My guest today is Tiago Forte author of "Building a Second Brain."Tiago Forte is one of the world’s foremost experts on productivity and has taught thousands of people around the world how timeless principles and the latest technology can revolutionize their productivity, creativity, and personal effectiveness. Get his book here: https://amzn.to/3ghadcn TIMESTAMPS:[00:00-01:24] - What is a Second Brain?[01:25] - How Tiago become a productivity expert[03:15] - How to start building your second brain[06:30] - What is the BEST note-taking app [10:00] - Note-taking vs. Note-giving[13:00] - Strategies for highlighting books/notes[15:15] - Consuming information vs Applying information[18:45] - Tiago's famous PARA framework[22:30] - Lifechanging stories from building a second brain[27:30] - Lessons from James Clear[31:20] - Tiago's book-writing process[37:15] - Read, learn, and APPLY[38:30] - Key takeaways from "Building A Second Brain"***

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My guest today is Jay Papasan, the co-author of The ONE Thing.

Jay Papasan is an NYT bestselling writer and business executive. 

In this episode,  Jay shares advice on how to be more productive by identifying and focusing on your most important task, how to create better to-do lists, why you shouldn’t multitask, tips on work/life balance, and much more.

TIMESTAMPS:

• [00:25] - The big idea behind The ONE Thing 
• [01:25] - Why you should make Success lists, not To-Do lists
• [09:00] - How multitasking makes you less productive
• [18:20] - The role of discipline & willpower in productivity
• [25:25] - The truth about work/life balance  
• [36:35] - How saying “No” will make you more productive & how to say it nicely
• [43:45] - Two books that had a huge impact on Jay’s life

Resources:

• Twitter: @jaypapasan
• Website: jaypapasan.com 

***

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Hey everyone, I published my first book this week!GET A COPY OF MY BOOK HERE: https://amzn.to/3wqWCDlConnect with Alex & Books here:

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Join 10,000+ readers who get my free weekly newsletter here.

My guest today is Sahil Lavingia, author of The Minimalist Entrepreneur.

Sahil Lavingia is the founder of Gumroad and an angel investor. Before that, he was employee #2 at Pinterest.  

In this episode,  Sahil shares advice on building a successful business, why you want to be a creator before becoming an entrepreneur, lessons learned from Naval Ravikant, and much more.

TIMESTAMPS:

• [00:20] - What is a minimalist entrepreneur?
• [08:57] - How Sahil built his company Gumroad
• [12:00] - Be a creator first then an entrepreneur second
• [18:00] - Why community is vital for building successful businesses
• [33:20] - The advantages of building-in-public
• [45:20] - The risks of building-in-public
• [50:50] - Workplace culture & the future of work
• [1:03:00] - Lessons Sahil learned from Naval Ravikant
• [1:08:00] - Two books that had a huge impact on Sahil’s life

Resources:

• Twitter: @shl
• Website: minimalistentrepreneur.com

***

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My guest today is MJ DeMarco, author of The Great Rat Race Escape. 

MJ DeMarco is an entrepreneur, investor, and bestselling author of The Millionaire Fastlane.

In this episode, MJ shares advice on how to escape the rat race, the myth about compounding interest making you rich, how to find the right business opportunity, advice he would give to a 21-year old kid today, and much more. 

TIMESTAMPS:

• [00:17] - Defining the Script that 99% of people follow 
• [2:00] - The myth of compound interest & investing for 40+ years
• [6:30] - How MJ escaped the rat race & how you can too
• [11:45] - Advice MJ would give to a 21-year old kid today
• [13:55] - The truth about passive income
• [17:35] - The biggest business in the world: Shortcuts
• [20:00] - How to find the right business opportunity
• [27:00] - The cornbreads vs champagne principle
• [29:50] - Does your network = your net worth?
• [32:00] - Can money buy happiness or not?
• [37:00] - The Right Book strategy
• [39:30] - The 1/2/3 Marriage strategy
• [42:30] - MJ’s favorite lessons from his book
• [47:00] - Two books that had a huge impact on MJ’s life

Resources:

• Twitter: @MJDeMarco
• Website: MJDeMarco.com

***

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My guest today is John Gray, author of Beyond Mars and Venus. 

Dr. John Gray is the author of the classic dating book Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. His books have sold tens of millions of copies and have been translated into approximately 45 languages in more than 100 countries.

In this episode, John shares how relationship dynamics have changed over the past 20 years, why men need Cave Time to get in touch with their masculine side, why women need Talk Therapy to get in touch with their feminine side, why little things make a big difference for women, and much more about maintaining a happy relationship.

TIMESTAMPS:

• [00:24] - The biggest change in relationships over the past 20 years
• [04:15] - Men need to reconnect with their masculine side & women with their feminine side 
• [06:15] - Explaining  Cave Time & why  how it helps men  
• [1 2:00] - Explaining Talk Therapy & why how it helps women
• [17:35] - Why complaining doesn't work & how to actually get your partner to change
• [27:10] - Why little things make a BIG difference for women 
• [43:28] - Things a man can do to help their woman reconnect with their feminine side 
• [52:45] - A common mistake men do in relationships 
• [1:06:20] - A sex tip to boost your testosterone 

Resources:

• Twitter: @MarsVenus
• Website: MarsVenus.com

***

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My guest today is Nate Dallas, author of You’re Too Good To Feel This Bad.

