I don’t often write reviews of ebooks, but a handful of them have come out in the last couple weeks that I just can’t ignore — I really think they’ll be of interest to Zen Habits readers who are interested in getting out of debt, in minimalism, or in reducing dependence on cars.

The first is a project I’m involved in: Unautomate Your Finances. An ebook by Baker of ManvsDebt, it teaches you to curb your impulse spending and become more conscious of your financial habits, so you can stop living paycheck-to-paycheck and take control of your money. I wrote a forward to the ebook and there’s a video interview with me on these topics that comes with the book. Buy it here: Unautomate Your Finances.

A quick note: the links to the ebooks in this post are affiliate links, which means that while I’d fully recommend them without compensation, if you do buy a copy you’re helping to support Zen Habits.

Some other awesome ebooks I think you’ll be interested in:

• Simplify: focuses on 7 guiding principles used by the family of four who share their journey at the excellent blog, Becoming Minimalist. Must-read.
• Simply Car-free: wonderful ebook by Tammy of Rowdy Kittens (another awesome simplicity blog) that explores the whys and hows of becoming car-free. Very practical guide that’s been useful to me as my family and I move towards a car-free lifestyle (will be fully car-free when we move to S.F. in June).
• Project M-31: Simplify Your Life in 30 Days: excellent step-by-step approach by Dave of The Minimalist Path that will target one area of your life per day for 30 days. Makes a major change manageable.
• The Art of Being Minimalist: book by Everett Bogue, great advice on becoming a minimalist.

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Haiti Relief Donation
I’m also happy to report back to all of you that my fund-raising effort for the Haiti disaster relief was successful, thanks to all of you! As I said near the end of January, 100% of Zen Habits ebook sales for 30 days would be donated to Doctors Without Borders. Last week, I was happy to make a donation of $6,100 from those ebook sales.

So thank you, all of you, for your generosity!

If you’d still like to buy a Zen Habits ebook to support this site, you can do so:

1. Zen To Done.
2. The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life.
3. The Zen Habits Handbook for Life.

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Zen Habits blog skin, plus a video
Finally, a couple things of potential interest to bloggers:

1. Zen Habits skin. If you buy the Frugal theme for Wordpress, or if you already own it, you can get the Zen Habits skin for Frugal. The skin is free, and it’ll make your blog look pretty much like this one, if that’s of interest.

2. Video interview with Leo: Making a living online. Eric Hamm, developer of Frugal and blogger at Motivate Thyself, did a video interview with me on making a living online. I don’t give you any get-rich-quick answers, but it’s a little insight into what has worked for me.

OK, you’re going to want to take a deep breath before reading this post, but please, do read it.

Deep breath taken? OK, let’s get started!

First, Zen Habits has been nominated for the 2010 Bloggie Awards … which is a huge honor. I’m humbled.

I’m nominated in the “Best Topical Weblog” category, which as far as I can tell means, “We don’t know where else to put you.” It includes other great blogs, including Post Secret, which is kinda unfair as Post Secret rules. But just to be up for the same category as them is really flattering.

So, if you’re so inclined, I’d appreciate it if you went over to the site and voted … please vote for your other favorite blogs as there are a crapload of awesome ones.

Zen Habits Ebook Profits will Go to Haiti Relief
Next up, I’m a bit late in announcing this, simply because things are a little busy for me, but I’ve been wanting to do something to help with the ongoing tragedy in Haiti. So many people have contributed to the relief efforts that I can’t possibly measure up to what’s been done already … but I figure every little bit counts.

So, this is an announcement that for the next 30 days, every penny of sales of Zen Habits ebooks will go to Doctors Without Borders. I spent some time trying to pick the right organization to donate the money to, but there are so many good ones … I decided to just pick one semi-randomly.

So here are the ebooks:

1. Zen To Done.
2. The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life.
3. The Zen Habits Handbook for Life.

If you haven’t bought any of these, this is a good chance to get a moderately priced ebook that I believe will be of value to you … and to help out a good cause at the same time. If you have bought them, they also make good gifts! :)

I’d also be happy to do a 60-90 minute (or so) webinar on changing habits, for a donation of $25 per attendee, with all donations going to Haiti relief, if people are interested. It would basically be me on streaming live video, answering questions on changing habits that you could ask by text chat. If you’re interested in this, let me know via Twitter. If I get 30 or more people say they’d pay $25 for this webinar, I’ll do it, and announce it later.

Leo’s Big Book Giveaway
So I’ve been meaning to give away a bunch of my used books for awhile now, and I figured I’ll just do it now.

These are books on my cherished bookshelf that I decided I love, but no longer want to keep. See my post on a minimalist approach to books for more.

These are mostly books on simplifying, living frugally, self-improvement, veganism and fitness (marathons, triathlons, etc.) that I’ve read and kept for reference. I’m giving them away, for free.

UPDATE: This book giveaway is now closed! Please don’t follow the instructions below.

If you’re interested in getting a free book from my shelf (you freeloader!), do one of the following:

1. Vote in the Bloggies.
2. Buy one of the ebooks mentioned above.
3. Tell friends about Zen Habits or The Power of Less – via email, Twitter, your blog, Facebook, or however you like.

Once you’ve done that, send me a tweet. The tweet should include the following info:

1. @zen_habits #bookgiveaway
2. What you did to enter (i.e. “voted” or “bought ebook” or “told friends” or “blogged”)
3. What books you’d like, ideally – although I don’t guarantee you’ll get them.

