Books on Kane G. Anderson

Off Balance

Mon, 22 Dec 2025 17:52:44 +0000

Off Balance

Getting Beyond the Work-Life Balance Myth to Personal and Professional Satisfaction

by Matthew Kelly

One Quote

I don’t have balance. The good news is I now know that I don’t want balance. What I do want is satisfaction. Both personally and professionally I have a very satisfying life. Am I completely satisfied? No. I don’t mind telling you that I am both deeply satisfied and turbulently dissatisfied at times. But even my dissatisfaction drives me toward greater satisfaction in the future. The truth is, I work more than anybody I know, but I lead a tremendously satisfying life.

The Surrender Experiment

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 05:35:59 +0000

The Surrender Experiment

my journey into life’s perfection

By Michael A Singer

One Quote

All this exposure to intensely powerful people and situations was having a profound effect on the psyche I watched so diligently. I had never been exposed to this powerful lifestyle. Nothing in me got off on it or wanted anything from it, but it did make me deal with parts of my being that I would not have faced otherwise. If I saw any weakness, fear, or anxiety come up, I just deeply relaxed back into where I was watching from. I simply kept letting go of whatever came up. This is where life had taken me, and I used all these situations as a way of letting go of myself. It was definitely working. I kept being pushed into strongly positive and negative situations, and I increasingly found myself in a very clear and undisturbed state. It seemed that the more challenges life put me through, the less my inner energy flow was affected by outer conditions. What years of willful meditation had not gotten rid of, life’s situations and challenges were rooting out of me. As long as I made getting rid of myself my only goal, every situation was a fruitful experience. If I’d had any other goal, I think the constant pressure would have been overwhelming. I found that I actually got more peaceful inside as I dealt with the ever-increasing magnitude of challenges. Life was molding me each day to become who I needed to be in order to handle tomorrow’s tasks. All I had to do was let go and not resist the process.

Inspired

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 23:56:56 +0000

INSPIRED

How to create tech products customers love

By Marty Cagan

One Quote

Let’s start by exploring the root causes of why so many product efforts fail.

I see the same basic way of working at the vast majority of companies, of every size, in every corner of the globe, and I can’t help but notice that this is not close to how the best companies actually work.

Let me warn you that this discussion an be a little depressing, especially if it hits too close to home, so if that’s the case, I’ll ask you to hang in there with me.

Outlive

Wed, 02 Jul 2025 11:45:02 +0000

One Quote

The majority of people reading this book can expect to die somewhere in their seventies or eighties, give or take, and almost all from “slow” causes. Assuming that you’re not someone who engages in ultrarisky behaviors like BASE jumping, motorcycle racing, or texting and driving, the odds are overwhelming that you will die as a result of one of the chronic diseases of aging that I call the Four Horsemen: heart disease, cancer, neurodegenerative disease, or type 2 diabetes and related metabolic dysfunction. To achieve longevity - to live longer and live better for longer - we must understand and confront these causes of slow death.

Big Goals

Tue, 18 Feb 2025 11:56:21 +0000

Big Goals - The Science of Setting Them, Achieving Them, and Creating Your Best Life

Caroline Adams Miller, MAPP

One Quote

It’s hard not to wonder where we might be today if Follett and Gilbreth had had their way 100 years ago, and the workplace had become a place where pursuit of profit was balanced with a positive approach to hiring, retaining, and training workers. What if goals had been more collaboratively set with worker autonomy in mind? What if CEOs had not pushed for bottom-line profits to enrich themselves and their cronies, and had instead used some of that money to invest in workplace learning and research so that they could be prepared for the future? And what if goal setting had had a proven science - not SMART or OKRs - attached to it that included measurement of the softer skills that Follett and Gilbreth had recommended, like curiosity and collaborative decision-making? And what if that science could incorporate the types of useful research on individual differences in character strengths, mindset, willpower, priming, and gender impact that could ensure that current goal strategies are cutting-edge, streamlined, and optimized for the twenty-first century?

