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Hey there.

Long time since we've spoken. I've been crazy busy, so I haven't had much to say — unless you are into advanced computer science topics.

Now, I have a lot to share with you. So let's get started.

What I've Made For You

• Atomic Habits (reread) — A favorite which has taught me much. This is one of the best books on habits. Mastering habits is almost an essential skill to make progress in life. That is why I highly recommend learning the principles of creating and maintaining habits.

• Stillness is the Key — A modern guide to achieving stillness and tranquility in our busy lives.

• How to Take Smart Notes — My absolute favorite book on taking notes. It's short, but packed with wisdom on knowledge management.

• The Phoenix Project — Focuses on DevOps but teaches much more than that. How do you run an effective factory? How does that relate to IT work, and can we use those principles in IT work? The answer is yes. Quite exciting for anyone working in IT (or factories).

Honorable mentions

• Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know — Being able to rethink and question your beliefs is an essential skill in life. To do this, we need to think more like scientists; we need to think using experiments and the scientific method. Lots of great takeaways from this book.

• The Ride of a Lifetime — Biography of Disney's CEO for the past 15 years. Tells a great story.

Also read

• The Four Agreements — Be impeccable with your word, don't take anything personally, don't make assumptions, and always do your best.

• 97 Things Every Programmer Should Know — Collected wisdom for programmers, by programmers.

• The Unicorn Project — Not as good as its predecessor, The Phoenix Project. Details ideals for developers in a business.

• Lying — A rather short, but good book. Don't lie.

• As Man Thinketh — Had some great quotes, but was not for me. Basically; thoughts are the prerequisite for action. If your thoughts are impure, so will your actions be.

• Make Your Bed — Speech turned book. Watch the speech instead (20 min): University of Texas at Austin 2014 Commencement Address - Admiral William H. McRaven

• Gateless — A mishmash of (good) ideas from other authors.

Systems thinking

Think in terms of processes rather than goals.

Goals are

1. a one-time thing, and

2. they are binary; either you achieve, or you don't.

Optimize for the long term and not just one-offs.

Focusing on process allows you to judge your success in a healthier manner.

If you fail a goal, say, a tennis match, are you then a failure?

You can't go back and change the outcome of the match...

But if you had focused on the process of getting better at tennis, then the loss could be seen as a learning experience - a big win.

And it's a win which will naturally lead to more victories later.

Focus on what you can control

It doesn't make sense to measure yourself by external factors.

What you can control one day, you may not be able to control another.

Some days you may be able to control something to a great degree; others, not so much.

"The virtue of a person is measured not by his outstanding efforts, but by his everyday behavior."— Blaise Pascal

To your success. Regards,

Christian Bager Bach Houmann