Praise for richie NortoN & the Power of startiNg somethiNg stuPid “Thank you Richie Norton for inspiring us to authenticity and greatness.” — forBes “This warm, wonderful book will inspire and motivate you to do more in your life than you ever dreamed possible.” — Brian tracy, author of The Power of Self-Confidence I absolutely love this book. Richie Norton’s new book The I love how it makes me feel. Today I have over 120 Power of Starting Something It energizes me, inspires me, million YouTube views; it only Stupid is already getting me and gives me confidence. It seems like yesterday when in a heap of trouble. As I was reminds each of us that all people thought that following reading it, I made notes to things are possible. .This my dreams could only be a Steve (my husband). When I book disrupts conventional hobby. Fortunately, as Richie was done I handed it to him thinking—in a smart way. teaches, ‘stupid’ was the and said, “This could change smartest thing I could do. the way we live.” — stephen m. r. covey, New York Times and the #1 — devin graham, Wall Street Journal bestselling content creator for the — Brené Brown, author of The Speed of Trust YouTube channel bestselling author of and coauthor of the #1 Amazon devinsupertramp Daring Greatly bestseller Smart Trust “When I wrote The E-Myth Revisited, I wasn’t an author and I really wasn’t interested in business, but I had discovered something about business that nobody else seemed to see, or understand, and I decided to write a book about it. It came like a gift, a huge aha from out of nowhere, and I ran with it. Today, that ‘stupid’ idea (everybody told me it wouldn’t work!) has created the most successful book on small business ever written because of that one, great stupid idea. I thought I was just lucky. Richie just told me that I’m in really good company. Find out why stupid is now the New Smart. Read it, you’ll love it, you’ll find out why thinking stupid makes the best sense in the world.” — michael gerber, the world’s #1 small-business guru and author of the bestselling The E-Myth Revisited “Once in a great while a new author bursts on the scene to light a fire under us. Richie Norton is that rare spark. His certainty that the secret to success is to start something stupid is right on and will alter your future. Thirty publishers thought Chicken Soup was stupid before it sold over 100 million copies. This new book could not have come at a better time and Richie’s urgent and authentic style is readable, convincing and a compelling blueprint for success. Be smart: read The Power of Starting Something Stupid.” — Jack canfield, New York Times bestselling author of The Success Principles, and cocreator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul® series TABLe of CONteNTS: 1. FirstthingsFirst 2. a(very)brieFintroductiontothe76-daychallenge 3. thepurposeoFthe76-daychallenge 4. calendar 5. phaseone:getcleardays1-14 6. phasetwo:worksmartdays15-45 7. phasethree:Finishingstrongdays46-76 8. thankyou 9. specialnote 10. contact Hello friend! do you BeLieve: 1. that your life matters? 2. that your life has purpose? 3. that you are meant to be happy? beforeyouembarkonthenext76days,youmustfirstinternalizethesethreetruths.you mustembracethemcompletely—notjustasgeneral ideasthatapplytothe“collectivewe” orthatexistforsomekindofspecificsocialcategorization.youmustbelievethatthese threethingsaretrueofyou,ofyourlife. youstarthere,becausein order to create the meaningful life satisfaction and success you seek, you must first believe that you deserve this kind of life.youmustbelievethat youdeservealifethatconsistsofmorethancommuting,working,eating,surfingtheinter- net,sleepingandwatchingtv.thereisanentireworldfullofexcitement,energy,influence, purpose-drivenprojectsandexperiences,authenticmeaningandjoy—rightatyourfinger- tips.reachoutandtakeit! this76-Day Challengewillhelpyoustartyourveryown“somethingstupid.”thisplanwill takeyoubythehandandpromptyourauthenticselfasyouconsciouslymakethekinds ofchoicesthatwillgiveyourlifeasenseofsincerepurpose,leaveyoufeelingvibrantand alive,andensurethatyouliveacourageouslife,alifewithoutregret. gomakesomewaves!gostartsomethingstupid! richie Norton, author The Power of Starting Something Stupid www.RichieNorton.com/Blog first thiNgs first ... couPLe thiNgs you Need to kNow: 1. thisebookisacompanionactionguidetomybookThe Power of Starting Something Stupid.throughoutthe76-Day Challengeimakereferencetopage numbersinthepowerofstartingsomethingstupidsoyoucantakeadeep-dive approachtomakingtheprinciplesiteachcomealive.ifyoudon’thavethebook yet,youcangetitbyclickingonthislink:The Power of Starting Something Stupid.thatsaid,i’vewrittenthisactionguideinawaythatyoucanstillget incrediblevalueandresultsbytakingthestepswithoutthebook.myobjective withthisguideisnottosellyouabook(besides,ifyou’rereadingthisyou probablyalreadyhaveit).myobjectiveistohelpyouliveyourbestlife.soread onandhavefun! 