100 books like Refuse to Choose! Use All of Your Interests, Passions, and Hobbies to Create the Life and Career of Your Dreams

By Barbara Sher,

Here are 100 books that Refuse to Choose! Use All of Your Interests, Passions, and Hobbies to Create the Life and Career of Your Dreams fans have personally recommended if you like Refuse to Choose! Use All of Your Interests, Passions, and Hobbies to Create the Life and Career of Your Dreams. Shepherd is a community of 10,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Roadmap: The Get-It-Together Guide for Figuring Out What to Do with Your Life

Emilie Wapnick Author Of How to Be Everything: A Guide for Those Who (Still) Don't Know What They Want to Be When They Grow Up

From my list on when can't figure out what to do with your life.

Why am I passionate about this?

Emilie Wapnick is an award-winning author and community builder. She is the founder and creative director at Puttylike, where she helps multipotentialites (people with many passions and creative pursuits) integrate all of their interests to create dynamic, fulfilling, and fruitful careers and lives. Her popular TED talk, Why some of us don’t have one true calling, has been viewed 7 million times and she has been featured in The New York Times, Fast Company, Forbes, New York Magazine, The Huffington Post, BBC, and Vice.

Emilie's book list on when can't figure out what to do with your life

Emilie Wapnick Why did Emilie love this book?

Written by a team of documentarians, Roadmap is a great read for folks who are just starting their career—or starting over! It offers inspiring examples of people with weird, creative careers, including tons of interviews where you can learn about people’s specific paths. The exercises in the book emphasize seeking variety and blending your interests, rather than narrowing down your multi-passionate soul.

By Roadtrip Nation,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Roadmap as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The New York Times bestseller is back! The career workbook Roadmap is better than ever.

Roadmap has been updated and expanded with tons of brand new content-including chapters on changing directions mid-career and not letting your past define your future.

Through inspirational stories and interviews, journal-like prompts, and practical career development information, this helpful resource will steer students, recent graduates, and career-changers toward an authentic, fulfilling life.

* Features fresh perspectives from people like singer-songwriter John Legend, surfing world champion Layne Beachley, and MacArthur fellow and radio host Jad Abumrad
* Full of advice for people seeking a fulfilling work…


Book cover of The Renaissance Soul: How to Make Your Passions Your Life--A Creative and Practical Guide

Emilie Wapnick Author Of How to Be Everything: A Guide for Those Who (Still) Don't Know What They Want to Be When They Grow Up

From my list on when can't figure out what to do with your life.

Why am I passionate about this?

Emilie Wapnick is an award-winning author and community builder. She is the founder and creative director at Puttylike, where she helps multipotentialites (people with many passions and creative pursuits) integrate all of their interests to create dynamic, fulfilling, and fruitful careers and lives. Her popular TED talk, Why some of us don’t have one true calling, has been viewed 7 million times and she has been featured in The New York Times, Fast Company, Forbes, New York Magazine, The Huffington Post, BBC, and Vice.

Emilie's book list on when can't figure out what to do with your life

Emilie Wapnick Why did Emilie love this book?

Another important antecedent to How to Be Everything, this book offers a serious focus on career, work, and revenue streams. Lobesnstine, a career and life coach, makes the argument that a need for variety and love for finding new challenges are not liabilities, but assets. If you’re ready to get down to business, this might be the read for you.

By Margaret Lobenstine,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Renaissance Soul as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The guide to leading a creative, passionate, and multifaceted life―big enough to embrace all your dreams

Are you unwilling to settle on doing just one thing “for the rest of your life”? Do you jump at the chance to learn something new―or, after achieving success in one field, find yourself yearning for new challenges and looking around for something different to do? If so, you may be a Renaissance Soul. The Renaissance Soul is the first book devoted to this personality type, and in this updated edition―in paperback for the first time― author Margaret Lobenstine offers a life-planning strategy perfectly…


Book cover of The Art of Asking: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help

Julie Schooler Author Of Rediscover Your Sparkle: Revive the Real You and Be Rebelliously Happy Every Day

From my list on self-help memoirs on making the most of your life.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have read a ton of self-help books. A ton. I have a whole library of them – a bookcase of "shelf-help." And I have now written 7 of them as well! I love it when a little or a lot of the author’s story is woven into a self-help book as it demonstrates the author’s personal growth. I don’t need more self-help tools or trite suggestions. I want to feel emotionally connected and moved in a way that encourages me to reflect on and enhance my one precious life. For me, reading a well-written self-help memoir is one of life’s greatest joys. 