OK, if that’s not too complicated, let’s get to the list of books in the giveaway:

1. Simple Taoism – A Guide To Living In Balance, by C. Alexander Simpkins PH.D. & Annellen Simpkins PH.D.
2. The Tao of Pooh, by Benjamin Hoff (awesome)
3. Wherever You Go, There You Are, by Jon Kabat-Zinn
4. George Sheehan on Running To Win (awesome)
5. Marathon – The Ultimate Training Guide, by Hal Higdon
6. The Competitive Runner’s Handbook, by Bob Glover and Shelly-lynn Florence Glover
7. Advanced Marathoning, by Pete Pfitzinger & Scott Douglas
8. Simplify Your Life with Kids, by Elaine St. James
9. Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff … and it’s all small stuff, by Richard Carlson PH.D.
10. Your Money Or Your Life, by Joe Domiguez and Vicki Robin (an all-time great)
11. Ready For Anything – 52 Productivity Principles for Getting Things Done, by David Allen
12. Getting Things Done – The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, by David Allen
13. Simply Organized, by Connie Cox and Cris Evatt
14. The Te of Piglet, by Benjamin Hoff
15. Simple Living for Busy People
16. Keep Life Simple, by Karen Levine
17. The Simplicity Reader, by Elaine St. James (awesome)
18. Career Renegade, by Jonathan Fields
19. Time Management In An Instant, by Karen Leland & Keith Bailey
20. 30 Days To A Simpler Life, by Connie Cox and Cris Evatt
21. Slowing Down to the Speed of Life, by Richard Carlson and Joseph Bailey (one of my favorites!)
22. Vegan Freak – Being Vegan In A Non-Vegan World, by Bob Torres and Jenna Torres
23. Author 101 Bestselling Book Publicity – The Insider’s Guide to Promoting Your Book — and Yourself, by Rick Frishman and Robyn Spizman
24. 10,001 Ways To Live Large On A Small Budget, by Wisebread
25. Vegan With A Vengeance, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz (excellent cookbook)
26. Training Plans For Multisport Athletes, by Gale Bernhardt
27. The Triathlete’s Training Bible, by Joe Friel
28. Design Your Best Year Ever A Proven Formula for Achieving BIG GOALS, by Darren Hardy

After 4 days, I’ll randomly pick winners from everyone who entered, and then do another post on the winners and how to claim your book. UPDATE: The book giveaway is now closed!

Thanks everyone for your help, support, and encouragement! It means the world to me.

I intended to do a “Zen Habits Gift Guide”, full of frugal and green gifts that I like, typical of the gift guides you see everywhere at this time of year.

Then I revised the post to show ways to avoid consumerism — to give no gifts, or to give experiences instead of crap that will clutter people’s lives, to give consumables and hand-made things. But the post took too much research and I got lazy.

So here’s my third attempt at a post on gifts. This is exclusively on books, because, hey, books are one of the best gifts you can give, and you can even find them used sometimes if you’re trying to be frugal and green. Or give ebooks, which I personally love, and they’re usually cheaper and use far less resources than print books.

I’m listing some of my recommendations below, but this is not an endorsement to go consumerist crazy and get into deep debt. I cheerfully call bullshit on that great tradition. Remember, giving doesn’t have to cost a ton of money, and you don’t need to fall for the corporate propaganda. Be better than that.

That said, here’s a list of stuff you can spend your money on, many of them published by corporations. Enjoy, in the spirit of reading and knowledge and love.

1. My book. I would be remiss not to mention my print book, The Power of Less, partly because it helps me to pay the bills around here, but also because I think it’s a good gift for anyone who is looking for some simplicity in their life. And who isn’t, these days? The Power of Less will help your loved one to take control of a life that’s become too much, to simplify information streams and to-do lists, to form good habits in the face of previous failures, to declutter a home and workspace filled with junk.

Buy it at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Borders, or an independent bookseller near you.

2. Ebooks. Ebooks are great because they aren’t printed on dead trees, and if you buy one of mine, you can buy them once and give copies to many. Here are ebooks I offer for cheap:

• Zen To Done, the best-selling productivity ebook, a book that simplifies productivity.
• The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life, my latest, a series of articles on minimalism in many facets of your daily life.
• The Zen Habits Handbook for Life, basically the core articles of Zen Habits, showing you how to live a simpler, happier, motivated life.
• Essential Motivation Handbook, a joint ebook with Eric Hamm, designed to be a motivation resource when you need it most.

3. Awesome novels. You can’t go wrong by giving a novel as a gift. The novel has an unquestionably magical power to transport the reader into new worlds, and that is both necessary and unmatched in today’s world of technology. I could give a long list of a couple hundred excellent novels I’d recommend, but I’m going to limit myself to a handful that I read or re-read this year, and absolutely loved.

• The Pleasure of My Company: A Novella by Steve Martin. I don’t think of Steve Martin as a writer, but in this tiny little book, he’s created a wonderful, wonderful read. I’d read Steve Martin’s Shopgirl and enjoyed both the book and the movie, but The Pleasure of My Company is even better. I can’t believe I hadn’t read this or even heard of it until recently.
• The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. Not really a novel, and not particularly new, it’s still a really gripping tale. I don’t know why I never read this before — maybe it sounded too depressing or something, but boy was I wrong! This was an amazing memoir, and usually I don’t like memoirs at all. Such great stories, and overall it’s a moving and superbly written book. You won’t believe this woman’s childhood — at the same time unbelievable, sad, funny, inspiring, unconventional, brave. If you haven’t read this book yet, please please do!
• Fortress of Solitude and Motherless Brooklyn. Two beautiful books by Jonathan Lethem, one of my most favoritest of current writers. All his stuff is good, but these are my two favorites right now, and you can’t miss by giving either as a gift.
• Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. Wonderful little historical fiction novel set in the mountains during Communist China under Mao, about the magical powers of reading.
• The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Historical novel, utterly fascinating tale of white people raised by the black help, set in Jackson, Mississippi just as the civil rights movement was taking off. Really well done.
• Bel Canto. This isn’t a new book, but if you know someone who hasn’t read this book by Ann Patchett yet, but who loves reading, give this book to them. I love all her stuff actually but this is the best.
• Read more of my novel recommendations here: 50 Amazing and Essential Novels to Enrich Your Library.

