Hi Leo,

This is an excellent approach!

I've been struggling to write my own ebook because I can't seem to define a suitable scope for it. I decided to meet up with a group of family and friends to discuss my ideas and see what feedback I would get. Hosting an online (public) discussion group is much more convenient!

Having purchased your Motivation Handbook, I wanted to contact you to share some thoughts on how I think the book can be improved, and I'll hopefully get a chance to make a contribution to this book while it's in its fetal stage and not after publication.

The main suggestion I wanted to make for the Motivation Handbook - which I believe applies to every book, and especially in the field of personal growth - is to distinguish between theories to understand and practices to put into action. When you read an article or a book, there are ideas (theories) that will change your perspective, and exercises you need to practice. Without an easy distinction between the two, readers will tend to read and not do anything afterwords.

Therefore, my suggestions for making personal growth writing more effective:

* Distinguish between theory and practice

* If actions are to be done in sequence, number them. Otherwise, write them as bullet points (but NEVER lump actions together in a single paragraph or mixed in with theory)

* Provide an easy-to-digest summary at the end of each chapter

* Provide a checklist for all the actions to carry out after reading the ebook

I don't mean to nitpick, but your publishing model (above) should be numbered, instead of in bullet-points (because the steps are done in sequence). That way, you're communicating a message not by what you say, but how you structure what you say.

Thank you for the inspiration and hope to be a regular contributor to your work.

Haider

Thanks for the great input, Haider! I think your suggestions are excellent! I look forward to your contributions to my book, if you have the time and energy to do that. :)

Don't worry about nitpicking. All suggestions are welcome -- this is why my book will be better with this model than if I wrote it privately.

I'd like to hear more about distinguishing between theory and practice. I'm not sure I'm clear on that. Do you have an example from the Motivation Handbook?

When I read the first chapter by Eric ("How to Motivate Yourself") I felt really excited by the topic and thoroughly entertained (it's very well written, great visuals, a touch of humor, etc). I found myself agreeing with everything he was saying. But I knew, after I finish reading it, nothing will change in my life, because I was using the chapter as a form of entertainment rather than a life-changing piece of work (which it potentially can be).

From the chapter: "If you want to know how to motivate yourself, you have to first learn a bit more ABOUT yourself."

This is an idea I strongly agree with, and Eric makes an excellent case for why it's true. But what should I do about it? How do I learn more about myself? To take that action, I need to pause, look away from the screen (or open up a text editor) and start writing down the things that would motivate me, personally. If I don't carry out this exercise, then I'm not putting this idea into practice.

Another example:

The fourth point he mentions (on cutting the fat), he has the following statement in mid-paragraph:

"Look at your days, see what takes up your time and determine the value of these tasks. Then cut those responsibilities that drain more than they produce."

While reading the paragraph, I felt compelled to finish reading it. But I should pause at this statement, look away from the screen and actually put Eric's advice into practice! Because it was mentioned along with the theory, the exercise goes undone and the potential results I can experience from reading the chapter don't materialize in my life.

Theory: To motivate yourself, you need to find out what motivates YOU!

Practice: Grab a pen and paper (or open a text editor) and start writing down the things that excite you and make you feel determined to get down to work (is it more time with the family? More time to exercise? The money you'll get? The gadgets you'll be able to buy?).

Ah, thanks for clarifying. Sure, I think personal development books would be much better if they implemented that suggestion. As it is, they leave it up to us, the reader, to take notes and decide what actions to make note of and implement.

Indeed, and readers can usually filter out the action items.

But just as it's a plus to make articles scannable (by adding subheadings, writing important points in bold, etc.), having a distinction between theoretical points, and actually presenting the action items as a checklist will make the advice easier to go through and apply. I believe this is one of the major reasons why people spend loads of time going through personal growth material without experiencing many changes in their lives.

Hi Leo,

I just saw your new Focus Manifesto site.

I have a suggestion:

Why don't you move this page to a folder, and have a page in that folder for each chapter you write. That way people over here can share their thoughts on each chapter, as well as the entire book. This will make it WAY easier for us to contribute to the book! :D

Hi Haider ... that's a great idea. Let me finish the first draft of the beta 0.1 version, which is nearly done, then I'll do exactly that. I appreciate your help!

My pleasure... I'm really excited about the way you're writing your book, and the approach it has inspired me to take!

Leo, I'm going through the book now, looking at how the book is structured, what ideas I think should be included, etc.

For now, I just wanted to suggest that you mark every reference to an earlier or later part of the book with **** or some other unique marker, especially since these sections may not have been written yet, or you might choose to remove them later on. Marking such references means you can maintain their integrity while the book morphs. The last thing you want to do is say: "we'll cover that in a later chapter" that doesn't exist! :P

Leo, the book is excellent and very inspirational. It got me focused on being focused, and helped me realize how important focus is! The interesting thing about focus is that it's within our reach, but we often operate on a low level of consciousness that we fail to realize that we're not being focused and aren't making the most of our time.

