Happy Friday, everyone! Your responses to yesterday’s prompt (what life skill has been most important to your success?) have been brilliant — I’d highly suggest going back and reading through them for some great personal development inspiration!

It’s been a challenge blogging every day this week — but there was something refreshing about making it part of my daily routine without the procrastination that usually sets in from “What day should I post? What should I write about? Is my draft ready yet?”

Before I share our last giveaways (plural!), a few more links to my thoughts around the web:

• Business Insider: Contribution to the “In the Start-up World, Nothing Goes According to Plan” series
• Productive Flourishing: Video and thoughts on How to Host a Creative Day of Genius
• Tanya Geisler: Video interview on Finding Your Thing (part of a broader series) — Tanya’s warmth radiates right through the screen!
• Think Traffic (from earlier in the week): From Blog to Book: the Nitty Gritty Pros, Cons and Considerations

A recap on what I’m up to this week: September is one of the big months for book publishing, and as a thank you for being such great readers I’ve got some awesome books to share with all of you! I’ll post an entry each day this week (bear with me, email subscribers!) and you’ll have until Friday at 6pm ET to enter to win a copy of each book by answering that post’s question prompt. I’ll choose the winners via Random.org early next week.

Giveaway #1: Blind Spots by Alexandra Levit

Alexandra Levit is one of the pioneers of the after-college book market — I remember reading her first book, They Don’t Teach Corporate in College, and thinking “Wow — if I could only have half of her success as an author and speaker in this market I would be thrilled.” Alex has been gracious and generous with her time since I first reached out almost two years ago, before I had an agent, a book deal, or even a book.

Her latest (SIXTH!) book is called Blind Spots: 10 Business Myths You Can’t Afford to Believe on Your New Path to Success. From the book website:

Don’t let blind spots push you off the path to career success – especially in today’s pared-down, back-to-basics business world, where the rules have radically changed.

In Blind Spots: The 10 Business Myths You Can’t Afford to Believe on Your New Path to Success, Alexandra Levit reveals what’s different about the post-recession world and dispels popular business and career myths – like “any visibility is good visibility” and “do what you love and the money will follow” – that were never true to begin with.

The job market is more competitive than ever, and you can’t afford to waste time. Throw away the myths and learn the timely – and timeless – truths that will send you to the top speedily and safely, making the most of your journey along the way.

Giveaway #2: Life After College by Me!

Okay, okay, I sort of cheated — but it’s been a long time since I gave away my *own* book and I was inspired by all these others to send one of you a copy!

While we’re at it, I have this silly thing with round numbers…

I currently have 74 Amazon reviews (huge thanks to those 74!) — if you’re feeling generous and you’ve read my book, would one of you take a gander at being review #75?

My original goal was 100 within launch week, and even though that passed — I’m hoping to get there by the end of the year Thank you SO much to everyone who already left reviews — sometimes I read through them when I’m having a rough day. It means so much to me to know how my book has impacted people — a result I often fantasized about but never knew would come to fruition in such a beautiful, out-of-this-world way.

To enter to win a copy of either of these books (they will go to two separate winners), answer the following question in the comments:

What are three features of your ideal day?
I know this isn’t directly related to the books — but it’s one of my favorite questions

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Hidey, ho good neighbors!

It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for our fourth giveaway this week. It also means that we’re one day closer to Friday And yes, even though I no longer work in an office, I still look forward to Fridays!

Today’s book is a game-changing one. I’ve already shared the impact that author Michael Ellsberg had on my life a few months ago — it’s thrilling to see him release those same ideas and calls-to-action with the world in his latest book, The Education of Millionaires: It’s Not What You Think and It’s Not Too Late.

My blog started as an exploration of life after college (it still is, of course) — I read countless business and development books to help me navigate feeling lost and confused as the only entry-level employee at the start-up, teaching myself dozens of skills that I never learned in college.

Ellsberg’s book is a referendum against the notion that higher education is mandatory for self-made success (in fields other than law and medicine that require highly trained professionals). The book comes at a critical time as more and more graduates find themselves buried in debt but without jobs to show for it.

Through dozens of in-depth interviews with movers and shakers, Ellsberg uncovers what he sees as the seven key self-education categories for career success — that they DON’T teach you in college.

