Sloww Sunday 041: Top Books, Dalai Lama, Be Like Water

Sloww Sunday Newsletter 041 (Dec 20, 2020) — Top Books of the Year, Dalai Lama Wisdom, Be Like Water, & More

Hi friends,

Sloww Sunday delivers the latest from Sloww along with a few of the most interesting things I came across this week.

I bumped a new book to the front of my reading list—The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel. Many are calling it their favorite book of the year. All the highlights are outlined in the book summary below.

Over on Twitter, I posted a preview of my top books of the year. Check out the second new post below for the final list.

Sloww Stuff

🆕 18 Wealth Lessons from “The Psychology of Money” by Morgan Housel (Book Summary)

I couldn’t ignore this book any longer. It seems like everyone has been talking about it lately. And, Amazon supports the hype—it’s approaching 3,000 ratings since launching a few months ago.

🆕 The Top 10 Life-Changing Books I Read in 2020 (& Worth Your Time in 2021)

There’s something for everyone on this list: slow living, simple living, money, wealth, life purpose, spirituality, and the art of living. See which books made the cut.

🔒 “Ikigai 2.0” eBook + Workbook

It’s officially launching in a few days! Thank you to the 13 new members who signed up for Premium last week. Are you ready?

Fresh Wisdom from this Week

🎧 The Purpose of Life with the Dalai Lama
(90 mins | YouTube)

Who knew the Dalai Lama was into quantum physics? This video touches on a bit of everything: the importance of knowledge and logic, holistic thinking, compassion towards enemies, the link between physical and mental health, constructive vs destructive emotions, and the revival of ancient Indian wisdom in a secular way.

“This thinking is the best weapon to reduce all negative emotion. All negative emotion is ultimately ignorance. We believe things exist as they appear … In order to reduce that, nothing exists as it appears.” — Dalai Lama

Timeless Wisdom from 1971

📺 The “Lost” Interview with Bruce Lee
(25 mins | YouTube)

It’s obvious that Bruce Lee’s thinking was on a deeper level. There’s a lot of wisdom sprinkled throughout this interview: philosophy, self-knowledge, flowing with life, training every part of your body, and martial arts as the art of honestly expressing yourself.

Pair with the book Striking Thoughts or a new book published this year by his daughter called Be Water, My Friend.

“Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless, like water. You put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put it into a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.” — Bruce Lee

A Quote to Ponder

“I frequently worry that being productive is the surest way to lull ourselves into a trance of passivity and busyness the greatest distraction from living, as we coast through our lives day after day, showing up for our obligations but being absent from our selves, mistaking the doing for the being.”

— Maria Popova, founder of Brain Pickings

PS: My All-Time Top 3 Learnings from Maria

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Have a present week!

Kyle Kowalski
Founder, Sloww