Julie's book list on self-help memoirs on making the most of your life

Julie Schooler Why did Julie love this book?

This book checked all the boxes for a rollicking read – a strong woman, a memoir, and a smattering of self-help and it did not disappoint. I didn't read it, I devoured it. Loved all the interesting stories and pearls of wisdom. Take the donut! If you like self-help and memoir, or like me, love a combo of both, then this is the book for you. It is the kind of book that stays with you for a long, long time. I can't recommend this book enough. Just read it. 

By Amanda Palmer,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Art of Asking as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"When we really see each other, we want to help each other." -Amanda Palmer Imagine standing on a box in the middle of a busy city, dressed as a white-faced bride, and silently using your eyes to ask people for money. Or touring Europe in a punk cabaret band, and finding a place to sleep each night by reaching out to strangers on Twitter. For Amanda Palmer, actions like these have gone beyond satisfying her basic needs for food and shelter--they've taught her how to turn strangers into friends, build communities, and discover her own giving impulses. And because she…


Book cover of Body of Work: Finding the Thread That Ties Your Story Together

Emilie Wapnick Author Of How to Be Everything: A Guide for Those Who (Still) Don't Know What They Want to Be When They Grow Up

From my list on when can't figure out what to do with your life.

Why am I passionate about this?

Emilie Wapnick is an award-winning author and community builder. She is the founder and creative director at Puttylike, where she helps multipotentialites (people with many passions and creative pursuits) integrate all of their interests to create dynamic, fulfilling, and fruitful careers and lives. Her popular TED talk, Why some of us don’t have one true calling, has been viewed 7 million times and she has been featured in The New York Times, Fast Company, Forbes, New York Magazine, The Huffington Post, BBC, and Vice.

Emilie's book list on when can't figure out what to do with your life

Emilie Wapnick Why did Emilie love this book?

Pamela Slim offers a wonderful way to reimagine your life and career, build your personal brand, and share your story. Multipotentialites often struggle to describe where they’ve been and where they’re headed in an impactful way. This book argues that your career is not a linear thing—it’s a collection of different types of work that you’re proud of. Body of Work will help you see your life story from a totally new vantage point.

By Pamela Slim,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Body of Work as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

These days it's increasingly rare to have a stable career in any field. More and more of us are blending big company jobs, startup gigs, freelance work, and volunteer side projects. We take chances to expand our knowledge, capabilities, and experience. But how do we make sense of that kind of career - and explain it? Pamela Slim, the acclaimed author of Escape from Cubicle Nation, gives us the tools to have meaningful careers in this new world of work. She shows how to find the connections among diverse accomplishments, sell your story, and continually reinvent and relaunch your brand.


Book cover of What Color Is Your Parachute? 2022: Your Guide to a Lifetime of Meaningful Work and Career Success

A. Yvette Myrick Author Of Thriving in Higher Education Careers

From my list on being authentic while thriving in your career.

Why are we passionate about this?

Estelle and I created the list of books based on our over 50 years of combined expertise in helping others to thrive in their careers. Our passion is facilitating the instruction, training, coaching, and professional development to help individuals reach their career goals. We wrote the book about thriving in careers and created a podcast about thriving in careers with over 30 episodes to help others reach their personal and career goals. At the same time, we want others to be their authentic self while thriving in their careers.

Yvette's book list on being authentic while thriving in your career

A. Yvette Myrick Why did Yvette love this book?

I really love this book because it changed the trajectory of my entire career. I was a business major in high school and continued as a business major while working on my bachelor’s degree. However, I did not feel that working only in business was my true passion.

The book explored not only job-hunting tools but also provided tools for reflection on deciding what you really want to do as a career. After reading this book, I earned a master’s and doctoral degree working with adult learners, which is my true passion. I love the book because its advice and guidance were relevant for being my authentic self and thriving in a career that best fits my skills and passion. 

By Richard N. Bolles, Katharine Brooks,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked What Color Is Your Parachute? 2022 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

With timeless advice, up-to-the-minute insights, and more than ten million copies sold over fifty years, the world’s most popular and best-selling career guide is fully revised and expanded for 2022.
 
