Five of my favorite things this week include:

• Amazon Music. This is part of the Amazon Prime package. It allows me to create multiple playlists… and it’s a real plus for the garage workouts (aka “morning shenanigans”). I like it better than Pandora because it allows me to pick specific songs I want rather than Pandora which limits me to genre.
• Podcast I’m listening to a lot these days… my friend, Rob Polenik, owner of Brutal Iron Gym has been cranking out some great content that focuses on health and happiness! These podcasts are short and packed to the brim with helpful information!  I listen while I walk! (you can find him on PodBean or Itunes – search for “Brutal Iron Gym”)
• Speaking of Rob and Brutal Iron Gym, he and his dad make one of my favorite “recovery tools”… a metal “scraper” used to work through knots in my muscles, break down scar tissue, etc. You can read about Graston work here. You can watch it in action here. If you’re interested in purchasing your own scraper reach out to Rob!
• This week I finished John Meacham’s biography of Thomas Jefferson. Some of my favorite insights included how much value Jefferson placed on physical exercise, and how hard he worked to avoid confrontation. I also enjoyed watching the man who loved and often lived the “ivory tower life” employ pragmatism! Also, it was insightful to realize that the world of politics has always been dirty and hateful. We are NOT living in the worst days… it has always been bad. We just see it more now due to social media. This was a long book, but worth the read for anyone interested in history, leadership, and the management of power in personal and political environments.
• Something I’m contemplating is how to take a page out of Derek Sivers practice of taking notes on the books he reads. I read a lot of books and am looking for a way(s) to remember and apply my favorite lessons from each book. Sivers has figured out a way that works for him. Every time I sit down with my books to use his method… I get overwhelmed, so I’m still searching, but I think I will end up using some of his ideas!

And so there they are… my five favorite things from this week! If you find something or someone helpful on this list I’d love to hear about it! 

Peace!