Hi friends,

Happy Saturday. The snow is slowly melting here in Connecticut. This winter has been brutal!

Today, we'll be wrapping up Unhinged Habits by Jonathan Goodman.

For March, we'll be reading Shift by Ethan Kross.

— Maneet

Weekly Discussion

This month’s book was one that I did not expect to love so much.

But there’s one thing I don’t agree with:

The title!

Nothing about the lessons in this book is extreme enough to be labeled “unhinged.” That feels a bit like clickbait, if you ask me. But putting that aside, I appreciate reading this immediately after Atomic Habits. The contrast was comical at times, and it’s always refreshing when you read a book that contradicts a lot of the typical advice you get elsewhere.

I’m giving Unhinged Habits by Jonathan Goodman a five-star rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Here are the top three lessons that have stuck with me.

The first is the concept of seasonality and baselines.

Most people will tell you that consistency is super important when building habits and routines. Even though that is true, the problem I’ve always run into is having too many things I want to be consistent with. Goodman suggests breaking your year into different seasons. Pick something you want to be super committed to for the next few months and prioritize that above all else. Reading this inspired me to enter a season of learning. My spring semester started at the end of January, so giving myself permission to prioritize education these next few months felt liberating.

Even though I’m in a season of education, it’s also important to know what your baselines are in other areas. This is the part that really felt like a lightbulb moment for me. Just because I’m prioritizing my education right now doesn’t mean everything else stops. I’ve created baselines (aka bare minimums) for the other areas of my life. For example, when it comes to my health, I’m still making an effort to go for a 30-minute run four times a week, but there’s no pressure to do anything more than that.

The next lesson I’m taking away from this book is surrounding friendships.

I absolutely loved the metaphor used in the book comparing your friends to a garden. There will be grass (value-based, daily coworkers), flowers (people who you enjoy spending time with and may only see here and there), birds (creators you follow; you see them, but they don’t know you), and trees (true friends, always there; they may take up resources in your garden, but they’re worth it). And of course, the bit we talked about last week left an impression too. It’s better to have fewer true friends instead of lots of shallow relationships.

The last lesson I learned was one that was subtly mentioned throughout the book.

Lead by example.

At a few points in different chapters, Goodman mentioned that the best way for your kids to do the things you want them to do is by modeling the behavior yourself. Leading by example is actually an effective way to get anyone around you to change their behavior. Even though I don’t have kids yet, this is something that really stuck with me. There are routines I want my future kids to practice from an early age that I never did. I can’t expect that to happen just by telling them. It’s better to build those routines for myself now and lead by example when the time comes.

Did you finish Unhinged Habits? What did you learn?

I’d love to hear from you!

Weekly YouTube Video

​🎬 My Bold 2026 Kindle Predictions (I'm Probably Wrong)​

I just published my annual Kindle predictions video, and once again, I’m fully prepared to be wrong. I talk through what I realistically think Amazon will do in 2026, especially around the Kindle Scribe and AI features, and then share my personal wishlist for Kindle software improvements. If you’re curious where Kindle might be headed, this one’s worth a watch.

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