How to Let Things Go : 99 Tips from a Zen Buddhist Monk to Relinquish Control and Free Yourself Up for What Matters

Summary: Feeling overwhelmed? Step away from life's demands and free yourself up for what matters with this succinct and sensible guide by the Zen Buddhist author of the international bestsellers The Art of Simple Living and Don't Worry.Amid the relentless cycle of news, social media, emails, and texts, it can be hard to know when, if ever, you can take a break from everything clamoring for your attention. The internationally bestselling Buddhist monk Shunmyo Masuno offers a radical message: You can leave it all be, and, indeed, sometimes the best thing you can learn is how to do nothing. How to Let Things Go will teach you to:Lesson #2: Give people space—being caring and being nosy are not the same thing.Lesson #15: Remember that social media is a tool and nothing more.Lesson #19: Let a relationship come to an end rather than force it.Lesson #40: Think of letting things go not as throwing them away but as setting them free.Lesson #75: Make decisions in the light of the morning—don't rush into them.Lesson #90: Slow down and take more breaks.With these and ninety-three other practical tips, you can abandon the futile pursuit of trying to control everything and discover the key to a fulfilling social life; individual well-being; and a calmer, more focused mind. BESTSELLER: The Japanese edition has 350,000+ copies in print after 40+ printings since 2021.GIFTY APPEAL: Packaged as a beautiful, small-trim hardcover, the same size as the author's two previous books as well as Ikigai and The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying UpINTERNATIONAL PHENOMENON: The 40+ publishers around the world that published the author’s Don't Worry and The Art of Simple Living are eager to publish this new book of his.STRONG SALES TRACK: The author's two previous books, The Art of Simple Living and Don't Worry, have combined net sales of 80,000+ copies and yearly sales of 5,000+ copies each. EASY, DIGESTIBLE READ: The book's "quick tip" format—most chapters are just one page—is accessible even to the busiest of readers.AUTHOR'S ZEN CRED: The author lives the Zen lifestyle every day—he's the head monk of a 450-year-old Zen temple and a renowned Zen garden designer—and has lectured in English around the world on Zen philosophy and design.SUCCESSFUL CATEGORY: People are looking to the Far East for life advice, judging by the success of The Art of Simple Living, The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down, Ikigai, Forest Bathing, and The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.Quotes:“[A] wise and succinct guide . . . Masuno has a knack for turning a phrase to make familiar advice memorable. . . . The stressed will find much to appreciate.” —Publishers Weekly“Provides succinct instructions paired with hard-to-argue rationale, simplifying what otherwise might feel like a daunting task.” —Lion’s RoarAuthor Bio: Shunmyo Masuno, the head priest of a 450-year-old Zen Buddhist temple in Japan, is the author of the international bestsellers Don't Worry and The Art of Simple Living as well as an award-winning Zen garden designer for clients around the world. He is a professor of environmental design at one of Japan's leading art schools and has lectured widely, including at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Cornell University, and Brown University.Allison Markin Powell (translator) won the PEN Translation Prize for her translation of Hiromi Kawakami’s The Ten Loves of Nishino and was a finalist for the Man Asian Literary Prize for her translation of Kawakami's The Briefcase. She has also translated Shunmyo Masuno’s The Art of Simple Living and Don't Worry, and works by Osamu Dazai, Fuminori Nakamura, and Kanako Nishi, among others. She was the guest editor of the first Japan issue of Words Without Borders and maintains the online database Japanese Literature in English. She lives in New York.Author Residence: Japan (author); New York (translator)Author Hometown: Japan (author)