These are a few of my favorite things. No sponsorships, just honest recommendations from someone who has tested them in some pretty demanding conditions.
Running Favorites
- Trail Running Film Archive (regularly updated link to thousands of hours of trail running films)
- Altra Lone Peaks trail shoes and Torin road running shoes
- Inov8 MudTalons
- Hüma, Huma Plus, and Huma Ultra gels
- Clif Blocks
- Skratch Cherry and Pistachio bars
- BPN Go Bars
- Tailwind Nutrition Lemon, Unflavored, and one Dauwaltermelon to have Courtney there in spirit (ha!)
- Tailwind Salted Caramel Recovery mix
- Oofos sandals
- Smartwool socks
- Injinji and Creepers wool toe socks
- Running buffs from Cara Corey Designs
- Coros Apex 2 42 mm watch
- Montane Dart shirts (treated with Polygiene so they don’t get smelly!)
- Pearl Izumi Sunsleeves
- Under Armour Heat Gear and Cold Gear tights
- Inov8 soft flask with locking cap
- Montane Gecko VP 12+ (also treated with Polygiene permanent odor control)
Sober Living Favorite NA Options
- Athletic Brewing Co. (My referral link gets you a free 6-pack when you order 2 or more 6-packs and I get a 6-pack too. Everybody wins!)
- Lyre’s mocktails especially G&T and Amalfi Spritz
- Surely Red Blend NA wine
- Leitz Eins Zwei Zero Riesling and Rose NA wine
Combining the Ordinary to Become Extraordinary (Former Blog) Influences*
- Seth Godin – Seth’s daily blog, his books especially Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?, Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, and Your Turn…still need to read The Practice
- Brené Brown – Unlocking Us podcast and Dare to Lead podcast (lifechanging and my #1 game changer for 2020-2021), all of her books especially Dare to Lead and The Gifts of Imperfection: 10th Anniversary Edition, Dare to Lead Organizational Read-Along
- Shane Parrish – The Knowledge Project podcast, Sunday Brain Food newsletter, Decision by Design course
- Tim Ferriss – The Tim Ferriss Show podcast, Five Bullet Friday newsletter, his books especially The 4-Hour Work Week
- Jen Brown – Sparta Chicks Radio podcast
- John Amaechi OBE – The Promises of Giants
- Morning Brew – business newsletter (referral link), primary news source in my information diet so I have more room for curating helpful information
- Money Scoop by Morning Brew – financial newsletter (referral link)
- Inside Higher Ed Daily News Update – account is free but login required for unlimited articles)
- Adam Grant – Granted newsletter, Work Life podcast including Taken for Granted interviews, his books especially Give and Take
- Ryan Holiday – Daily Stoic daily email, his books especially Ego is the Enemy…still need to read the others
- Arianna Huffington – especially Thrive Global newsletters and Goodnight Smartphone
- Dan Pink – The Pinkcast newsletter, his books especially Drive
- Chase Jarvis – his book Creative Calling and Creative Live’s 30 Days of Genius series, Chase Jarvis LIVE Show and podcast
- Indra Nooyi – especially her thoughtful and sincere book, My Life in Full: Work, Family, and Our Future (affiliate) and any interview she gives. She is a incredibly engaging speaker.
- Derek Sivers – blog
- Jonathan Vieker – blog
- Colin Wright – newsletter
- Leo Babauta – Zen Habits newsletter
- Carol Dweck – her book Mindset
- Collective Genius: The Art and Practice of Leading Innovation by Linda A. Hill, Greg Brandeau, Emily Truelove, and Kent Lineback and Creativity Inc. by Ed Catmull
- Harvard Business Review – if you make an account you can sign up for free newsletters, articles per month are still limited without a paid account
- Josh Kaufman – his book The Personal MBA, interviews, Ted Talk The First 20 Hours
- Trevor Noah – especially his book Born a Crime – you must do the audiobook on this one. Trust me!
- Jon Meacham – Hope Through History podcast, It Was Said podcast
- Matthew Kepnes – Nomadic Matt newsletter
- Ramit Sethi
- Glennon Doyle – her book Untamed
- Randall Stutman – Admired Leadership framework, interviews on The Knowledge Project and The Daily Stoic
- Roger Martin – interview on The Knowledge Project
- Angela Duckworth – her book Grit
- Matt Mullenweg – especially Distributed podcast, founding developer of WordPress used for this blog
- Susan Cain – her book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking and Ted Talks
- Gary Vaynerchuk
- James Altucher – his book The Power of No: Because One Little Word Can Bring Health, Abundance, and Happiness
- Tara Brach – especially guided meditations and her book Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha
- Gretchen Rubin – especially her book Better Than Before, The Four Tendencies framework
- Chris Voss – his book Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It
- Mark Sisson – especially his book The Primal Blueprint
- Danny Dreyer – founder of Chi Running method
- Kevin Kelly – his book The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future and the articles 1,000 True Fans and 99 Additional Bits of Unsolicited Advice
- The Minimalists – especially their book Minimalism: Live a Meaningful Life
- HigherEdJobs newsletter
- Girls on the Run
*When possible book links go to our local independent bookstore Dragonfly Books in Decorah, Iowa.
Erin Shaw - Trail and Ultrarunning Coach 