highlights – Marlo Yonocruz

Book notes: Ikigai by Hector Garcia & Francesc Miralles

Ikigai by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles book summary review and key ideas.

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Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life by Hector Garcia & Francesc Miralles

Synopsis:

“Bring meaning and joy to all your days with this internationally best-selling guide to the Japanese concept of ikigai – the happiness of always being busy – as revealed by the daily habits of the world’s longest-living people.

“Only staying active will make you want to live a hundred years.” (Japanese proverb)

According to the Japanese, everyone has an ikigai – a reason for living. And according to the residents of the Japanese village with the world’s longest-living people, finding it is the key to a happier and longer life. Having a strong sense of ikigai – the place where passion, mission, vocation, and profession intersect – means that each day is infused with meaning. It’s the reason we get up in the morning. It’s also the reason many Japanese never really retire (in fact there’s no word in Japanese that means retire in the sense it does in English): They remain active and work at what they enjoy, because they’ve found a real purpose in life – the happiness of always being busy. In researching this book, the authors interviewed the residents of the Japanese village with the highest percentage of 100-year-olds – one of the world’s Blue Zones. Ikigai reveals the secrets to their longevity and happiness: how they eat, how they move, how they work, how they foster collaboration and community, and – their best-kept secret – how they find the ikigai that brings satisfaction to their lives. And it provides practical tools to help you discover your own ikigai. Because who doesn’t want to find happiness in every day?” -Audible

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Book notes: Act Like You Got Some Sense by Jamie Foxx

Act Like You Got Some Sense by Jamie Foxx book summary review and key ideas.

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Act Like You Got Some Sense: And Other Things My Daughters Taught Me by Jamie Foxx

Synopsis:

“In this hilarious and heartfelt memoir, award-winning, multi-talented entertainer Jamie Foxx shares the story of being raised by his no-nonsense grandmother, the glamour and pitfalls of life in Hollywood, and the lessons he took from both worlds to raise his two daughters.

Jamie Foxx has won an Academy Award and a Grammy Award, laughed with sitting presidents, and partied with the biggest names in hip-hop. But he is most proud of his role as father to two very independent young women, Corinne and Anelise. Jamie might not always know what he’s doing when it comes to raising girls – especially when they talk to him about TikTok (PlikPlok?) and don’t share his enthusiasm for flashy Rolls Royces – but he does his best to show up for them every single day.

Luckily, he has a strong example to follow: his beloved late grandmother, Estelle Marie Talley. Jamie learned everything he knows about parenting from the fierce woman who raised him: As he puts it, she’s “Madea before Tyler Perry put on the pumps and the gray wig”.

In Act Like You Got Some Sense – a title inspired by Estelle – Jamie shares up close and personal stories about the tough love and old-school values he learned growing up in the small town of Terrell, Texas; his early days trying to make it in Hollywood; the joys and challenges of achieving stardom; and how each phase of his life shaped his parenting journey. Hilarious, poignant, and always brutally honest, this is Jamie Foxx like we’ve never seen him before.” -Audible

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Book notes: The High 5 Habit by Mel Robbins

The High 5 Habit by Mel Robbins book summary review and key ideas.

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The High 5 Habit: Take Control of Your Life with One Simple Habit by Mel Robbins

Synopsis:

“In her global phenomenon The 5 Second Rule, Mel Robbins taught millions of people around the world the five second secret to motivation. Now she’s back with another simple, proven tool you can use to take control of your life: The High 5 Habit.

Don’t let the title fool you. This isn’t a book about high-fiving everyone else in your life. You’re already doing that. Cheering for your favorite teams. Celebrating your friends. Supporting the people you love as they go after what they want in life.

Imagine if you gave that same love and encouragement to yourself. Or even better, you made it a daily habit.

You’d be unstoppable.

Using her signature science-backed wisdom, deeply personal stories, and the real-life results that The High 5 Habit is creating in people’s lives around the world (and you’ll meet a lot of them throughout this book), Mel will teach you how to make believing in yourself a habit so that you operate with the confidence that your goals and dreams demand.

The High 5 Habit is a simple yet profound tool that changes your attitude, your mindset, and your behavior. So be prepared to laugh and learn as you take steps to immediately boost your confidence, happiness, and results.” -Audible

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Book notes: Twelve and a Half by Gary Vaynerchuk

Twelve and a Half by Gary Vaynerchuk book summary review and key ideas.

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Twelve and a Half: Leveraging the Emotional Ingredients Necessary for Business Success by Gary Vaynerchuk

Synopsis:

“For decades, leaders have relied on “hard” skills to make smart decisions, while dismissing the importance of emotional intelligence. Soft skills like self-awareness and curiosity aren’t quantifiable; they can’t be measured on a spreadsheet and aren’t taught in B-schools or emphasized in institutions. We’ve been taught that emotional intelligence is a “nice to have” in business, not a requirement. But soft skills can actually accelerate business success, Gary Vaynerchuk argues. For analytical minds, it’s challenging to understand how to get “better” at being self-aware, curious, or empathetic – or even why it’s important to try.

In this wise and practical book, Gary explores the 12 human ingredients that have led to his success and happiness and provides exercises to help you develop these traits yourself. He also shares what the “half” is – that emotional ingredient of leadership he’s weakest at and makes the most effort to improve. Working through the ideas and exercises in the book, he teaches you how to discover your own “halves” and offers insight on how to strengthen them.

