How to improve 0.001% daily

An annotated reading of the books I finished in March 2026.

Books Read in March 2026

  1. Behave
  2. Wisdom Takes Work
  3. Source Code
  4. Careless People

Understanding (human) behavior holistically

Sapolsky achieved something special with his book “Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst”. In it, he seamlessly navigates several scientific disciplines (e.g., cellular biology, genetics, neuroscience, physiology, psychology, and sociology) to weave a comprehensive picture of how humans make decisions based on our past, present, and our assessment of the future. There are few books I’ve read that (somehow) touch on as niche (yet important) aspects of structural biology and human psychology as this one. I cannot recommend it more highly.

Cultivating practices for enriching life

Are some people born wiser than others? Or can we cultivate wisdom considerably? Ryan Holiday argues for the latter, where along this journey he envisions humans benefiting more now than ever from intentional exploration of various wisdom traditions and what they have to offer. Stoicism plays a central role in this work, giving readers continual reminders of how it important it is to seek wisdom daily.

The Microsoft Story

Bill Gates opens up about his childhood experiences and the stories behind building Microsoft in his new memoir “Source Code”. I particularly appreciated his post-Microsoft reflections on how emotional acuity and maturity didn’t come naturally to him early on in his career, and specifically that he had to work on it over the coming decades. Like Holiday writes about, wisdom takes work, and Bill Gates seems to agree.

What (not) to do with power

Time to take the wrong turn down the moral highway. What would happen if you built something so powerful and influential that nearly everyone wanted to use it, but that silently manipulated them into becoming ideologues for the highest-paying cause? Well, then you would be a real-life social tech CEO, according to Sarah Wynn-Williams. Of course, one particular CEO was singularly described in Sarah’s well-timed book “Careless People”, but I’m sure the pattern applies to others. If you are curious what it is like to watch a CEO-in-the-making lead a fledgling enterprise down a dark path, this book is for you.

Alex