Nate’s book is like 10 self-improvement books wrapped into one. He covers over several health-related topics such as sleep, breathing, diet, exercise, mindset, meditation, and many more areas that play a vital role in achieving better health.

Listen to this podcast to learn how to sleep better, why you should be breathing through your nose, why you should be drinking more water, why you need to be aware of your self-talk, how owning less stuff can improve your health, and much more.

TIMESTAMPS:

• [00:21] - Why Nate wrote You’re Too Good To Feel This Bad 
• [05:25] - Why health is all about the fundamentals 
• [06:21] - Why you need both quality and quantity sleep
• [11:38] - Why you want to breathe through your nose
• [16:00] - Drink more water & eat healthier foods
• [23:23] - The mind-body connection
• [29:00] - Be aware of how you talk to yourself
• [33:20] - How owning less can actually make you happier & healthier
• [40:11] - The relationship between work & health
• [45:45] - Anxiety is a sign that you need to take action & change something
• [48:20] - Two books that had a huge impact on Nate’s life 

Resources:

• Twitter: @FathersBrother
• Website: natedallas.com 

***

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My guest today is Christian Busch,  author of The Serendipity Mindset. His book is all about the art and science of creating good luck.

That’s right, luck is a skill that can be learned and improved upon. In our conversation, Christian explains the difference between blind luck and smart luck (AKA serendipity), how bad luck today can become good luck tomorrow, 10 tips to increase your luck, and much more.

TIMESTAMPS:

• [00:42] - How a car crash changed Christian’s life
• [02:34] - Blind luck vs. Smart luck (serendipity)
• [06:20] - The formula for luck (triggers + connecting the dots + tenacity)
• [07:45] - Lucky tip #1: Be more alert
• [10:18] - Lucky tip #2: Develop a serendipity mindset
• [13:41] - Lucky tip #3: Start a serendipity journal
• [16:41] - Lucky tip #4: Be more extroverted
• [20:00] - Lucky tip #5: Calm your mind 
• [23:15] - Lucky tip #6: Manifest & visualize good luck
• [26:20] - Lucky tip #7: Plant serendipity bombs
• [28:48] - Lucky tip #8: Use technology as a way to network
• [32:00] - Bad luck today = Good luck tomorrow?
• [36:00] - Lucky tip #9: Reframe your bad luck into a positive
• [36:50] - Lucky tip #10: Make tiny changes in your daily life to increase randomness
• [40:57] - Serependity is a skill that can be learned (skilled luck)
• [43:58] - Two books that had a huge impact on Christian’s life
• [46:46] - How to increase serendipity in your business
•  

Resources:

• Twitter: @ChrisSerendip 
• Website: theserendipitymindset.com

***

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Learn more about Howard’s speed reading program at berglearning.com/a/alexbooks. 

My guest today is Howard Berg, the author of Super Reading Secrets. Howard holds the Guinness record for being the world’s fastest reader, reading at 80 pages per minute.

In our conversation, Howard shares advice on how to read faster, bad habits that are slowing down your reading speed, how to take notes while reading, how to remember more of what you’ve read, and much more.

TIMESTAMPS:

• [00:50] - How Howard developed a love for reading 
• [04:32] - Reading ≠ Learning
• [06:09] - Speed reading tip #1: Determine schema
• [09:49] - Temporarily losing comprehension while learning speed reading is normal 
• [13:41] -  Speed reading tip #2: Reduce vocalization
• [15:09] -  Speed reading tip #3: Use your finger
• [17:21] - Speed reading tip #4: Avoid regression, progression, and distraction 
• [19:37] - Speed reading tip #5: Know when to speed read 
• [22:53] - How to improve your reading comprehension 
• [30:12] - How to remember more of what you read 
• [37:22] - How to analyze the outside of a book to quickly understand what it’s about
• [44:16] - The importance of knowing when to read faster & when to read slower
• [49:23] - Out of 30,000 books, here are 3 that had a huge impact on Howard’s life

Resources:

• Twitter: @HowardSBerg
• Website: berglearning.com 

***

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My guest today is John David Mann, the author of How To Write Good (Or At Least, Gooder). John has coauthored over 30 books including The Go-Giver, The Latte Factor, The Slight Edge, and many more bestselling books. 

In our conversation, John shares the three ingredients for good writing, how reading more will improve your writing, the writing process John used to write several bestselling books, the differences between traditional publishing and self-publishing, and much more.

TIMESTAMPS:

• [00:42] -  How John went from musician to bestselling author
• [03:00] - Why you don’t need a degree or MFA to become a writer
• [03:40] - The 3 ingredients for good writing (intention, practice, critique) 
• [09:30] - How reading more books will make you a better writer 
• [13:20] - The importance of deliberate reading & analyzing books
• [18:50] - John’s book writing process
• [24:00] - How to get over writer’s block
• [30:50] - How to decide what to write about
• [37:00] - Traditional publishing vs Self-publishing 
• [41:40] - Differences between writing fiction and non-fiction books
• [48:40] - Books John recommends for aspiring writers

Resources:

• Twitter: @johndavidmann 
• Website: johndavidmann.com

***

If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe & write a positive review.Every week I send out a free newsletter with actionable advice from amazing books. Join 5,300+ readers here.Connect with Alex & Books:

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