The books, tips, and tools worth repeating — pulled from this year's newsletters. Every title and product is a link, so tap and go. Steal whatever's useful.
You don't need a perfect record. You just need to keep showing up.
This year I set myself a dumb little goal: 55 push-ups and a cold shower, every single day. How's it going? I've missed 5 days of push-ups and 3 cold showers. Not perfect. Pretty damn good. That's the whole point — it was never about a perfect streak, it's about the process. Show up, do the thing, and when you miss a day, start again the next one.
Here's the good stuff from the first half of the year, sorted so you can skip to what you care about.
Books Worth Your Time
| Book | Why |
|---|---|
| The Education of a Wandering Man — Louis L'Amour | One of my favorite reads so far this year. |
| The Comfort Crisis — Michael Easter | Worthy of an annual re-read. A little struggle is how we become our optimal selves. |
| ABC's of Success — Bob Proctor | Great for your overall mindset — I want my kids to read this one for sure. |
| Notes on Being a Man — Scott Galloway | Great fuel for any fella trying to be the best dad he can be. |
| Excellence Wins — Horst Schulze | From the founder of Ritz-Carlton. Great for anyone in the service business (that's everyone). |
| The Anxious Generation — Jonathan Haidt | If you've got kids and phones in the house, read this one. |
| Grit — Angela Duckworth | "Achievement = Talent × Effort squared." Effort counts twice. |
| Essentialism — Greg McKeown | Focus on what actually matters and cut the rest. I need to re-read this weekly. |
| The Count of Monte Cristo — Alexandre Dumas | One of my favorite books of all time. Love, revenge, and the nice guy finishing first. |
| Atomic Habits — James Clear | Tiny habits done consistently beat big bursts of motivation. How to make the good ones automatic. |
| The Obstacle Is the Way — Ryan Holiday | Use setbacks as fuel instead of excuses. Wish my 16-year-old self had read it. |
| Same as Ever — Morgan Housel | The timeless truths about money, stress, and decisions that never change no matter the year. |
| The Gap and the Gain — Dan Sullivan & Dr. Benjamin Hardy | Measure how far you've come, not how far you haven't. Huge for confidence and staying consistent. |
Podcasts & Follows
| Listen | Why |
|---|---|
| The School of Greatness | The episode on raising hard-working, value-creating kids is a must-listen. I've stolen several nuggets already. |
| Founders Podcast | A great way to "test-drive" a book before you commit to reading the whole thing. |
| Gary Brecka & Dr. Moss — "Comfort = Chronic Disease" | A good reminder that muscle is your health bank account. |
| Fasting Can Backfire for Women — The Diary of a CEO | A roundtable of hormone & women's-health experts (including Dr. Stacy Sims) on how fasting and overtraining can quietly wreck women's hormones. A must if you train fasted. |
Small Things, Big Return
| Try this | Why |
|---|---|
| Tape your mouth when you sleep | Sounds insane, changes your sleep. 3M Micropore surgical tape, about $9. |
| The 14-second hug | That's the length it takes to release oxytocin. So hold on a little longer. |
| Bring your toothbrush AND your fitness | No reason not to move while you're away. Travel is not a day off. |
| Why to stay optimistic — study | Optimists live longer. Might be rose-colored glasses. Either way — worth keeping in mind. |
Food & Training, Kept Simple
My whole Zone 2 philosophy: breathe through your nose and do hard stuff. That's it. If you can keep your breathing together, you're in the zone — no heart-rate monitor required. Most people's cardio is a mess because their breathing is a mess. Fix the breathing, fix the cardio.
| Guideline | Why |
|---|---|
| Eat real food. Salt to taste. | It all starts with nutrition — no supplement fixes a bad diet. |
| Ladies — don't train fasted | Coach Kelly's rule: a ~150-calorie carb + protein snack before you work out beats running on empty. Half a banana with nut butter does the trick. |
Supplements
One rule before this list: don't start all of these at once. Clean up your eating first, then add one thing at a time.
| Supplement | How I use it |
|---|---|
| LMNT electrolytes | A game changer. One a day in winter, two-plus on active or hot days. |
| Creatine — Momentous | Any brand beats none — but I use Momentous, the cleanest creatine I've found. Just take it. |
| Colostrum — ARMRA | We use ARMRA. Game changer for me. |
| Body Health aminos | The Rowleys have used these for recovery for over a year now. Money. (We carry them at the gym.) |
| Fiber — Momentous | Momentous again. We carry it at the gym. |
Want the whole stack? Here's everything I'm currently on — the full, up-to-date list.
That's the first half. Hope something in here makes your week a little better. Now go move.
Jon