My “strengths finder” says I’m a “learner”. I usually don’t put much stock in such surveys, but this one is dead on. At any one time I have 10-12 podcasts going, at least one or two audiobooks, and then plenty of good ‘ole fashioned bound paper books. Don’t get me started on my Twitter rabbit-holes.
Here are five things I discovered or enjoyed this week
Bari Weiss Honestly podcast
I think I stumbled on this as a Twitter recommendation from Nina Teicholz. Specifically, an episode of the “Honestly” podcast featuring Dr. Casey Means, of Levels Health. The episode was good, so I kept digging. Glad I did.
Weiss is apparently at odds with the media “establishment” for going against the grain of her collogues at The New York Post while employed as a writer and editor there. After her resignation (you can view her letter here) she started, among other ventures, the “Honestly” podcast.
She has a wide range of guests and topics. I don’t always agree with her or her guests’ conclusions, but hey – we’re not supposed to all agree, right?
A Christmas Carol, Read by Tim Curry
I’ve started reading or listening (or both) to “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens every year at Christmas. None of the movies does it full justice (though, Jim Carry’s comes close). It’s a great read, actually more humorous than you might think. And there are pieces of the book that have never made it into any movie version I’ve seen (and I’ve seen a bunch!).
But if you don’t want to read the book, Audible has a production by Tim Curry that’s wonderful and FREE to listen to. Personally, I swap back and forth between the written/audio versions throughout my read. He does a great job.
Listen to “A Christmas Carol” here.
Red Wine
I haven’t yet recommended a wine before, but I had one this week that was remarkable, and was compelled to share.
We celebrated my birthday by having dinner at a marvelous French restaurant here in Memphis, Bishop. They have a great list of French wines, and this jewel was recommended by the bartender. Though not a Bordeaux by name, it is from the Bordeaux region. It’s a Cab Franc, and we had a 2019 vintage. If you can get your hands on it locally, I recommend.
Quote of the Week
This one nailed me between the eyes. It’s from Ryan Holiday in his book “Ego is the Enemy”:
“Talk depletes us. Talking and doing fight for the same resources. Research shows that while goal visualization is important, after a certain point our mind begins to confuse it with actual progress. The same goes for verbalization.”
I plan a lot. I talk a lot. But even though I thoroughly investigate and plan and describe and project – there are often great projects that never get off the ground. I suspect this may be the reason. I need to do the thing, not talk about the thing. Of course, there’s also the matter of being accountable for the thing, which often involves some amount of sharing with others. Gonna work on this.
Remove Ignorance
This is a great Twitter thread assembled by Clint Murphy using some wisdom from Charlie Munger, Warren Buffet’s partner. The premise is that one of the secrets in life is to remove ignorance in order to make fewer mistakes. Clint then lists the areas that we are often blind to.
Here’s Clint’s TL:DR, but the full read is good: