The Joy of Not Working in Japan

This is an e-mail that I received from Japan about my book The Joy of Not Working

From: ioicrying24 ( at) jcom.home.ne.jp
Subject: Acknowledgment　from Tokyo
To: "success101coach (at ) yahoo (dot) com
Received: Wednesday, October 7, 2009, 2:07 AM

Dear Mr. Zelinski,

My name is Sohei, I am mailing you because your book The Joy of Not Working encouraged my life style so much.

I am a practitioner of "work less, spend less" life style in Tokyo. I have ideas of novel, so I need time for writing development.

In this metropolis, the myth which says money brings glory of the "WINNER" is still dominant. I think happiness is not buyable but which we can make by ourselves. Everytime when I lose self-confidence I open your book The Joy of Not Working. Although I have already read through nearly 10 times there are new discoveries. I have accustomed myself to be ossified for loneliness but I am desire to overcome this and carve a new life eagerly.

I'd like to continue to believe in fellowship of job-free happiness rather than major rule of economic animals. I'm going to make time for reading your other books before too long.

I wish your good health and success.
Sincerely
Sohei Tonouchi

This was my reply:

Hello Sohei:

Thank you for your e-mail and kind words about The Joy of Not Working.

If you send me your address, I will send you an autographed copy of the English edition of my small gift book The Lazy Person's Guide to Happiness (also published in Japanese).

So long for now,

Ernie Zelinski
Author, Innovator, Corporate Escape Artist, and Unconventional Career Expert
Author of the Bestseller How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free
(Over 110,000 copies sold and published in 7 foreign languages)
and the International Bestseller The Joy of Not Working
(Over 225,000 copies sold and published in 17 languages)


http://twitter.com/CareerSuccess

See:

Business Giveaways by VIP BOOKS

Fun Things to Do in Retirement

Benefits from a Recession

Letter from Indonesia about The Joy of Not Working

This is an e-mail I recently received about The Joy of Not Working:

From Indonesia about The Joy of Not Working

----- Original Message -----
From: Fredy Irjadi
To: Ernie Zelinski < ( at ) telus (dot, dot) net
Sent: Monday, October 17, 2005 11:33 PM
Subject: Introduction

Dear Mr. Ernie Zelinski,

First of all, let me introduce myself. My name is Fredy, from Jakarta - Indonesia. I had read your book of "The Joy of Not Working" and I can say that is a great book ever I read before.
For your information, I work in Information Technology for more than 9 years and I'm 31 years old now. Since year 2000, I try to establish my own business with IT Developer team, specialize in web application development. So every time we got the project, we develop together and I can call myself and my IT Developer team as a work alchololic to cathch up the schedule of the projects.

But when I read your book, I believe and realize that I had spent my free time with useless activities, like : shopping, watching television or movie, have a party with friends, etc which I admitted to myself that those activities indirectly make me as a consumtive person. That's why I try to change myself. Now, I have my own therapy for myself; starting with exploring my hobbies and intention in painting, art and some how (amazingly) I have some ideas to make a new educated game for children.

Hm, actually, at this time, I want to discuss many things regarding to your books. This is the first thing that I want to discuss with you. I admitted that your book can bring a new concept of healthy life for white-collar workers. I live in Jakarta - Indonesia, the capital city of Indonesia, which most of people here live very consumtive with disadvantage activities, like drunk, smoking, watching tv all day long, sleep all day long, etc. I do want to share this new concept by starting to my friends. But I don't think that this new concept can be accepted by my friends.

For your information, Indonesia is located in South East Asia, which the people is very protective with new concept or idea by changing their habits. And it's hard for the people to change their habit into the positive one. For example, the book of Steven Covey, "The 7 Habbits", the popular one. This books takes many years (about 4-5 years) to change the attitude of the people here.

Another thing, the book of Robert Kiyosaki, "Rich Dad Poor Dad", until this time, many people try to manipulate each other by Quadrant. But according to me, the book teach people how to manage their cash flow between cash flow in with the cash flow out.

And according to me, your book also can be used to manipulate other mind by quitting the job and enjoy life. When I read your book, I know what's the most important point that you would deliver to the people that people should use their free time by doing something that can bring advantage to their self or to others. I don't know whether my point is correct or not. But I believe that my point of your book is fit my life

Now the question that I would like to discuss with you. How to deliver my point of your book to my friends regarding to the culture of people here that so hard to accept new concept of life or idea that can change their habbit ?

