Letters from a Stoic by Lucius Seneca is a collection of letters addressed to Lucilius, but intended for a public audience. The letters use different aspects of daily life to reflect on philosophical ideas - reflecting on those ideas through a Stoic lens.

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The Enchiridion was likely compiled by one of Epictetus's students and attributed to Epictetus himself - a prominent Stoic Philosopher in the Roman Empire.

It is a famous book in the world of Stoic philosophy, a philosophy that focuses on self-control, particularly, controlling ones emotions in the face of adversity. The Stoics also emphasize living a life aligned with nature, which loosely equates to living a virtuous life characterized by the four virtues: wisdom, temperance, justice, courage.

The Enchiridion, translated "The Handbook" or "Manual", is a collection of 53 short Stoic lessons meant to be referenced. An example is the opening line, "Some things are within our control, while others are not," commonly referred to as the dichotomy of control, which teaches that we should only let the things within our control affect us.

*Side Note: Epictetus started off as a slave, and went on to become a prominent Stoic philosopher*

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*Apologies for any rain noise that came through or distorted the audio.

Slow Productivity by Cal Newport is about the philosophy of Slow Productivity, which in turn is about, as the subtitle suggests, "The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout". It looks at the structure of work over time, from hunter gatherers to modern knowledge workers, focusing on the foundations of how we came to a point where we're working frantically, on the edge on burnout. A point brought across in these early chapters is the idea that even though we both look and are busier throughout each day, we aren't actually achieving more - it's what he calls Pseudo-Productivity. The book then goes on to discuss three principles that encompass the philosophy of Slow Productivity: Do Fewer Things, Work at a Natural Pace, and Obsess Over Quality.

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Hidden Potential by Adam Grant looks at the many ways in which we can perform at a level higher than we thought possible. The book is broken into three main sections, skills of character, structures for motivation, and systems of opportunity. It looks at various scenarios and ties many of them to scientific studies to expand on how we can achieve greater things.

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The War of Art by Steven Pressfield has the subtitle, "break through the blocks and win your inner creative battles." It's about the war against what Pressfield calls resistance, a term that Pressfield pears at from many different angles, and exposes as the ultimate enemy. Beat resistance, and you win the war.

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Same as Ever was written by Morgan Housel, the author of The Psychology of Money. The book is a series of 23 short and timeless lessons on, as the subtitle says, "Risk, Opportunity and Living a Good Life". It looks at the natural cycles of history, and the lessons we can learn, while also focusing on the psychology of how humans act in the world.

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"How Emotions Are Made" is a book by Lisa Feldman Barrett, a Distinguished Professor of Psychology and a neuroscience researcher. This book delves into Barrett's Theory of Constructed Emotions, offering a fresh perspective on how emotions are formed. Initially, the book presents the classical view of emotions, which suggests that emotions are simply reactions to external events. Something happens, and as a result, we feel a certain way. In the classical view, these emotions are thought to have distinct markers in the brain, akin to a "fingerprint". For example, it is often said that the amygdala is the center of fear.

The book then goes on to discuss recent research that challenges this classical view, advocating for the Theory of Constructed Emotions. This theory proposes that emotions aren't mere reactions. Instead, they are complex predictions shaped by our past experiences and current context. According to this theory, we perceive and experience these predictions as reality, rather than experiencing the raw sensory input as reality. This theory suggests that our emotions, and even our perception of reality, are essentially a continuous flow of these constructed predictions.

In the concluding chapters, Barrett explores the broad implications of this theory on various aspects of life, including health, law, and our general understanding of the world around us.

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A discussion of the book Leadership Strategy and Tactics by Jocko Willink.

Jocko is a US Navy officer who served in the Navy SEALs. Through the SEALs training he learnt various fundamental principles of leadership, writing them down, codifying them, and putting them to the test in SEALs training and mission scenarios. Leadership Strategy and Tactics draws on this experience, teaching one how to deal with a wide variety of situations as a leader and as a subordinate, using examples from his SEALs experience.

As the title suggests, it covers both strategies and tactics in leadership. Strategy is about the long term objectives, and tactics are for dealing with the immediate situation at hand.

Once having read through the book, one should have an idea of Jocko's core principles and tenets of leadership, as well as advice when dealing with specific situations as a leader - from a broad and a focused perspective. Finally, as the words "field manual" suggest, the book is intended to be used as reference material when dealing with various situations as a leader, and so while the chapters tie together nicely, it is also structured in short chapters dealing with specific advice, meaning, the chapters can be read individually when needing advice on a specific situation.

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