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#136 Finding something you lost years ago wedged in the couch cushions

August 15, 2024July 30, 2024 Neil Pasricha

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#137 Laughing when you’re at home by yourself
#135 When you finish the shampoo bottle and conditioner bottle at the same time

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Neil Pasricha @neilpasricha ·
18h

Chris Smalls took on Amazon—the largest company in the world—and led the fight for the first successful Amazon warehouse workers union in the United States.

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Neil Pasricha @neilpasricha ·
13 Dec

Go outside when stressed: Trees release chemicals called phytoncides which reduce adrenaline and cortisol.

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Neil Pasricha @neilpasricha ·
12 Dec

Do you feel like it’s getting harder to get stuff done?

It’s not just you. The distraction machine is cranked to 10. Endless apps and feeds and algorithms fight for our attention.

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Neil Pasricha @neilpasricha ·
11 Dec

When it comes to being happy, *what you do* is 4x more impactful than *what’s happening to you.*

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Neil Pasricha
I generally never manage to do all of these! But i I generally never manage to do all of these! But if I can do even some of them my day feels so much better. What would you add to the list?
James Daunt grew up in England the child of a dipl James Daunt grew up in England the child of a diplomat—moving countries, tasting cultures, living a life with books and history at its core. He lived in Turkey and Cyprus before coming back to England for boarding school. After studying history at Cambridge, he didn’t know what he wanted to do, so the Career Services department pointed him towards investment banking across the sea in New York City. He actually liked the job but his girlfriend thought it was incredibly boring and encouraged him to quit. He thought, “How do I combine my love of reading and my love of travel into doing something wholly different?” The first Daunt Books independent bookstore opened on Marylebone High Street in London soon after. Unlike nearly every book store in the world he organized his books … by country. Not genre! But by place. Bookselling isn’t an easy business! Lots of stores were going belly-up and profits were meager but over time he found a special knack for it. He went to bookselling school, paid fairly, and took mentorship and development seriously. When big bookstore chains started falling in the wake of Amazon, and Waterstones was essentially the only national chain left in the UK, a wealthy entrepreneur bought it and asked James to lead it. He turned the concept of a chain bookstore on its head, suggesting that stores would do better if the head office helped the booksellers operate like their own independent bookstores. He ripped up the rulebook completely. And what happened? Sales shot up. The chain survived ... then thrived. When the owners of Waterstones bought Barnes & Noble—the largest bookstore chain in the world—they asked James to lead it as CEO, too. Today, James Daunt is the biggest bookseller on the planet overseeing nearly 1000 bookshops. I was very excited when James said “yes” to coming on 3 Books. We go deep on learning from history, the role of bookstores in society, his most formative books, the best place to find a date, the key to customer service, leading from behind, and much, much more.... Let’s flip the page to Chapter 141 now... Listen to the full episode in my bio @neilpasricha or on YouTube, 3books.co, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts.
My favorite pages from ‘Survival of the Richest’ by Douglas Rushkoff. Get all my book recos in monthly book club at neil.blog/monthly-book-club
And put down the phone! And put down the phone!
That last, crumby triangle in a bag of potato chip That last, crumby triangle in a bag of potato chips. Waiters and waitresses who bring free refills without asking. Fat baseball players. Being the first table to get called up for the dinner buffet at a wedding. Really, really old Tupperware. Picking up a q and a u at the same time in Scrabble. Blowing your nose in the shower. That little arrow on your gas gauge that tells you which side of the car your gas tank is on. Picking the perfect nacho off someone else’s plate. When you pull to a red light and the guy in front of you nudges up a bit so you can make a right turn. Eating things past the expiry date. That pile of assorted beers left in your fridge after a party. Wearing warm underwear just out of the dryer. Old, dangerous playground equipment. The smell of gasoline. Airplane toilet flushes. High tens. Sleeping in new bed sheets. Any food that requires Wet-Naps and a stack of napkins to eat. Real-bearded Santas. Using hotel lobby bathrooms when you’re out walking around. Building a stack of pancakes that looks just like the front of the box. When someone offers to toss your dirty clothes in with their load of laundry. Being the guy on the construction crew who gets to stand at the front holding the Stop sign. Using Rock-Paper-Scissors to settle anything. When cashiers open up new check-out lanes at the grocery store. Hearing a stranger fart in public. Ordering off the menu at fast food restaurants. Neighbors with pools. The first shower you take after not showering for a really long time. Spending all your money on candy. Somebody flashing their high beams at you to warn you about the cops. The Universal Fry-Sharing Policy. Terrible businesses run by children. The smell of rain on a hot sidewalk. Perfect parallel-parking on the first try. The first scoop out of a jar of peanut butter. Intergenerational dancing. Watching ‘The Price Is Right’ when you’re sick at home from school. Snow days. Hitting a string of green lights in a row. When you’re really tired and about to fall asleep and someone throws a blanket on you. The moment at a concert after the lights go out and before the band comes on stage.
Did you grow up with Judy Blume? My mom says I “found my voice” reading ‘Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing' to my sister in the bathtub when I was a little kid. Well, I grabbed that tattered copy and carried it with me down to Key West, Florida where I had the privilege of sitting down with the one and only @judyblume4real Join us as Judy shares her three most formative books, how they inspired her, and we pull out some themes relevant to today at the link @neilpasricha
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