About Me

Books that shaped me

I read. A lot. I am always trying to find new ideas and philosophies to broaden my notion of how things work. Here’s a list of the most influential ones.

Most influential books

• 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
• Freakonomics 
• What Every BODY is Saying
• Systems Thinking for Social Change
• The House of God
• Ego is the Enemy
• Tribe of Mentors
• Meditations (Marcus Aurelius)
• The Tao Te Ching
• The Gift of Fear
• Never Split the Difference
• Know My Name
• Man’s Search for Meaning
• The Doctor and the Soul
• Finite and Infinite Games
• Antifragile
• The Last Citadel
• The War of the Rats
• 24/7/365 (Documentary)
• When Breath Becomes Air
• The Obstacle is the Way
• How to Win Friends and Influence People
• Cutting for Stone
• Do No Harm
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
• Zen and the Art of Archery
• Stranger in a Strange Land
• The Tipping Point
• Outliers
• On the Origin of Species
• Bird by Bird
• Deep Work
• The Willpower Instinct
• Watchmen
• Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
• The Art of Learning
• The Book of Joy
• Ender’s Game
• Born to Run
• The Name of the Wind
• Denial of Death
• Born to Run
• The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying-Up

Childhood books/series/authors that shaped my adult values/philosophy

• Orson Scott Card (Author)
• Brian Jacques ( Author – Redwall Series)
• Tamora Pierce (Author)
• Phillipa Gregory (Author)
• Lawrence Yep (Author)
• R.A. Salvatore (Author)
• Terry Brooks (Author)
• Molokai
• Eragon series
• Harry Potter series
• Bryce Courtenay (Author)
• Sophie’s World
• 1984
• Mountains beyond Mountains
• The Name of the Wind

My values

At some point, I decided that all I needed to be happy was to live up to the person I wanted to be. In my bullet journal, I write a list of 20 values and when I live up to those values, it was a good day. The most common ones are:

1. Open
2. Honest
3. Loving
4. Kind
5. Curious
6. Observant
7. Grateful
8. Generous
9. Consistent
10. Pragmatic
11. Focused
12. Calm
13. Resilient
14. Patient
15. Conscientious
16. Humble
17. Motivated
18. Reliable
19. Centered
20. Happy

Important things in my life

The things that I am most grateful for are likely the things that will help form my identify. So here’s a list:

• Jaeger, my dog
• Writing
• My bow
• My speedskates
• My brothers
• My family
• Reading
• Bullet journal
• Dancing
• Curiosity
• Hunting
• Empathy
• Insight
• The ability to laugh no matter what
• Being a morning person
• Adrenaline
• Driving fast
• Questions
• Comfort with the idea of doing things differently
• to be continued…