Maybe the best book for reading at the start of a new year, ever. I\u2019ve read it four or five times, and I know NMA Radio co-host Doug is a big fan, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nTurning Pro is about growing up. Showing up. And forever giving up the excuses and rationalizations that keep you an amateur (both professionally and otherwise).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s written for writers and artists, but the advice is applicable to just about everyone, in whatever area of life you’re playing too small.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Can\u2019t Hurt Me<\/em><\/a> by David Goggins<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A few weeks ago, I listened to David Goggins on the Rich Roll Podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I knew he was a ultrarunner, an ultra-distance cyclist, and a triathlete. And I knew he was an ex-Navy SEAL, one of those military dudes you just don’t want to mess with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Usually, I don\u2019t really relate to people like this; it\u2019s just too big a leap. Robotic discipline and run-through-walls determination? Cool, but not really me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But when you learn about where Goggins comes from and how he grew up, you realize he wasn\u2019t born superhuman. He decided<\/em> to be this way, and he still decides to choose discomfort and growth over what\u2019s easy \u2014 every single day, starting at a ridiculously dark and cold hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I haven\u2019t read Can\u2019t Hurt Me<\/em>, his self-published memoir, yet. I\u2019m still riding the motivation-high of the new year and feeling plenty inspired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the second that starts to dip \u2014 and I know that at some point, it will \u2014 this will be my motivation to get back in the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. The Little Book of Talent<\/em><\/a> by Daniel Coyle<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the most inspiring lessons I\u2019ve ever learned is that talent isn\u2019t an accident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That most people who are truly great in their fields are that way not because they were born with it, but because they worked hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The so-called 10,000 Hour Rule was eye-opening for me. Our culture wants<\/em> to be believe that the outstanding performers we admire were born with the gift \u2014 because that lets us off the hook: We weren\u2019t born with anything special, so it\u2019s not our fault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But when you come to believe that with hard work and lots of it \u2014 real, deliberate practice, for thousands of hours \u2014 mastery of anything is possible, suddenly you have a lot of choices. (This is especially exciting for kids, who have more time with which to accumulate those thousands of hours.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Daniel Coyle wrote a long book, called the Talent Code<\/em>, about this idea, where he shared the best practices he learned by studying talent hotbeds around the world. The Little Book of Talent<\/em> is a distillation of that advice into 52 short directives \u2014 things like \u201cshrink the practice space\u201d and \u201cbuy a notebook\u201d \u2014 to help you engineer your (or your kids\u2019) practice routines for success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. The Bullet Journal Method<\/em><\/a> by Ryder Carroll<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve been frustrated with journaling for a long time. I\u2019d love to make it work \u2014 to have a record of my successes, failures, and lessons learned, plus whatever benefits come from the journaling process itself \u2014 but just haven\u2019t been able to make the habit last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I go through spurts where I do it every day, and then I stop for months (or years). I\u2019ve tried it in different formats, handwritten and typed, notebook, computer, cloud, with no way to pull it all together. It\u2019s a mess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Worse, I keep notebooks of to-do lists and day-to-day notes, but I have no process for revisiting them. Sure, I might write down a great insight or quote, but I’ll likely never see it again without any system for making sure I do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, the Bullet Journal promises to be that system, and hundreds of thousands of happy Bullet-journalers give me reason to believe that promise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Charmingly, it\u2019s all done in a blank, pen-and-paper notebook. You can now buy \u201cofficial\u201d Bullet Journals, but I find that idea much less appealing than the DIY version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You actually don\u2019t need to buy The Bullet Journal Method<\/em> to learn the system; it\u2019s all laid out for free on the author\u2019s website<\/a>. But the book provides additional context around things like goals and intentionality, and the idea that at its best, Bullet Journaling is an exercise in mindfulness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up<\/em><\/a> by Marie Kondo<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, this is kind of old. I read it back in 2015, and I felt like I was late to party then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So why include it? Because it freaking works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I read a whole lot of books about how to make things better, and for me, none has ever delivered on its promise the way this one has.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since my epic tidying marathon this book inspired three years ago, I\u2019ve never gone back to my old ways. It’s life-changing, for real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now\u2019s the perfect time. Ditch the clutter and make room for what matters in your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. Atomic Habits<\/a><\/em> by James Clear<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe my mantra should be, \u201cI haven\u2019t read the book, but I have heard the author on the Rich Roll podcast!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because that\u2019s the deal with this one, like it was with #2 above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I talk a lot about the \u201csmall steps\u201d approach, and also the opposite (but not entirely incompatible) idea of \u201cmassive action.\u201d But there\u2019s so much more to the science of changing habits, a lot of which has to do with engineering your environment for success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I went into this interview<\/a> assuming I knew most of what there is to know about practical habit change advice, but as I listened, blogger and author James Clear gave so many \u201cah-ha\u201d tips that I had to add his book to my list of must-reads this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you think your whole habit-change operating system could use a software upgrade, then this is the book to read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7. Deep Meditation<\/em><\/a> by Yogani<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m slightly ashamed to admit that, despite investing quite a bit of money and time in meditation courses and apps, I\u2019ve never made meditation into a lasting habit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Interestingly, though, none of the fancy courses I\u2019ve bought or attended have provided more insight than Deep Meditation<\/em>, a short little volume you can buy for $4.61. It shines light on a lot of the dark corners of meditation, and provides a simple, practical prescription for creating a daily practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m not sure 2019 will be the year I make meditation last \u2014 that might never happen. But when I\u2019m ready to try again, this is the approach I\u2019ll go back to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 8. The No Meat Athlete Cookbook<\/em><\/a> by Matt Frazier and Stepfanie Romine (Just $3.99 today!)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Okay, so I promised you seven books, but snuck in an eighth. And one that I co-authored, no less!<\/p>\n\n\n\n And there\u2019s a good reason for that. The No Meat Athlete Cookbook<\/em> was selected by Amazon as a Kindle Daily Deal<\/a>, which means that today (and today, January 13th, only), you can pick up the digital version for just $3.99.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Cover](\"https:\/\/www.nomeatathlete.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/41nAX7WbShL._SY346_-1.jpg\")
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