“One of the first job-hunting books on the market. It is still arguably the best. And it is indisputably the most popular.”—Fast Company

What Color Is Your Parachute? is the world’s most popular job-hunting guide. This completely updated edition features the latest resources, strategies, and perspectives on today’s job market, revealing surprising advice on what works—and what doesn’t—so you can focus your efforts on tactics that yield results.
 
At its…


Book cover of Transitions: Making Sense of Life's Changes

Erica Sosna Author Of The Career Equation: Coaching a Culture of Career Conversations

From my list on transforming your career or others area of life.

Why am I passionate about this?

Do you know you will spend 80,000 hours at work in your lifetime? And yet we get so little guidance on how to make choices about the work we do. I am fascinated by the world of work and how we navigate it, and thrive in it. I’ve always wondered how people made decisions about how to live and how to approach finding the right kind of livelihood that fits their skills and interests. I’ve made it my job to design a method to help people get specific and clear and help them not only find the work that best utilises their skills and passions but also identifies the environment that works best for us.

Erica's book list on transforming your career or others area of life

Erica Sosna Why did Erica love this book?

This is a brilliant book for any life transitions, not just careers. Simple yet mind-blowingly effective, this is a process I have applied many times throughout my life, from starting businesses to closing them, getting new jobs as well as personal difficulties. We aren’t really taught how to manage change and yet it is a constant in our lives. This book helps you gain practical insight for when you are moving from one life experience to another. Life is all about changes and this book will help you manage them in a more effective and hopeful way.

By William Bridges, Susan Bridges,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Transitions as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

First published in 1980, Transitions was the first book to explore the underlying and universal pattern of transition. Named one of the fifty most important self-help books of all time, Transitions remains the essential guide for coping with the inevitable changes in life.

Transitions takes readers step-by-step through the three perilous stages of any transition, explaining how each stage can be understood and embraced. The book offers an elegant, simple, yet profoundly insightful road map to navigate change and move into a hopeful future: Endings: Every transition begins with one. Too often we misunderstand them, confuse them with finality-that's it,…


Book cover of Awakening the Heroes Within: Twelve Archetypes to Help Us Find Ourselves and Transform Our World

Traci Harding Author Of The Twelve Chapters of the Infinite Night

From my list on inciting the imagination.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was in my teens when I discovered that if I focused on something hard enough I could manifest it. During my investigations into whether others had experienced this, I discovered the Adyar Bookstore in the Strand Arcade in Sydney, and that I had an insatiable thirst for all texts metaphysical, historical, and quantum theory. Turns out that many of the greatest thinkers in history believed that humans hold sway over many of the events and occurrence of their own lives, including Einstein, Plato, Tesla, Carl Sagan, and more. My books are the product of my exploration into the nature of personal reality, spirituality, and the meaning of life.

Traci's book list on inciting the imagination

Traci Harding Why did Traci love this book?

This book outlines the Twelve Archetypes of the human condition - the Innocent, Lover, Healer, Warrior, Seeker, Ruler, Destroyer, Sage, Creator, Orphan, Magician, and Fool. 

These Archetypes are the basis of my Twelve Chapters, exploring one day in the life of each of these archetypes, as they strive to overcome their inner dragons and fulfil their true life purpose. 

As my characters are spread across time - the past, the near future and the distant future - I actually had to write many of these chapters simultaneously, as their stories wove through each other. 

The insights into each stage of the hero’s journey of these archetypes was invaluable to me throughout the process. 

Other writers, psychiatrists, or anyone seeking greater insight into humanity and what drives us, might find this most insightful. 

By Carol S. Pearson,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Awakening the Heroes Within as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This companion to the bestselling THE HERO WITHIN outlines twelve archetypal patterns that can aid inner development and the quest for wholeness.


Book cover of The Work We Were Born To Do

Erica Sosna Author Of The Career Equation: Coaching a Culture of Career Conversations

From my list on transforming your career or others area of life.

Why am I passionate about this?

Do you know you will spend 80,000 hours at work in your lifetime? And yet we get so little guidance on how to make choices about the work we do. I am fascinated by the world of work and how we navigate it, and thrive in it. I’ve always wondered how people made decisions about how to live and how to approach finding the right kind of livelihood that fits their skills and interests. I’ve made it my job to design a method to help people get specific and clear and help them not only find the work that best utilises their skills and passions but also identifies the environment that works best for us.