2. irecommendyouprintthisactionguideand take it one day at a time,checking offyourprogressasyougo.sureyoucouldreadthisactionguiderealquicktoday andassumeyouknowitallandmoveonwithyourlife—that method won’t make any lasting change. wanttoreallystart(andfinish)somethingawesome?really? committoactuallytakingactiononthepromptsiprovideintheguideone.day. at.a.time.tryitout.ifyoureallydothework,thingswillstarttohappen.before releasingthisactionguidetothepublic,ifirsttesteditwithaselectgroupof peoplewhotoldmethatithelpedtheirprogressififollowedupbyemail.ifyou downloadedthisactionguidefrommywebsite,i’llsendyoufollowupemailsto helpyoualongtheway.ifnot,youcansignuphere(youcanoptoutatanytime). thanks! a (VERY) Brief iNtroductioN TO the 76-DAY chaLLeNge ... whenoursecondson(cardon)wasborn,hehadadifficulttimefalling(andstaying) asleep.aftermanylong,sleeplessnights,andmanytearsshed—bothsweetnatalie’s(my wife)andcardon’sown—wedidwhatanygoodparentwoulddo.wethrewourhands upintheairandadmittedthatwehadnobusinessbeingparents.clearly,wehadexactly zeroideawhatonearthweweredoing. weconsultedwithourpediatrician.wedevotedhoursuponhourstopersonalstudy.we triedeveryholistic(possiblyread:voodoo?)trickinthebooks(andbooksandbooks). wedevouredeverpieceofinformationwecouldfindinanattempttosolveourbaby’s sleepingproblem.then,wellthen,westoppedeverythingandsimplybangedourheads againstthewall(whichironicallyseemedtohelpthesituationasmuchasanythingelse wetried,gofigure). nothingworked.nothing,thatis,untilonegloriousdaywhenwediscoveredthemagical keythatunlockedthegoldengatesofsleepingeuphoria:Focusedsound. thehumofafan,thewhooshofnatalie’shairdryer,thesoundofdenserainfallrecorded toacompactdisk(yes,thiswaslongenoughagothatwewereactuallystillinpossession ofacdplayer)...theexacttypeofsounddidn’tmatter.ourinfantson,withhisnewly developingbrain,didn’thavetheskillsnecessarytoturndownthevolumeonallthe sensoryinputaroundhim.thusnatalieandi,ashisparents,steppedinandhelpedhim sootheandcalmthosedistractionsbyintroducingaclearsoundforhimtofocuson. oncethatfocuswasestablished,hewasabletosecureahealthysleeppatternthat blessedallourlives. Forthefirsttimeinnearlyeightweeks(that’sapproximately64days,butwho’scounting?), ourson(andhiscrazedparents)gotmorethantwoconsecutivehoursofsleep. ouroncefussy,miserablebabyhadtransformed,literallyovernight,intothehappiest babyintown. the PurPose of the 76-DAY chaLLeNge ... “The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.” – hans hofmann life,likeinfancy,canbeexceptionallyoverwhelming.manyofyouare,inthisvery moment,overwhelmedbeyonddescription.toyou,ioffermymostsincereempathy. please,restassuredthatyouaremostcertainlynotalone,andtrustmewhenitellyou thatthereisanotherway,a better way,tolive. overwhelm,anxiety,worry,fear,procrastination,confusion,lackofdirection,lackof purposeandjoy,thedisparagingopinionsofothers...allofthisdiscontentandmore aresymptomsofaveryrealandverypowerfulfoe—anepidemiceven—thatisrunning absolutelyrampantintoday’sdayandage. THE DISEASE OF DISTRACTION. ateveryturn,wearemetwithforces,powerfulones,whichrelentlessly(often, ferociously)vieforourundividedattention.unfortunately,thevastmajorityofthese competitorsforourtimearemeredistractionsthatcloudourthinkingandpreventus fromconsciouslyandcourageouslyengagingintheprojectswearemostpassionate about,andthereby,preventusfromlivingthelifewearetrulymeanttolive—the life of our dreams. Friends,thisisafrighteningdiagnosis,yes,butthereisawayout. thetrickistoturndownthevolumeoncompeting,unnecessaryinfluences,sothatyou havethecapacitytohearandfollowthemostrichlynecessary(guiding)influencesof yourlife.The 76-Day Challenge exists to help us do just that. Justasthesimplepresenceofone,soft,consistentsound—asoundthatwascapableof gentlydrowningoutalltheothers—wasenoughtohelpourinfantsonfocushissenses andguidehimintodeep,restfulsleep,thereispurpose-filled,guidingdirectionavailable toyou.overthenext76days,asyouworktoconsciouslytakeyourlifebythereins,you willuncoveryourveryownclearandauthenticsenseofdirection.thisclarityandsense ofdirectionwillhelpyouturndownthevolumeonthethingsinyourlifethatmatter least,andhelpyouturnupthevolumeon,andmakeroomfor,thethingsinyourlifethat mattermost. over the Next 76 days: • youwillexercisethecouragetoacknowledgeyourstupidideas,despite doubt,fear,ortheopinionsofothers. • youwilldigdeepandgetintouchwithaprojectorideathatauthentically matterstoyou. • youwillaccomplishatleastonethingeachdaythatisalignedwiththatover- archinggoal. • youwillacknowledgelessthanideallifecircumstancesandcommitto courageouslystoplettingthemhavecontroloverthetrajectoryofyourlife. • youwilldefineandevaluateexistingthoughtandbehaviorpatternsand