I guess that' all for this time and I'm looking forward your reply. Thank you very much for your attention.

Have a nice day.

Sincerely,

Fredy Irjadi

PS : Have you visit Indonesia ? Or Bali maybe ? If you haven't, I can accompany you someday.
Cheers

Here are some retirement resources to check out:

World's Best Retirement Book by VIP BOOKS

Updated reviews on Ernie Zelinski's Bio at Redroom:

http://www.redroom.com/publishedwork/joy-not-working-a-book-retired-unemployed-and-overworked-21st-century-edition

http://www.redroom.com/publishedwork/how-retire-happy-wild-and-free-retirement-wisdom-that-you-wont-get-your-financial-advi

http://www.redroom.com/publishedwork/career-success-without-a-real-job-the-career-book-people-too-smart-work-corporations

http://www.redroom.com/publishedreviews/living-wild-and-free-life

http://www.redroom.com/publishedreviews/books-about-retirement

http://www.redroom.com/publishedreviews/a-place-retire-how-retire-happy-wild-and-free

http://www.redroom.com/publishedreviews/quintessential-reading-how-retire-happy-wild-and-free

http://www.redroom.com/publishedreviews/entrepreneur-or-employee

Where to Purchase the Japanese Edition of The Joy of Not Working

I received this e-mail yesterday:

----- Original Message -----
From: Namar and Bonnie Hodge
To: vip-books (at) telus (dot)net
Sent: Sunday, July 05, 2009 10:31 PM
Subject: to purchase a book.


Hello,

Dear Sir,

Where can I purchase The Joy of Not Working, Japanese Edition?

Namar

This was my response:

Hello Namar:

You should be able to find the Japanese edition of The Joy of Not Working (published by Voice Inc.) through http://www.amazon.co.jp/

The illustration of the front cover is attached.

Try these links:

http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/search-handle-url?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books-jp&field-author=Ernie%20J.%20Zelinski


http://www.amazon.co.jp/働かないって、ワクワクしない-アーニー・J-ゼリンスキー/dp/4899760647/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246861181&sr=8-9

I have enclosed my latest E-book (in PDF format) called 101 Reasons to Love a Recession.

This E-book is designed to entertain people as well as show them the many silver linings in the current recession:

Please feel free to share this e-book with your friends and co-workers. You can post it on your website if you want.

The E-book is also available as a complimentary download at the following websites:

http://www.love-a-recession.com/

http://www.real-success.ca/free_ebooks.html

So long for now,

Ernie Zelinski
World's #1 Corporate Escape Artist
Author of the Bestseller How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free
(Over 100,000 copies sold and published in 7 foreign languages)
and the International Bestseller The Joy of Not Working
(Over 225,000 copies sold and published in 17 languages)

Featured at The Retirement Planning Cafe

http://twitter.com/CareerSuccess

For the record, The Joy of Not Working has now been published in 17 languages and has sold over 225,000 copies.

Songs about The Joy of Not Working

Cover of Italian Edition of The Joy of Not Working

I just received this e-mail from Pietro Casaro in Italy:

----- Original Message -----
From: Pietro Cesaro
To: vip-books (at) telus (dot) net
Sent: Tuesday, June 02, 2009 12:39 PM
Subject: greetings


Greetings from Italy Mr. Zelinski

I wrote you some times and you always answered me. I write from Italy, last time you told me i' m a special reader because i read some books such as the Italian versions of The Joy of Not Working (3 times), The Joy of Not Being Married (2 times) and in English I've read Career Success Without a Real Job, How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free, and in spite you gave to me the e-book 101 Really Important Things You Already Know, But Keep Forgetting, I've bought the same this copy and i've appreciated also this book.

In these days i've ordered The Lazy Person's Guide to Success:.

If you remember when i wrote you last time i was gonna record a song where i mentioned the book The Joy of Not Working, but i'm not ready to do it. Instead last summer i self published a cd of covers -home recording- and i hope sooner or later to record some songs penned by myself where i include the song i was speaking. I leave you the website where you can listen (..... and laughing at the same time) the pre-listen of the tracks.

I hope you're well.

Thanks for your precious advices.

