’t, etc.
A crack in creation
This book was an eye opener for me. It was recommended to me by a close friend, and I only got around to reading it in December of 2018. Nevertheless it quickly became one of my favorite books for the year.
Typically I’m not a fan of books that don’t “teach” you something: a strategy or tool on the quest towards “high performance living”.
Even though this book doesn’t offer any strategies or tools, I firmly believe it to be a “must read” for absolutely anyone.
The book is written by the scientist who invented CRISPR: a method of genetic manipulation that allows humans to completely program / alter the DNA (genetics) of any living thing, including humans.
While there are regulations in place that are supposed to stop the use of such technology on humans, the fact that CRISPR is SO CHEAP and easy to use means that I would be surprised if people haven’t tried altering human DNA already.
The thought can be comforting and scary at the same time: comforting because this means we now have tools to fix genetic diseases and even cancer. Scary because this means that people can now “customize” their children, governments can “customize” their population, and tyrants can “customize” their armies…
Deep Nutrition
As you can imagine, given what I “do” and my gigantic passion for health and fitness (emphasis on “health”), I’ve read dozens of nutrition books over the years.
Deep Nutrition by Dr Kate Shanahan is the one I’ve recommended the most, I’ve gifted the most, and I’ve referred to the most.
This is not to say that there aren’t really good nutrition books out there, there are. But Deep Nutrition is by far the most comprehensive book.
If you want to know how to use food to reverse various illnesses, this is the book for you.
If you’re confused about which foods are healthy and which are not, this is the book for you.
If you want to optimize your sleep, this is the book for you.
If you want to optimize your hormones, this is the book for you.
If you want to get over digestive problems, this is the book for you.
A word of warning though: this book is DENSE! It’s jam-packed with information, and covers a wide range of topics, which is why it’s so dense.
However, the book is written in an easy to read way, and meant for the “public”, not nutritionists. So it’s easy to read.
Does it contain earth shattering new info? For someone who’s up to date on the latest research in health and nutrition, no it doesn’t. So I don’t love the book because it taught me anything new.
I love it because it’s the only book I can recommend to people as a “bible” for how to eat and drink for a healthy and active lifestyle.
Principles
Few people outside the world of finance know what hedge funds are, let alone who Ray Dalio is.
People have the misconception that hedge funds are the “bad boys” of financial markets, filled with greedy billionaires taking advantage of people.
However if you look the largest and most successful hedge fund managers, those with $30 billion or more of assets under management, you will notice 2 things:
They are among the most ethical institutions out there; and
They are full of people you could easily mistake as college professors: shy, crazy smart, and genuinely nice people.
I know firsthand because I used to work for one of those “giant” hedge funds.
It’s the “smaller” (still multibillion dollar) hedge funds that give the industry a “bad name”.
In the world of “large and successful” hedge funds, Ray Dalio is Michael Jordan, Michael Schumacher, Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, or whatever “legend” you can think of.
But guess what: his book, Principles, is NOT about investing or building the most successful hedge fund in history.
His book is about the “principles” he developed and lives his life by, and his company (Bridgewater) operates on.
Principles which helped him overcome serious personal and professional challenges. Principles which allowed him to keep his feet on the ground and not be consumed by the massive success of his company.
Principles which everyone should learn, and selectively apply (pick and choose which ones may sense to you).
10 Types of Human
What drives a 13 year-old boy to risk his life to save the life of another boy he barely knows?
What drives a father to sell his son into slavery?
What drives a woman who’s completely paralyzed to come across as happy, driven, and pursuing a PhD?
What drives a man to throw acid at the face of a beautiful woman? What drives this woman to fight on, get a PhD, and dedicate her life to helping victims of abuse?
These are just a handful of examples from this book, probably the most amazing and “hard to put down” books I’ve read in recent memory.
Not only will this book open your mind, it will make you appreciate every second of your “lucky” life.
It will make you realize that all the things you worry about (money, losing weight, what people say on social media) really don’t matter at the end of the day.
It will make you realize that you should be grateful that you have to worry about these things, and not being sold into slavery as a little girl, or worse…
This book isn’t just in my top 10 for 2018. It’s in my top 10 of all time.
