These consists of books, tools, blogs, links, and guides which have helped me learn to brand myself, build an extensive network, travel around the globe, and design a business that I can run from anywhere in the world. Check back often, as the Thrilling Heroics Resources section will undoubtedly grow steadily.

Required Reading

Here are my “Most-Important Books”—or MIBs. If you read only 10 books after college, read these:

1. The 4-Hour Workweek by superhero Timothy Ferriss
2. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
3. The Brand You 50 by Tom Peters (or one of his other books on personal branding)
4. How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
5. Vagabonding by Rolf Potts
6. Emergency by Neil Strauss
7. Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi
8. The E-Myth by Michael Gerber
9. Unlimited Power by Anthony Robbins
10. Now, Discover Your Strengths by Markus Buckingham

See more recommended reading…

Mandatory Manifestos

Now you should be thinking like a renegade! Here are some fantastic ebooks to help you even further on your journey:

• Source Control – an outsourcing framework for the dangerously ambitious from MuseLife.com genius David Walsh
• A Brief Guide to World Domination (FREE) – Lessons on being remarkable, doing shit you care about, and changing the world, from one of the world’s most-traveled dudes, Chris Guillebeau.
• Reclaim Your Dreams – An uncommon guide to living life on your own terms
• The Zero Hour Workweek (FREE) – Liberate yourself and learn how to get paid to be you!
• 279 Days to Overnight Success (FREE) – 11,000 words of free advice on how to create your own success with your own project
• The Liberation Revolution manifesto from Project Mojave (FREE) – Time to Cut the Cubicle Umbilical Cord
• The Unconventional Guide to Working for Yourself – Creating Personal Freedom through a Very Small Business
• How to Be a Rockstar Freelancer from the authors of FreelanceSwitch.com
• FreelanceSwitch’s Guide to Making Passive Income for Freelancers (FREE)
• How to Become a Travel Ninja – From Hong Kong to Johannesburg and Everywhere Else
• Rockstar Personal Branding (FREE) by blogging superstar Skellie
• The Unconventional Guide to the Social Web – Social Media as a Force for Good
• X Marks the Spot – The Location Independent Guide to Living and Working from Anywhere You Choose

How I Do It

These are the applications, tools, and resources that I use daily and recommend to all my clients and friends. All of my best-kept secrets!

Web Presence

• BlueHost – reliable, inexpensive, easy web hosting (4 out of 5 of my clients use them).
• WordPress – an easy content management (CMS) system great for blogs, galleries, portfolios, business sites & more.
• WooThemes – awesome, GPL-licensed themes for WordPress (my site is a heavily-customized FreshNews design).
• ThemeForest – great, inexpensive HTML templates, themes for WordPress and other CMS programs.

Gadgets & Gear

• Apple MacBook Pro – intuitive, highly-customizable. The 13-inch unibody aluminum model has been great to travel with.
• iPhone 3G – unlocking instructions for use on non-AT&T networks, international travel & data access.
• Airport Express – will turn almost any ethernet connection around the world into a wifi network.
• Backup your files frequently with TimeMachine and/or Mozy online backup

See more recommended travel gear…

Communications

• Gmail – please please please ditch Outlook!
• AwayFind – safeguard your attention. AwayFind will let you know when you get something truly important/urgent in your email, so you can spend more time outside the inbox.
• Skype – call friends & clients around the globe for as little as 3 cents a minute.
• Google Voice – previously GrandCentral, this will give you one phone number to route and forward to any phone; highly customizable.
• Twitter – learn how to use it, and use a good desktop app like DestroyTwitter
• Adium or Meebo can connect AIM, gTalk, MSN, Yahoo chat, Facebook chat and more.
• Tinychat – free chat rooms & audio video conferences online.
• FreePhoneConference.com – gives you a free dial-in teleconference number for multiple users.

