Retirement can best be defined as “not being forced to sell your time”. I’m available for work, but I don’t really want to. The flying robot folks occasionally ask me if I want to come back to work for a bit, but Pittsburgh in the Wintertime isn’t an attractive thought, and between coronavirus and the election season things are a little nuts in the USA.
Not having to go to work every day leaves me with time to think. My old test pilot pal Greg used to comment that they keep us so busy working we don’t have time to think, but now that I do, reading interesting and thoughtfully written books gives me more to think about. Kindles are miracles on little sailboats as we’ve really no space for a bunch of books for pleasure reading – only boat repair, navigation, cruising guides, and other paper resources we need close at hand. Things like Lonely Planet guides for regions of the world we’re visiting.
Amazon is getting their pound of flesh every time we purchase a book for our Kindles, but it’s a good deal, and besides I bought a few shares of Amazon stock back in the 90’s when all they did was sell books online. Might as well pay myself. Three books I’ve read in the past few weeks are:
“No Rules Rules” by Reed Hastings, the founder of Netflix. It’s a book about the corporate culture he created and cultivated as Netflix grew from a tiny start-up into the entertainment giant it now is. For some it would be a cutthroat work environment, but it has ensured only the best, brightest and most creative individuals work there. Really interesting read and completely foreign to the corporate culture I experienced at the giant aerospace company. Sure glad I bought some Netflix stock way back when.
“How I Built This” is a book on entrepreneurship written by Guy Raz, the former NPR foreign correspondent and radio show host. Ever heard of TED talks? The book describes the creation of numerous start-up companies, derived from intimate interviews with the founders. In the end, it’s obvious that anyone who boot-straps a company from a concept to building a business worth hundreds of millions of dollars – that’s someone who has vision, determination, moxie, and boundless energy. Fascinating stories well delivered.
“The Psychology of Money” by Morgan Housel is one of the best books I’ve read in years and my favorite of the group. Don’t pass this one by – it’ll help you understand why spending, saving, investing, and ignoring daily movements in the markets create so many challenges for us all. I wish this book had landed in my lap when I was 18, but it has helped that Morgan has been a frequent commentator on various podcasts published by The Motley Fool that I’ve enjoyed the past few years.
Isabel likes to absorb information about physical, mental and emotional health. Two books she’s picked recently are “Mindfulness” by Danny Penman, and “Breath” by James Nestor. “Mindfulness” is a good resource for coping with the high level of noise and stress created by the modern 24/7 news cycle, the political antics of various so-called “leaders” around the world, and ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. “Breath” is an interesting look at the evolution of human faces, especially noses and mouths as we as a species turned from naturally available food sources to processed foods, and how those changes have created numerous health problems related to respiration. Noses and sinuses do lots of things to filter air and contribute to better health and physical performance. Mouth breathing, increasingly common, contributes to a lot of health problems. Heavily researched and really interesting stuff.
My favorite over the past year is “Sapiens” by Yuval Noah Harari. He’s an Israeli anthropologist who has attempted to describe the evolution of society, religion and social structure. This stuff is always a bit controversial, but I’m on board with his thoughts.
Read, reflect, ponder my navel. It’s all good.
No comments:
Post a Comment