WeeklyBlog #3 #ZoneOneFall

10/18/25 #October
6:17PM-6:39PM: #22mins
Aim: 13mins/1000words

BranfordHome

1000words

[[Daniel Levitin]]
[[This is Your Brain On Music]]
[[I Heard There was a Secret Chord]]
[[Cal Newport]]
[[Slow Productivity]]
[[How to Be A High School Superstar]]

Hello, this is going to be a brief weekly blog, for this site, MrMoeRohan.com. It’s been a journey for me, reading each of these books, and taking in unique perspective from each new author. As a result, I am learning a lot, just by writing, and referencing books, on a weekly basis. This has been a super exciting journey for me, because I’ve also been able to post a lot of these on my website, that in the past I would be super anxiety-induced. Though, with time and practice,, gaining confidence becomes a norm. And I know this is a perseverance journey for me, and I genuinely get a lot of excitement when I am able to finish books, and am able to also mark it on this site. And by being able to keep expressing myself like this, I genuinely have a lot of fun, and I feel like I’m growing.

And onto the books, that I will reference on this weekly blog. I have finished some books, last week, that I mentioned on my weekly blog, and that includes [[Aware]], by [[Daniel Siegel]], [[Happy City]], by [[Charles Montgomery]], [[Immune]], and by [[Philipp Dettmer]]. But these aren’t the only books that I have been finishing. I also finished some other books, that I just got on a whim, on the audible website. And they turned out to be pretty cool as well. And [[Cal Newport]], he’s turning out to be a really cool author. I recently finished [[How to Be A High School Superstar]], and part of the reason I read this book is because, I read one of Cal’s previous book [[Slow Productivity]], and that was a really rewarding book for me, and I really appreciated it a lot. 

For me, that book was super important, because [[Slow Productivity]], it is becoming one of my foundational book, in regards to how I see productivity. I don’t believe that constantly doing work really means anything, if we don’t have the strength to do the work. And focusing on a select few areas, I think that is of paramount importance, if we really want to enhance how we view life, and actually have passion for the things that we do. I genuinely appreciate so many things, but I believe we have to work with our brain, not against it. And it’s important that we implement strategies that help us, so we can do a lot of cool things in life.

Similarly, I read another book, called [[I Heard There was a Secret Chord]], by [[Daniel Levitin]]. And this is a similar situation to [[Cal Newport]], because this is also by a author that I also have read some previous books of. I read the book [[This is Your Brain On Music]], and I found that book to be super enlightening. Similarly, I think [[I Heard There was a Secret Chord]], expands on Dr. Levitin’s view of life, and his theories on music. I really like his in-depth scientific experiments that he gives examples of, because it really does give me a lot of reasons to listen to instrumental music, and just understanding how each type of music has its own rhythm, that actually helps us people focus. I know about the different brain waves, our brain typically transitions to and from, in a typical day. And from the top of my head, alpha waves, beta waves, gamma waves, all these primary modes of brain rhythms, they can be enhanced by music that also have similar nuances in their frequencies. I’m still new to understanding how a piece of music actually exudes a specific kind of brain wave, but I know enough now that, I actually can figure it out.

And this is super awesome, also because, I can use ChatGPT, to analyze a specific music, that I actually like. For example, I used to really like [[Game of Thrones]], [[Fire Emblem]], and [[Pokemon]], and I recall when I actually played the games, and watched the show, I was always listening to some sort of music. Coincidently, YouTube has all the music pieces, for all our references, and ChatGPT can actually decode, and tell you want kind of frequencies each music actually produces. So let’s say, we have alpha wave music, which is around 8-14 hertz, from my understanding. And this is more of a relaxation brain waves, and so the music that has this kind of brain waves, I can just pick this music, and get in that zone, when I listen to music of these brainwaves.

Similarly, if I want to get super excited, I can listen to beta waves, or gamma waves, which has higher frequencies, maybe ranging from 14-40 hertz. Though, this is a just beginning understanding phase for me, but I am super excited to be experimenting with music again, and especially when I am able to get into a specific zone. And for me, [[Daniel Levitin]] has been a key person, in me getting curious about this. And it’s true, the right music enhances what you do. And [[Slow Productivity]], something [[Cal Newport]] is advocating for, it definitely can be enhanced with music as well. Once you know the nuances of how certain things work, so many cool things just make sense. 

And this is why I love liking a variety of different things. Because you can never know how your brain actually relates things. And I don’t have the capacity to just sit down, and explain all this to a person, if I don’t myself understand what I’m talking about. And for me, writing these weekly blogs, it’s been an amazing journey, because I am able to link so many different things together, and come to a cohesive whole. And it all started, because I just wanted to remember the names of the authors and the books that I am reading. [[Ali Abdaal]], definitely influenced me a little bit in this. And so, this journey of just rehearsing back, it has exponential benefits, I believe that with all my heart.