4. Personal development books. Also known as “self-improvement books”, these are popular this time of year as people look to change their lives for the better. There are lots of books I could recommend, but I’m going to highlight just a few:

• Unclutter Your Life in One Week. The fantastic Erin Doland of Unclutterer.com (a must-read blog) just published a book I love and think you’ll enjoy very much. Highly recommended if you’re looking to declutter.
• Career Renegade: How to Make a Great Living Doing What You Love. Author, blogging friend, and career expert Jonathan Fields wrote the perfect tome for creating the life you want doing the work you’re passionate about.
• No Impact Man. Written by Colin Beavan of the No Impact Man blog, full of great tips for reducing your impact on the Earth in a practical way, without having to go live in a cabin in the woods.
• 365 Ways to Live Cheap. Written by Trent of The Simple Dollar, one of the best at extremely practical advice on living a frugal life.
• The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun. From Gretchen Rubin of, yes, The Happiness Project blog, it’s not out yet (will be out Dec. 29, 2009) and I haven’t read it. But I know Gretchen’s writing, and there isn’t a better writer on creating happiness in your life.
• The Art of Manliness: Classic Skills and Manners for the Modern Man. For the men in your life, this isn’t about how to win the “chicks” or get six-pack abs … it’s a refreshing guide to being a gentleman, a lost art in today’s world. By Brett of The Art of Manliness blog.
• 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget. Similar to Trent’s book, written by the authors of the excellent Wise Bread personal finance blog, the title says it all.

5. Even more books you’ll love. Some of my other posts on books:

• 50 Amazing and Essential Novels to Enrich Your Library
• 20 Amazing and Essential Non-fiction Books to Enrich Your Library
• 10 Books That Shaped My Life, and 40 Others I Love
• 7 Current Writers I’m In Love With
• Best All-Time Children’s Books

For other books that I recommend, see the Zen Habits bookstore on Amazon link. I get a small cut from each sale made there. In fact, if you click through and buy other products from Amazon (not just the books I recommend), I will get a cut. So feel free to click through and buy anything you like from Amazon, if you were planning to buy it anyway. Don’t buy a bunch of useless products just for me.
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If you liked this guide, please bookmark it on Delicious or share on Twitter. Thanks, my friends.

A couple months ago I released The Essential Motivation Handbook, along with co-author Eric Hamm of Motivate Thyself, and the response from readers has been strongly positive.

But Eric and I wanted to do more — to add more value for those who bought the ebook. So today we’re happy to announce we’re sending out three bonus podcast videos to everyone who bought the ebook, and the videos will be available to anyone who buys it from now on.

Bonus videos
We’ve created three bonus podcast videos addressing reader questions on motivation, as a thank-you for those who buy the ebook.

In these videos, Eric and I both answer some of the most common motivation questions, including:

• I have great desire to achieve my goals, but often lose steam before getting there. How do I keep the head of steam going?
• Is it possible to force motivation? I feel like the harder I try, the less it works. Sometimes when I give up it finally works.
• My 3 1/2 year old daughter will start pre-school next week. How can I motivate her?
• I hate running but I want to be a runner — how should I overcome the hate?
• How do you motivate people who are really stubborn, close-minded and don’t think their lives can change?

We’re sure you’ll find them useful, as they add a lot of value to what we’ve put in the ebook already.

New site
We’ve put up a new site for the ebook with more info: The Motivation Handbook. It has an interview by Daniel Richard with Eric and me about the ebook, along with lots of other info on the ebook and how to sign up as an affiliate.

I’d like to thank Daniel for the initial setup of the site, as well as Eric for revamping it with his Frugal Theme. We hope you find it useful!

FAQs
I thought I’d share some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), from the site:

Q: Why do I need this many articles on motivation?

A: We all need motivation sometimes. If you’re having motivation problems, this ebook will tackle the issues you’re facing from many different angles.

What makes this ebook really valuable, though, is that it’s more of a reference than a step-by-step instruction guide. We encourage you to read it in bits, opening it and reading an appropriate article whenever you are in need of motivation. As such, there will be times when we repeat ourselves in the book, but that’s OK — you’ll need the same motivational advice at different times. Don’t read it from cover to cover — pick it up at the times when your motivation flags. We’ll be there to help.

Q: What does this ebook add that your sites don’t already have?

A: A more important question is: what’s your time worth? Because honestly, you can get all this information from our blogs, if you are willing to spend the time to dig through hundreds or thousands of articles to find what you’re looking for. If your time is valuable, however, we’ve saved you all that time — we’ve hand-picked the best motivational articles we’ve ever written, and put it in a nice, readable package you can read anywhere, whether you’re online or not.

So if you’re more interested in free, you can get the info without cost on our sites. However, if you don’t have the time to dig through all those old posts, we’ve done it for you. This way you’ll have motivational posts at your fingertips, right when you need it. We think your time is valuable, and we hope you do too.

Q: What format is the ebook in? Does it have DRM or other restrictions?

A: This ebook is in DRM-free PDF format, which means once you buy and download it, you can read it on any device that can read PDFs, email it to yourself, without restrictions. We don’t have plans at this time to offer it in other formats, but you’re free to convert it from PDF to anything you like.

Q: Can I use part of the ebook on my website?

A: Yes! This book is Uncopyrighted, which means we give you permission to reprint parts of the ebook in whatever format you like, whether it’s on your blog, in your book or ebook, in a magazine or newsletter, in a classroom or business. Please do share our content, and if you can give us credit, we’d be most appreciative.

We do appreciate it even more if you pay for a copy of the ebook first, of course.

Buy The Essential Motivation Handbook.

Other ebooks:

• Zen To Done
• The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life
• Zen Habits Handbook for Life
• The Power of Less (print book)

“What you are is what you have been. What you’ll be is what you do now.” - Buddha

Post by Leo Babauta.

I’m excited to announce that the companion to my best-selling Zen To Done ebook is released today: The Essential Motivation Handbook.

I’m releasing this new ebook along with co-author Eric Hamm of the Motivate Thyself blog, as a way to help those who are trying to be more productive and to reach their goals, but are having problems finding the motivation to stay on track.

That’s most of us, I’m sure you’d agree. This ebook will solve those problems.

The ebook is just $14.95 — a small price to pay for finding the motivation to reach your goals. You can buy your DRM-free copy here: The Essential Motivation Handbook.

This ebook is intended to serve:

1. As a handy reference: any time you need motivation — just refer to this guide.
2. As a great companion to the ZTD system — it’s much easier to stay focused and productive if you can find the motivation.
3. As an easy way to find dozens of great motivation tips without having to spend time searching for them online, filtering out the useless stuff.