Gary’s secret to success is using these 12 traits in varying mixtures, depending on the situation. But how do we know when to balance patience with ambition? Humility with conviction? Gary provides real-life examples involving common business scenarios to show you how to use them together for optimum results.

This iconoclastic book will help you refine your ingredients and improve your leadership capabilities. When implemented in the proper situation, these ingredients can help leaders land promotions, retain core employees, move faster than competitors, win the loyalty of customers, and build successful organizations that last.” -Audible

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Book notes: No More Mr. Nice Guy by Robert Glover

No More Mr. Nice Guy by Robert Glover book summary review and key ideas.

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No More Mr. Nice Guy: A Proven Plan for Getting What You Want in Love, Sex and Life by Dr. Robert Glover

Synopsis:

“Nice Guy, according to Dr. Robert Glover, a pioneering expert on the Nice Guy Syndrome, is a man who believes he is not okay just as he is. He is convinced that he must become what he thinks others want him to be liked, loved, and get his needs met. He also believes that he must hide anything about himself that might trigger a negative response in others.

The paradigm of the Nice Guy Syndrome is driven by three faulty covert contracts. Nice Guys believe:

If I am good, then I will be liked and loved.
If I meet other people’s needs without them having to ask, then they will meet my needs without me having to ask.
If I do everything right, then I will have a smooth, problem-free life.

The inauthentic and chameleon-like approach to life causes Nice Guys to often feel frustrated, confused, and resentful. Subsequently, these men are often anything but nice.

This process of recovery from the Nice Guy Syndrome allows men to move through:

Depression
Social anxiety and shyness
Codependency
Low self-esteem
Loneliness and hopelessness
Feelings of failure
Lack of confidence and purpose
Compulsive behaviors and addictions
Feeling stuck in life

Contrary to what the title might seem to imply, No More Mr. Nice Guy does not teach men how to be not nice. Dr. Glover shows men how to become what he calls Integrated Males. Becoming integrated does not mean becoming different or better. It means being able to accept all aspects of oneself. An integrated male can embrace everything that makes him unique – his power, his assertiveness, his humor, his courage, and his mission, as well as his fears, his imperfections, his mistakes, his rough edges, and his dark side.” -Audible

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Book notes: Beyond Religion by the Dalai Lama

Beyond Religion by the Dalai Lama book summary review and key ideas.

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Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World by the Dalai Lama

Synopsis:

“Ten years ago, in his best-selling Ethics for a New Millennium, His Holiness the Dalai Lama first proposed an approach to ethics based on universal rather than religious principles. Now, in Beyond Religion, the Dalai Lama, at his most compassionate and outspoken, elaborates and deepens his vision for the nonreligious way.

Transcending the mere “religion wars”, he outlines a system of secular ethics that gives tolerant respect to religion, but, with the highest level of spiritual and intellectual authority, makes a claim for what the Dalai Lama calls a third way. This is a universal code of ethics that transcends religion boundaries, that recognizes our common humanity and advocates for a global human community based on understanding and mutual respect.

Beyond Religion is an essential statement from the Dalai Lama, a blueprint for all those who yearn for a life fulfilled and a better world.” -Audible

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Book notes: The Meaning of Mariah Carey by Mariah Carey

The Meaning of Mariah Carey by Mariah Carey book summary review and key ideas.

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The Meaning of Mariah Carey by Mariah Carey

Synopsis:

“It took me a lifetime to have the courage and the clarity to write my memoir. I want to tell the story of the moments – the ups and downs, the triumphs and traumas, the debacles and the dreams—that contributed to the person I am today. Though there have been countless stories about me throughout my career and very public personal life, it’s been impossible to communicate the complexities and depths of my experience in any single magazine article or a 10-minute television interview. And even then, my words were filtered through someone else’s lens, largely satisfying someone else’s assignment to define me.

This book is composed of my memories, my mishaps, my struggles, my survival, and my songs. Unfiltered. I went deep into my childhood and gave the scared little girl inside of me a big voice. I let the abandoned and ambitious adolescent have her say, and the betrayed and triumphant woman I became tell her side.

Writing this memoir was incredibly hard, humbling and healing. My sincere hope is that you are moved to a new understanding, not only about me, but also about the resilience of the human spirit.

Love,
Mariah” – Audible

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A Year in Review: 2021

Blessings, achievements, goals, and life lessons of the past year

Why Am I Writing This?

Hello friends, followers/subscribers, and various people on the internet. It’s that time of the year again! I’m always excited to do this yearly recap. It allows me the space to take a step back and review everything that has happened in the last 12 months.

This post allows me to simultaneously:

Self-reflect on my past year
Share personal highlights with those who are curious or interested

I’ve been doing these year-end reviews where I recap memorable events, express gratitude, compile my personal statistics, and examine how much progress I made on my personal goals.

A Tradition Since 2016

Since 2016, I’ve been doing these posts mainly for my own records. However, these reflections may also be beneficial to others, so I write them with the intention of a public audience reading them.

For those who don’t know, I do 3 other types of journal reflections: daily, weekly, and monthly. This yearly reflection is somewhat a compilation of those reflections but formatted in a more digestible way for the public.

Past Years In Review:

In a separate post, I’ve compiled all of the life lessons I’ve learned this year. My hope is that sharing my own hard-earned lessons will benefit those who may encounter similar challenges. I also wish to compile these into a book one day.