Unhinged Habits

A Counterintuitive Guide for Humans to Have More by Doing Less

De: Jonathan Goodman

Narrado por: Jonathan Goodman

Read by the author.

Break bad habits and build your rich life by mastering the art of strategic subtraction.

Unhinged Habits will revolutionize your relationship to work, money, and even adult friendship.

Read Unhinged Habits if:

• Your calendar’s packed, yet you feel like you're missing what matters.
• You've bought things meant to bring happiness, but the satisfaction didn't last.
• You suspect you're living someone else's definition of success rather than your own.

We’re all habitual by nature. We fall into patterns and get stuck. We form habits and never question them.

Some habits propel us forward. Others can work against us over time.

The key? Get the order right. Balance short-term desires with long-term planning. Set yourself up for a bright future without missing the magic in the present.

Unhinged Habits pushes back against slow and incremental progress in the pursuit of some faceless, better future. Lots of people are consistent, yet few get ahead. What’s missing are intermittent bouts of unhinged intensity.

This is a book about wanting a better life and going after it. Or be okay not having it. Both are fine. Just get out of the middle.

For over 13 years, Jonathan Goodman has challenged societal norms and built multi-million-dollar businesses, all while exploring over 30 countries with his family. In Unhinged Habits, Goodman shares the essential insights that freed him from conventional expectations. You will learn:

• The 8:4 Rule. The counterintuitive seasonal approach that embraces unbalance to level up your relationships with people, money, and health.
• The Explorer's Compass. A framework to break routine and rediscover wonder in your everyday life.
• The Three Proxies of True Friendship. How to categorize your friends so you spend more time with the true ones and feel less guilt for letting others go.

Buckle up, because this book is going to break you out of the routines you’ve accepted as normal, but no longer serve you, so that you can finally live your definition of success.

Graphics and interactive content can be found in the audiobook companion PDF download.

True thought leadership

I loved this book and all of Jon's words of wisdom he shares through experience and stories. It's very reflective and puts you in deep thought. I was in a chokehold in the first chapter.

I also didn't expect to feel so deeply from reading it. Maybe it's my life stage right now, but I really reflected on my own life, productivity, expectations, and priorities.

I also didn't realize Jon was reading it and I think that has a huge impact on the tone. I pre-ordered the audiobook which also came with the pdf files for the worksheets.

I was expecting more action but was surprisingly met with depth.

Impactful

Love the way Goodman presents his writing through experience, it’s thoughtfully written in a way that you can use to impact your life.

Jonathan hits the nail on the head with this book!

I've listened to a lot of these types of books that try to give solutions to life's problems and make things easier. Jonathan gives practical, real world solutions that I can easily implement in my life. These things seem so obvious at first like having fewer friends actually makes me enjoy my friendships more than I did before'. this is right, but is so helpful to hear called out! This was an easy listen while I've gone for walks in my town. thanks Jon for a great book! will have to listen to your others.

Unhinged Results vs Atomic (tiny) results

Extraordinary book and narration! Perfect time to find this book as I plan my year ahead using habits that will pull me toward my lofty goals. One of the best authors and Lifestyle Design books I’ve read. Love the simplicity, humor, and profound wisdom.

A surprisingly fresh take

I'm a personal development snob. I've read all the books, know the frameworks, can spot recycled ideas from a mile away. So when I picked up "Unhinged Habits," I had my guard up.

Turns out Jonathan Goodman actually delivered.

One reframe that stood out: we crush it at our careers because there's external accountability built in. Bosses, deadlines, quarterly reviews. But relationships and health? Those are purely internal. Nobody fires you for being a shitty friend or skipping the gym for six months straight. External pressures always feel more urgent in the near term, so we optimize for work while the stuff that actually matters quietly deteriorates.

Same with his take on screens shattering life's natural boundaries. It's not another lazy "put your phone down" lecture. It's about how the rules changed while we weren't paying attention. The factory floor mentality doesn't work when you're swimming in a notification tsunami and every moment can be interrupted by someone else's urgency.

What I appreciate most is how Goodman weaves personal stories throughout. And when he references familiar concepts or parables, he comes at them from different angles that actually land somewhere new. You think you know the idea, then he shifts the lens and suddenly you're seeing it differently.

He writes like an explorer, not a researcher. He's clearly lived this stuff, not just compiled studies about it.

If you're skeptical that there's anything left to learn in this space, this one's worth your time. I was skeptical too.