I just finished a couple of books within a day of each other (I like reading things simultaneously for whatever reason). Both were very good and very different.
Shoe Dog
The first was Shoe Dog by Phil Knight. The author is the Founder of Nike, and the book dives into the long history of the world famous shoe brand. It doesn’t get preachy or try to offer business tips; Phil literally just walks you through his life and the life of his company. There are tons of lessons to learn from Nike’s successes and failures, and the overall readability of the book is fantastic.
Shoe Dog Rating: 5/5
Man’s Search for Meaning
Man’s Search For Meaning is a classic from Dr. Viktor Frankl. The author was a survivor of the Holocaust, and his book explores not only the event but also how the outlook of the prisoners affected their longevity.
In the second part of the book, Dr. Frankl explains Logotherapy, which he developed. The main principles of Logotherapy are:
- Life has meaning under all circumstances, even the most miserable ones.
- Our main motivation for living is our will to find meaning in life.
- We have freedom to find meaning in what we do, and what we experience, or at least in the stand we take when faced with a situation of unchangeable suffering.
The third point is very similar to what I’ve read from the Stoics like Marcus Aurelius and Seneca – we need to accept the things we cannot change and move forward.
Overall I thought it was a really good read.
Man’s Search For Meaning: 4/5