Book Summaries

Meditations shows how to become more self disciplined, stop caring what people think, and withstand life's emotional storms. Marcus Aurelius was a powerful Roman emperor and great Stoic philosopher. He wrote down all these thoughts in a private journal to himself.

Contagious shows how entrepreneurs and marketers can make their content more viral and products more shareable. Jonah Berger simplified years of his research into six principles of contagiousness which are: social currency, triggers, emotion, public, practical value and stories.

The Lean Startup shows how to achieve business success by learning what customers want fast. Eric Ries explains how to launch a minimum viable product, why you should ignore vanity metrics, and how to use 'split-testing' to avoid wasting years of your life building a product nobody wants.

Pre-Suasion shows a new side of influence. It's about everything that happens BEFORE you ask someone to say yes to your proposal. Professor Robert Cialdini has distilled hundreds of scientific studies to prove that how you FRAME a message from the beginning is crucial to its success.

The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching introduces the most essential Buddhist ideas in a way even secular people can easily digest. These ideas include The Four Noble Truths and The Noble Eightfold Path. Thich Nhat Hanh explains how Buddhism is in its essence a pragmatic approach to ending personal suffering.

How to Not Die reveals the connection between what we eat and chronic diseases. Based on hundreds of references to scientific evidence, Dr. Michael Greger shows how to prevent (and even reverse) the top causes of death like heart disease, most cancers, diabetes, obesity, strokes and Alzheimer's.

Rich Dad Poor Dad is Robert Kiyosaki's story of growing up with a "Poor Dad" (his middle class biological father) and a "Rich Dad" (his best friend's father and a savvy entrepreneur). Kiyosaki learned rich people buy assets that make them money, rather than working for an income.

Why We Sleep communicates the critical importance of sleep. Modern people don't know that getting less than 7-8 hours of sleep daily can cause dozens of serious problems for mental and physical health. Matthew Walker first helps you understand how sleep works, then how to get better sleep.

Nonviolent Communication shows us how to have healthy relationships through openly and honestly communicating our observations, feelings, needs and requests. This book can help us move past dysfunctional communication habits we learned growing up including guilt tripping, being passive aggressive, blaming, labelling and judging others as good or bad.