I’m sure you’ll find it useful. In fact, Eric and I are offering a 100% money-back guarantee, immediately, with no questions asked.

Update: We’ve released three bonus video podcasts on motivation for those who buy the ebook.

Here’s the Table of Contents:

1. How To Motivate Yourself
2. The Only Two Secrets to Motivating Yourself You’ll Ever Need
3. A Guide to Beating the Fears That Are Holding You Back
4. Task Ninja: Form the Action Habit
5. Top 20 Motivation Hacks
6. The Ultimate Guide to Motivation – How to Achieve Any Goal
7. Progress, Progress, Progress! 5 Tips To Keep You Moving Forward
8. 7 Steps to Turn Your Self-Improvement Desires Into Reality
9. 25 Killer Actions to Boost Your Self-Confidence
10. 6 Small Things You Can Do When You Lack Discipline
11. 16 Ways to Motivate Yourself When You’re in a Slump
12. 5 Tips For Motivational Recovery
13. The Magical Power of Focus
14. 10 Ways to Beat the “Can’t Get No Satisfaction” Syndrome
15. 30 Incredible Places to Turn When You Need Inspiration
16. How To Deal With Negative Feedback
17. How to Doggedly Pursue Your Dreams in the Face of Naysayers
18. Achieve Your Dreams Despite Pressures of Work and Family
19. Why You Should Celebrate Your Mistakes
20. How to Actually Execute Your To-do List
21. The Yin And Yang Of Persistence
22. Enduring the Valley to Get to Success
23. How To Relax And Why It’s So Important
24. The Simple Guide To Single-Tasking Success
25. Stop Reading About It and Do It

There isn’t a better ebook on motivation in existence. Buy it here: The Essential Motivation Handbook.

Read more.

Other ebooks:

• Zen To Done
• The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life
• Zen Habits Handbook for Life
• The Power of Less (print book)

Bloggers: If you’d like to sell The Essential Motivation Handbook on your site, sign up to be an affiliate here. We’re offering an incredible 50% affiliate cut, which is about as high as you’ll find anywhere. And all sales made on your site are covered by our 100% money-back guarantee as well.

“Never, never, never, never give up.” - Winston Churchill

Today I received an email from the lawyers of author Susan Jeffers, PhD., notifying me that I’d infringed on her trademark by inadvertently using the phrase “feel the fear and do it anyway” in my post last week, A Guide to Beating the Fears That Hold You Back.

The phrase, apparently, is the title of one of her books … a book I’d never heard of. I wasn’t referring to her book. I’m not using the phrase as a title of a book or product or to sell anything. I was just referring to something a friend said on Twitter.

Her lawyers asked me to insert the (R) symbol after the phrase, in my post, and add this sentence: “This is the registered trademark of Susan Jeffers, Ph.D. and is used with her permission.”

Yeah. I’m not gonna do that.

I find it unbelievable that a common phrase (that was used way before it was the title of any book) can be trademarked. We’re not talking about the names of products … we’re talking about the English language. You know, the words many of us use for such things as … talking, and writing, and general communication? Perhaps I’m a little behind the times, but is it really possible to claim whole chunks of the language, and force people to get permission to use the language, just in everyday speech?

What if this were taken to an extreme? What if some billionaire (say, Bill Gates) decided to start trademarking thousands and thousands of phrases, so that he could charge us for each use, or so that we’d have to link back to the Microsoft homepage with each reference? The language, in this scenario, could be entirely privatized if we allow this sort of thing.

So, while this post is probably ill-advised (and yes, I realize that I’m actually giving publicity to Ms. Jeffers), I have to object. I think we have a duty, as writers and bloggers and speakers of the English language, to defend our rights to … words. Free speech is a bit of an important concept, I think.

As an aside, I think the idea of jealously protecting copyright and trademarks, in this digital age, is outdated and ignorant. You want your ideas to spread, and you should encourage people to spread your ideas, not put up all kinds of boundaries and restrictions and obstacles to that being done. This blog, for example, is Uncopyrighted, and will always be free, because I want people to spread my posts and ideas. I think it’s actually good for me as a writer, and it’s (not insignificantly) better for the writing community in general if we can share each others’ work freely. I’m hoping that with posts like this, and the good work of thousands of other like-minded people, the old mindset of fencing off ideas and language will slowly change.

So, no, I will not be adding a Registered Trademark symbol to the previous post. And no, I won’t be adding a phrase of legalese to the post. And no, I won’t even attribute the phrase or link to her book, as I wasn’t referring to the book. And no, I won’t remove the phrase.

I’d rather be sued.

Oh, and I’m not going to change the title of this post either. You’ll have to remove it from my cold, dead iMac.

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On a side note: You may feel free to use the title of my book, The Power of Less, in any of your blog posts, on Twitter or even (gasp) everyday conversation.

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If you like this post, please Retweet, or share via Digg, Delicious or StumbleUpon. Thanks!

As long-time readers know by now, I’m a book lover. But I have a confession: sometime late last year, I went through the longest (by far) dry spell of reading in my life.

I was reading, sure, but I wasn’t reading books — I’d been doing a lot of online reading instead. Looking back, I can see that the problem came when 1) I was turned off from books by a few hard-to-read non-fiction books that bored me to tears and 2) I was on a tear with my online reading, obsessed with a couple of topics at the time.

Today I’m happy to say I’ve been reading more than ever in the last month and a half. My cure: I started with fun-to-read, easy fiction that drew me in and wouldn’t let me go. I continued that for a few books and then slowly transitioned into (slightly) meatier stuff. What follows are some of the better (as opposed to the trashier) books I’ve read, and can recommend with pleasure. I hope you’ll enjoy some of them!

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. I don’t know why I never read this before — maybe it sounded too depressing or something, but boy was I wrong! This was an amazing memoir, and usually I don’t like memoirs at all. Such great stories, and overall it’s a moving and superbly written book. You won’t believe this woman’s childhood — at the same time unbelievable, sad, funny, inspiring, unconventional, brave. If you haven’t read this book yet, please please do!

