This week in my blog posts, I’m following an annual tradition of sharing some ideas for non-obvious gifts this holiday season. These are a combination of products introduced this year and previously launched products that I felt had some relevance for right now. The things we buy often reflect the times in which we live, and so I hope you find my picks below to be both useful and insightful.
The last one is something my team and I have been working on for several months as an exclusive gift for all of you who are loyal readers of my newsletter … a FREE audio book version of my latest book Non-Obvious Thinking available for month-long access to any of you who prefer audio books (along with some insights below on why we are NOT going to be putting the book on Audible this time around).
This holiday season, enjoy your time with family and friends and amidst the temptation to indulge in buying things you may or may not “need,” remember to be kind to one another and take time to appreciate the most human gift of time with those you love.
10. The Fruit Company – HarvestClub Exotica
In Non-Obvious Thinking, Ben and I wrote about how to create more space for new ideas and a tip we shared was based on chef Ferran Adria’s creative habit of eating a different fruit every day for a month. Doing that can help you break habits and signal to your brain that every day is a new day, not like yesterday. If you want try this but need a bit of help acquiring the fruits, this exotic fruit box will make it easy by sending them right to your door. Let the ideas flow!
11. Loka Chai Maker
When the Kickstarter for this product first came out, we immediately bought several of these chai making pots—and if you make real chai at home, you’ll definitely want one too (they should start shipping very soon). It’s one of many “brown gifts” that are being shared within the Indian community now but might make a fun addition to your gift list no matter what your cultural background happens to be.
12. Non-Obvious Thinking Audio Book
People love audio books but as a publisher or author, it’s really hard to make money on them because of how Amazon exploits authors on Audible. It’s no wonder authors like Seth Godin are avoiding Audible and this time we are too, by choosing to make the audio version of Non-Obvious Thinking freely available to listeners on another platform instead. My hope is that you like it enough to spread the ideas and buy the book too. Enjoy!