I'll be leaving my chapter-specific suggestions in each chapter, and book-level suggestions over here.

I think what would really help people realize the importance of focus and getting greater results from the book are the following:

* Define what focus actually means: It may seem obvious, or people can consult a dictionary, but it really helps to give a clear meaning of what you mean by focus and where it applies in life. A reminder of what key terms mean is always helpful.

* Describe what being focused looks like: Being able to visualize what a focused person looks like is a great tool for motivation and mental clarity. It gives an example to follow.

* Describe what being focused FEELS like: It's easier to measure when someone is focused or isn't by comparing one's feelings to a standard one *can* experience. Besides, it acts as a great motivator as well!

Thanks for your feedback, Haider! I appreciate the thoughtful comments and suggestions. The additional depth on what focus means, looks like and feels like is interesting!

Leo, maybe you should reconsider that "No copyright" thing. I take it you are hoping to sign with a book publisher? If so, if a publisher wants to publish your book, all they would have to do is print it, sell it, and keep all the money for themselves , if you don't own the rights to it. Giving it away to the public in this manner also means giving it away to the corporations.

What you should do is assert your copyright via a Creative Commons license, where you can grant the world permission to do anything with your work, but still put a restriction on commercial use. I believe Lessig's book was published under a CC license, so that he could sign with a publisher.

Creative Commons, and open source software licenses such as GNU and BSD, are not rejections of copyright. They are assertions of them, while granting broad permissions for the public to use.

Leo, I'm a big fan. I read what you've posted here and I have one comment. I'm not sure exactly how to express it other than to describe my situation a bit.
I work a full time job, try to have a personal life with my spouse, run a business on the side with employees, & have written a couple niche books (that nobody's ever heard of). Obviously I always have a lot going on and I would love to simplify, focus and do less.
I loved your book Power of Less and your ebook Zen to Done. I have gained a lot of traction by reading those works, but gaining good focus on a single task is still a struggle for me.
I can say that there is one thing I do that has helped me improve focus and I didn't really see any mention of in your beta chapters. That "thing" is leveraging the process of delegation or outsourcing or whatever other term you want to call it. I think one of the most effective ways I achieve any sort of focus is by handing off tasks and responsibilities to others.
Maybe I'm still thinking inside the box, but if you agree that this is a valuable tool to be used in the battle for focus then perhaps you could touch on it a bit and suggest some tips and tricks in that light.
Look forward to seeing the finished product - keep up the great work!

Hi Leo. I like reading your work. It's refreshing the way you simplify everything down to it's essence. I start to feel calmer when I read your writing. I would love to see a page at the end of each chapter full of the many ways people can apply your ideas to their own lives. Maybe starting from small easy steps and building up. Also maybe a chart you could print out that lets you tick off completed tasks one by one. Sometimes it's hard to know what to start on first and that delays any progress.
Looking forward to more of your ideas. Thank you for sharing them.

I'm newly semi-retired and working from home on the computer. I love your focus rituals.

I've found my day often dissipates into exhausted unfocused and inefficient activity. Some days I have a set end of work day time, say 6pm. On those days I decide my day has ended and let it go. Knowing this also creates some pressure leading up to finish my tasks and prep for tomorrow. I don't have this into any clear ritual. I don't even always do this. I wonder if there's a way to integrate something like this into the end of day ritual.Thank you for all you're doing.

Thanks for the comments and ideas, everyone! Just wanted to let you know I'm listening and will be incorporating some of these into the next version. Much appreciated!!

Hi Leo. Like your chapter on Age of Distractions already. Having faced it for most of my work life, I always thought I was antidsocial when I tried hard to fight time for myself, by counting the hours I will spend with colleagues, friends, associates, young people, neighbours, strangers,etc Most recently and funnily, I thought to myself, if you already have been doing it so long, and people do give you your space, do you like it? Is it what life is? And the answer is surprisingly no, I can still be different. Then I decided I prefer to reinvent myself, and recreate each moment ...life hums along... all the best with your new book, will continue to read on ...

Hi Leo. I love your writing. Thank you so much. My biggest issue is that I am a 'renaissance soul' and I have too many passions. I am struggling to reconcile that with trying to become a minamalist in all areas of my life. How does a person who is passionate about so many things focus?

Lisa, I have the same problem and found a lot of great ideas in "Refuse to Choose" by Barbara Scher. Have you read her book? I recently came across it and found it really intriguing and helpful!

Hi Carolyn. Yes I have read that book. I also own 'The renaissance soul'. It has been a while since I have read either one so I think I need to reread them to get my perspective back. Sometimes I wish I wasn't into so many things! It just gets overwhelming. I am sure you can relate.