Pietro Cesaro
Belluno- Italy

www.yourindiecd.net/cd/pietro-cesaro

For the record the late Ben Kerr, Toronto busker and mayorality candidate, wrote two songs relating to my books: The Joy of Not Working and The Joy of Not Being Married .

Here are the words to The Joy of Not Working:

The Joy Of Not Working Nine To Five

I know the joy of not working nine to five
Singing every day at Yonge and Bloor
Strumming my old 5-string guitar
It's the joy of not working and that's for sure

People say that I'm a lucky guy
And they wish that they could be like me
To know the joy of not working from nine to five
To be foot-loose and fancy free

But they'll never loose the treadmill that they're on
And it's sad to see dejection in their eyes
The joy of not working could be there
But they're just too afraid to try

Ernie J. Zelinski wrote a book
The Joy Of Not Working is its name
'Cause Ernie is a fellow just like me
And the joy of not working is his game

I know the joy of not working nine to five
Singing every day at Yonge and Bloor
Strumming my old 5-string guitar
It's the joy of not working and that's for sure

Strumming my old 5-string guitar at Yonge & Bloor
It's the joy of not working and that's for sure
The joy of not working and that's for sure
© 1994 by Ben Kerr

For more letters and songs about the international bestseller The Joy of Not Working (over 225,000 copies sold and published in 17 forerign languages) see The Joy of Not Working Website

Also Check Out The Six Best Things Ever Said about New York

Testimonial for "The Joy of Not Working"

This is an e-mail that I just received about The World's Second Best Retirement Book from an individual who decided to take early retirement:

----- Original Message -----
From: Gord and Rhonda
To: vip-books (at) telus (dot) net
Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2009 7:08 AM
Subject: FW: Testimonial for The Joy of Not Working

Ernie

As a follow up to my email about quitting work. My last day of work was April 24, 2009. Once I had a plan and my mind was made up, I could not wait until June of 2010.

My coworkers and family were surprised but wishing they could do the same. So far it has been what I expected. Not an emotional high, but an exciting new direction. I have spent the time working for myself by doing renovations on a house we are listing for sale in early June., walking the dogs, spending time with my wife, with friends and learning to do things without rushing.

I have found I sleep a lot less. I get up between 4 am and 6 am and go to bed between 10 pm and midnight. In the mornings I relax by, reading and having a coffee or wandering around the yard with the dogs watching the sunrise. I don’t need an after work nap to clear fatigue or a headache ( I had a headache every day with varying severity. About 10 days ago I noticed that they had stopped).

With the reduced sleep time I have about 2 – 3 hours per day of extra time to use. Amazing.

Thanks for the book [The Joy of Not Working] you wrote because it focused my mind on making this become a reality.

Gord Roberts

The international bestseller The Joy of Not Working:

For more letters about taking early retirement see The Joy of Not Working Website

The Joy of Not Working Steers Another Workaholic in the Right Direction

I recently received this e-mail from Tom S. (last name not given due to nature of e-mail) in California.

----- Original Message -----
From: Tom S.
To: vip-books (at) telus.net
Subject: Re: The Joy of Not Working

Hello Ernie,

I just picked up your book The Joy of Not Working this weekend. The
title sort of grabbed me. I have been out of work since April and
(so far) have found very little joy in it. Then I came to page 50
and fig 4.2 with the two boxes of before and after for a workaholic.
It was me. My marriage had been bad for years and finally ended
earlier this year. In effect I had already crossed off one item in
my box a long time ago. Then my employer decided to help me cross
off the other one. No wonder I felt lost, desperate, alone, and with
no idea where to turn. The only two things that mattered to me were
gone. From that I went through one compulsion after another. First
women (the serial dater), exercise, you name it. None made me happy.
Now I realize it’s not about finding a passion, it’s about finding
all of them. I am going to get to work right now filling up my box.

Thanks for steering me in the right direction. I’ll take it from
here.
Tom

Sonoma, CA

There are many more reasons to read The Joy of Not Working: A Book for the Retired, Unemployed, and Overworked. For the record, this international bestselling book has now sold over 225,000 copies and has been published in 17 languages - soon 18 (Bulgarian this time).

