Hey there,

A quick question: Is there something else you should be doing right now?

Working on a project? Writing a paper? Working...

The most dangerous habit in our repertoire is not eating junk food, watching too much TV, or nail-biting (though they are nasty). It's the inability to stay committed to a long-term goal.

We are an instant gratification generation. We want things now. We want things to happen fast. Faster than fast. We want things that are happening now to be in our hands like, yesterday. But sometimes we need to be patiently tolerant towards delays to reach new heights.

Especially in our maddening world where it's like we are always ON. Always somehow involved in the theatrical play called life. Constantly being pulled in different directions.

Sometimes, we need to slow down. Sometimes, we need to think. Schedule time with ourselves to discuss important topics that concern our future self, not so much our current self.

But how?

How can you calm the mind when there is always something new happening?

I might have a solution...

Introducing: 

Thinkers Club! 🤓👏📚

My new membership program replacing the old one.

What's Thinkers Club?

The Thinkers Club is s a therapeutic membership for active readers, introverts, creators, lifelong learners who want to grow, improve their reading experience, think more about important topics, and get things done.

If you are tired of time-wasting online communities where there is a lot of talk but no walk. If you're reading books but nothing new, nor changing is happening in your life. If you're looking for the essential strategies from famous books that are ready for implementation. If you want someone to tell you exactly what you need to do in your life based on books, help you better apply the concepts, think more on your own about important topics, then you'd love the club.

Put differently, it's a monthly (no-meeting) membership where you'll receive a digital asset, every month, based on a popular book. Inside these workbooks (I call them Think Workbooks) you will get essential frameworks, guided writing exercises that stimulate thinking combined with insightful commentary to help you progress – all in a digital format.

One month. One topic. The finest concepts from one great book.

All designed to keep you inspired and engaged.

It's for people who want to transition from “simply reading” to actively doing something with the content they consume.

And since you are the first ones to lay their eyes on the club, you can get a fat discount if you decide to give it a try. If you become a member now, you'll lock the price of $15 per month - forever. The first 50 members who join will benefit from this discount. After that, the price will go up to $25 a month.

This month's topic is Building Better Habits with Atomic Habits by James Clear.

If you decide to join, you will immediately get access to the digital asset, so you can make some nice improvements to your automatic behaviors.

Become a Thinker ---> NOW!

But wait!!! Before you hit the button, I want to be 100% honest with you. The membership is not for everyone. You won't get a pile of resources, access to a support portal (though you can always email if you want a little nudge), access to a Facebook group where you can think that you're doing something productive while you are actually further wasting your time, or an injection of knowledge that will magically make you a superhuman.

These are all things (falls promises) I kind of hate on other sites. That's why I decided to do something a bit different. By becoming a Thinker, you'll get one step closer to doing something with the words printed on a piece of paper. Instead of skim-read, you'll slow down and think more about how you can actually implement the knowledge from great books.

I believe that in our world crazily obsessed with social media, it is not enough to just think about reading, tweet about reading, or mercifully hope to read your ever-growing collection of unread big-fancy titles. It's about re-reading, analyzing, actively thinking, and taking action based on the content inside great books.

If you think you're that kind of person. You're looking for an excuse to schedule more time with yourself so you can resolve oppressing problems, find solutions, finally do something with the insights from books, then I'm quite positive that you'll love the membership.

Members of my previous program can find the first Think Workbook when they access the Member's Home page -> here.

• [UPDATED]: Atomic Habits by James Clear: I've read this book for the second time and I've updated my previously published book summary on my site. I'm positive that you've heard about this title. It's probably the best book about adding good habits in your life and removing the bad sabotaging behaviors. If you decide to join my just-announced club, you'll get access to the full summary along with a workbook that will help you apply the proposed frameworks inside.

Unlock the full content of the book summary and get access to the first workbook by becoming a Thinker -> Thinkers Club.

Interesting books I recently added to my reading list (and hopefully will read at some point):

• Can't Even by Anne Helen Petersen: This trendy book surely looks interesting. We are told that if we work hard enough we can achieve anything, but that is a lie according to the author. Working constantly only makes you exhausted, leaves you feeling lost, unappreciated, and always behind thanks to social media and its continual promotion of having the ideal life.
• How to Build a Car by Adrian Newey: A book about building cars? What more can you wish. Surely you won't construct your own Formula 1 after reading this book, but the included illustrations inside the title will make the eyes of every engineer and designer glow.

Interesting words from books and around the web:

• Abditory [noun]: A safe repository for valuables; A place into which you can disappear; A hiding place.
• Cairn [noun]: A pyramid of rough stones, raised for a memorial or to mark a path; An object to make people remember someone or something.
• Cafuné [noun]: Running your hand through someone’s hair, someone you love.

(If for some reason your email client decides to clip the email, click here to see the full content).

From around the web:

• Vanity metrics: I found this piece a couple of weeks after I decided to change my membership program. It basically explains my thought process - even though I didn't know it at that time. For example, reading 40 books per year is a vanity metric. It sounds good on paper, but if you're not doing anything with the knowledge you're just deluding yourself. It's a good idea to set goals but also don't forget that you should occasionally question them.
• effort: "I think a lot of people want to be but they don’t want to do. They want to have written a book, but they don’t want to write the book. They want to be fit, but they don’t want the tedium of working out. They’re ashamed of rejection and they’re ashamed of imperfection." This short article surely resonated with me. I highly recommend checking it.
• Taking time off: "A sabbatical is not something you do, which can be optimized to do more efficiently. Instead, think of it as a space where you can be. It takes a while—a lot longer than you’d think—to disentangle yourself from your work identity. Just think about how long it can take some evenings after work to transition from executive to mom, from boss to creative hobbyist, or from product manager to loving partner."

Still here and reading?

Great! Let me tell you why you should join the Thinkers Club if you are still on the fence.

In short, the workbooks that you'll receive every month will help you regularly disengage from the chaotic world and help you think, on your own, about important questions that can steer your life in the right direction.

Every month, you will explore the best frameworks from great books and actually do something with the content.

If you join now, you will lock the discounted price of $15 a month forever.

Upgrade from thinking about reading to thinking and actually doing something with the content from great books.

Hope to see you inside!

Join the Thinkers Club!

Thank you for your time!

Regards,

Ivaylo Durmonski