May 2020 Roundup: What I am reading, listening to, watching and eating
Check out what I’ve been reading and listening to that has helped me navigate through this past crazy month. From remaining unemotional during tough decision making in this economic whirlwind, to adapting in Quarantine isolation while still staying happily married, sane, and productive, to new ways of rejuvenating my immune system in a time when immunity is extra important. These resources helped me keep perspective, stay motivated and bring a lot of benefit and positivity into my life during the otherwise devastating crisis of COVID-19.
What I’m Reading:
The Three Equations for a Happy Life, Even During a Pandemic
The point of everything you do is ultimately for you and yours to be happy. If you can figure out how to be happy during lockdown then imagine how happy you will be once things start to open up again!
How are you spending your time in quarantine? Seems like Newton was able to accept his situation and make the best of it by using that downtime to come up with his most brilliant theorems. Stop watching Netflix and get to work on your next business venture, the book you always wanted to write, or the course you’ve always wanted to take.
People Are Paying Real Money to Get Into Virtual Zoom Nightclubs
Many of my friends in the hospitality and nightlife business (especially in NYC) are in dire predicaments. It's going to take a long time before nightlife venues, bars and restaurants will be able to get back to business as usual (if ever). But one thing I always admired about those in the business is their willingness to become early adopters in tech, their resiliency to come back after being knocked down time and again, and their creativity in finding new ways to make people feel happy and connected.
How Will You Measure Your Life?
This article by Clayton M. Christensen, who authored the Innovators Dilemma for Harvard Business Review, will help you prioritize what really matters in your life. If you follow Stoic philosophy then you will especially enjoy this well written piece on how to create a strategy for your life, allocate your resources, create a culture, and choose the right yardstick for measuring your life.
What I’m Listening To:
No matter whether your relationship was in a rocky or a wonderful place pre-quarantine, none of us were quite in this place: 24/7 cohabitating, co working, co parenting, co-everything with their spouses. Overnight we quite literally became eachother’s therapist, work colleague, parent, child, and best friend all in one. I rolled my eyes when my wife sent me this podcast and then was pleasantly surprised once I listened to it. Filled with many useful tools and strategies to help navigate communication with perspective, respect, and appreciation that help you not only survive through quarantine but truly enjoy your marriage and thrive in your relationship during intense circumstances.
Ryan Holiday — How to Use Stoicism to Choose Alive Time Over Dead Time
During this crisis many people’s investments from stocks, to bonds, to real estate have taken a nosedive. This timely podcast by Ryan Holiday, author of the Daily Stoic, can help rationalize and take the emotion out of your investment decisions. It helps you practice the ability of staying calm with an awareness that the only thing we can control is ourselves and our own actions, not the external chaos of this pandemic.
Medicine In The Age Of COVID-19 And Beyond from The Doctor's Farmacy with Mark Hyman, M.D.
Informative podcast about how to protect your own health and the 101 on all things COVID-19 with a reputable team of doctors, led by Internationally renowned physician Dr. Mark Hyman, who is director of the famous Cleveland Clinic and founder of the UltrawellnessCenter. They address practical strategies for building immune resilience against viruses from lifestyle interventions to correct supplementation that specifically targets viruses, food as medicine to support both antiviral and long term immunity, metabolic health, curbing sugar cravings and addictions that are suppressing our immune system, and more. He also explains some of the treatments that will be available both conventional and unconventional to treat Corona, herd immunity, and Vaccines. Interesting listen and you’ll definitely get some great take away tips.
What I’m Watching:
Pomp Podcast #256: Billionaire Chamath Palihapitiya on How To Invest in This Crisis
Although this was recorded in early April, I think Chamath has some keen insights into how COVID is going to affect the economy from both a bottoms up and a top down approach. If you are looking for some great investment advice from an authentic and super smart big thinking investor then hurry up and watch this.
What I’m Eating:
Everyone’s in the kitchen cooking way more now, and with the health crisis people are also more motivated to cook healthier dishes. I’m lucky that my wife, a holistic nutrition aficionado, is a great cook and creates some awesome recipes herself (she posts them on her IG recipe page @alkamamma). But our go-to database for 100’s of amazing, easy to make, healthy yet delicious recipes come from the Forks Over Knives App. All are Whole Foods Plant Based, immune boosting with tons of nutrient dense ingredients, filling, and also support weight loss.