Welcome to Mindful Monday!

My new book, The Price of Becoming, is now available to pre-order. Please do that now. If you've already done so, thank you! Email us (me or Eli@LearningLeader.com), and we'll send you a digital copy of the book right now. If you want to see all the cool pre-order bonuses we've set up for you, CLICK HERE.

Here are some things from this week...

• Jim Collins shares how to make the most of your life
• You should run a book club for The Price of Becoming
• Easy, Moderate, Hard
• An important essay about how AI is coming for your mind
• Some wise words from Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi about doing hard things...

#687: Jim Collins - What To Make of a Life

Jim Collins is the author of some of the most influential business books ever written... Good to Great, Built to Last, and Great by Choice. His concepts have become part of the leadership vocabulary. Level 5 Leadership. The Flywheel. First Who, Then What. The Hedgehog Concept. He spent more than a decade at Stanford as a professor and has advised CEOs, four-star generals, and heads of state. We discussed What To Make of a Life, The 3 Types of Luck, Inflection Points, Cliffs, Encodings, Navigating the Fog, the Art of Getting People To Want To Do What Must Be Done, and Reconnecting with an Old Friend. We flew to Boulder, Colorado, to record this one in person with Jim. You can WATCH it on YouTube.

Run a Book Club For The Price of Becoming​

Book clubs are awesome because they help build community around a set of ideas. They create great dialogue. And there is power in learning useful and entertaining things together. Because of that, we have built a guide to run a The Price of Becoming book club. If you'd like to run a The Price of Becoming book club at your workplace or in your community, let me know, and I'll send you the guide.

Easy, Moderate, Hard

On the AllTrails app, every hike is labelled as easy, moderate, or hard. We’ve tried all 3 over the years... The easy hikes are nice. A calm walk. Very enjoyable. Great conversation, enjoying nature. I recommend doing them. This week in Boulder, we went on a few hard ones... CLICK HERE to read more.

AI is Coming For Your Mind

Have you gone on LinkedIn lately? Noticed something different? A lot of people who have never published before all of a sudden become long-form writers? Lots of em-dashes. Lots of "it's not this, it's that, the talking in threes style of writing. Yes, all of that is AI slop. It is annoying. I urge you to NOT DO THIS. Do not outsource your thinking. The best part of writing is that it forces you to become a clearer thinker. If you don't do the actual work of writing, then it's like you're going to the gym, looking around for a minute, and going home. What's the point? We’re trading deep thinking for quick answers without realizing the cost to memory and judgment. The people who thrive won’t be those who use AI most, but those who can still think without it. Read THIS.​

Wise Words About Doing Hard Things...

"The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times - although such experiences can also be enjoyable, if we have worked hard to attain them. The best moments usually occur when a person's body or mind is stretched to its limit in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile. Optimal experience is something we make happen. Such experiences are not necessarily pleasant at the time they occur, yet these could have been the best moments of life." - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Thank you to Mike Clement for sharing)

Mindful Monday is a reader-supported publication. If it helped you, forward it to your friends. Thank you! -- Ryan

Ryan Hawk NEW Book - The Price of Becoming​