More Japanese Interest in The Joy of Not Working

Cover of Japanese Edition of The Joy of Not Working

I just received this e-mail from a Literary Agency in Japan:

----- Original Message -----
From: Owl's Kohei
To: vip-book ( at ) telus.net
Sent: Sunday, February 01, 2009 7:30 PM
Subject: Request: THE JOY OF NOT WORKING


Dear Ernie Zelinski,

How do you do. I am writing to you for the first time.
Please forgive me to introduce myself: My name is
Kohei Hattori, and I am a literary agent working at
Owls Agency located in Tokyo.

I am very keen on handling the Japanese translation
rights of your book THE JOY OF NOT WORKING"

If such rights are still free, I appreciate it a lot, if you could let me
try to sell the rights, and send me one reading copy at your earliest
opportunity.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Thank you in advance, and I look forward to hearing
from you soon!

Best wishes,

KOHEI HATTORI
OWLS AGENCY, INC.
kohei - 1 (at) owlsagency.com

1-7 Ganshodo, Kanda-Jimbocho,
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0051 JAPAN

This was my response:

Hello Kohei:

Thanks for your interest in the Japanese rights to The Joy of Not Working.

Actually, this book was first published in Japanese by Kodansha.

After Kodansha let it go out of print, the book was again published in Japanese by Voice Inc. (arranged through the Tuttle Mori Agency).

Perhaps you can interest some Japanese publisher in either of the following two books of mine:




• 101 Really Important Things You Already Know, But Keep Forgetting


• Career Success Without a Real Job: The Career Book for People Too Smart to Work in Corporations




For your convenience, I have attached the PDFs with the complete book for both titles.

These are the foreign editions published so far for 101 Really Important Things You Already Know, But Keep Forgetting:





• Published in Spanish by Amat Editorial, Barcelona


• Published in Russian by Gayatri Publishing, Moscow


• Published in French by Stanké International, Montreal


• Published in Chinese by Yuan-Liou Publishing, Taipei


• Published in Chinese simplified characters by CITIC Publishing House, Beijing


• Published in Korean by Mulpure Publishing, Seoul


• Published in English in Malaysia by TrueWealth Publishing, Kelana Jaya


• Published in English for the Indian subcontinent by Macmillan India, New Delhi, India




These are the foreign editions so far for Career Success Without a Real Job: The Career Book for People Too Smart to Work in Corporations:






• Published in Spanish for Spain and Latin America by Amat Editorial, Barcelona, Spain


• Published in Russian by Gayatri/Livebook Publishing, Moscow, Russia


• Published in English for the sub-continent of India by Macmillan India, New Delhi, India
  



Note that Career Success Without a Real Job was first published in September 2007 with the title and subtitle Real Success Without a Real Job: There Is No Life Like It. It is being released by Ten Speed Press in March 2009 with the new title and subtitle Career Success Without a Real Job: The Career Book for People Too Smart to Work in Corporations:

I can send you a hard copy of the English edition of each of the books if you would like keeping in mind that I will have to send you a copy of the first edition of Career Success Without a Real Job.

For your information, I also have two other books not published in Japanese. The books are:






• Life's Secret Handbook for Having Great Friends


• Look Ma; Life's Easy: An Inspirational Fable
  



These two books have been published by foreign publishers but not in English. So, I can only send you PDFs of these two books.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Best regards and so long for now,

Ernie Zelinski
Author of the Bestseller How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free
(Over 100,000 copies sold and published in 7 foreign languages)
and the International Bestseller The Joy of Not Working
(Over 225,000 copies sold and published in 17 languages)



Check out these resources:


25 Websites and Blogs about Money That Will Make You Smarter and Richer!

How to Become a Millionaire Instantly

Why You Should Seldom — If Ever — Lend Money to Friends

Turkish Proverbs about The Joy of Not Working

Here is an e-mail that I recently received about The World's Second Best Retirement Book from someone in California who apparently is not having any fun at work :

----- Original Message -----
From: Tom Scott
To: vip-books (at) telus (dot) net
Sent: Sunday, December 14, 2008 2:59 PM
Subject: Re: The Joy of Not Working .

Hello Ernie,

I just picked up your book The Joy of Not Working this weekend. The title sort of grabbed me. I have been out of work since April and (so far) have found very little joy in it. Then I came to page 50 and fig 4.2 with the two boxes of before and after for a workaholic. It was me. My marriage had been bad for years and finally ended earlier this year. In effect I had already crossed off one item in my box a long time ago. Then my employer decided to help me cross off the other one. No wonder I felt lost, desperate, alone, and with no idea where to turn. The only two things that mattered to me were gone. From that I went through one compulsion after another. First women (the serial dater), exercise, you name it. None made me happy. Now I realize it’s not about finding a passion, it’s about finding all of them. I am going to get to work right now filling up my box.