London Is the Best City in America by Laura Dave. A first-time novel, but it’s so smartly written that you wouldn’t believe this was a first effort. There are so many stories about separations and marriage and relationships out there, you wouldn’t think anyone could tell another stories in a way that was compelling and different, and yet Laura Dave was able to do that. The title is confusing until almost the end, but it does tie in with the theme. The book, btw, has nothing to do with London … but it does teach you about the origins of the terms “honeymoon” and “wedding toast” which is a nice compensation. Loved this book and I recommend it. Dave has a second book out that’s on my to-read list.

The Pleasure of My Company: A Novella by Steve Martin. I don’t think of Steve Martin as a writer — actor, comedian, sure, but not writer. But if you think about it, he’s written screenplays and lots of comedy routines, so he must know how to write. Well, it’s a bit unfair that someone so talented on the screen can be so talented as a writer — I can’t act or make people laugh (much) and I have perhaps half his writing ability. The Pleasure of My Company is a tiny little book, but what a wonderful, wonderful read. I’d read Steve Martin’s Shopgirl and enjoyed both the book and the movie, but The Pleasure of My Company is even better. I can’t believe I hadn’t read this or even heard of it until recently.

How to Talk to a Widower by Jonathan Tropper. You might not think a book about a man who lost the love of his life in a plane crash, and then spends a year wallowing in grief and self-pity, would be fun to read, let alone hilarious. You’d be sadly mistaken. I was, but the first pages of the book proved me wrong and I laughed and loved this book from beginning to end. Some great characters in here, besides an overabundance of wit.

The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby. This book also proved me wrong, once again. I didn’t think it would be interesting to read about someone else talking about what he’s been reading, but I read the book anyway because I just adore Nick Hornby. Btw, Nick, if you happen to read this blog, email or twitter me because I have a man-crush on you, or at least on your words and wit and written personality. I would love to get a beer sometime. Anyway, I’ve ordered half a dozen books just reading Hornby’s descriptions of some of the books he read and loved. The book is a reprint of a bunch of his columns for a UK magazine, where he talks about what he’s been reading for the last month. Basically what this post is (and he was the inspiration for this post), but with wit.

I Love Everybody (and Other Atrocious Lies) by Laura Notaro. I didn’t love this book. It’s a series of non-fiction humorous stories from Notaro’s life, and they are funny … but she tries too hard to be funny (as opposed to Hornby, who has a more understated humor) and in overreaching the humor often falls short. Still a decent read, but not my favorite on this list.

Diary of a Bad Year by J.M. Coetzee. I don’t know how to describe my relationship with Coetzee’s writing. He’s brilliant. His books are incredibly well-written and interesting and thought-provoking and different. But he just doesn’t entertain me, engage me, on the same level that Hornby (for example) does. This book was awesome though, if slightly frustrating to read. It has a unique structure: the top of every page is a series of essays by a (fictional) author, the middle of each page is a narrative by that author, and the bottom of the page is a narrative by a young woman who he has a crush on, and who changes his life. The essays by themselves are well done — the first few are as close to my political philosophy as I’ve seen in fiction. But the story that unfold below the essays is what draws you in. The (slight) frustration comes because we have to simultaneously read three things at once, which is unique but difficult because you have to keep switching between diferent voices and stories and ideas. Overall, an excellent book, though.

Watermelon by Marian Keyes. Not the most literary of books on this list, it’s still a good story of a woman going through a divorce and finding refuge with her family in Ireland. I liked it, and will probably read others by Keyes soon.

Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination by Helen Fielding. I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book, as I’d previously read a couple by Fielding that were at once funny but kind of annoying because of their diary format. This story wasn’t in diary format, and I think Fielding is much better this way. It was a fun story of a woman who isn’t sure if she’s unfairly judging a man because he seems Arabic, or if she’s imagining things (she has, as the title says, an overactive imagination), or if she’s really in the center of an international terrorist plot. I ended up liking Olivia and would love to read more of her. A good read.

What good books have you read lately? Share in the comments!

More books you’ll love:

• 50 Amazing and Essential Novels to Enrich Your Library
• 20 Amazing and Essential Non-fiction Books to Enrich Your Library
• 10 Books That Shaped My Life, and 40 Others I Love
• 7 Current Writers I’m In Love With
• Best All-Time Children’s Books
  

What’s the number one dream killer?

Doing what works.

By doing what works, I mean following a safe, easy, path where it’s unlikely you’ll find much that’s unknown. It’s comfortable and secure, so we think.

I don’t know about you, but I want more than just security. I want to live not simply survive.

If we want to have any hope at making our dreams a reality, we have to carve out our own path. We have to find a way to get paid to be ourselves. We must drop conventional wisdom (collective assumption) and break away from the herd.

But that takes courage, doesn’t it? It’s not easy taking giant leaps of faith, especially when you don’t know if there will be any floor beneath your next step.

So in order to start living on our own terms, we need to do two things:

• Stop caring, and…
  
• Break our uncertainty threshold.

Since it’s the simplest of the two, let’s start with why we need to stop caring.

This may seem shocking to you, but much of what’s standing in the way of you and your dreams is caring a bit too much about things that really don’t matter.

Your caring too much about having new cool things causes you to spend money on things you don’t need. That money could go toward a fund for transitioning to open your own business, and doing something you love. Your caring about what other people think keeps you from asking for help — or asking for what you want — that could further you on the path toward your dreams. In the same way, caring too much about not knowing where to start keeps you paralyzed, and causes you to not take action.

This kind of caring is unhealthy. It’s getting in the way of you living the life you want to lead.

So the first step is: stop caring.

You don’t know how to stop caring? It’s very simple, so don’t over complicate it. Imagine what you’d do with a hot piece of coal in your hand. Naturally, you would drop it immediately. Do the same thing with caring about things that aren’t important. Scary? Yes. Worth it? Hell yes!

The second thing you need to do is push your uncertainty threshold.

We all have a certain limit, or threshold, for the amount of uncertainty we can handle. For some of us, we have such a low limit, we’re afraid of even simple things, like talking to a stranger. We can’t predict what the person we’ll say, so we can’t tolerate the uncertainty. This is on the lower end of the spectrum. The higher end of the scale might be not being able to quit your job and follow your passion. There’s no way you can foresee what will happen, so you let uncertainty keep you from taking action.

The thing is, what’s holding you back is mostly illusory fears. None of them are based on past events, or any real data. It’s all in your head.

So in order to pursue our dreams, we have to stop caring about not knowing. We have to push our uncertainty limit, to be able to tolerate bigger and bigger risks. You can start small by talking to stranger or telling someone how you really feel when you would normally hold back.

Whenever you feel afraid of doing something, question where the fear is coming from. Is it real, or imagined? Are you in any perceived physical danger? If not, do what you are afraid of. Push your uncertainty limit. Your dreams depend on it.

The more you do this, the more you’ll be unafraid to take bigger and bigger risks. You’ll become a lion instead of a mouse. Your dreams will start taking root in the world.

These are just a few of the common obstacles I talk about in my new ebook, Reclaim Your Dreams, An Uncommon Guide to Living on Your Own Terms. In the book, I outline other common pitfalls people commonly make and how to avoid them.

As a special thank you to all the ZenHabits readers, you’ll get an exclusive 25% discount if you purchase my book before February 28th. That’s $18.70 instead of the regular list price of $24.95. Just use the code ZenHabits at the checkout and you’ll get your discount. That’s less than the price of dinner for two for something that could possibly change your life forever.

Can you afford to let another year slip away without doing what you love? If the answer is no, the only question left is… Are you ready to Reclaim Your Dreams?

This article was written by Zen Habits contributor Jonathan Mead of Illuminated Mind. To learn more about how to reclaim your dreams, grab a subscription to Illuminated MInd.

“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.” - Jorge Luis Borges

Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter.

A teen-ager wrote to me the other day, asking how he could build the habit of reading — he spends too much time on Facebook and playing video games.

The short answer: read amazing, fun, exciting, lovely books that you just can’t put down!

I’ve been a lifelong reader, so the pleasure of a good book is one of my favorite things in the world. I love to lose myself in the world of a novel, to become best friends with a character, to curl up in the silence of the early morning or late night hours, wrapped in the deliciousness of a book.

I think many people approach reading the wrong way: they try to force themselves to read, and see reading as a difficult and tedious chore. Well, if that’s how you look at reading, no wonder you don’t have the habit!

Instead, see it as a wonderful thing. Reading is a joy. It is a time of peace, of adventure, of exploration, of just enjoying a good story. If you learn to love reading, as I do and as many others do, it’s not really a habit you have to develop — it’s something you look forward to doing each day.

On Reading Being Good For You
First let’s take a look at a deeply entrenched concept: that reading is wholesome and healthy and Good For You. Well, I think it is, but is it inherently better than any of a thousand other activities? Maybe sometimes.

Is reading a book better than playing outside? Better than a good conversation? Better than exploring websites on a topic that excites you? Better than exploring nature? Better than playing sports? Better than drawing or painting or playing music or dancing?

I don’t think so. I think each activity has its own benefits and pleasures.

Is reading better than watching TV? I tend to believe it is, if learning is important to you, but not necessarily so if pleasure is your main concern. Both activities can be pleasurable in their own way.

Is reading better than playing video games? This will be controversial, but I’m not so sure it is. Read this article for more about the learning advantages of playing video games.

Reading might be better than many activities if your main concern is educating yourself and improving your chances of succeeding in various careers. However … reading is more than a means to an end … reading is an end in and of itself. It’s a joy, and that’s how you should approach it.

If you gain a side benefit of becoming better prepared for school and life, well … so much the better!

Reading and Children
Many parents are concerned because their kids aren’t readers. Well, I wouldn’t worry so much. What’s more important is that you are loving and compassionate towards them, that you instill a love for learning (by any means) and give them the tools they need to explore whatever they’re excited about.

How do you do that? By not forcing them to learn, but by being a role model for them and showing your enthusiasm for learning, by exposing them to all kinds of exciting things and talking with them about it and learning about these things together (when they’re interested), by helping them explore things that excite them (whatever those things are).

However, if you’d like them to learn the love of reading you yourself have, there are things you can do that are consistent with the philosophy in the paragraph above.

Start by reading to your child. You can start from the moment he’s born (or earlier), but whenever you start is good. Read fun books, exciting books, adventurous books. Here’s a good place to start: Best All-Time Children’s Books.

Make reading fun. Make it a time of bonding between the two of you. Make it something your child looks forward to doing each day. Do not make reading a forced thing — encourage it, make it fun, don’t force them to read if they don’t want to.

Make it a routine — do it at the same time(s) of day, in the same place, such as at night in bed or in the morning in a favorite chair or couch — because children find comfort in routines.

Also make it a habit to go to the library regularly — and read with your child there. Help your child find books that interest her. Visit used book stores (and new bookstores too).

Provide a variety of reading materials for your child, about topics she’s interested in. Lots of books, lots of magazines, websites, etc.

And be a model — read yourself. Do it every day, and let your child see how much you love reading. He’ll pick up on it.

Finding Amazing Books
Whether you’re trying to instill the love of reading in your child or yourself, the key is in finding books that you just can’t put down. If you find that, the rest is easy.

Easier said than done? True — every person will have different preferences for authors, genres and so on. You can’t just read a definitive list of books online, start from the top, and work your way down.

That said, you can start with my lists of amazing books:

• 50 Amazing and Essential Novels to Enrich Your Library
• 20 Amazing and Essential Non-fiction Books to Enrich Your Library

That’s just a start, of course. Check out sites such as GoodReads to see recommendations from others based on books you know you like. Explore books at the bookstore or library — just pick up a book and start reading for 10-20 minutes and see if it grabs you. Sometimes a good book takes a little while to develop, of course, but many great ones will hook you from the first page and keep you going from there. Read more: 20 Ways to Get Free or Cheap Books

For the aforementioned teen who is looking to develop the habit of reading, I can recommend some of my favorites from my teen-age years (or thereabouts):

• The Catcher in the Rye
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• Watership Down
• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series
• Piers Anthony’s Xanth fantasy series (starting with A Spell for Chameleon (Xanth, Book 1))
• Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series (starting with The Color of Magic)
• Lord of the Flies
• The Giver
• The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings series
• The Chronicles of Narnia

A couple really popular ones my teen or pre-teen kids have enjoyed recently include the Twilight series, Inkheart, Bridge to Terabithia, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Eragon and of course, Harry Potter Paperback Box Set (Books 1-6).

The Habit of Reading
If you’re serious about creating the habit of reading, what’s important is finding a time you can read every single day — often that’s early morning or late at night (or both). For others, it might be during their lunch break. You only need to read for 10-20 minutes a day to form the habit.

Also find a place that’s comfortable, and read there every time. Make sure it has decent lighting, that the temperature is nice, that you’re in a good chair or couch or someplace that you can relax in without falling asleep (although there’s nothing wrong with sleep).

Be sure to shut off distractions such as the TV, Internet, phones, Blackberry or iPhone, radio or other music. Let reading be a quiet tim.

In forming habits, you want to be as consistent as possible. So mark an “x” on your calendar every day you do the habit, and try to keep your unbroken streak of “x”es going as long as possible (Jerry Seinfeld’s trick).

A habit is much easier to form if it’s something you enjoy, not something you’re forcing yourself to do. So make the time you spend reading a joy — see the next section.

“We shouldn’t teach great books; we should teach a love of reading.” - B.F. Skinner

The Joy of Reading
The habit of reading is not as important as the joy of reading. As a bonus, though, if you discover or nurture the joy of reading, the habit becomes much much easier.

How to you discover the joy of reading? Well, start by finding amazing books, as I discussed above. If a book bores you, move on to another. Find a book with a main character you love, doing things that excite you or give you joy.

But beyond the book itself is everything else that surrounds you — where you sit, how quiet it is, how comfortable you are. You want the experience to be as pleasurable as possible. For some, that might be reading while taking a hot bath (reading in the shower is more difficult). For others, that might be with a hot cup of tea or coffee. For still others, it’s reading in the park, near a river or lake or ocean, on their front porch as the sun rises.

Whatever works for you, but make it something to look forward to.

Don’t force yourself to read — do it because it’s fun and enjoyable. If you treat it like a chore, it will feel like one. If you treat it like a treat, that’s what it will be. Make reading a voluntary thing, a hobby, a passion.

Learn to immerse yourself in the world of a book, and forget about the world around you. This is related to being in the moment, or finding the state of Flow — time seems to disappear, and nothing else exists but your book.

If you have kids or grandkids, read to them. Snuggle up close on the couch or bed, and read a good book. It’s great quality time, and it helps you enjoy reading more as well. Reading chapter books, such as BFG or Matilda or the Hobbit or Harry Potter, is a great experience for both child and adult.

You might also try reading groups in your area, or discussion groups online. Discussing a book is a great way to make reading fun, to motivate yourself to read, to get deeper into a book.

Finally, consider a reading log or journal, if you enjoy things like that. It can be fun to look back on what you have read, and writing in a journal is a great way to reflect on what you’ve read and amplify the joy of reading.
—
If you want to start with just one great book, might I kindly recommend my book, The Power of Less. Help the book do well! A few ways you can help: buy the book for others, spread the word with friends and family about the website, review the book on your blog. Thanks everyone!
—

Author, blogging friend, and career expert Jonathan Fields has launched his new book today: Career Renegade: How to Make a Great Living Doing What You Love.

I’m happy to have him as a guest on Zen Habits to talk about his new book and how it will help us all pursue the career we’ve always dreamed about.

Disclaimer: Jonathan is a blogging friend of mine, as I mentioned, and I was interviewed for this book and I’m in one of the chapters. But after reading through my review copy, I saw that the book would be useful to many people and thought I’d interview Jonathan to let you know more about it.

Leo: On the book’s web page, you say that “Do What You Love And The Money Will Follow” Is A Scam … can you explain this? It seems to go against what most of us believe.

Jonathan: If your passion happens to lie in some field with a clear path to a great income, like law, plastic surgery or programming, you may be one of the lucky few who can make a great living doing what you love by simply following the mainstream path.

But, what if you love teaching, painting, making music, writing, knitting, playing video games or just plain hanging out and having great conversations? Then what? Will the money really just automatically follow if you try to turn those into your living? Doubtful, no matter how good a gamer, knitter or talker you are.

No doubt, there’s a lot of simplifying you can do to live a lot better on less. Your book does an amazing job of laying out that process. But, what if you do all that…and it’s still not enough? It’s not easy to support a family of four in a major city on a teacher’s salary, no matter how much you streamline your life.

So, if there’s no “mainstream” way to make enough money to live well in the world with your passion, conventional wisdom says either turn it into a hobby or accept that you’ll have to either sacrifice money for passion or passion for money.

Career Renegade is all about breaking the binds of conventional wisdom, doing what you love, then “making” the money follow.

Leo: Tell us how Career Renegade is a game-changer and a life-changer… what will it change for us? And what is a Career Renegade?

Jonathan: Here’s what makes this book really different. It says, even if there’s no clear “conventional” way to generate income around your passion, the next logical step is not sacrifice. Nor is it relegating your passion to wallow in hobby-land.

There is often a “renegade” path to both passion and prosperity, a different way to do what you love that’ll generate enough to live comfortably. And, laying those paths out is what this book is all about.

Career Renegade is one part inspiration and 9 parts action. Its packed with hundreds of strategies, case studies, links and resources. It covers everything from identifying and refining your passion to tapping technology to position yourself as the go-to person in the area of your passion, then leveraging your reputation and community to create the opportunities you need. Leo, you’re actually a perfect example of this (which is why you’re in the book).

It also busts a bunch of myths about careers, entrepreneurship and, to a certain extent, mindset and personal development. For example, when it comes to mindset, I’m a big believer in visualization. But, did you know there are two very different approaches to visualization, and there’s great published research about which one works better?

In fact, the one promoted by the vast majority of people isn’t the one that delivers the best results. I go into both styles in the book, share the research, then show what works best and when.

