A Book by Alan Huang
About the Book
Frameworks for Life is the “user’s manual for life” that the author wishes he was given. Management consultant and finance professional Alan Huang shows you how to spend your limited time, energy, and money wisely to achieve balance and health in your life. This book discusses a wide range of topics from the practical to the philosophical, including ways to improve your physical and mental health, strengthen your interpersonal relationships, and find meaning in your life. The book’s wide range of topics are inspired by Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, the greatest framework for understanding our human motivations and needs (in the author’s humble opinion).
Each chapter provides an overview of a single topic, distilling the best contemporary thinking, then translates that knowledge into routine habits that can help you live your life more effectively, efficiently, and meaningfully. To build an understanding of each topic, the book takes a first principles approach. First, the topic is defined and a useful goal identified. Next, the topic is explained using frameworks, which are analytical tools that provide an organized holistic overview of a concept, system, or process. Based on that understanding, practical suggestions for improving one’s effectiveness are shared.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- I. Identifying and Pursuing What’s Most Important
- 1. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: What Are the Components of a Good Life?
- 2. Toward a Personal Operating System: How Should You Spend Your Time?
- 3. Life as a Balancing Act: What Should You Prioritize?
- II. Physiological Needs
- 4. Sleep: Why Sleep Now, If You Can Sleep When You’re Dead?
- 5. Diet, Nutrition, and Body Composition: How Should You Eat?
- 6. Physical Fitness: What Exactly Are You Working Out?
- 7. Cooking: What Is This Mysterious Kitchen Alchemy?
- III. Safety Needs
- 8. Personal Finance: What Should You Do with Your Money?
- 9. Housekeeping: If You Ignore Your Chores, Won’t They Simply Go Away?
- 10. Work: What Is Its Proper Place in Your Life?
- 11. Personal Safety: Should You Just Barricade Yourself Inside a Fortress?
- 12. Personal Information Security: How Do You Stay Safe?
- IV. Belonging and Love Needs
- 13. Interpersonal Relationships: How Do You Go About Fitting In?
- 14. Friends and Acquaintances: How Do You Turn Acquaintances Into Friends?
- 15. Romantic Relationships: Didn’t Romantic Comedies Teach You All You Need To Know?
- 16. Family: Why Won’t These Darn Kids Just Do What Their Parents Tell Them?
- V. Esteem Needs
- 17. Self-Esteem: Can’t You Just Repeat Platitudes to Yourself in Front of the Mirror?
- VI. Cognitive Needs
- 18. Knowledge: What Does It Mean to Know Something?
- VII. Aesthetic Needs
- 19. Art: What Are You Supposed to Think or Feel in Response to Art?
- 20. Travel: What Is Worth Seeing?
- VII. Self-Actualization
- 21. The Past Reinterpreted: How Accurate Is My Personal Narrative?
- 22. Present and Future Reinterpreted: How do I move into the future?
- 23. This Present Moment Reinterpreted, Part A: Who Am “I”?
- 24. This Present Moment Reinterpreted, Part B: How Do I Understand What’s in Front of Me More Clearly?
- 25. This Present Moment Reinterpreted, Part C: If You’re Not Mentally Ill, Then Aren’t You Mentally Healthy?
- VIII. Self-Transcendence
- 26. Helping Others: Isn’t It as Simple As Doing Things for People?
- 27. Meaning: Why Do Anything If Nobody Will Remember It?
- Postscript
- Reading List