Lots of food for the soul and I hope, some inspiration to kick off the year with…”Home is not where you are born. It’s where all your attempts to escape cease.”
- Favorite Questions
- Favorite Books
- Best Places to Visit
- Favorite Quotes
- Tools for Self-Improvement
- Worth Watching
- Favorite Music
- Most Useful Possessions
- Favorite One-Liners
- Favorite Podcast Episodes
- Most Effective Language Learning Tools
- Worth Revisiting Yearly for Inspiration
Favorite Questions
1.What things are going well in my life today that I might look back on and wish I quit while I was ahead? Is there something in my life that I think I’m passionate about that’s actually just an addiction?
2.Consider in the next difficult, mundane, or seemingly “normal” every day moments of life: How much would I pay to come back to this moment if I were 90 years old?
3.When was the last time you closed your eyes and asked yourself if you’re doing the right thing?
Favorite Books
2.The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie
3.The Mandibles & The Deluge by Lionel Shriver / Stephen Markley
Best Places to Visit
1.Patagonia – Torres Del Paine National Park – W Trek or O Trek – easily one of the most spectacular slices of nature on this planet, a treasure of cascading landscapes
2.Medellin, Colombia – the sounds, sights, smells, vibe, but mostly the people, make this my favorite city in the world. It’s not called “The City of Eternal Spring” for nothin’.
3.Buenos Aires, Argentina – incredibly progressive and beautiful metropolis–it’s like NYC & San Francisco birthed a baby with better weather, half the cost of living, & 10% of the homeless people.
Favorite Quotes
1. “Alcohol is borrowing happiness from tomorrow.”
2. “Blessed are those who plant trees under whose shade they will never sit.”
3. “I have learned that Grief is a force of energy that cannot be controlled or predicted. It comes and goes on its own schedule. Grief does not obey your plans, or your wishes. Grief will do whatever it wants to you, whenever it wants to. In that regard, Grief has a lot in common with Love. The only way that I can “handle” Grief, then, is the same way that I “handle” Love — by not “handling” it. By bowing down before its power, in complete humility.” – Elizabeth Gilbert
Tools for Self-Improvement
1.“The Failure Journal” – a great concept for reflecting & learning from life’s most difficult experiences.
2.Rotate Your Routines – most “habits” eventually become a chore or just another box on your to do list. You can avoid this by changing the time of day you’re doing things. Consider rotating your methods too. For example, if you’ve been practicing Transcendental Meditation and it feels stale, try Vipassana, LovingKindness, Silent, Tonglen or some other form of meditation. If your morning routine feels like a slog, try rotating aspects to another part of your day or swapping out for something new that might provide similar benefits and a spark of energy to your morning.
3.Ask for help, advice, and feedback…regularly
Worth Watching
1.Pillow Stripping 101 – <2mins – ever clean your pillows?
2.‘I Am Not Your Guru’ – Documentary showcasing Tony Robbins’ “Date With Destiny” workshop – great for triggering a mindset shift
3.‘Stutz’ – Documentary with Jonah Hill & his long-time therapist – simple mental models for cleaning up / getting your life in order, starting with the basics
4.‘Coco’ – Disney Movie – pursuing your passion
Favorite Music
1.Corazon de Acero by Yiyo Sarante
3.Let the Rhythm Just by the Polish Ambadassador, Mr. Lif, & Ayla Nereo
BONUS: My Wanderlust Playlist of Accumulated Music from a year of traveling around Southeast Asia & South America
Most Useful Possessions
1.Badger Vanilla Bean Chapstick or “Cocoa Butter Lip Balm” on Thrive Market – I have tried every brand of chapstick on the planet is this is the BEST – $4
2.Tongue Scraper – probably unexpected, maybe a little weird, but great to mix in with flossing & brushing – $7
3.Nomatic Backpack with packing cubes & shirt organizer – one of the best tools for making long-term travel simple, organized, easy & seamless – $289
Favorite One-Liners
1. Merchant of Happiness
2. Participate Joyfully
3. Insight Cascade
Favorite Podcast Episodes
1.Coffee! – Mark Plotkin – Plants of the Gods – The History of Coffee – pure fun
2.James Clear on Tim Ferriss – Annual review questions & insights to start the year…”Make sure you know what game you’re playing and whether or not it’s worth winning.” “What’s the work I can do once that keeps working for me perpetually into the future?”
3.Arthur Brookes on Tim Ferriss – How to Be Happy
Most Effective Language Learning Tools
1.Learncraft Spanish – worked with Spanish teachers locally in Colombia, a teacher remotely in the states, and multiple native speakers remotely through websites like preply. I also played with duolingo, babel, lingopie, watching movies in spanish with english subtitles & vice versa…none of it comes close to holding a candle to the structure & format of LCS…my caveat is that it is for someone who really wants to learn the language–there are better tools for basics.
2.Michael Thomas – Foundation (fill in the blank language) – for beginners looking to achieve a reasonable level of competence in a short period of time (20-30hours)
3.Fluent.co – browser plugin for $5/month – great for learning vocab, hits all mediums of learning (speaking, reading, writing), ties in to your webpages making it easy to build the habit of practicing
Worth Revisiting Yearly for Inspiration
1.Your Life in Weeks – I revisit this every year, often a few times per year. Most interesting, unique, compelling perspective on time as it relates to your life.
2.Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey
3.Steve Jobs:
When a person goes into the operating room, he will realize that there is one book that he has yet to finish reading – “Book of Healthy Life.” Whichever stage in life we are at right now, with time, we will face the day when the curtain comes down. Treasure Love for your family, love for your spouse, love for your friends… Treat yourself well. Cherish others. As we grow older, and hence wiser, we slowly realize that —wearing a $300 or $30 watch – they both tell the same time… Whether we carry a $300 or $30 wallet/handbag – the amount of money inside is the same; Whether we drive a $150,000 car or a $30,000 car, the road and distance is the same, and we get to the same destination. Whether we drink a bottle of $300 or $10 wine – the hangover is the same; Whether the house we live in is 300 or 3000 sq ft – loneliness is the same. You will realize, your true inner happiness does not come from the material things of this world. Whether you fly first or economy class, if the plane goes down – you go down with it…Therefore.. I hope you realize, when you have mates, buddies and old friends, brothers and sisters, who you chat with, laugh with, talk with, have sing songs with, talk about north-south-east-west or heaven and earth….That is true happiness!
Five Undeniable Facts of Life :
1.Don’t educate your children to be rich. Educate them to be Happy. So when they grow up they will know the value of things not the price.
2.Best awarded words in London…”Eat your food as your medicines. Otherwise you have to eat medicines as your food.”
3.The One who loves you will never leave you for another because even if there are 100 reasons to give up he or she will find one reason to hold on.
4. There is a big difference between a human being and being human.
Only a few really understand it.
5. You are loved when you are born. You will be loved when you die. In between, You have to manage! NOTE: If you just want to Walk Fast, Walk Alone! But if you want to Walk Far, Walk Together!
Six Best Doctors in the World:
1. Sunlight
2. Rest
3. Exercise
4. Diet
5. Self Confidence and
6. Friends – Maintain them in all stages of Life and enjoy a healthy life.
Philoso-Feed 
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