The Education of a (not so) Young Man

In support of my 2010 Goal Setting I’ve put together a list of several books and courses that I will study this year.  I’ve deliberately set up a syllabus for myself because I know that, if I don’t, I’ll be scattered all over the place with what I consume.

I’ve picked 13 non-fiction books to read in 2010, one per month, except for October where I have two very short books to read.  For many rabid consumers of information, 13 books is not a lot, but my life is tremendously busy with other goals that I find worthy and I have baby triplets that I choose to spend most of my free time with (I often type posts one-handed while holding a sleeping baby) .  Also, I’d like to consciously spend more time applying information as opposed to relentlessly consuming it like I have in the past.

I also have little patience for a book that sucks (sucks is an opinion, I realize), though I believe that all of these will be excellent books; that’s why I chose them.  If a book sucks (opinion) after 25- 50 pages, I will dump it in favor of one of the books I have under the Electives section.  All links are Amazon Affiliate links in the book list.

My plan is to write a detailed review along with lessons applied and my experiences with each book.  I’ll share each of those on the site here and I’m also tossing around doing a book giveaway for each.

Some of the books are more esoteric than practical.  That means that there may not be much to apply after reading a book but I can still share my thoughts on how the book may have changed my mindset or reinforce existing beliefs.

Core Reading

January – The 4-Hour Workweek, Expanded and Updated by Tim Ferriss

February – Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk

March – The Leap: How 3 Simple Changes Can Propel Your Career from Good to Great by Rick Smith

April – The Practicing Mind: Bringing Discipline and Focus Into Your Life by Thomas M Sterner

May – Personal Development for Smart People by Steve Pavlina

June – 12 Steps to Raw Foods: How to End Your Dependency on Cooked Food by Victoria Boutenko

July – The Primal Blueprint: Reprogram your genes for effortless weight loss, vibrant health, and boundless energy by Mark Sisson

August – Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment by Tal Ben-Shahar

September – Against the Stream: A Buddhist Manual for Spiritual Revolutionaries by Noah Levine

October – The Integral Vision: A Very Short Introduction to the Revolutionary Integral Approach to Life, God, the Universe, and Everything by Ken Wilber and The Code: Use the Laws of Manifestation to Achieve Your Highest Good by Tony Burroughs

November – The Magician’s Way: What It Really Takes to Find Your Treasure by William Whitecloud

December – Supercharged Taoist: An Amazing True Story to Inspire You on Your Own Adventure by the Barefoot Doctor Stephen Russell

Electives

Unclutter Your Life in One Week by Erin Doland

The Deeper Secret: What Does Life Want From You? by Annemarie Postma

The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter, & Miracles by Bruce Lipton

The Ringing Cedars of Russia (The Ringing Cedars, Book 2) – by Vladimir Megre

In Addition to the books I will read in 2010, there are a couple of courses that I own that I want to work through which will directly contribute to my goals.  I am currently NOT an affiliate (except for amazon link on Manifesting Change)for any of these programs.  I am simply a customer.

My IPOD Touch is loaded up with the Course Syllabus below.

Non-Book Core Courses

1.  Become a Blogger by Yaro Starak – I plan on skimming thru this one as I went thru bits and pieces setting up the Scribe for the Tribe website for the triplets.

2.  The Blog Mastermind Course by Yaro Starak – there’s a lot I need to learn about blogging, being a relative newbe.  Yaro’s course is meant to be worked thru slowly and with over 20 lessons, I expect to be spending now thru June 2010 going thru this.

3.  Break Out of 9 to 5: Working for Yourself by Chris Guillebeau – I get the feeling that I’ve been supporting much of Chris’s travel habits with my patronage in 2009.  Honestly, he puts together good products at affordable prices.

4.  Freestyle: Made Easy – I wrote in my last post on Marathon Training that my attempts to learn to swim have proved embarrassing and since I long to be a decent age grouper triathlete, I’ve got to turn that around.  This DVD teaches swimming techniques and Tim Ferris gave it an excellent review awhile back.

Non-Book Elective Courses

1.  The Social Web by Chris Guillebeau – Am I just an idiot because I don’t understand how to use Twitter?  I don’t even know how to participate in chats or see threads.  Hoping Chris’s course can help me understand Twitter and other social media better and how I can apply it to growing my brand.

2.  Art & Money by Chris Guillebeau – I’m not a visual artist, but I think that this course will help anyway as I try to transition to making my primary money through writing and music.

3.  Manifesting Change: It Couldn’t Be Easier by Mike Dooley – This is more esoteric than practical but I really, truly enjoy the passion Mike has for his subject matter.

4.  T’ai Chi School for Warriors by the Barefoot Doctor – I’m trying to learn ways to minimize stress and increase energy.  My day job seems to cause the opposite but I am in no position to leave it right now so I need to mitigate some of the damage that is being done to my body because of it.  Between this and Lumberjack Yoga by Nate Rifkin, I have the tools to do this.

There are a lot of courses here.  If I can get thru the Core one’s I will be happy and the electives are there if there is time throughout the rest of the year.  I also have dozens of eBooks digitally lying about but I don’t plan on getting to them in 2010 with everything else going on.  I’ve been a collector of information in the past, but just like my books, I haven’t been good at sifting thru it.

The important thing for me is to try to apply some of the knowledge rather than read and regurgitate.

Of course, experience is the best teacher, and so I am making a conscious effort in 2010 to open myself up to new experiences.

Here’s hoping that everyone has a great 2010!

Tagged as: 4 Hour Work Week, Education, Reading