The millionaires he interviews are self-taught and self-made — and their stories are inspiring for anyone who is looking to rely less on others (school, teachers, managers, companies) for career success and more on themselves and their highest creative faculties.

The seven key success skills Ellsberg highlights are:

1. How to make your work meaningful and your meaning work
2. How to find great mentors and teachers, connect with powerful and influential people, and build a world-class network
3. What every successful person needs to know about marketing, and how to teach yourself
4. What every successful person needs to know about sales, and how to teach yourself
5. How to invest for success (the art of bootstrapping)
6. Build the brand of you (or, to hell with resumes!)
7. The entrepreneurial mindset versus the employee mindset — become the author of your own life

This book is a page-turner and a must-read — I read my advance copy on one cross-country plane flight, then immediately gave it to my brother and said “do not pass go until you finish this book.” As I shared in my book endorsement (currently up on the Amazon page and the first one in his actual book!):

“This book is a masterpiece. Gripping and whip-smart, The Education of Millionaires will forever revolutionize your thoughts on the connection between education, career success and prosperity. Ellsberg is careful to avoid ‘motivational fluff’ and instead provides mind-blowingly sharp (and humorous) brass-tacks advice on how to profit handsomely by becoming a lifelong learner.”

A recap on what I’m up to this week: September is one of the big months for book publishing, and as a thank you for being such great readers I’ve got some awesome books to share with all of you! I’ll post an entry each day this week (bear with me, email subscribers!) and you’ll have until Friday at 6pm ET to enter to win a copy of each book by answering that post’s question prompt. I’ll choose the winners via Random.org early next week.

To enter to win a copy of The Education of Millionaires: It’s Not What You Think and It’s Not Too Late, answer the following question in the comments:

What life skill has been most important to your success?
Or, If you could tell a recent graduate to focus on just one skill to develop, what would it be and why?

Have you ever let uncertainty hold you back? Have you let fear stand in your way of doing something important in your life, or of creating something meaningful?

I’d be shocked if the answer was no. I know that I’ve wrestled with uncertainty countless times — I’m sure we all have — which is why I’m so excited to share Jonathan Fields’ book, Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt into Fuel for Brilliance, with you today. Jonathan is a blogger and thought-leader I really admire — he is deep, thoughtful, humble, and an extraordinarily powerful quiet leader.

Danielle La Porte summarized his book quite well:

Jonathan’s thesis on innovation can be boiled down to this:

a) Uncertainty is not just useful in creation and innovation, it’s mandatory.

b) Certainty is a dream-killer because it stops us from exploring the possibility that we don’t know everything, and that we might be able to create something better.

So of course I, and dozens of journalists are asking him this: If ambiguity and uncertainty get us to our creative crux, then how can we lean into those states? His answer:

Optimize your workflow. Most of us work in ways that are actually fairly destructive to our ability to not only do great work, but feel great doing it. Simple changes to workflow, like pulsing and refueling, single-tasking and selective ritualizing can change not only how well you create, but how you feel along the way.

A recap on what I’m up to this week: September is one of the big months for book publishing, and as a thank you for being such great readers I’ve got some awesome books to share with all of you! I’ll post an entry each day this week (bear with me, email subscribers!) and you’ll have until Friday at 6pm ET to enter to win a copy of each book by answering that post’s question prompt. I’ll choose the winners via Random.org early next week.

Uncertainty by Jonathan Fields
(Check out the Uncertainty book website for some awesome bulk purchase deals)

If you have a minute, watch Jonathan’s moving book trailer video about the uncertainty he experienced after signing the lease on his first yoga studio one day prior to Sept 11:

Below are some of my thoughts on uncertainty (written for Nick Reese on his Art of Blog interview with 8 other bloggers) – How to Overcome (And Even Harness) Uncertainty:

“Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and insecurity is the only security.” –John Allan Paulos

Fighting uncertainty is futile. Uncertainty is truly the only certainty we have in life, so rather than fight it we do best to embrace it. If you get quiet enough in moments of uncertainty, you’ll hear your path whispering to you. You’ll hear your gut, you’ll become aware of new information, and you will move forward in beautiful ways that you couldn’t have even planned for if you tried.

