You’ve probably heard the old adage, “you are what you eat,” but it applies to more than just your physical body - it applies to your mind as well. In this episode, Brooks and Mike talk about “mind food,” an idea Mike picked up from author Tim Sanders on the importance of curating what information you allow your mind to feed on. We discuss why it’s so important to watch what you’re putting into your mind, explain how the right information can change your world and help you achieve your ideal future, and share the most influential books and podcasts that we personally include in our own information diets.

Cheat Sheet

What mind food means and why we don’t think about this concept often 1:18

Why a lot of workers in today’s world are mental athletes and knowledge workers 5:15

How technology allows us to control who we are connecting with in our life 9:52

Why successful people read over 50 books a year, which is a great way to tune out the noise and tune into the signal 16:03

How to get out of a creative rut by collecting inputs from other places besides your own head 21:00

How to create a system for collecting good ideas 25:43

Different sources of mind food you can access 30:26

Our top ten books and podcasts that make great mind food 38:36

Top 10 Books

#1 (Brooks): Patrick Lencioni The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team 39:45

#2 (Mike): Deep Work by Cal Newport 42:06

#3 (Brooks): Cal Newport So Good They Can’t Ignore You 42:52

#4 (Mike): Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill 44:46

#5 (Brooks): Ed Catmull Creativity Inc. 46:03

#6 (Mike): The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday 47:55

#7 (Brooks): Fay Wolf New Order 49:44

#8 (Mike): Essentialism by Greg McKeown 52:03

#9 (Brooks): Garr Reynolds Presentation Zen 53:12

#10 (Mike): Make Your Bed by Admiral William McRaven 54:23

Top 10 Podcasts

#1 (Brooks): Hardcore History by Dan Carlin 55:57

#2 (Mike): 10x Talk w/ Joe Polish & Dan Sullivan 57:46

#3 (Brooks): The Tim Ferriss Show 59:37

#4 (Mike): Hurry Slowly by Jocelyn Glei 1:01:08

#5 (Brooks): The Economist - The Week Ahead 1:02:36

#6 (Mike): seanwes podcast by Sean McCabe 1:03:45

#7 (Brooks): Mac Power Users 1:05:30

#8 (Mike): The Art of Manliness 1:07:02

#9 (Brooks): Here’s the Thing with Alec Baldwin 1:08:21

#10 (Mike): Cortex 1:10:39

Links

It’s All Too Much: 3 Keys to Overcoming Information Overload (TPS161)

Change Your Habits, Change Your Life by Tom Corley

A Primer to Quick Capturing for GTD

Austin Kleon (Steal Like an Artist)

Tim Sanders - Today We Are Rich

Drafts iOS

nvALT Mac OS

How to Find Balance While Working in a Corporate Culture (TPS140)

Essential Travel Tips to Make Your Next Trip a Breeze w/ Kevin Clack (TPS168)

Overlap: A simple strategy for closing the gap between where you are and where you want to be w/ Sean McCabe (TPS163)

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Leverage Leadership

Multipliers

Happier with Gretchen Rubin

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