Online Collaboration

• Google Calendar – shareable calendar and schedule organizer.
• Google Docs – collaborative word processor and spreadsheet applications.
• Adobe ConnectNow – meet live over the web and share your screen with anyone.
• Collabtiv – free alternative to web-based project management apps like Basecamp.
• Box.net – store and share large files online.

Web Development

• Cyberduck – open-source FTP for Mac
• Smultron – open-source, user-friendly code editor for Mac
• MAMP – run your own local Apache server
• Firebug – Firefox plugin that makes testing code much easier
• Adobe BrowserLab – test cross-browser compatibility for free (keep this one hush-hush

e-Commerce & Invoicing

• PayPal – easily send & receive money online.
• FreshBooks – simple online invoicing and bookkeeping.
• e-Junkie – handles all the payment and fulfillment for your ebook, audio, or other information products.

Marketing & Promotion

• AWeber – leading provider for mailing/customer list management, promotional marketing, and autoresponder newsletter campaigns.
• Su.pr – install the bookmarklet in your browser toolbar, submit your links and they’ll be automatically sent to Twitter, Facebook & StumbleUpon!
• LinkedIn Answers – LinkedIn is the best professional online network, and Answers is the best place to brand yourself, share your expertise with others, and even solicit feedback on your own questions from experienced CEOs and other professionals.

Money & Finance

• Text-Link-Ads, PerformancingAds & LinkShare network – publish ads and earn passive income from your websites.
• Emigrant Direct or ING Direct – check out these high-yield online savings accounts.
• HSBC Bank – one of the best international banks with locations around the globe.
• Charles Schwab – reimburses all ATM transactions and has no international fees on their checking accounts.
• Discover Miles card – Frequent flyer? Get 1 mile per dollar spent, plus 12,000 bonus sign-up miles.
• Mint.com – powerful, free personal financial management application.

Travel & Mobile Lifestyle

• Kayak.com – find the best travel deals, Kayak compares thousands of aggregators.
• Priceline – bid low on last-minute flights and check out their Pricebreaker deals.
• Couchsurfing Project – meet locals for a drink, a tour, and sometimes free accomodation around the world.
• AirBnB – low-cost vacation rentals and sublets from locals in 87 countries.
• How to See the World – free Art of Travel guide; European and world backpacking on $25 a day.
• 30 Ways in 30 Days to Redesign Your Life and Travel the World – great series from digital nomad Christine Gilbert.
• EarthClassMail – get all your snail mail sent to you via email. Great for business backpackers!
• World Nomads – easy, affordable travel insurance recommended by Lonely Planet.

Lifestyle Design Tools

• Ideal Lifestyle Costing from Tim Ferriss
• Dreamlining Worksheet

Forums, Podcasts & Communities

• Untemplater – a new multi-author blog and community made up of dozens of Gen-Y twentysomethings who are all creating & living their own unique lifestyles outside the norm.
• 4-Hour Work Week Forums – new rich, lifestyle design, and muse creation; focused on the priciples in Tim Ferriss’ book: elimination, automation, and liberation.
• Lifestyle Business Podcast – the #1 podcast on iTunes for lifestyle designers and lifestyle entrepreneurs. Absolutely awesome fundamentals from Dan Andrews.
• Irish Polyglot – useful, actionable tips and language/travel hacks from Benny Lewis (in 7 languages nonetheless!), if you’re interested to get to effective fluency in foreign languages, definitely keep an eye on Benny’s videos here!
• Fluent in 3 Months – another great site from Benny the Irish Polyglot. All the mindset hacks and motivation you need to master the basics of any language quickly.
• Location Rebel – a community for lifestyle designers and prospective location independent professionals.
• 30 Day Challenge – Ed Dale’s awesome, free, how-to curriculum that will take you through all the basics of market research, online marketing, and how to make your first $ online.
• Mixergy – Andrew Warner consistently interviews highly-successful entrepreneurs for online business tips. Solid.

Featured image by kaibara.