I just started reading Claudia Altucher’s new book, Become an Idea Machine. She’s married to James Altucher, author, entrepreneur and probably the most transparent person in America, sometimes painfully so. If you don’t follow his writing, you should. You can start here.

Both Claudia and James have a daily practice to come up with 10 new ‘ideas’ everyday. Some may be unworkable and ridiculous. Some don’t even have to be real ideas, such as a list of “10 things I have at home that I don’t need which I could either donate and/or throw-away or repurpose.” The concept is that getting into the habit of generating ten new ideas every day expands your thinking — it exercise the idea muscle.  Over time your ideas get better, more actionable and can change the course of your life.

So, I decided that I would start light and come up with my own list of 10 books that I would recommend to people who are thinking about striking out on their own as a freelancer or entrepreneur. Here are my recommendations:

The possibilities and process of designing your own life:

4-Hour Work Week — Tim Ferriss

Know your Why. Loyalty to ideas, people, products and services are not based on the Whats, they’re based on the Whys:

Start with Why – Simon Sinek

Taking charge of yourself, your life and your future:

Choose Yourself — James Altucher
The Icarus Deception — Seth Godin
The Leap: How 3 Simple Changes Can Propel Your Career from Good to Great — Rick Smith

Going beyond minimalism and making the hard choices:

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less — Greg Mckeown

Fighting the resistance, doing the work, and knowing when to keep on going, change directions or quit:

The War of Art — Steven Pressfield
Turning Pro — Steven Pressfield
The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) — Seth Godin
So Good They Can’t Ignore You — Cal Newport