Thanks for steering me in the right direction. I’ll take it from here.

Tom

Sonoma, CA

And here are three Turkish Proverbs that I used in my speech about The Joy of Not Working to the Turkish National Society for Quality in Istanbul on November 26th.

1. All work and no play will make such a dull boy.
   — Turkish proverb
2. If God closes one door, He opens a thousand others.
   — Turkish proverb
3. There is no right way to do a wrong thing.
   — Turkish Proverb
   

Check out The Money Cafe:

More about The Joy of Not Working in Istanbul

Photo: Ernie Zelinski and Nadide Sevinç Taştan at the Istanbul Convention Center after his speech about The Joy of Not Working to the National Turkish Congress on Quality

Last Five of The Top-Ten Highlights of My Trip to Istanbul to Speak about The Joy of Not Working to the National Turkish Congress on Quality

1. Having a driver with a new car assigned to me for 3 whole days by the National Turkish Congress on Quality was a treat. The driver was available from early morning until midnight to drive me anywhere I wanted to go. (Not having spent one cent in Istanbul for 3 whole days due to the National Turkish Congress on Quality paying for all my meals and accommodations, I did give the driver a 100 Euro tip when he dropped me off at the Istanbul airport for my flight back to London.)


2. 
   The great weather that I was lucky enough to get sure added to my Istanbul adventure. On Monday the high was 11 degrees Celsius, on Tuesday it was 17 degrees, and on Wednesday it was 21 degrees. Istanbul was much kinder to me than London where it rained and the temperature reached highs of about 5 degrees Celsius for my two days there.


3. 
   Experiencing the traffic jams in Istanbul where rush hour starts at about 5 PM and lasts until 8:30 PM is an experience that puts the traffic problems in Canada in proper perspective. On the journey from a TV Station where I did a live interview about The Joy of Not Working, my driver told me that we had traveled 2 kilometers in an hour. It took us 2.5 hours to complete a journey from the TV station to the Vogue restaurant. Regardless of the destination, the same distance in my home town of Edmonton would take 20 to 25 minutes maximum in rush hour traffic.
   


4. Given that Istanbul has vehicles of all types and varieties — many more types and varieties than you will see in any city in Canada or even in London — one of the pleasurable experiences in my 3 whole days in Istanbul was not seeing one of the disgusting redneck-driven 4-wheel drive Quad cab pickup trucks that are so prevalent in Alberta and that so many sophisticated Albertans despise.
   


5. I never saw any fat people in Istanbul which just goes to show that there is no reason for so many Canadians and Americans to be grossly overweight. This also shows that their justifications for being overweight are false excuses and silly fabrications to cover up the fact that they are pigs when it comes to food and lazy when it comes to exercise. Incidentally, I thought that I may gain weight on this trip due to the many fine meals that I ate but I actually lost 2 or 3 pounds due to all the walking that I did in Istanbul and London.
   

Above all, the number of things to see in Istanbul is amazing. Trust me on this one: Anyone can easily spend two weeks in this city without running out of interesting things to see.

Now back to working on my new e-book 101 Reasons to Love a Recession and marketing my International Bestseller How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free

A cup of coffee commits one to forty years of friendship.
— Turkish proverb

Activity breeds prosperity.
— Turkish proverb

Do what your teacher says but not what he does.
— Turkish proverb

If God closes one door, He opens a thousand others.
— Turkish proverb

The Joy of Not Working in Istanbul

Little did I know that when I got fired from my job as an Engineer over 28 years ago for taking too much time off work that the firing would lead to an all-paid trip (plus a US$3,000 fee for speaking for an hour about my book The Joy of Not Working to Istanbul last week, which is now on my top-3 list of most satisfying journeys that I have made in my life.

Incidentally, with the Air Canada Premium Executive Class return airfare between Edmonton and London being $11,500 and the leg between London and Istanbul on British Airways being about $1,500, the National Turkish Society for Quality spent between $20,000 and $25,000 to have me in Istanbul to speak about The Joy of Not Working .

