What to Read, Watch, Stop Archives

Here’s my reading, watching, and stopping for this week:

When defining incentive plans, I found reading Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us to be invaluable. Based on studies and data, he outlines what truly drives performance.

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey is an excellent series on science. It does a great job breaking topics into understandable chunks from evolution to space. Like Steven Hawking’s Genius series, it’s fun to watch and discuss with your kids (if you have them).

Stop not delegating. Anytime I do a task, I ask whether or not someone else could tackle it. From managing board meetings for the next year to setting up the weekly newsletter to approving requests for donations from our Foundation, I have my trusted team work the details.

Here’s what I’m reading, watching, and stopping:

Early in starting Intertech, I read The E-Myth. It focused on the importance of consistent systems in running a business. The author, Michael Gerber, shares how Mcdonald’s with systems built a business on getting kids to do in their stores that most can’t get them to do in homes.

Watch Wampler’s Ascent, which is a documentary on a man who has severe EP but does a climb up “El Capitan.” It’s inspiring and reminding that all is achievable in life if we have the right attitude.

Stop services you may have been using but no longer need. In reviewing credit card and other statements for myself and the firm, some services and charges are no longer required. For example, for the local paper, I choose digital. Yet, The Economist has more comprehensive, in-depth articles that I like to read in print.

Here’s what I’m reading, watching, and stopping:

Read The Economist. I first came across The Economist on a trip to London. I find it an a-political commentary on what’s happening in the world. In particular, I like the Schumpeter column.

Watch I’m Not Your Guru featuring Tony Robbins. Robbins is someone that folks either love or hate. This insight into his seminars and what happens behind the scenes, I’ve found interesting.

Start asking your employees what to stop doing. As part of our strategic planning, we have employees meet for a “Town Hall.” In the Town Hall, management is not present; employee’s facilitated feedback is anonymous and aggregated. One of the common questions is what is something the firm should “start doing,” “stop doing,” and “continue doing. ” For the item we should stop doing; it helps eliminate processes, tasks, or other things bogging down the company.

Here’s what I’m reading, watching, and stopping:

Read Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. Sedaris is my favorite non-fiction writer. From his stories where his frugal dad eats part of his hat thinking it was an old banana to him walking into a bathroom at a dinner party with a clogged toilet, he is hilarious.

If you like science, have kids, or both, follow and watch Mark Rober on YouTube. He does an excellent job explaining scientific concepts fun and engagingly. I’ve enjoyed watching and discussing the videos with my kids.

Stop taking unnecessary meetings. Today, when it comes to meetings, interviews, or meetups, I say no more than yes and don’t feel guilty about it. I prioritize my priorities, goals, and relationships over prospective ones. When starting, I’d take a meeting anytime or anywhere on partnerships, networking, or potential business opportunities. I realize this may limit me, but I believe in the maxim of time’s preciousness.

Here’s what I’m reading, watching, and stopping:

Read The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale. I first read this book a couple of decades ago. Every year or so, I reread it. It’s the foundation for many of today’s “self-help” authors and speakers. If you want to save time reading the book, the “secret” is we become what we think about.

Watch Yellowjackets on Showtime. It follows a girl’s soccer team that gets stranded with a storyline that flips from when it happened as teenagers to where they are as adults.

Stop getting unwanted emails. Because I get more spam than legit emails, I’ve found that the native Outlook and Gmail apps provide an easy way to block and report spammers instead of using my iPhone’s built-in email app. Note that I typically preview my emails on my phone before reading them on my laptop.