The Way of Work: Recommended Resources

Apr 06, 2024

This is a (growing) collection of all the best resources mentioned in The Way of Work, and have had a big impact on my life. Subscribe to get my next essay:

Most Frequently Recommended
Best Newsletters
Best Coaching & Communities
Best Work Books
Best Transition Books
Best Productivity Books
Best Money Books
Best Philosophy Books
Best Psychology Books
Best Media & Technology Books
Best Healthcare Books
Best Sci-Fi & Fantasy Books
Random Products

Most Frequently Recommended

These resources have been frequently recommended in The Way of Work.

The Second Mountain by David Brooks
☆ Mentioned in Committed: How to give a damn about your work
☆ Mentioned in Will you get what you want, after reaching financial independence?
Pathless Path by Paul Millerd
☆ Mentioned in How to stay out of their box (in your career)
☆ Mentioned in Everywhere But Home: The search for belonging after reaching financial freedom at 32
The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker
☆ Mentioned in 10 Takeaways from a 'Work in Progress' (or, how to build a career)
☆ Mentioned in Diversified Portfolio of Identities
Die With Zero by Bill Perkins
☆ Mentioned in Rich, Powerful, and Ready to Quit
☆ Mentioned in Should you put off life for the future?

Best Newsletters

If you like my writing, you should check out some of these other great writers:

Best Coaching & Communities

The Pathless Path Community By
Paul Millerd

For early-to-mid career professionals exploring life outside the default path
Beyond the Finish Line by The Retired Founder
For post-exit & post-economic founders navigating their new world
Post Achievement Professionals by Khe Hy
For successful, high-achievers who want more from life
Downshift Decelerator by
Steven Schlafman

For grinders who want to slow down to become more grounded in life.
Inside-Out Leadership Coaching by
Ryan Vaughn

For entrepreneurs who want to pair performance with deep inner work

Best Work Books

These books have shaped my thinking about work, both the good and bad. What’s common among all of them is a willingness to challenge conventional wisdom: they make you think differently about work.

Moral Mazes: The World of Corporate Managers by Robert Jackall
☆ Mentioned in 10 Takeaways from a 'Work in Progress' (or, how to build a career)
Shop Class as Soulcraft by Matthew Crawford
☆ Mentioned in Scale down, after scaling up
The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson
☆ Mentioned in Why you probably have a low leverage career
The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
☆ Mentioned in 10 Takeaways from a 'Work in Progress' (or, how to build a career)
Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull (founder of Pixar)
☆ Mentioned in Early Stage Innovation: What it’s like at the beginning
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight (founder of Nike)
☆ Mentioned in 10 Takeaways from a 'Work in Progress' (or, how to build a career)
Lost and Founder by Rand Fishkin
☆ Mentioned in 10 Takeaways from a 'Work in Progress' (or, how to build a career)
Nickel & Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
☆ Mentioned in On Quitting (when it’s unclear whether to quit)
Reinventing Organizations by Frederic Laloux
Rework by Jason Fried & DHH (founders of 37signals)
The Dilbert Principle by Scott Adams

Best Books for Transitions

If you are going through a career change, midlife crisis, in the midst of a sabbatical, or dealing with any type of transition… these books served as guides for me in along my own journey.

The Second Mountain by David Brooks
☆ Mentioned in Committed: How to give a damn about your work
☆ Mentioned in Will you get what you want, after reaching financial independence?
Pathless Path by Paul Millerd
☆ Mentioned in How to stay out of their box (in your career)
☆ Mentioned in Everywhere But Home: The search for belonging after reaching financial freedom at 32
Working Identity by Herminia Ibarra
☆ Mentioned in Fluidity: How to continually reinvent yourself
Transitions by William Bridges
☆ Mentioned in Fluidity: How to continually reinvent yourself
Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans
☆ Mentioned in When you don’t have a “calling”
What Happens When You Get What You Want? by Rick Eigenbrod
☆ Mentioned in After ‘Happily Ever After’

Best Productivity Books

Deep Work by Cal Newport
☆ Mentioned in Scale down, after scaling up
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown
☆ Mentioned in Scale down, after scaling up
Getting Things Done by David Allen
The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker
The Toyota Way by Jeffrey Liker

Best Money Books

Die With Zero by Bill Perkins
☆ Mentioned in Rich, Powerful, and Ready to Quit
☆ Mentioned in Should you put off life for the future?
Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin
Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
Four Pillars of Investing by William Bernstein

Best Philosophy Books

Note that I define “philosophy” very broadly here.

The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker
☆ Mentioned in 10 Takeaways from a 'Work in Progress' (or, how to build a career)
☆ Mentioned in Diversified Portfolio of Identities
The Wisdom of Insecurity by Alan Watts
☆ Mentioned in Rich, Powerful, and Ready to Quit
Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson
☆ Mentioned in 10 Takeaways from a 'Work in Progress' (or, how to build a career)
Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig
☆ Mentioned in Expectations Never End: Finding freedom after enough
The Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Nietzsche
The Book of Life by Jiddu Krishnamurti
Striking Thoughts by Bruce Lee
Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Stranger by Albert Camus
The Plague by Albert Camus

Best Psychology Books

The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt
The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt
The Moral Animal by Robert Wright
The Blank Slate by Steven Pinker
Thinking Fast & Slow by Daniel Kahneman

Best Media & Technology Books

Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman
To Save Everything, Click Here by Evgeny Morozov
Decoded by Jay-Z
You Are Not a Gadget by Jaron Lanier
Alone Together by Sherry Turkle

Best Healthcare Books

An American Sickness by Elisabeth Rosenthal
Bad Blood by John Carreyrou
Healing of America by T. R. Reid
Redefining Healthcare by Michael Porter
Innovator’s Prescription by Clayton Christensen

Best Sci-Fi & Fantasy Books

What I like to read for fun.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy
First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie
Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson
Song of Fire and Ice by George R.R. Martin
KingKiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss
Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkein
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card