We haven’t done a “Stuff We Love” download for a little while! So here we go.

We are bookworms at heart, so let’s start where we always start with BOOKS WE LOVE.

Books We Love

Nudge: The Final Edition (2021)

Nudge: The Final Edition (2021) is a refinement and expansion of Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein’s 2008 book. “Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness,” a book that was worth revisiting, even if it hadn’t been updated with a new edition.

If you are behavioral psychology nerds like us, this book is a “must-read.” Heavily influenced by the work of Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky, the universally agreed upon “fathers of behavioral economics,” Thaler & Sunstein’s work is a natural expansion of Kahneman & Tversky’s work through a design lens. While Kahneman & Tversky focused on “why people behave in irrational ways,” Thaler & Sunstein focus on how to use that knowledge to design environments that help people make better decisions.

A Few Key Themes to Spark Your Interest….

There is tons of great stuff in this book, but here are a few tidbits to spark your curiosity and encourage you to read more.

The overarching theme of Nudge is Choice Architecture, which posits that the way choices are presented can dramatically affect outcomes. General examples include things like preparing healthy snacks and placing them at eye level in your fridge, or listing the most important questions at the top of a questionnaire.

Some specific areas of exploration:

Default Options

• People stick with whatever default is presented to them.
• Examples: Automatic enrollment in retirement savings plans dramatically increases participation. In some countries, organ donation is an opt-out decision, which significantly increases the number of organ donors.

Social Norms

• People are influenced by what other people do.
• Example: Informing households that their neighbors are using less energy encourages more thoughtful energy consumption.

Sludge

• This one is a new focus in the Final Edition! Bonus!!
• Sludge refers to friction or barriers, both unintentional and deliberate, that impede good decision-making.
• Examples: Difficult cancellation processes and unnecessary and complex paperwork.

Other Stuff We Love

Historically, we have focused on Books We Love, but we love lots of things. So, we thought we would expand our recommendations to other areas.

Wellness Stuff We Love

Showing up as your best self is a holistic endeavor. Mind, body, spirit, community — it is all connected.

Wellness is important at every age, but let’s be real — we are a team of middle-aged women working to thrive in our next several decades as our most empowered selves. Moving our bodies, tending to our mental health, and fueling ourselves with nutritious food is TOP OF MIND. We are fully in the “Our Bodies are Laboratories” phase of life.

Our client and readership demographic is very broad. We work across a wide range of industries, age demographics, and lived experiences. Worry not! We will pick things to share with you that have potentially broad appeal (ie, you don’t have to be a middle-aged woman to give these things a try).

Stairs

Perhaps you are a runner and totally love it. Perhaps you were a runner and are finding it a bit hard on your body as you age. Full disclosure, I have always hated running. In fact, if I had to choose between running and being eaten by dinosaurs, I would think about it.

I have recently discovered stair workouts. A stair workout is essentially just going up and down flights of stairs until you want to die or can’t walk anymore. Simple, I know. Yes. It took me until my mid-40s to figure this out. HOLY COW. It is a fantastic workout. Is it lower impact than running, but just as physically punishing (in a good way)? Yes. Will you hate it while you are doing it? YES. Will you feel very proud of yourself when you are finished? YASSSSSSSSS.

Siggi’s Plant-Based Coconut Yogurt

60-70% of the global population is lactose intolerant. In the US, it is only about 15-25%. The genetic melting pot of the United States is good for pizza and cheese fries. I am not one of the lucky 15-25%.

Historically, the options for those of us who don’t have a great relationship with dairy have been sad….very very very sad.

This is one of the first plant-based yogurts I’ve tried that has both a decent amount of protein and tastes good. Does it taste exactly like yogurt? No. Does it have probiotic benefits? Yes. Is it yummy, particularly with a handful of berries on top? YES.

Art Stuff We Love

We’ve been mesmerized lately by the work of kinetic sculptor Reuben Margolin, whose intricate, wave-like installations explore the math of movement in the most stunning, organic ways. From soaring sine waves to quiet, rustling wooden chimes that only reveal their sound when you lean in close, his pieces remind us of the beauty in precision and imperfection.

If you’re craving a little wonder (and a reason to pause mid-scroll), go fall down his Instagram rabbit hole: @reubenmargolin

Music Stuff We Love

This is one of those times I say to myself, “How is this not EVERYWHERE?!” Now, I don’t watch the show but this audition came up in my feed and is arguably the MOST catchy tune of the summer. GET IT Mama Duke! (Ps: The dancing TikTok’s starting to roll out to this jam are equally as fun!) 

Then there’s this one. Easily the best rendition of this classic ballad that I’ve ever heard. How I could feel both 14 and 40 while listening to this, has me ALL IN my feels!

Tell us, what are the things you’re loving this summer?
Hope it’s a good one!

XO,
Anna