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Eric Nehrlich, Unrepentant Generalist

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Tips for traveling with young children

Posted on August 24, 2026August 24, 2026 by Eric

Earlier this year, a friend who was about to travel with their first child asked if I could share any tips on traveling with kids, and I shared my thoughts via email. I’ve shared that email to a few people now, and one requested that I post the tips so they can be shared with […]

Posted in journal, parentingLeave a comment

What’s working for my health

Posted on June 20, 2026June 26, 2026 by Eric

Disclaimer: Every body is different, and I am privileged to have a body that works well and adapts quickly when I challenge it. I’m also self-employed, which means I can design my schedule around the investment I want to make in my health, which is a privilege most people don’t have. What I share in […]

Posted in health, journal, selfdesign, year-in-review 2 Comments

The Obesity Code, by Dr. Jason Fung

Posted on June 13, 2026June 13, 2026 by Eric

Amazon link Disclaimer: I have not independently verified any of the scientific claims below. This may be pseudoscience, but it sounded convincing to me. I had always believed that body weight was a function of calories in and calories out, but Dr. Jason Fung’s book The Obesity Code convinced me that was too simplistic. He […]

Posted in health, nonfiction 1 Comment

What to Make of My Life

Posted on May 14, 2026May 18, 2026 by Eric

This post builds on my summary of Jim Collins’s book, What to Make of a Life, so go read that post first. As I was writing that summary, I started to reflect on how his framework applied to my own life, but realized that I had too many thoughts, so I spun it off into […]

Posted in journal, selfdesignLeave a comment

What to Make of a Life, by Jim Collins

Posted on May 10, 2026May 11, 2026 by Eric

Amazon link I liked Jim Collins’s management books like Built to Last and Good to Great, so I was interested in his latest book after hearing him talk about it on the Tim Ferriss show. In his business books, his research methodology was to look for pairs of companies that looked similar up to a […]

Posted in careers, coaching, nonfiction, people, selfdesign 1 Comment

Founder Unfriendly, by Charlie O’Donnell

Posted on May 2, 2026May 2, 2026 by Eric

Amazon link In this book, Charlie O’Donnell shares his insights on how to navigate the fundraising process, drawing on his experience as a 20-year veteran of the venture capital industry, with stints at Union Square Ventures, First Round, and running his own fund, plus being a failed founder himself. The book is filled with tactical […]

Posted in nextny, nonfiction, techLeave a comment

The Stimulated Mind, by Dr. Tommy Wood

Posted on April 26, 2026April 26, 2026 by Eric

Amazon link Official book site The Tim Ferriss podcast interview where I learned of Wood This book, subtitled “Future-Proof Your Brain from Dementia and Stay Sharp at Any Age”, shares the latest academic research on how to improve your brain’s performance while combining it with the practical tips Wood has developed as a coach to […]

Posted in health, nonfiction 2 Comments

The Way of Excellence, by Brad Stulberg

Posted on February 15, 2026February 16, 2026 by Eric

Amazon link David Epstein interview that compelled me to buy the book What is excellence? Stulberg’s position is that excellence is not merely excelling at an activity, but a biological imperative. As he writes in the introduction: We have an innate drive for progress and growth. It’s why we feel so alive when we channel […]

Posted in coaching, nonfiction, philosophy, selfdesign, sports 1 Comment

Relaxing into the unconscious mind

Posted on January 24, 2026January 26, 2026 by Eric

I learned a startling fact 30 years ago when I was reading The User Illusion, by Tor Norretranders, that consciousness is limited to processing about 20 bits/second (here’s my summary from that 1995 read). And yet we perceive about 12 million bits/second from our senses (10 million from our vision alone). How could we possibly […]

Posted in coaching, cognition, journal, philosophy, selfdesign 1 Comment

Align your learning with your body

Posted on January 12, 2026January 12, 2026 by Eric

My main insight from 2025 was about how my body enabled (and sometimes limited) my learning and growth in every area of my life. A silly example is learning rope flow. I was intrigued when Nsima Inyang described a technique called rope flow on the Tim Ferriss podcast (here’s an example video of him demonstrating […]

Posted in coaching, cognition, journal, selfdesign, year-in-review 4 Comments

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About me: I'm an unrepentant generalist finding my way in a world of specialists. My curiosity has taken my career from physics to software to biotech to business strategy and operations at Google.

I now work as an executive coach, helping leaders become more effective by creating clarity and acting with focus. You can learn more about my coaching at Too Many Trees, or by checking out what I share on LinkedIn around leadership and personal development.

I share what helped me and my clients succeed in my book, You Have A Choice: Beyond Hard Work to Meaningful Impact, and my class, Scale Your Leadership with the Executive Mindset.

email me if you have any questions or comments.

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I still love that you can get a beer at the top of I still love that you can get a beer at the top of a mountain in Europe.
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  • Tips for traveling with young children
  • What’s working for my health
  • The Obesity Code, by Dr. Jason Fung
  • What to Make of My Life
  • What to Make of a Life, by Jim Collins

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