Erica's book list on transforming your career or others area of life

Erica Sosna Why did Erica love this book?

The power of this book is in helping you discover what it is that you want to do, but also reflect on your beliefs about work, igniting the belief in our capacity to make the changes and discovering our true meaning of success. This book includes some very practical and insightful exercises and ways to help you think about what it is you really want to do at a very deep level.

By Nick Williams,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Work We Were Born To Do as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Would you like a more fulfilling work life? Do you want a job that s creative, exciting and rewarding? That allows you to be who you truly are? You need to discover the work you were born to do. Leading work-expert Nick Williams has identified the twelve principles of the work we were born to do. He shows how we can activate these principles to amazing effect and utilize our inner power at whatever stage we have reached in our working lives. The Work We Were Born To Do shows how to discover your purpose and reveals how to make…


Book cover of Stepsister

Margaret McNellis Author Of The Red Fletch

From my list on a female protagonist claiming her agency.

Why am I passionate about this?

Identity, agency, belonging, and transformation…these are the themes which drive me to write. I love historical fiction and historical fantasy because for female characters, the past was rife with oppression, which creates an even greater barrier to self-actualization and personal alchemy. There are still barriers for females in our present world, but setting a story in the past can more clearly call out those barriers and the ways females bust through them. We finally live in a world where historians and storytellers are unearthing the untold tales of the past. No longer are the narratives in the sole control of the victors and oppressors. 

Margaret's book list on a female protagonist claiming her agency

Margaret McNellis Why did Margaret love this book?

This is my favorite book of Donnelly’s, perhaps because I had the distinct pleasure of meeting her upon its release. This book was an inspiration to me as a writer. Not only is Isabelle considered “ugly,” but her spirit is so downtrodden at the beginning of the story because others don’t believe in her abilities. She must find her own agency and her own belief in her abilities to do great things and realize that real beauty shines from within. 

By Jennifer Donnelly,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked Stepsister as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

'In an ancient city by the sea, three sisters - a maiden, a mother, and a crone - are drawing maps by candlelight. Sombre, with piercing grey eyes, they are the three Fates, and every map is a human life . . .'

Stepsister takes up where Cinderella's tale ends. We meet Isabelle, the younger of Cinderella's two stepsisters. Ella is considered beautiful; stepsister Isabelle is not. Isabelle is fearless, brave, and strong-willed. She fences better than any boy, and takes her stallion over jumps that grown men fear to attempt. It doesn't matter, though; these qualities are not valued…


Book cover of Jane, Unlimited

Katie Kennedy Author Of What Goes Up

From my list on with parallel worlds.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a history instructor and often think about alternate historical outcomes, but you don’t get to choose those. Wish the Spanish Armada hadn’t sunk? Tough luck. But you can take a novel in any direction—kill a character, bring them back, let them fall in love, make them eat an egg salad sandwich… When the book itself is about parallel worlds, it increases those possibilities exponentially. In What Goes Up, Rosa and Eddie have very different backgrounds—Earth is two different worlds for them. What happens when there’s another world out there and they meet themselves in a different place? As one character asks, how much do you trust yourself?

Katie's book list on with parallel worlds

Katie Kennedy Why did Katie love this book?

Jane, Unlimited is a marvelously constructed book that focuses on Jane, a girl grieving her aunt and making umbrellas, who gets an invitation to a mysterious island mansion. I am here for all mysterious island mansion books. This estate is named Tu Reviens–"You come back” in French. That is, of course, a clue to the premise. There are a couple of possible love interests, but it’s not a love triangle and I don’t think it would annoy the people who are dead set against triangles.

By Kristin Cashore,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Jane, Unlimited as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 14, 15, 16, and 17.

What is this book about?

An instant New York Times bestseller—from the award-winning author of the Graceling Realm series—about adventure, grief, storytelling, and finding yourself in a world of seemingly infinite choices.

"A wild gift for readers who like books that take them to unexpected places."—Melissa Albert, author of The Hazel Wood

Jane has lived a mostly ordinary life, raised by her recently deceased aunt Magnolia, whom she counted on to turn life into an adventure. Without Aunt Magnolia, Jane is lost. So she's easily swept away when a glamorous, capricious, and wealthy acquaintance from years ago asks Jane to accompany her to a gala…


5 book lists we think you will like!

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10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about choice and choosing, self-actualization, and success in life.

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