Don't let the name of this show (or book, The Complete Software Developers Career Guide), fool you. Having this conversation with John Sonmez, one of the co-authors of the book, was a little bit of a shift for me in term of what I talk about on the show but it's also one of my favorite topics. We talked a lot about self-development, personal productivity, books that changed John's life and how you can take a different perspective on all of this. The amazing thing about John is that he's got both sides of the equation when it comes to what he calls 'soft skills' as well as the tangible skills you need to have as a software developer (basic overview of things like 'what is source control, what is unit testing, what is continuous integration, etc.). He's also devoted an entire chapter to women in tech, which is awesome. We covered SO much in this interview! Even if you're not a software developer, you're going to gain a ton from this conversation. John is a huge inspiration and the book is definitely worth grabbing! Questions I Asked John Before we jump into your new book, The Complete Software Developer's Career Guide, can you share your story with the listeners? Was there one specific thing or incident that brought on this shift for you in your business? From software developer to performance coach? How did you step into 'act as if'? Pulling in the mindset and self-development into the software development space isn't common. How did the book come about? Were there any epiphanies or things that have come out of writing the book that surprised you? Are you running paid traffic to promote the book? You're producing a LOT of content, how big is your team?   What You're Going to Learn How John went from a shy kid to software development to performance coach What book kept showing up in John's life that changed everything How John multi-purposed his blog posts into the book (and how you can too) How John used the Pomodoro timer to get the book written How John marketed the book What John means by 'Unmortgage Your Life" Where to Connect with John Website | YouTube | Twitter Links from this episode The Complete Software Developer's Career Guide Book Simple Programmer Think & Grow Rich As A Man Thinketh Psycho-Cybernetics