Thanks man. I'm almost through two books that speak on that and things are starting to click already.
What's that book about that you are reading?
It's a general book on classic financial strategies and a relative guide to understanding today's financial instruments. I've read Buffet's favorite
The Intelligent Investor in the past.
I try to have a book in my rotation not too far removed from that stack of yours. I've read
The Game while in college almost 7 years ago and his follow up book
The Truth just recently. Around that time I was also reading the
Art of Seduction by Robert Greene. I've heard great things about Frankl's
Man's Search for Meaning. My homie who teaches philosophy at a private all-boys high school recommended it to me.
I started reading content related to that stack after I read Tim Ferris's
4-Hour-Work-Week and began to listen to his podcast. It was the book (as they say, lol) that changed my outlook on things. IMO, all of his books within the
4-hour series are rooted in developing great traits/skills overall as a dude -- or rather the skills to be a Leader of Men. His podcast has become one of the better platforms to learn about a variety of topics (e.g. routines, habits, leadership, entrepreneurship) and upcoming book releases too. Most are mainstream, like
The Game but a starting point to find hidden gems like
The Rational Male.
I realized the publishing world is really small once the authors began to appear on each other's podcasts as part of their overall marketing efforts for their new books. And I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing altogether. Ferris's sit down with Tony Robbins, Neil Strauss, Jamie Foxx, and Jon Favreau were dope. It also introduced me to other authors who have a unique perspective James Altucher, Ryan Holiday, and Seth Godin. Mind you, audio is a more intimate medium, so you can really get a feel about their thoughts during their discussion.
At least to Ferris, Holiday, and Altucher, they all seem to have high regard for Robert Greene (
48 Laws of Power, Mastery) since his books cover historical figures and stories that are themed appropriately to the problems we face as humans today with actionable strategies. At some point, reading, inventing, generating flow, and the amount of women all have diminishing returns relative to our happiness. To the point where some ask, "What's the end goal?" or "What's the purpose to life?" Despite their success, I've come to understood why they too, Ferris and Holiday, recommend Seneca and the practice of Stoicism.
In relation to your stack, to be stoic is relative to the theme of "not giving a sh*t." It's subject to debate as noted from the other thread. To me, I'm of the mindset to be geared more so to the continuous development of maintaining internal frame against others -- a sense of objective mental fortitude of your own views and values. Marcus Aurelias is a prime example of a powerful man in a Greek society who practiced Stocism to soothe his thoughts as described in
Meditations. Strip away everything today and think of that dude! Lol. There's also Epicureanism, and new-Platonism as ways of life, but that's another conversation. Hence, the
Classics.