As I have said many times before, there is still great opportunity during a recession.

Five of My Top-Ten Highlights of My Trip to Istanbul

1. The Number 1 highlight of my trip was the number of important historic buildings such as the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque as well as variety of the non historic buildings such as the waterfront houses on the Bosphorus.


2. Meeting so many beautiful Turkish women was definitely the number 2 highlight. After making my speech about The Joy of Not Working to the National Turkish Society for Quality, a number of the women in the audience wanted to have their photos taken with me, and they were all beautiful. If anything will bring me back to Istanbul, it's the historic sights and the women — not necessarily in that order.


3. The joie de vivre in many parts of the city including the happening restaurants, bars, and clubs around town. One of my hosts treated me to dinner at Vogue, a new trendy restaurant that was full on a Tuesday night. We arrived at about 8:30 PM. It's a good thing that we had a reservation.


4. Taksim Square, which is a 5 minute walk from the Ritz Carlton Hotel where I stayed, gave me a true sense of the people living life in a neighborhood in Istanbul. The degree of energy in the square is definitely worth experiencing. Surrounding Taksim Square are numerous travel agencies, banks, restaurants, pubs, and even international fast food chains such as Pizza Hut, McDonald's and Burger King. There are several other grand hotels in the area including the InterContinental and The Marmara Hotel.


5. It was interesting going from the worst hotel room in London that I have ever stayed in (on Sunday night) to the Executive Suite at the Ritz-Carlton (corporate rate of $1,280 Canadian a night) with a view of the Bosphorus the next night (Monday night) that turned out to be the best hotel accommodation that I have ever had — and I have stayed in some pretty swanky hotels on my speaking travels.

Leisure Quotes about The Joy of Not Working

Here is an e-mail that I recently received about The World's Second Best Retirement Book from someone in New Zealand:

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave & Reena Tattersfield"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2006 9:23 PM
Subject: The Joy Of Not Working


Ernie,

I wanted to drop you a quick note to let you know how much I enjoyed reading The Joy of Not Working .

Your voice is a refreshing change from the 'work harder and buy more and more stuff' voice that seems to purvade western.society.

A simpler approach and enjoying life is far more attractive to me.

Cheers,

Dave

And here are three quotes about leisure that I used in my speech about The Joy of Not Working in Istanbul on November 26th.

If the soul has food for study and learning, nothing is more delightful than an old age of leisure.
— Cicero (Roman Statesman 106-43 B.C.)

I would not exchange my leisure hours for all the wealth in the world.
— Comte de Mirabeau (French Statesman 1749- 1791)

Leisure is the time for doing something useful. This leisure the diligent person will obtain, the lazy one never.
— Benjamin Franklin (American Statesman 1706- 1790)

Turkey Wants to Learn More about The Joy of Not Working

Photo of Istanbul:

I am preparing my speech about The Joy of Not Working that I will make to 2,500 scholars, business executives, and studends in Istanbul on Wednesday November 26th.

The National Turkish Congress on Quality is flying me executive class to Istanbul through London at a cost of over $10,000 and putting me up at the Ritz Carlton executive suite at a cost of over $1,000 per night for 3 nights. My speaking fee is a modest $3,000.

Here are some topics to be included in my speech:

• Your most powerful success tool is The 80-20 principle.


• Ordinary career success is a real good job; real career success is a real good life.


• Most success costs too much. The conduct of society is a poor example for how to live a happy life.


• The more creative your thinking, the fewer your cares and worries.


• Your best purchases will turn out to be the ones that you never made.


• Being successful at work is irrelevant if you are a failure at home.


• Being busy does not mean being productive.


• Hard work is no match for relaxed, creative action.

The Joy of Not Working: A Book for the Retired, Unemployed, and Overworked — by Ernie J. Zelinski


The Joy of Not Working is all about learning to live every part of your life — employment, unemployment, retirement, and leisure time alike — to the fullest. You too can join the thousands of converts and learn to thrive at both work and play. Illustrated by eye-opening exercises, thought-provoking diagrams, and lively cartoons and quotations, The Joy of Not Working will guide you to enjoy life like never before.

