I haven’t always been a lifestyle designer with a zen twist, it had to start somewhere and I can blame it all on a book that probably everyone who is into lifestyle design knows by now. The four hour workweek by Tim Ferris. This book opened my eyes to the possibilities of Internet and changed my view on “work”. This is not the only book however so I’m presenting you with a list of the books that had the biggest influence on me. Some of these I read before I read the 4HWW and although I wasn’t familiar with “lifestyle design” I guess I was already working on it. In no particular order these books are:
Tim Ferris – The four hour workweek
A book dedicated to lifestyle design. Promoting the 80/20 way of thinking and letting me know that my dreams can become real goals. If this book didn’t exist this blog might just have never existed as well. As I said, this book nudged me in the right direction and gave my way of thinking a name.
Shunryu Suzuki – Zen mind, Beginners mind
A small book about zen meditation and real life. This book tells you just about anything you want to know about Zen Buddhism that’s worth knowing. It was my first book specifically about zen and I still think it’s one of the best I have. I started reading about zen roughly two years ago and had my very first zazen meditation session on June 7th 2008. I’ve been meditation a year now and the changes are huge. I’ve become calmer, more focused and everything has become so much clearer.
Tony Buzan – The speed reading book
I bought this book yeas ago to learn how to speed read. Although I haven’t managed to reach my target of 1000 words a minute but my reading definitely got faster because of this book. In this information age we’re constantly bombarded with information, most of it in writing. How many hours a day do you read blogs, articles, websites, books, newspapers? This book has the power to cut your reading time in half easily. Or you could read twice as much in the same time. The normal reading speed for adults is roughly 200-300 words a minute. The record holder is Sean Adams with 3850 words a minute. There is wide gap there, even though you probably won’t reach the 3000 words a minute, even 1000+ words a minute will change your life.
Rolf Potts – Vagabonding, an uncommon guide to the art of long-term world travel
Although I’m not a vagabond (yet) this book showed me that travel doesn’t need to be expensive. I’ve always dreamed of traveling, this book has offered me the tools and tips to make those dreams into goals. I think this is one of the essential books to read for anyone into lifestyle design. And anyone who wants to become a Location Independent Professional (LIP) probably already read this one.
Peter Ralston – The principles of effortless power
This is the book for anyone who is interested in the internal martial arts. It completely changed my thinking about T’ai Chi that I was practicing at the time. I found a Cheng Hsin group (Cheng Hsin being the martial art that Peter developed) near my home and started training there. Although I haven’t trained in over a year now this book and the training changed the way I move. It’s hard to explain this book but if you practice aikido, t’ai chi or any other internal martial art please pick up this book if you haven’t already. You might also want to read this book if you dance for a living or are a physiotherapist.
Karen Kingston – Clear your clutter with Feng Shui
Although I’m not much for Feng Shui this book still provided me with some great insight. It’s this book that initially got me to minimalize my living space. Although it’s not minimal yet I’ve been working at reaching the 100 things I wrote about a few months ago. Do you have clutter in your home or do you know someone who is a clutterbug? This is the book for you. With 183 pages you can easily read this book in an evening. A warning though, if you read this book you will want to clear your clutter right away. It’s addictive.
J.J. Gibbs – Dancing with your books, the zen way of studying
I bought this book when I was struggling with the last part of my bachelor’s degree. Now I think of it and see an underlined passage, this book was the reason I started zazen meditation. The underlined passage: “On practice that should be incorporated into everyone’s program of study is daily meditation… The purpose of meditation is to relax and silence the constant internal dialogue that goes on in our mind so you can devote your full attention to studying.” I bought the book on March 23d 2008 (I have the habit of writing the date inside the book at the same time I write my name in it.) This book will change how you think about studying, it will become fun!
Michael Masterson – Automatic wealth for grads
Together with “Your money or your life” this book changed the way I think about money. I was terrible with money and squandered thousands of euro’s, I have no idea where it all went. But now I have an overview (down to the cent) of all my spendings, assets and liabilities. I live below my means as much as possible and have realized that it’s perfectly possible to eventually reach the crossover point (The point where the income from your invested capital surpasses your monthly expenses, your basic life necessities and all the components of your chosen lifestyle, are covered by your monthly investment income.) within my lifetime. Although both these books are written for people who work (the 9-5 grind) I plan on using the knowledge in this book to reach that point with my freedom business. One of the big goals in my life is reaching this crossover point.
Robert M. Pirsig – Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance
The only novel in my list. If ever a novel had an impact on it’s reader it’s this one. From the back cover “The most explosive book you will ever read!” and I agree. This book will make you think about your thinking and about the world. Although I don’t have much to say about this book, if you haven’t read it yet, please do! This book made me think deeper about everything, taking nothing for granted.
What books influenced your life? What books should we read? Please tell us about the books you think we should read in the comments.
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