Okay, last thing—what is a Career Renegade? It’s someone who makes a conscious effort to build their living around the life they want to life, the activities and experiences they love to do and the people they just cannot get enough of, while also earning enough to live well in the world.

Leo: Lots of my readers are having trouble finding their passion … can you give a couple of tips on how they could get started finding it?

Jonathan: I guess it won’t surprise you to learn I am a bit of a contrarian here, too. I don’t really believe people don’t know what their passions are. We all know. We’ve known since were little kids. Maybe not the exact jobs, but we do know what makes us come alive.

The problem is, when we ask the question in the context of careers, we almost always bundle with a “part 2.” We ask, “what am I passionate about…that will make a lot of money?” When we add that dangling participle, we end up dangling our passions in the wind. So, step one. Stop doing that!

Take the money part of the equation off the table, even if for a moment. When you do this, activities, ideas, adventures and explorations start flooding in.

A great starting point is to ask…

“If I won the lottery, and it was enough to support me for the rest of my life, but a condition was that I had to work full-time at something and I couldn’t use that money to fund a business, what would I do?”

Then, begin to refine. Ask what you’ve done in the past that has delivered you into what famed psychology researcher and professor, Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi, called a state of “flow” (I go into this in detail in the book).

Next, go one level deeper and ask “who” makes you come alive? What type of people?

Finally, look at what you love to read, what you do when you have free time (other than sleeping and watching TV). You get the picture.

Leo: Leaving your day job to pursue your passion is a scary thing, for anybody. How do you overcome that fear to take the plunge?

Jonathan: First, very often, you can test the waters or start to build your renegade career on the side, before making the big leap into the next big adventure.

You are a great example. For the better part of your first year as a blogger, you still worked a “real” job, until you’d built Zen Habits and various other passion-driven income streams into a stable enough side-pursuit to make the jump.

Second, you’ve got to rally your rabbis. What does mean? Work like crazy to assemble a team of like-minded people who will be honest, but still support your quest.  You may also need to spend a lot of time convincing those closest to you that you’re not just plain losing it (trust me, been there).  I actually tapped my marketing background to lay out a process in the book to make this a lot easier and smooth a lot of bumps.

Last thing, mindset is critical. You’ve got to cultivate the “just watch me” mindset. This will be instrumental in cultivating the will to take daily action toward your vision. And, honestly, that’s the single most important factor in any success. Consistent action. So, implement a set of daily mindset practices that’ll keep you focused not on what can go wrong, but on what can and will go right.

Leo: Is there a certain type of person who would be best for this kind of thing — to become a Career Renegade — or can anyone do it?

Jonathan: I’d love to say anyone can pull it off. And, truth is, anyone can. But, the more self-directed you are, the more motivated to finally get what you want out of live you are, the more likely you’ll be to succeed.

Also, if your current quest is simply figuring out how to make enough to cover your fundamental living expenses, to pay your rent and put the most basic amount of food on the table for your family, you’ll likely be less motivated by the desire to earn a living doing what you love and more by your basic instinct to survive.

As we know from Maslow, until you’ve got survival covered, it’s difficult to focus on the other elements in the hierarchy of needs.

Leo: What happens if you take the plunge and go for your dreams, but don’t make enough money? Do you think that happens very often?

Jonathan: So, one thing I’m not going tell you is that this is easy. It’s not. It may be one of the hardest things you’ll ever do. But, here’s the thing. We’re talking about the one thing that will likely consume the vast majority of your waking hours until the day you either retire or die. So, sure, it’s a giant, challenge…but it’s a challenge worth rising to!

Whether you succeed in this or any other life-changing endeavor is largely a factor of your approach. It’s no different than any other big-picture quest. There’s no magic to it. No secret strategy, key, button or pill.

• Identify your genuine passion,
• Test for viability/market demand and adapt,
• Acquire the knowledge and assets you need to act,
• Cultivate the renegade mindset,
• Rally your inner and upper circles
• Define and commit to daily action, then
• Take consistent action, without excuse, until you reach your goal.

That formula wins pretty much every time.

So, when you look at people who take the plunge and come up short, you can pretty much always look at each one of those items and pick out where there was a breakdown. And, if you’re game, go back to the broken element, adapt and revise, and jump back in.

Leo: Tell us briefly about your career — are you a living illustration of your principles?

Jonathan: I’ve been an entrepreneur since I was a kid, but somehow ended up in law school. When I got out, I worked for the S.E.C., then a few years later, jumped to a mega-firm in NYC. Two weeks into my stint, I ended up in the hospital in emergency surgery, having perforated my intestine and developed a big pelvic abcess (simmering ball of infection).

Thankfully, the surgery went well and I made a full recovery, but it was a wake up call, my body had literally rejected my career. So, I made a list of things I thought would be cool to do for a living. It became clear that most people who did the things on my list, most of which involved health and fitness, didn’t make much money.

I was convinced I could be different, but I knew it would take time to figure out how. So I started preparing, spent a while saving up enough money to cover the early leg of my next big adventure, then eventually walked away from the law.

In fact, I went from making six-figures to earning $12 an hour as a personal trainer. Yikers! But, within a short period of time, I’d figured a better mousetrap. Soon after, I opened my own facility and grew it big enough to sell to investors 2 ½ years later.

I’d also discovered a passion for writing, so I took some time to write, but then the yoga side of the wellness industry began to call me back in. I’d developed an interest in yoga as a practitioner, and that sparked my entrepreneurial jones, too.

So, a month and a half after 9-11, with a 3-month old daughter, I opened a yoga studio in the heart of New York City. Man, did I get a lot of rolled eyeballs. But, over the next 7 years, that studio grew into one of the top studios in Manhattan.

And, as it matured and needed less of my energy, it gave me the time to turn my energy back to writing. And, at the end of last year, I actually sold the studio to focus on writing, blogging and a number of other ventures that I’ll reveal as 2009 unfolds.

——-

Thanks so much for the incredible opportunity to share a bit of what I care so much about with your fantastic community.

Leo: Thanks for talking with us, Jonathan. Readers, I highly encourage you to check out Jonathan’s book, Career Renegade: How to Make a Great Living Doing What You Love. Read more about it at the book’s site.