Another E-Mail about The Joy of Not Working

I received this e-mail from Zain Fazal:

Dear Mr. Zelinski,

I had just completed reading your book The Joy of Not Working and I must say, I am very relieved to know they're people out there who think like you do. The work ethic is modern day North America has always bothered me. I have seen what workaholics has done to family, friends I came to the conclusion a long time ago that this can't be as good as it gets there has to be more to life then work.

Every job I had has made me miserable (factory worker, donut fryer, warehouse worker, etc.) once I found out I didn't like a job. I quit right away. Because of this I face ridicule from my family and friends who believe they are some sort of martyrs by working 10-12 hours a day or working on weekends it drives me crazy when people think like this.

After reading The Joy of Not Working I am happy that I'm not the only one who thinks way! Your book is insightful, clever and witty, I. am going to be graduating from college with a diploma in Tourism and travel from Mohawk College. However in between looking for a job, I plan to do a bit of creative loafing of my own. I plan to learn to drive; learn to swim, among other things. Thank you for letting me know it's OK to not work hard and it's OK not to conform.

(I especially love the chapter regarding GNP) I only wish you had included the reply to the one negative letter that was sent to you about The Joy of Not Working .

Best regards,

Zain Fazal
Kitchener, Ontario

Purchase The Joy of Not Working on Amazon.com with this direct link:

The Joy of Not Working on Amazon.com

Associated Links to The Retirement Quotes Cafe

teacher retirement jokes at The Retirement Jokes Café

Free Retirement Speech on the The Retirement Speeches Café

retirement poem for school principal at The Retirement Poems Café

sample retirement letter at The Retirement Letters Café

retirement gifts at The Retirement Gifts Café

Aging and Retirement Quotes

The Latest Letter or E-Mail about The Joy of Not Working

I received the following e-mail from Tracy Maxwell in Aurora, Colorado in April 2008:

Re: The Joy of Not Working

Ernie, Thank you so much for your great book. I plan to check out the others now that I have finally finished this one.

Almost a year ago, I left my job of eight years with a start-up company for which I was one of the first employees hired. By the time I left, I had been running the place for two years, and taken on a great deal of stress in the process. A cancer diagnosis at age 36 was just the wake-up call I needed to find a new life path.

I took the summer off, camped with friends, guided four whitewater canoe trips (I have been doing this weekend warrior job for five years now), took a five-day sea kayaking trip around the San Juan Islands, visited friends and family around the country, went to Alaska with four friends to celebrate my cancerversary, and took five weeks to drive up the Pacific Coast Highway. It was at a weekend retreat at a wonderful place called the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, that I came across your book about 8 month ago.

After my summer off, I started a non-profit which I have been running for just over six months. I work from home, feel a real passion for what I am doing, am managing to pay the bills on about half what I was making last year, and my life is much happier in many ways. There are many adjustments to working from home - I miss being around people as I am a big-time extrovert - so trying to do more to spend time with friends.

About two years ago, I got rid of my tv, and for the past almost year, I have pledged myself to not buy anything new (anything I need I can get used or borrow), and I'm happy to report that the quality of my life has not suffered from either of these decisions. In fact, just the opposite. I still watch some tv online or on DVD on my laptop - but watch only what I want, when I want, and much better quality programs.

I am one of those people who has always wanted to write a book, and I have always been an avid writer. For a year now, I have been writing a monthly online column about the experience of dealing with cancer as a single person (www.divinecaroline.com and search on my full name if you are interested - the column is called A Single Cell). It has been hugely fulfilling for me, and seems to be impacting others as well. I recently started two blogs as well. Even though I am writing for free at this point, I hope to find a way to make a living at writing sometime in the near future.

Even though I was already on my path when I discovered your book, it has offered me great encouragement that it is indeed a valid path, and I have recommended it to many other people. Thanks for the inspiration and the good advice. I wish you the best.

P.S. I am going to blog about The Joy of Not Working and this philosophy of life soon.

Tracy Maxwell, Executive Director, http://www.hazingprevention.com/, Aurora, CO

Purchase The Joy of Not Working on Amazon.com with this direct link:

The Joy of Not Working on Amazon.com


Check out these resources:

Ernie Zelinski's Book Tour

How to Write Retirement Letters on Best Syndication

How to Write a Retirement Letter to Help You Retire Happy, Wild, and Free on Amazines.com

Review of How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free

Ernie Zelinski on Self-Publishers Place

Note: More retirement quotes coming soon: