Why We Sleep

By Matthew Walker

Summary:

Sleep is as key to our health and wellbeing as breathing, eating or drinking but unfortunately it is one of the things that most of us never improve on (ever) and we pay dire consequences for.

Most of us complain of poor sleep and insomnia and yet do nothing to help ourselves get better at it.

This book explains the importance of sleep and all of the health benefits it can bring and all of the factors that affect sleep quality.

The book ends with a number of suggestions to drastically improve your overall sleep quality.

Key take-aways:

• Poor sleep is linked to a myriad of poor health outcomes from excess weight gain to Alzheimer’s disease
• Improving sleep takes practice and multiple small habits but can definitely be done
• Our sleep pattern changes throughout our lives and we should be conscious and adapt to these changes
• Getting better sleep will drastically improve every aspect of your life from your mood, eating habits, ability to learn and withhold information

The Comfort Crisis

By Michael Easter

Summary:

We have spent the vast majority of our history as a species in discomfort, with no climate control, comfy sofas, shopping trolleys or supermarkets and we have evolved to gain benefits from this discomfort.

As a species we have engineered discomfort out of our lives and are paying the physical and mental health consequences for it.

Putting some discomfort back in to our lives by exercising more, bring too cold from time to time or experiencing hunger can bring huge benefits to our overall health.

Key take-aways:

• Being uncomfortable allows us to appreciate what we do have and what we take for granted
• Putting some level of discomfort back in to our lives can have a profound impact on our health
• The more purposeful discomfort you put yourself under, the easier you will be able to cope with discomfort in other areas of your life

Ultra Processed People

By Chris Van Tulleken

Summary:

Not many of us stop and think about all of the stuff that’s in our food but I guarantee you that you will after reading this book.

There are so many things that we eat that couldn’t even be classed as food and that our bodies have not evolved to easily cope with.

Ultra-processed food consumption is on the rise and could be a leading cause of the obesity crisis and other negative health outcomes from tooth decay, IBS, Krones and many more.

Key take-aways:

• Ultra processed food is all around us and being aware of what we are eating can help us make better choices for oureslves
• Learn what ultra-processed food is and what it means for you and your body
• Ultra processed food is designed and marketed to us to make us consume it in excess to drive profits of the food industry

The Psychology of Money

By Morgan House

Summary:

How you manage money is shaped by many of our day to day experiences, feelings and even insecurities; Morgan Housel shares contrasting stories of people who have mis-managed and well-managed their finances and it’s one of the few areas of life where your level of education and how much you earn actually doesn’t have a great deal to do with how well you manage your personal finances.

Though Housel doesn’t actually give any advice, his stories and analysis allow you to guide yourself to answers that are right for you.

Key take-aways:

• You can retire with more than enough money if you manage it well and start now
• Increasing your savings rate is easier and more important than increasing your earnings
• Investing can be simple and effective, all you need to do is follow the process and be patient

Anatomy of a Breakthrough

By Adam Alter

Summary:

Being stuck is just a fact of life; it happens to all of us whether it be in work, relationships, health, school, university etc. Adam exposes the reasons why we become stuck and highlights 100 ways in which you can get unstuck.

Going from stuck to unstuck can be hard and you may have to face some fears in the process but it is always worth it as it will move you more towards the life that you want.

Key take-aways:

• Everyone, no matter how perfectly manicured their social-media profiles look, gets stuck
• Ignoring your “stuckness” won’t make it go away and you will just waste time if you adopt this strategy
• The gap between where you are now and where you want to be will come with hurdles that you absolutely can overcome

Hyperfocus

By Chris Bailey

Summary:

Today’s world is full of distractions and focus is becoming an ever more scarce resource! Everything from social media to our email to other people all want some of our attention.

Focus and achieving the state of flow, where time and space melt away is where we do our best work.

Chris explains what focus is, invites you to understand where your focus is going and how to take back control so you can get more s**t done in the same amount of time.

Key take-aways:

• Our attention is becoming a commodity that is bought and sold to the highest bidder and most of the time we don’t even know that’s what is happening
• Take 10 mins before getting to work on a task thinking about all of the things that could distract you and put things in place to eliminate or reduce them (phone & email on DND, phone in another room, get water, go to the bathroom etc)
• Set specific times when you can be distracted and let your mind wander and make sure to set alarms to limit that distraction time so you don’t get lost down the rabbit hole

Fiber Fuelled

By Will Bulsiewicz

Summary:

There is a lot of contradictory information about what diet is the best one for your health. They range from weight loss diets like Weight Watchers or Atkins to the fad diets like Paleo and Carnivore.

This book is not about another fad diet, but a call to action to change your eating habits permanently in order to improve your health and longevity.

This book brings science to the discussion and presents the health benefits of prioritising fibre and plant diversity in our diets while reducing processed foods as much as possible.

Key take-aways:

• Highly processed foods (even the ones purporting to be healthy like vegan highly processed foods) are NOT good for our microbiome and thus our own health
• Average Americans get 5g of fibre per day vs. the recommended 35g
• No matter your health goals, you can achieve them by getting 90% of your calories from eating a diverse range of plants
• You can halt or even reverse bowel-related issues and diabetes from consuming more fibre

The Motivation Myth

By Jeff Hadden

Summary:

Many of us have felt highly motivated and compelled to do something as if struck by lighting. We assume that this is motivation and that other, seemingly more motivated people have this feeling more frequently than we do but this is in fact not the case.

The truth is, those people we see at “highly motivated” know how to create their own bold of lightning to get things done and so can you.

The author will take you on a journey to understand what motivation is, what it isn’t and how you can learn to yield it for yourself at will so you can get more of the s**t done that you want to in life.

Key take-aways:

• Kick off your motivation by taking action
• Taking action and seeing results leads to motivation which leads to more action, more results and more motivation
• Motivation can be increased by reducing friction (think about how hard it is to go to the gym if you are sat on your sofa watching TV and had a 1hr drive to get there vs. going straight from work and it only being a 5 min drive)
• Motivation is easier when you have MOMENTUM which comes from being consistent, especially on days you don’t feel up to it

Build the life you want

By Arthur C Brooks & Oprah Winfrey

Summary:

This book is about happiness and how to be on the path to living a happier life. This books looks at the core elements influence our happiness from the impact of exercise, taking personal responsibility, family and romantic relationships and our careers.

This book really shows that to be happier, it’s not possible to focus on that one thing that we think we are missing at the expense of all of the other elements… we must instead keep all of the elements in mind when making decisions about what actions to take to life happier lives

Key take-aways:

• Happiness is highly personal, and what will make one person happy won’t necessarily work for another
• Happiness is not a destination but a direction: How you travel through life is what counts
• Don’t look outward for direction on how to increase your happiness, look within, go on a journey of discovery to find out what parts of your life increase your happiness
• Don’t hang your happiness hopes on a singular part of your life, happiness is complex and requires many elements