Learned Excellence

Thu, 02 Jan 2025 02:57:42 +0000

Learned Excellence

one quote:

The best performers in the world are not born excellent – they learn excellence. They practice the principles we have outlined in this book so they can get better at their craft every day. They start with deeply understanding their identity: What are their values? What motivates them? My clients codify this in their personal credo, which they use to help make decisions.

They set big goals across six aspects of their lives: work, relationships, health, spirituality, hobbies, and legacy. What do they want to be true in each of these areas in one, three, and six months? They develop action plans to bring those goals to fruition.

The Four Agreements

Wed, 08 May 2024 13:22:17 +0000

The Four Agreements

https://www.miguelruiz.com/the-four-agreements

Don Miguel Ruiz

One Quote

“There are thousands of agreements you have made with yourself, with other people, with your dream of life, with God, with society, with your parents, with your spouse, with your children. But the most important agreements are the ones you made with yourself. In these agreements you tell yourself who you are, what you feel, what you believe, and how to behave. The result is what you call your personality. In these agreements you say, “This is what I am. This is what I believe. I can do certain things, and some things I cannot do. This is reality, that is fantasy; this is possible, that is impossible.”

The War of Art

Mon, 22 Apr 2024 10:23:11 +0000

Two Quotes

Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance. Have you ever brought home a treadmill and let it gather dust in the attic? Ever quit a diet, a course of yoga, a meditation practice? Have you ever bailed out on a call to embark upon a spiritual practice, dedicate yourself to a humanitarian calling, commit yourself to the service of others? Have you ever wanted to be a mother, a doctor, an advocate for the weak and helpless; to run for office, crusade for the planet, campaign for world peace, or to preserve the environment? Late at night have you experienced a vision of the person you might become, the work you could accomplish, the realized being you were meant to be? Are you a writer who doesn’t write, a painter who doesn’t paint, an entrepreneur who never starts a venture? Then you know what Resistance is… Resistance is the most toxic force on the planet. It is the root of more unhappiness than poverty, disease, and erectile dysfunction. To yield to Resistance deforms our spirit. It stunts us and makes us less than we are and were born to be. If you believe in God (and I do) you must declare Resistance evil, for it prevents us from achieving the life that God intended when He endowed each of us with our own unique genius. Genius is a Latin word; the Romans used it to denote an inner spirit, holy and inviolable, which watches over us, guiding us to our calling. A writer writes with his *genius;*an artist paints with hers; everyone who creates operates from this sacramental center. It is our soul’s seat, the vessel that holds our being-in-potential, our star’s beacon and Polaris. Every sun casts a shadow, and genius’s shadow is Resistance. As powerful as is our soul’s call to realization, so potent are the forces of Resistance arrayed against it. Resistance is faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and harder to kick than crack cocaine.

The Republic

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 15:10:27 +0000

One Quote

Justice, therefore, we may say, is a principle of this kind; its real concern is not with external actions, but with a man’s inward self, his true concern and interest. The just man will not allow the three elements which make up his inward self to trespass on each other’s functions or interfere with each other, but, by keeping all three in tune, like notes of a scale (high, middle, and low, and any others there be), will in the truest sense set his house to rights, attain self-mastery and order, and live on good terms with himself. When he has bound these elements into a disciplined and harmonious whole, and so become fully one instead of many, he will be ready for action of any kind, whether it concerns his personal or financial welfare, whether it is political or private; and he will reckon and call any of these actions just and honorable if it contributes to and helps maintain this disposition of mind, and will call the knowledge which controls such action wisdom. Similarly, he will call unjust any action destructive of this disposition, and the opinions which control such action ignorance

Never Split the Difference

Tue, 13 Feb 2024 02:29:55 +0000

The main point of the book is that most human interactions in life are a negotiation. The author usually refers as whomever you’re talking with as your “counterpart”. While other negotiation teachers will call them an adversary, Voss argues that they are not really an enemy but a partner - the situation is the enemy. Using some time-tested techniques outlined in the book, you can learn to interact with others in a way that puts empathy and listening as the first step to reaching a favorable and valuable outcome, and getting the deal done.

