Product Description
Train Naked: A Guide to a Meaningful Life and Work That Matters
Author: Pierre du Plessis
Format: Softcover
The ancient Greeks trained in the nude in the gymnasium and also competed in the buff in the Olympic Games – they literally had skin in the game. The ancient Greek word for gymnasium – gumnasia – means to train naked. However, the ancient Greek gyms were not just for physical training but also had dedicated spaces for intellectual exercise, for philosophy, teaching and conversation.
To train naked is to show up just as you are – no pretences, no masks, no BS. We train to compete, we practise in order to nail a presentation. We should also be training to become better human beings, to craft meaningful lives, do work that matters, and to thrive in chaos. Pierre du Plessis’s daily reflections, meditations and practices presented in this book are a call to train naked, to practise for the ultimate marathon, and to have skin in the game.
Train Naked is a curated selection of short reflections – prompts to get skin in the game – on building a meaningful life and doing work that matters. Combined with a selection of ancient practices, such as meditation, Pierre’s thoughts and ideas aim to inspire each reader to take charge, to try, to act, to learn and to do. ‘In a time where everyone seems to sound exactly the same, Pierre manages to sound completely different.
He’s the Ernest Hemingway to their Dan Brown, the Pink Floyd to their Nickelback.’ – Richard Mulholland, Author of Legacide and Boredom Slayer . ‘Pierre is the Seneca that the 21st century needs.’ – Bronwyn Williams, Futurist, Economist, Trend Analyst
About the Author
PIERRE DU PLESSIS, the author of Train Naked, is a master storyteller who firmly believes in the ludicrousness of speaking to crowds to change the world. He has a habit of making the familiar strange and turning the world upside down. He is currently the CWO (Chief Writing Officer) of HumanWrites, saving the world one wee notebook at a time. He works with a contemplative community of faith in the heart of Cape Town. Pierre has been featured on TEDx stages numerous times and travels the world preaching about doing work that matters in a chaotic world. He was awarded the Desmond Tutu-Gerrit Brand Prize for Literature in 2017, is an educator at Duke CE University and has spoken at BMW, KFC, Adcock Ingram, Old Mutual, FNB and many others. He believes he is the love child of Gertrude Stein and Jason Bourne. He lives in Cape Town with his wife, two kids, and his iPhone.
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