Without a doubt one of the best books I have read in years. Well written and incredibly inspiring. Liz tells the real story of a group of Montana farmers who are trying to improve the world, “one crop at a time”. Reading this book set my wife and I on a track that saw us turn our backyard over to an “urban farmer” who created a lot of great produce. We are already looking forward to next year’s crop.

Using his own adventure – to travel to every country in the world in ten years, Chris tells the stories of other “normal people” who embark on quests of their own. That is what he calls them – quests. For something to be a quest, in his opinion, it needs to: 1. Have a clear goal with a specific end point. 2. Present a clear challenge. 3. Require some kind of sacrifice. 4. Often driven by a calling or sense of mission. 5. Requires a series of small steps and incremental progress toward the goal. Very inspirational. Made me realize that “big 5 marathon goal” was a quest. As I think about it, this book was on of the primary drivers for me setting up this site and seeing what “quests” I can set for myself over the  next years. Thank you Chris.

The seminal work on what it means to be “in flow” and how a person gets into flow. I have been wanting to read this one for years and this just happened to be the year. This is one of those books that becomes the core for an entire group of books that can be read to supplement the idea. To stay in flow there needs to be: “just manageable’ goals and challenges (we have to believe that we can achieve them) that require skills (and the obtaining of those skills), the time and ability to concentrate on these goals, clear milestones (sub goals) that can measure our progress, immediate feedback (so that we can adjust our cadence), a sense that we are “in control” of our actions, concern for self seems to disappear yet paradoxically self-awareness increases, and a sense that time is altered. This book will definitely inform my “third act”.

I have read Chris’ first book, Born to Run, a couple of times. This wonderful book is written in the same engaging style as Born to Run. In this book, McDougall details, what I’m sure is unknown for most people, the story of the people of Crete, their resistance in WWII, and how their unusual endurance is connected to their diet and their history. Could all of those Greek mythologies be based on real live people? Perhaps. It is a book well worth re-reading.