Forever Grateful

 Writing is a big thing for me; I know I can improve if I invest into more personal responsibility and accountability.  I got inspirations from two authors on how to go about this. Like many people I would love to author a book,  However, I feel intimidated by the sheer number of popular non-fiction books (my favorite genre) out there.  I read works by noted authors like Steven Kotler, Angela Duckworth, and Daniel Pink (to name a few) and marvel both at the depth of research and the time spent on making the contents engaging.   I often wonder what I can write about and the resources I need to arm myself with enough research material to write a book I also note that it took these authors years of research, data collection, and experimentation to author their work.  I.  One favorite excuse: I an not being affiliated with a university or other research institution  I got a wake up call while I was reading The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli (...

 I feel that combining audio books with written books can be rewarding.  Both media have their own advantages and disadvantages from my point of view. I find audiobooks more flexible.  For example, I could be doing light tasks like cleaning kitchen counters while listening to an audio book.  I can even be prepping s simple meal.  A good audio book elevates those  experiences from mete shore into pockets of time peppered with engaging moments. I may be listening to Benjamin Hardy recounting the heroic story of Michael Angelo as he invested efforts into his transformative growth from an apprentice into the venerated and immortal artist he has become.  I can feel inspired by both such liberating transformations built through lofty vision and tireless execution.  While going through my required chores, I feel the audiobook gifting me with new mental models to help me revamp my view of the world. While flexible and more enjoyable, audio books are not a...

  D: John, do you ever engage in self-talk? J: Good question.    Not sure if I articulate my ideas well when I am alone.    I do get embroiled in anxious imaginary dialogues though. D: With yourself? J: NO! More like imagined arguments with someone else. D: That sounds negative, though.    Do you think we can benefit from cultivated self-talk? J: Ok, let us unpack that. Or reframe the question.    Can we do “Structured” in lieu of “cultivated”? D: I can go along with that.    Do you think we can benefit from structured self-talk? J: Something tells me the answer is Yes.    But I do not have reasoned out answer for you.    So, let me throw the question back at you, or better yet take you a step back.    Why a re you interested in self talk?r D: I was reflecting on two sources.    One is The Art of Impossible by Steven Kotler and the other is To Sell is Human by Daniel Pink. J: Ok.    ...

  In David Eagleman’s  Live-wired, there is a writing about Paul Bach-Y-Rita:     In the early sixties, Bach-Y-Rita converted a dental chair into a “seeing device”. The chair had a twenty by twenty set of teflon coated actuators that responded to an input from a camera.    Based on the camera input, the actuators will prod a person’s lumbar and create an association between what the camera captures and the pattern of actuator movement.    It is a seeing device and one of an earlier proofs for sensory substitution. The experiment demonstrated that there  is no limit to human creativity both in terms of developing enticing knowledge domains as well as type of invention or innovation.    It is a reminder of our creative heritage as human beings, a testament of what we are capable of as species if only we resolve to try.  Moreover, the experiment demonstrated the adaptability of the human brain, its capacity for what Eagleman aptly...

 The key, mind you, not any key but the key.  Intrigued by the title I carefully started working on the introduction.  The book is graced with an introduction that presents stillness as a fascinating mental model.  This is a gem for me because I love narratives that give me a feel for a word rather than a dry definition. This love started in my younger days when I came across Norman ewis’s vocabulary builder book.  Each chapter started with nuanced descriptions of words that captured both their denotation and connotation.  Here is an example: 1. Me First Your attitude to life is simple, direct, and aboveboard—every decision you make is based on the answer to one question: “What’s in it for me?” If your selfishness, greed, and ruthless desire for self-advancement hurt other people, that’s too bad. “This is a tough world, pal, dog eat dog and all that, and I, for one, am not going to be left behind!” An egoist English