I’ve had a lifelong goal of moving to New York City. After a gorgeous snowy trip last December, I decided it was time. I had no idea how I would get here, where I would live, or what to do with my condo back at home. But step by step, I embraced the uncertainty and leaned into it. It’s so easy to turn uncertainty into unnecessary worry, but if you just trust in yourself, your resourcefulness, and the power of serendipity, you will figure things out.

My other favorite quote is “That which you can plan is too small for you to live.” Take uncertainty as a sign that you’re doing great things in your life — celebrate, invite it in, and enjoy the beautiful chaos of it all.

To enter to win a copy of Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt into Fuel for Brilliance, answer the following question in the comments:

How do you handle uncertainty when making big decisions
or embarking on creative endeavors?

Happy Tuesday, everyone! I like getting to say hello to you every day

Today I’m excited for two reasons:

I have a guest post up on one of my all time favorite blogs, Think Traffic by Corbett Barr. The post is called From Blogging to Published Book: The Nitty Gritty Pros, Cons and Considerations. I detail numbers and experiences behind my book publishing process to help other bloggers assess whether it’s worth it for them.

SF Blogger Meet-up: Corbett, Jenny, Charlie Hoehn, Leo Babauta and Lewis Howes

Corbett is someone I have looked up to for a long time for his blog- and business-building prowess, and had the great fortune of meeting him in Portland earlier this year (and at a SF Blogger meet-up we co-hosted upon returning). Corbett’s new assistant, Caleb Wojcik, is an awesome go-getter who attended my Seattle book tour stop — and has since quit his job to work with Corbett, moved and gotten married!

Second, today’s book giveaway is for The Big Enough Company: Creating a Business that Works for You from the lovely Adelaide Lancaster (and her co-author Amy Adams). I met Adelaide at the Book Breakthrough NYC conference in July and we immediately hit it off. She and her co-author have created a co-working space in NYC for female entrepreneurs, and focus on helping small business owners create a business that works for their own lifestyle goals — with the notion that not everyone has to be the next Google. I’ve included their book trailer and an interview with Adelaide below.

A recap on what I’m up to this week: September is one of the big months for book publishing, and as a thank you for being such great readers I’ve got some awesome books to share with all of you! I’ll post an entry each day this week (bear with me, email subscribers!) and you’ll have until Friday at 6pm ET to enter to win a copy of each book by answering that post’s question prompt. I’ll choose the winners via Random.org early next week.

***

The Big Enough Company — Interview with Adelaide Lancaster

Adelaide Lancaster is an entrepreneur, speaker and co-author of The Big Enough Company (Portfolio/Penguin). She is also the co-founder of In Good Company Workplaces, a first-of-its-kind community, learning center and co-working space for women entrepreneurs in New York City. She is a contributor to The Huffington Post, and a columnist for The Daily Muse and The Hired Guns. She lives in Philadelphia, PA with her husband and daughter.

What was your first brush with entrepreneurship? 

I never set up a lemonade stand or sold things door to door. But I have always believed in my ability to make things happen. Even when I was younger I had a hard time taking no for an answer. I often joke that my first brushes with entrepreneurship were actually my (successful) attempts to bend the rules in high school and college. For example, despite extremely rigid rules at my boarding school, I managed to arrange legally getting 20 kids signed out to the same town in North Carolina for the weekend and chartered a bus to get us there. The school was annoyed but we weren’t technically breaking any rules.

These escapades, which clearly involved exploiting loopholes in the rules, made me responsible for establishing three new rules between my high school and college handbooks. So I guess I was quite enterprising, although it admittedly wasn’t for the best reasons – at least at that age!

What inspired you to start In Good Company, and how did you find the resources (time, money, energy) to do it?

My partner and I already had a consulting practice working with entrepreneurs to start or build their businesses. We heard the same complaints over and over again from our clients. They were isolated. Many worked from home and spent much of their time by themselves, except when they were with clients. They also had pretty small networks as many of their former colleagues still held traditional 9-5 jobs.

Aside from being lonely, this isolation had a huge impact on their businesses. Our networks give us access to ideas, resources, suggestions, feedback, inspiration, motivation, etc. We could tell that our clients needed more of all of this. They also experienced some logistical challenges by not having an office. They didn’t have a professional place to meet clients and they also had pretty weak boundaries between their work and home lives.

