In late 2010, I had a problem. I had picked up too much weight, but my knees were shot. That meant intense cardio was out of the question.
I worked out a plan that included two high-payback activities. First, I radically changed my diet. Next, I started working out every day. It worked. When I started on November 15, 2010, I weighed 216 pounds. I was down to 174 pounds by June 16, 2011. That’s a drop of 42 pounds in 214 days.
Over the following eight weeks, I kept pushing harder and dropped about another 8 to 10 pounds. Again, I followed the same high-payback strategies–good diet and smart workouts.
But I wasn’t finished because two other high-payback activities included walking and listening to books.
Even though my daily workouts included strength conditioning, I still wanted daily cardio. I started walking but found it boring until I discovered audiobooks in 2010 when walking through the Columbia, Missouri, library. I was hooked. Back then, life was tough. I had to bring the next CD in case I finished the one in my CD player.
Three Reasons for Walking and Listening to Great Books
The positive reasons for walking and listening to great books are probably obvious, but here are my top three:
- When I start my walks, I do not press play just yet. I walk for 10 or 15 minutes to clear my head. And it turns into great thinking time.
- Most of my listening time from books occurs while I’m driving. While I can typically absorb most of the content while driving, I find it easier to listen to books while walking as there are fewer distractions, except for the occasional dustings I get from drivers who feel they need to speed by me as I traverse my gravel roads.
- But I enjoy walking and listening to books mainly because this activity is relaxing. I love reading, so combining a great book while doing something healthy makes for an enjoyable one- to two-hour activity. What a way to learn, burn a few calories, and rake in a few great ideas for the week ahead.
In short, walking and listening to books is a high-payback activity personally, spiritually, and professionally.
75 Audiobook Ideas
If you are new to audiobooks or you need some suggestions, here are my 75 favorite audiobooks as of early 2024:
Autobiography
- Open by Andre Agassi
- Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story by Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Educated by Tara Westhead
- Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe
- Ghost in the Wires by Kevin Mitnick
- Around the Corner to Around the World by Robert Rosenberg
- Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
- Nerves of Steel by Tammie Jo Shults
- The Boys by Ron and Clint Howard
- Let It Go: My Extraordinary Story – from Refugee to Entrepreneur to Philanthropist by Dame Stephanie Shirley
- Invested by Charles Schwab
- Family Reins by Billy Busch
- Educated by Tara Westover
- The Education of a Value Investor by Guy Spier
Narrative Non-Fiction
- American Kingpin by Nick Bilton
- The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
- Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell
- Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer
- The Secret Life of Groceries by Benjamin Lorr
- The Wager by David Grann
- The Ride of Her Life by Elizabeth Letts
- Bad Blood by John Carreyrou
- The Founders by Jimmy Soni
- Molly’s Game by Molly Bloom
- In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick
- Endurance by Alfred Lansing
History
- Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard
- Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose
- Going Home to Glory by David Eisenhower
- Friday Night Lights by H. G. Bissinger
- Leadership in Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin
- Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
- Five Presidents by Clint Hill
Business
- Executive Toughness by Jason Selk
- Boss Life by Paul Downs
- The Wisdom of Finance by Mihir Desai
- It’s How We Play the Game by Ed Stack
- Winners Dream by Bill McDermott
- Becoming Trader Joe by Joe Coulombe
- The CEO Next Door by Tahl Raz, Kim R. Powell, Elena L. Botelho
- Who is Michael Ovitz by Michael Ovitz
- What it Takes by Raegan Moya-Jones
- That Will Never Work by Marc Randolph
- Wild Company by Mel and Patricia Ziegler
- Anything You Want by Derek Sivers
- Built from Scratch by Bernie Marcus
- The Business of Expertise by David C. Baker
- Work Rules by Laszlo Bock
- The Outsiders by William Thorndike
- The Management Myth by Matthew Stewart
- Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
- American Icon by Bryce Hoffman
- In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick
- Street Smarts by Norm Brodsky
- Creativity Inc. by Ed Catmull
- The Sales Acceleration Formula by Mark Roberge
- The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim
- So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport
Sports
- Gridiron Genius by Michael Lombardi
- Finley Ball by Nancy Finley
- Fantasy Life by Matthew Berry
- Unscripted by Ernie Johnson
Classical Fiction
- East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Personal Development
- The 4 Laws of Financial Prosperity by Charles Coonradt
- Deep Work by Cal Newport
- The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim
- So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport
Fiction
- City of Thieves: A Novel by David Benioff
- A Dangerous Fortune by Ken Follett
- 11-22-63: A Novel by Stephen King
- East of Eden by John Steinbeck
- The Martian by Andy Weir
- The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
- The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
- No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
- A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
- Before We Were Yours: A Novel by Lisa Wingate
- A Simple Plan by Scott Smith