By Ethan Maurice | February 1, 2017
If you were me a few years ago, this would be the best page on the internet you've ever landed on. It's a list of people and websites that have had the greatest impact on me, with links to the pages I've found most profound or taken the most from.
There's a lot here—if you're into it, bookmarking this page might be a good idea.
Without further ado, my 12 favorite people and websites on the internet:
1. Tim Ferriss
In addition to reading The 4-Hour Workweek twice and much of Tim's blog, I've listened to over 200 episodes of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show. I can't recommend the podcast enough. Tim interviews world-class performers, from athletes to CEO's to philosophers, and attempts to extract the lessons, habits, and tactics that make them the best at what they do. A few of my favorite interviews are with Kevin Kelly, Wim Hof, and Seth Godin.
2. The Art of Non-Conformity
I've been following Chris Guillebeau's website, The Art of Non-Conformity for years. A travel hacker who's visited every country in the world, Chris taught me how to fly for free using travel credit card bonuses. Thanks to Chris I'm writing these very words in Fox Glacier, New Zealand right now. I've read his first free manifesto, A Brief Guide to World Domination, half a dozen times. I also had my own profile published on The Art of Non-Conformity last fall.
3. Zen Habits
Written by Leo Babauta, Zen Habits helped me start meditating, develop better habits, and do less. It's made me more mindful and understanding of myself, others, and the world.
4. Ryan Holiday
I started following Ryan Holiday after reading his first book, Trust Me I'm Lying, which reveals how broken our news cycle is and how he used to exploit it. This article helped me realize I was starting The Living Theory for the right reasons. His post about the commonplace book caused me to start my own. I'm traveling now, but when I had a desk, one quote from The Obstacle is the Way was tacked above it:
“We often assume that the world moves at our leisure. We delay when we should initiate. We jog when we should be running, or better yet, sprinting. And then we're shocked—shocked!—when nothing big ever happens, when opportunities never show up, when new obstacles begin to pile up, or the enemies finally get their act together.”
5. Derek Sivers
Derek's blog is all insight and no fluff. I first encountered him through his interview on the Tim Ferriss Show. There's a famous Oscar Wilde quote that "everything popular is wrong," and I often feel Derek makes a case for that in most of his posts. I also love this three minute TED Talk of his.
6. IMPOSSIBLE
Joel Runyon is a badass. The creator of IMPOSSIBLE, he's all about doing "impossible" things. As part of his current project called 777 (7 ultra marathons on 7 continents to raise funding to build 7 schools), he ran a 100K race in Antarctica last week. Joel's also really into cold showers. I stop by Joel's site to remind myself that I'm the one who sets my limitations.
7. Live Learn Evolve
Live Learn Evolve is a collection of eye-opening, mind-expanding content from around the web. A couple of my favorites: This is Water, Stop Living in the Future and Live Fully Now, and 60 Seconds of Awe-Inspiring Life Advice from Steve Jobs.
8. Brain Pickings
Maria Popova is the wondrous mind behind Brain Pickings. I find it difficult to explain exactly what Brain Pickings is, so I'll leave it to her site's tagline: "An inventory of cross-disciplinary interestingness, spanning art, science, design, history, philosophy, and more." I'm a big fan of Hunter S. Thompson’s Advice on How to Find Your Purpose and Live a Meaningful Life, The Ben Franklin Effect, and Maria's interview on The Tim Ferriss Show.
9. In Over Your Head
Julien Smith hasn't posted on his blog since 2014 as he's CEO of a company called Breather now, but I still go back into the archives once in a while. I love The Complete Guide to Not Giving a F*ck, The Short and Sweet Guide to Being F*cking Awesome, and basically everything in the "best" section of his blog.
10. Live Unbound
Created by television editor Yali Sharon, Live Unbound is built to inspire. Watch Above All Else, a seven-minute documentary or read Home, an email from a Live Unbound reader that moved me to tears. Yali's TED Talk about following fear is loaded with wisdom too.
11. Raptitude
Raptitude is about "getting better at being human" and it's creator, David Cain is one insightful dude. Some of my favorite posts: A Day in the Future, Life is Looking Out A Window, An interview with The Man.
12. Lightning Notes
I haven't been following The Lightning Notes for too long, but Caitie Whelan put on a workshop at my younger sister's college a couple months ago and I heard all about it. Each Sunday now, I get her profound weekly email. Start with these posts: The Truth About Bananas, Wild and Defiant, and Steven Spielberg on the Importance of Fear.
Well, there you have it. If you like what I read online, you'll probably like the books I read as well.