We began to imagine a place where our clients could work when they needed to. Since we knew most of them didn’t need full-time offices, we were instead crafting a shared workspace solution (which has grown over time to include full-time space as well). Our thought was that having a physical location would also serve as a home base for a larger community and network. In Good Company would be the place for women entrepreneurs to work, meet, and learn.

Some people didn’t get it – it was in the days before coworking had become main stream, but most people did. We scaled back our practice to make time for the startup mode. We also held lots of focus groups to get feedback and also to cultivate the community. It was a fairly capital intensive business to start so we did raise money, in addition to invest a lot ourselves.

What has been your biggest failure-turned-success or blessing-in-disguise story (in life or business)?

When it came time to graduate from my Counseling Psychology program at Columbia I couldn’t find the kind of job that I was looking for. I wanted to be a career counselor for women who were deciding what direction to take their career. Since I couldn’t find the job I wanted, I decided to create it and started my own career counseling practice.

However, I was still ambivalent about my choice. I felt like I needed a backup plan. I decided to also apply to the PhD program at my graduate school, thinking I could do my practice in conjunction with getting my PhD and then have even more credibility, choices, and experience once the program was over. It seemed like a great plan until I didn’t get in. At first I was devastated but it turned out to be a huge blessing in disguise. Because I wasn’t tied up in a PhD program I plunged myself completely into entrepreneurship, building my practice and learning everything I could about small business.

That practice evolved over a number of years and through several iterations to later become the business I have today. I love being an entrepreneur and love the opportunities it affords me. I have the ability to create work that is meaningful and rewarding on my own terms.

The truth is that today I do much less counseling and consulting work. Instead I spend a lot of time doing things I enjoy just as much and often more such as determining the strategic direction for my business, cultivating our brand through social media, writing content for our blog and my columnist positions, designing programming and curriculum for each season, managing the operational (finances, billing, bookkeeping) side of the business, networking, and making myself available to our members for brainstorming etc.

I love the variety and I love that our business is always evolving. I know that had I done my PhD I’d still be an entrepreneur but I probably would have made choices that resulted in a much more traditional counseling practice, which I know would be much less rewarding for me.

If you could give the Life After College community one piece of encouragement or career advice, what would it be? 

Two pieces, I can’t help myself!

You need to take small steps to get almost anywhere. It’s so easy to get overwhelmed by your own big plans, dreams, and ideas! But nothing happens overnight and don’t underestimate the amount of work that goes into every success story you know. No matter who you are or what you want, the path is likely going to involved small, incremental changes. Embrace it, let it help pace you, and keep moving!

Don’t be afraid to admit you don’t know something. As a new entrepreneur I remember believing that it was my job to know everything, especially when it came to my business. While I was always grateful for the good ideas that others gave me, but I would also think self consciously, “I should have thought of that.” I also believed, foolishly, that it was important to have clear and resolute answers and to never say “I don’t know.” Boy, was I foolish.

I learned that entrepreneurship is all about being a work in progress. You spend more time deciding where you want to go next then you do arriving there. It turns out that pretending to know everything comes a tremendous cost. Not only does it make the business of being an entrepreneur much harder than it needs to be, it also cuts you off from the most valuable resource you have – the ideas and experiences of others. Thankfully, I wised up and started to listen – carefully.

What are a few fun items on your life checklist?

I have three that I’ve had for a really long time:

• I want to go on a hot air balloon ride over a really cool landscape.
• I want to own a little pet goat – and the country house to go along with it. (Right now I’m a city dweller)
• I love 70 degree weather. It makes me so happy. I have this idea for a 70 degree world tour. Either for retirement or as a sabbatical I’d love to take a year to travel to 10-12 locations that are seasonally 70 degrees. For example Iceland in July, Istanbul in June, Johannesburg in September.

***

To enter to win a copy of The Big Enough Company, answer the following question in the comments:

If you could start any company, what would it be and why?
What qualities would your ideal company have, and how would it fit your ideal lifestyle? 

Thank you all for your wonderful comments on last week’s post! As a thank you for being such a wonderful community of readers and friends, I’m hosting a book-a-day giveaway this week…get excited!

September is one of the big months for book publishing, and I’ve got some awesome books to share with all of you. I’ll post an entry each day this week (bear with me, email subscribers!) and you’ll have until Friday at 6pm ET to enter to win a copy of each book by answering that post’s question prompt. I’ll choose the winners via Random.org early next week.