Play Bigger

Tue, 13 Feb 2024 02:28:01 +0000

Here are some notes I took while reading Play Bigger by Kevin Maney, Christopher Lochhead, Dave Peterson, and Al Ramadan.

Matt recommended me to read Play Bigger so I would be on the same page when it comes to category design, and understanding what he means when he uses certain phrases around me. I’m really grateful for the book recommendation, this was a really great book. I would put it up on my list along side Good to Great or The First 90 Days. This book was inspiring and eye opening. It changed my view of marketing forever.

Atomic Habits

Mon, 08 Jan 2024 16:09:56 +0000

One Quote

“changes that seem small and unimportant at first will compound into remarkable results if you’re willing to stick with them for years. We all deal with setbacks but in the long run, the quality of our lives often depends on the quality of our habits. With the same habits, you’ll end up with the same results. But with better habits, anything is possible… In the pages that follow, I will share a step-by-step plan for building better habits - not for days or weeks, but for a lifetime. While science supports everything I’ve written, this book is not an academic research paper; it’s an operating manual. You’ll find wisdom and practical advice front and center as I explain the science of how to create and change your habits in a way that is easy to understand and apply…The backbone of this book is my four-step model of habits - cue, craving, response, and reward - and the four laws of behavior change that evolve out of these steps… In total, the framework I offer is an integrated model of the cognitive and behavioral sciences. I believe it is one of the first models of human behavior to accurately account for both the influence of external stimuli and internal emotions on our habits. While some of the language may be familiar, I am confident that the details - and the applications of the Four Laws of Behavior Change - will offer a new way to think about your habits.”

Clear Thinking

Tue, 05 Dec 2023 17:17:42 +0000

One Quote

How can we get better at reasoning? Why do people make bad decisions? Why do some people consistently get better results than others who have the same information? How can I be right more often, and decrease the probability of a bad outcome when lives are on the line?

…

If you’re like me, no one ever taught you how to think or make decisions. There’s no class called Clear Thinking 101 in school. Everyone seems to expect you to know how to do it already or to learn how on your own. As it turns out, though, learning about thinking – thinking clearly – is surprisingly hard.

Think And Grow Rich

Mon, 06 Nov 2023 05:37:46 +0000

This is, to me, what Tyler Cowen calls a ‘quake book’. It shakes your ideas of the world and opens your eyes to a new way of thinking. In the opening chapter the author offers that the Carnegie secret to wealth can be uncovered by those ready to receive it. The secret is not easily described, and which the author named the ‘master key’. I will not do you the injustice of paraphrasing my own short description. You will be better served to read it yourself, and God willing you receive the alluded understanding. You will have an awakening of desire and adopt (or further develop) a definite purpose.

Reading Wish List

Sat, 21 Oct 2023 19:18:58 +0000

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/account/wishlist.jsp?giftlistId=gl62046223808

The Enchiridion

Fri, 13 Oct 2023 19:03:43 +0000

Epictetus

This a distillation of Epictetus’ teachings, as recorded by Arrian who attended Epictetus’ school in the stoic philosopher’s later years - probably around 125 AD. Arrian recorded all of Epictetus’ lectures, and those are available in Discourses in Four Books. The Enchiridion has 51 passages - nuggets of stoic thinking.

This book is short and sweet. 51 quick arguments / rules / facts. I decided to create titles for each of the passages as shorthand for my own quick recall. I’ll list those.

The Ultimate Sales Machine

Thu, 12 Oct 2023 17:23:29 +0000

Why This Book Matters to Me

I picked up this book ahead of its author’s daughter, Amanda, visiting my workplace. My primary aim was to understand her perspectives before she delivers her keynote speech. I wasn’t disappointed. The book offered insights particularly relevant to my role as a middle manager. My key takeaways are below:

The Power of Pigheaded Discipline

The author asserts that success is rooted in relentless dedication. His metaphor—learning karate by daily practice with a hanging baseball—drives home the concept of compounding gains. Mastery, he argues, comes from practicing one technique relentlessly rather than dabbling in many. This aligns with Bruce Lee’s saying, “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”