I am an absolutely voracious reader. Usually I am reading 3-4 books at a time AND listening to a book on CD in my car. The book on CD is key. My car becomes a mobile library and I’m able to productively utilize my driving time. I do occasionally jam out to my favorite tunes while driving, sometimes you just have to roll down the windows and sing (or try to in my case) at the top of your lungs, but for the most part I really love being able to read and drive at the same time!
What Do I Read?
Lately I have been on a Navy Seal book kick. There’s something extremely powerful and motivating reading about the experiences these men have gone through in training, in real combat, and in life. When you think you are going through some tough shit at work or on the home front and then you read what these guys go through in war, you realize maybe you don’t have it all that bad after all. It also helps to put your own physical training and mental toughness in perspective. Could I do what they do? Am I capable of even a small percentage of their feats of physical fitness and bravery? How does my training measure up? How can I do more?
No Easy Day is the story about the hunt for, and killing of, Osama Bin Laden. If you have not read this firsthand account yet, I highly recommend it!
Lone Survivor by Marcus Lutrell is the heartbreaking story of Operation Redwing. The movie is great, but I recommend reading the book first. There is so much more detail and background story in the book that gives the reader a much broader perspective and feel for what happened out there.
Service is another outstanding book by the author of Lone Survivor. It describes other operations as well as the aftermath of Operation Redwing and his rescue and healing both physically and mentally. It also has a powerful section written by the wives of Navy Seals who are just as strong, brave, and outstanding as their husbands. Highly recommended!
Another fantastic book that I have been reading slowly, just a few pages here and there, is Spartan Up by Joe De Sena, founder of Spartan Race. I picked it up on the recommendation of a friend, but didn’t actually think I was going to like it. Turns out I was wrong. Joe’s passion for physical training, mental toughness, and overcoming all sorts of real life obstacles make this an outstanding book. I have not only recommended it to several people, but bought a copy for my brother for his birthday.
This is just a short list of some powerful reading material to whet your appetite. There’s a ton more that I have been reading over the past few months on a broad range of topics, as well as new stuff on my book shelf that I haven’t gotten to yet, that I plan to share with you. Stay tuned!
If you have read any of the above books, drop me a comment and let me know what you thought of them. Did they affect you as powerfully as they did me?
Make sure you check out my post on my Top 5 Favorite Martial Arts Books on my friend Josh Sager’s site!
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