Lead Without Followers – by Dave Ursillo

Dave is an incredible man and writer — deep, thoughtful, heart full of gold — and his road to publishing has been a long winding one. He, more than anyone I know, has demonstrated unwavering fortitude, resilience and committment to releasing his ideas into the world.

After over 200 rejections from literary agents between 2008-2010, Dave decided to self-publish his book Lead Without Followers (be sure to also check out his post 16 Reasons Your Literary Agency Shouldn’t Hire Me).

I really admire the drive it takes to self-publish a book — you’re a lone ranger managing every single aspect of the process — writing, editing, designing, printing, selling — so I’m thrilled to be able to support Dave’s launch this week. A few words from the man himself:

Download a free sample chapter, and check out Dave’s website for more details on how to purchase the book. Update: Dave is also doing a special live video event on Vokle tonight at 10pm ET, and I’ll be making an appearance! Would love to see you there

To enter to win a copy, answer the following question in the comments:

What qualities do the leaders you most admire exhibit?
How do you strive to be a leader in your own life? 

As summer winds down, many of us experience Birthday Party Syndrome — which my friend Erin refers to as the sadness you experience after a fun weekend or vacation – just like when you were five years old and started crying when everyone left your birthday party (BPS is magnified in proportion to how much fun you had). The Wall Street Journal even ran an article yesterday about The Post-Labor Day Letdown.

But September also brings the excitement of Fall, with crisp air, sweaters and soups all making their re-appearance. It’s also back-to-school time for the blogosphere and there are launches galore! I’m excited to share a handful with you today — meanwhile working furiously behind-the-scenes to get my own launch ready for next week.

$25 to Save a Life – “End Malaria” Book Launch

My friend Michael Bungay Stanier, in partnership with The Domino Project, is launching a book today that is greatly inspiring in its content AND its mission.

The book is called End Malaria: Bold Innovation, Limitless Generosity, and the Opportunity to Save a Life. None of the contributors or the publishing house are taking any money from sales, and Amazon makes no profit; instead, $20 from every sale goes to Malaria No More (a child dies every 45 seconds from malaria).

Here are the details:

• The book has 62 thought leaders (download PDF list of contributors) writing around the topic of Great Work – how to do more of the stuff that matters and less of all the other stuff that fills up your day.
• The book is divided into eight key areas of insight, including: Create Freedom, Disrupt Normal and Take Small Steps
• $20 sends a mosquito net to a family in need and supports life-saving work in the fight against malaria
• Malaria No More’s mission is to end malaria in Africa by 2015

Click here to buy the book on Amazon and save a life today, or watch the book trailer:

Other Exciting Launches:

• Make Sh*t Happen goes on sale next Tuesday!! Join the early notification list to get the first crack at one of the 36 spots. Bear with me as I talk about it more than usual this week and next; after that I’ll peep down…promise!

• Sean Ogle launches the next round of his Location Rebel program on the same day. Debating which one to sign-up for? Sean’s program is AWESOME for those of you specifically looking to build a side-hustle doing affiliate marketing, SEO, copywriting and other Internet-related stuff. It applies to anyone for sure, but I found it particularly helpful (with templates, check-lists and great forum content) for those specific areas. He also has an awesome Location Rebel arsenal e-book that you can download for free.

• Enrollment is now open for Jen Gresham’s No Regrets Career Academy — an 8-week course to help you with six key steps: 1) define success, 2) understand yourself, 3) overcome your fear, 4) research, 5) position/package, and 6) market.

• The UBER fabulous power-duo of Natalies – Natalie Sisson and Natalie McNeil (both have killer messages and websites) launch their WE Mastermind program for female entrepreneurs (with a chance to win $5K to launch your business). Theirs is a six-month program “designed for women wanting to play a bigger game and turn their passion or expertise into a product or service that will lead to a profitable online business that allows them to live the lifestyle they desire.”

Overwhelmed?

Don’t feel like you have to sign-up for everything (or anything, for that matter) — if something jumps out and fits YOUR life with where YOU are right now, great! If not, there are plenty of free resources available. I’d be happy to refer you to other great resources if you tell me what you’re looking for in the comments — it’s one of my favorite things to do!

And stay tuned for an amazing guest post from Mars Dorian tomorrow — it might just be my favorite piece of blog content so far this year