Between work, family, and everything else, most people aren’t looking for another complicated wellness routine. They just want something that works.

AG1 Next Gen is a clinically studied daily health drink designed to support gut health, fill common nutrient gaps, and help maintain steady energy. One scoop a day, and you’re covered.

Start your mornings with AG1 and get 3 FREE AG1 Travel Packs, 3 FREE AGZ Travel Packs, and FREE Vitamin D3+K2 in your Welcome Kit with your first subscription.

Get started today

Happy Thursday folks!

Here is my favorite passage of the week, two quotes and book of the week with two important lessons to ponder on:

Neuroscientist and Author Rachel Barr on switching from books to screens:

The book of the week is The Daily Laws by Robert Greene.

I enjoy reading this book every day, and it has been a few years now. There is concise wisdom for each day of the year in an easy-to-digest format, which only takes a few minutes to absorb so you can reflect on it for the day.

Each month centers around a major theme on power, mastery, strategy, human nature, creativity, resilience and more. For example: January (Planting the Seeds for Mastery), February (Transforming Yourself), March (Activating Skills and Attaining Mastery) and so on. My favorite is the month of February. It is about transforming yourself through the Ideal Apprenticeship.

After our formal education, we enter the most critical phase of our lives, a practical education known as the apprenticeship. We can inevitably detect this phase in the stories of the greatest masters. The goal is to transform ourselves into someone who’s skilled, who’s realistic, who understands human nature, and who learns the rules that govern our field. We constantly look for challenges, pushing ourselves past our comfort zone. We use difficulty as a way to measure our progress. We are going to develop patience and a solid work ethic.

Here are two important lessons from the book (from February):

Albert Einstein famously said, “Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.” Practical knowledge is the ultimate commodity. Evaluate opportunities using one criterion: the greatest possibility for learning.

Acquiring a set of skills is the key to navigating a turbulent work world. The goal of an apprenticeship is not money, a good position, a title, or a diploma, but rather the transformation of our mind and character. This is first transformation on the way to mastery. We must choose places of work and positions that offer the greatest possibilities for learning. Practical knowledge will pay us dividends for decades to come, far more than the paltry increase in pay we might receive at some seemingly lucrative position that offers fewer learning opportunities. This means that we move toward challenges that will toughen and improve us, where we will get the most objective feedback on our performance and progress. Do not choose apprenticeships that seem easy and comfortable. Our main goal in the Apprenticeship Phase must be to learn and accumulate as many real-life skills as possible, particularly in areas that personally excite and stimulate us. The ability to later combine these skills is the best path to mastery.

Every task we are given, no matter how menial, offers opportunities to observe this world at work. As we amass more information about the rules and power dynamics of our new environment, we can begin to analyze why they exist, and how they relate to larger trends in the field. We move from observation to analysis, honing our reasoning skills, but only after months of careful attention.

The problem with formal education is that it instills in us a passive approach to learning. We read books, take tests, or maybe write essays. Much of the process involves absorbing information. But in the real world, we learn best by doing, by actively trying our hand at the task. The great sushi master chef Eiji Ichimura began his work in restaurants as a dishwasher some forty-two years ago. His desire was to become a sushi chef, but nobody would tell him how it was done or give him direct instruction. He had to develop his skills by watching carefully and then practicing the same techniques over and over. He would practice in off hours, going over the most intricate motions of the knife. Through such endless labor he turned himself into a master chef.

The brain is designed to learn through constant repetition and active, hands-on involvement. Through such practice and persistence, any skill can be mastered. Find the deepest pleasure in absorbing knowledge and information. Feel like you never have enough. Be relentless in your pursuit for expansion.

Unhinged Habits: A Counterintuitive Guide for Humans to Have More by Doing Less by Jonathan Goodman. It reveals how to break bad habits and build your rich life by mastering the art of strategic subtraction. If you liked Atomic Habits or Essentialism, you’ll love this book.

Becoming Yourself: Teachings on the Zen Way of Life by Shunryu Suzuki. It has been a calming read in my mornings recently, a new book of teachings on the essence of Zen practice.