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Innermost Recommends: August 2020

25th August 2020

Health Life

25th August 2020

By Innermost

This month at Innermost, we’ve been thinking all about the idea of performance; what it means, what we can do to boost ours, and who inspires us when it comes to performance whether mentally or physically. We decided we wanted to dive deep into this topic as it’s something you guys told us you wanted to know more about. With books, TV shows, and more, we've found some amazing advice and life lessons. We love sharing our finds with the Innermost community, so without further ado here’s what we got up to in August to learn all about performance and beyond.

Reading...

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

“Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman unravels the intricate irrationalities of the human mind in a bid to offer guidance on how we can recognise and take control of them before they lead to poor decision-making. This book is completely fascinating, and relevant to anyone that's ever thought ‘I'll do it tomorrow’.”  - Catherine

Clothes… and other things that matter

“This semi-autobiographical book by the ex-editor of British Vogue, Alexandra Shulman, takes readers through the journey of her life, as told through the themes of different items of clothing. Witty, funny and reminiscent, we get a peek into what life is like at the helm of one of the biggest publications in the world while juggling marriage, kids and all the ups and downs of normal life.” - Robyn


Get Your Sh*t Together by Sarah Knight

“Sometimes, I have so many things on my mind; goals, needs, wants and it all gets lost in a jumble. I end up doing nothing. This book is a humorous, practical guide on just going for it so that you can do your best in life.” - Allison 

Jog On: How Running Saved My Life by Bella Mackie

“I think it goes without saying performance isn’t just down to physical capabilities but also mindset and mental wellbeing. Bella Mackie manages to align the two perfectly. She examines through her own personal experiences how our mental health can not only impact but enhance our performance. And it even got a non-runner such as myself out running.” - Grace


Influencer: Science and Practice by Robert Cialdini

“This fascinating book by Robert Cialdini combines engaging narrative style with scholarly research. Cialdini brings together evidence from his work as a salesperson, fundraiser, advertiser and more, to present us with the tactics that companies use to get us to say ‘yes’. Great for anyone interested in business and psychology. ” - Shiv

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight

“This book’s all about how one man transformed The Swoosh into a $30 billion company. It has a raw depiction of his hardships along the way, combated by an endless strive for success and a strong vision. A super inspiring read!” - Caitlin

Watching...

Succession

“I just started watching this award-winning series and I’m absolutely obsessed. The series focuses on the fictional New York-based Roy family who run one of the biggest media companies in the world. It follows all the highs and lows of their family dramas as the different members vye for power in their media empire.” - Robyn 

Homecoming: A Film By Beyonce

“I think this is a great, topical watch right now, as it’s a part of the BLM collection on Netflix. As such an iconic performer, it's so interesting to see what goes into such a massive performance, right from the creative process to actually executing it.” - Allison


Selling Sunset

“This Netflix hit is everything you'd ever want from a reality series. LA luxury real estate, drama, and designer clothing, driven by seven alpha women fighting their way to the top. Totally obsessed.” - Caitlin

When We Were Kings

“This documentary film directed by Leon Gast traces the journey of the famous championship match fought by Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in 1974. It took Gast 22 years to edit and finance the documentary before it was eventually released, and it’s a worthwhile watch for what it can teach us about being at peak physical performance.” - Shiv

Home Game 

“I’ve been loving this docuseries on Netflix. Each episode takes you to a different corner of the world where you can find unique, dangerous and totally random sports based in cultural history. A highlight of mine is the Freediving episode - nerves of steel!”  - Grace


Brown Girls Do It Too

“Technically listening not watching, but this winner of Podcast of The Year at the 2020 British Podcast Awards is a gloriously frank discussion of everything sex and relationships, hosted by three hilarious women who were tired of the lack of sex positive discussion and representation available for women in Asian communities.” - Catherine

Doing...

Rock-climbing

“Some friends and I have been hitting the walls now that a few climbing centres are open again. It's such a good way to work your body and mind at the same time, and it's super social too. Followed by a mandatory refuel brunch of course…” - Catherine

Learning a new language

“I’ve been learning some new languages on the language app, Duolingo. It keeps my brain active and performing at its best, but it’s also fun to compete with others learning the same language as you. And you can add friends to see what they’re up to as well.” - Robyn

Early morning workouts

“I've been waking up early to workout rather than waiting until the end of the day. It sounds like such a simple recommendation, but I'm finding that I'm so focused and performing much better not only during exercise, but throughout the day because of it.” - Allison

Training myself to not snooze my alarm 

“I’ve been reading a lot of material recently around best sleep practices and slowly cutting down on my unhealthy ways. I used to be a serial snoozer, up to two hours each morning, and now I've noticed my head is much clearer and I feel energised for the day.” - Caitlin

Dynamic reformer pilates 

“I’ve definitely started to see the toll that working from home and a lack of access to a gym/studio has had on my body, and in particular my posture. Getting back into some reformer classes has been great at getting my body feeling aligned again.” - Grace

That's all for August. But if you can't wait until September and want to see what we got up to last month in July, check it out here. 

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