Thanks for checking out the Weekly Learning Roundup. These bite-sized, weekly posts are designed to give you a quick hit of interesting learnings and articles I came across this week.

It’s a motley assortment of tips, resources, and links that will hopefully give you a bit of inspiration for the upcoming week. Enjoy!

What I’m reading —

Alain de Botton on What Makes a Good Communicator and the Difficult Art of Listening in Intimate Relationships by Maria Popova

It’s amazing how much our childhood impacts the way we communicate today. Communication is a product of how open and willing we are to be fallible and vulnerable. In intimate relationships, this is especially important.

Books, documentaries, or podcast episodes I’m enjoying —

Science Vs – Episode #3 – Guns

Science Vs is a new podcast which spotlights a controversial topic and examines it from a scientific perspective. In this episode, the program looks at guns and gun violence to see if some of the popular thinking holds up against actual scientific studies. To me, it’s clear that the gun laws in the US don’t work and will continue to result in violence unless it changes.

A quote that’s inspiring me —

Be the silent watcher of your thoughts and behaviour. You are beneath the thinker. You are the stillness behind the mental noise. You are the love and joy beneath the pain.

— Eckhart Tolle

Productivity tip of the week —

Spend time being a beginner every week

I practice a martial art and dance called capoeira. It originates from Brazil and is a fantastic sport for both cardio and dance/acrobatics. One aspect that I love about taking capoeira classes is how I always feel like a beginner at some point during classes. Whether that’s because I don’t know how to execute a move or my body isn’t fully capable of bending/turning/jumping a specific way. But I love this. It’s refreshing to remember what it feels like to be a beginner and re-examine your learning process.

Whether it be capoeira or any other activity try to spend at least once a week being a beginner and flexing your learning “muscle” along with your sense of humility. 😉

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As always, thanks for checking out this Weekly Learnings Roundup. Follow me on Twitter @peternakamura to see the full list of articles that I share on a daily basis.