Why am I passionate about this?

In 2016, I finished a book that had been three years in the making. I interviewed hundreds of snipers and spent some 9,000 hours wading through neuroscientific research papers. While my own background as a Chemical Engineer helped, it also became a deep dive into a world that opened my eyes. We are on the cusp of understanding what makes us tick as humans, and if we succeed in cracking that, we will become truly unstoppable. Simply put, we are all born, and we will all die, but we now have the power to comprehend the real reason the first event happened before the second one did. 


I wrote

Intentional: How To Live, Love, Work And Play Meaningfully

By David Amerland ,

Book cover of Intentional: How To Live, Love, Work And Play Meaningfully

What is my book about?

To live the life we truly want, we need to understand why we live the life we have. What makes…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Outliers: The Story of Success

David Amerland Why I love this book

We all want to know why success happens in the hope that we will be able to avoid the pitfalls that make it fail to materialize. This book suggests that those who succeed have an advantage that is circumstantial. This seems discouraging, but it is also empowering.

When circumstances and the environment create such a compelling case for success, we can better understand what to do to succeed in life. This book has popularized the 10,000-hours ‘rule’ where expertise in anything can be achieved by that number of hours of practice. Ignore that advice.

There are real caveats behind it that Gladwell fails to mention. Focus, instead, on what you need to have, who you must surround yourself with, and what actions you have to undertake to make success happen for you.  

By Malcolm Gladwell ,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked Outliers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In the past decade, Malcolm Gladwell has written three books that have radically changed how we understand our world and ourselves: The Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers. Regarded by many as the most gifted and influential author and journalist in America today, Gladwell has the rare ability to connect with audiences of tremendously varied interests. There are over 10 million copies of his books in print. Now, Gladwell's landmark investigations into the world around us are collected together for the first time. Beautifully repackaged and redesigned, with newly added illustrations throughout each book, COLLECTED is a perfect treasury of prose…


Book cover of Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

David Amerland Why I love this book

Can we learn to become more focused, more productive, and more successful in what we do? This book says we can and provides a blueprint for developing the kind of habits life coaches spend weeks and months trying to drill into us.

What makes it a real winner, however, is that it focuses on small steps—the things that are easy to change which then become a catalyst for bigger changes in our lives. Plus, it’s a very easy, accessible read. I love the fact that Clear writes as he speaks. 

By James Clear ,

Why should I read it?

39 authors picked Atomic Habits as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The #1 New York Times bestseller. Over 4 million copies sold!

Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results

No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving--every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results.

If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the…


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Book cover of Gifts from a Challenging Childhood: Healing the Legacy of Childhood Trauma

Gifts from a Challenging Childhood by Jan Bergstrom,

Learn to understand and work with your childhood wounds. Do you feel like old wounds or trauma from your childhood keep showing up today? Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed with what to do about it and where to start? If so, this book will help you travel down a path…

Book cover of Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade

David Amerland Why I love this book

We all want to know the same things: What is it that makes people listen to us, even if they’re inclined not to? Is there a hidden code in us that makes us do something instead of its alternative? What, exactly, activates this code?

Cialdini does a lot of his own research as well as looking at the work of others. This is the kind of book you reach for so you understand yourself better, which is why I read it, and then you begin to also understand why some marketing messages work while others, despite their pedigree, fall flat. I come back to this book for a refresher every year or two; it’s that good.   

By Robert B. Cialdini ,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Pre-Suasion as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When it comes to persuasion, success can begin before you say a word.

'An instant classic.' Forbes
'Utterly fascinating.' Adam Grant, author of Originals and Give and Take
'Shockingly insightful.' Chip Heath, co-author of Switch and Made to Stick

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

In his global bestseller Influence, Professor Robert Cialdini transformed the way we think about the craft of persuasion. Now he offers revelatory new insights into the art of winning people over: it isn't just what we say or how we say it that counts, but also what goes on in the moments before we speak.

This is…


Book cover of The Mind Club: Who Thinks, What Feels, and Why It Matters

David Amerland Why I love this book

Is morality objective? Is compassion possible in an adverse situation? Are you a good person? Am I? Can we truly be? These are the questions that arise from Wegner’s book. His ideas about perception, morality, the theory of mind, and the way we relate not just to each other but to pets and the natural world had me thinking about my own behavior and how I make judgments.

I, like most people, tend to think that humans are somehow special animals on this planet. I am deeply reconsidering that assumption now. It’s also led me to reconsider how I view righteousness and, with it, justice. Nothing is simple in our world. We shouldn’t behave like it is.

By Daniel M. Wegner , Kurt Gray ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Mind Club as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“Compelling, and so beautifully written…’The Mind Club’ deftly brings the most up-to-date research about other minds to readers of all backgrounds. It may cause you to think differently about crime and punishment, about business transactions and health care, and even about the upcoming elections. Things might just start looking up.”–The Wall Street Journal

From dogs to gods, the science of understanding mysterious minds—including your own.   

Nothing seems more real than the minds of other people. When you consider what your boss is thinking or whether your spouse is happy, you are admitting them into the "mind club." It’s easy to…


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Book cover of Gifts from a Challenging Childhood: Healing the Legacy of Childhood Trauma

Gifts from a Challenging Childhood by Jan Bergstrom,

Learn to understand and work with your childhood wounds. Do you feel like old wounds or trauma from your childhood keep showing up today? Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed with what to do about it and where to start? If so, this book will help you travel down a path…

Book cover of Ice Cold Leader: Leading from the Inside Out

David Amerland Why I love this book

Whenever I feel inadequate, insecure, overwhelmed, and diminished, I come back to this book. Errol was a Navy SEAL Commander. He should be dead by now. His survival is due to a gripping tale of control and recovery through a unique process that can be applied by anyone struggling with life and wondering whether they will ever be able to get anywhere under their own steam.

Errol has a way of writing that makes what he says memorable. The effectiveness of what he says is testified to by his own survival of a traumatic brain injury that should have made him one of the statistics. Reading his account is humbling and eye-opening.

By Errol Doebler ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Ice Cold Leader as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Thrive under any circumstances with insights from an elite combat veteran

In Ice Cold Leader, special forces combat veteran, FBI agent, and business founder Errol Doebler reveals his unknown and silent battle with a traumatic brain injury incurred as a Navy SEAL in the late 1990s, and how he overcame emotional distress, self-doubt, depression, and anxiety to create a successful and happy personal and professional life until the day he discovered his pain was due to an injury he didn't even know he had.

Anchored in gripping tales from his time in the elite services, the author describes the unique…


Explore my book 😀

Intentional: How To Live, Love, Work And Play Meaningfully

By David Amerland ,

Book cover of Intentional: How To Live, Love, Work And Play Meaningfully

What is my book about?

To live the life we truly want, we need to understand why we live the life we have. What makes us do things we are not happy with? Why are we so willing to compromise? My book is modular. Each chapter is a key to the deep questions we have about how we operate.

The book, as a whole, helps us connect the pieces of our mind to the pieces of our life. It shows us how to map what we feel to what has caused those feelings. It helps us understand what affects us and what effects it has on us. It makes it possible for us to determine what we want, why we want it, and what we need to do to get it.

Book cover of Outliers: The Story of Success
Book cover of Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
Book cover of Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade

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Interested in persuasion, self-actualization, and success in life?

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