When I say read, I actually mean study and when I say study, I really mean devour with every minute of concentration you possess.
The world of business is changing faster than it ever has before due to social networks, to the 24/7 entrapment of world media and information moving at the speed of sound. Every aspiring entrepreneur should know by now that information is key.
On that note, I always hear the candid quote of “work smarter not harder”. Whilst there is merit in that statement, but I sometimes look at it as someone trying to justify their inability to work as hard as they really wish they could.
“If people knew how hard I worked to achieve my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful after all.” – Michelangelo
I owe a lot of my relatively small amount of success in business to the joy of reading and having a deep interest in everything business. There will hopefully be books featured in this selection that you may not have heard of and probably of a few that you have. I have great pleasure to say that I have read all of these and fully recommend them.
Think and Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill
Easily one of the first books that I read and it made me properly think, which is exactly what the contents of this book is aiming to achieve.
The is set in the early 1900’s based on Napoleon’s story of interviewing several of successful businessmen and finding out how they became successful. What particular methods or tricks they used in order to attain their success which largely comes down to mindset.
Mission – Michael Hayman & Nick Giles
The book covers tech pioneers Google and Arbnb, to large retail giants like Whole Foods and many success stories, the book is an over arching coverage of how business is changing people’s lives through the power of purpose, culture and campaigning of their product.
You will see throughout the book it tries to showcase what it takes to succeed, key features you will find are defining your commercial purpose and turning customers into loyal advocates.
Start with Why – Simon Sinek
I absolutely recommend this book to every person in business or interested in starting their own business. Worth every single penny.
Throughout the book Simon Sinek highlights companies such as Steve Jobs at Apple, Coca Cola and more on what their reason of existing is and why they started their business. Because, what it reveals is in a compelling way is sometimes business doesn’t matter what you do, it matters why you do it.
I would highly recommend buying the book and also watching him on TED Talk as it was one of the most-watched videos ever on their reels.
The Power of Positive Thinking – Norman Vincent Peale
Fantastic book for any aspiring entrepreneur. Norman Vincent Peale explains the ways in which self-confidence can be self-developed to lead to a happier, relaxed and satisfying life.
The main mantra of the book speaks of believing in yourself, have faith in your abilities, creating self-confidence and you can succeed in life.
There are many aspects of the book that are slightly bizarre, but the core part that I took away was instilling self-confidence and removing negativity from your mindset. It’s very similar to Napoleon Hill in the sense of think positive, positive actions will incur – and vice versa.
How to Be Rich – J. Paul Getty
Once labeled as the richest man in the world as early as the 60’s. He made his first bulk of fortune when he was only 26 years old. JP Getty was regarded as the most frugal billionaire to ever live.
He certainly left a huge legacy behind and in this book it really opens yourself to someone that created his wealth for the simple enjoy of creating money and investing it – never spending!
A lot of the formulas in this book are the farthest from dated and can still be implemented today.
Art of The Deal – Donald Trump
The man who is a genius when it comes to self promotion, manipulation of the media and tough talker. It’s our main man Don. Regardless to what you may think, this guy is insanely successful and everything in his book is what you could only expect from him.
He explains in brief how he manages to control media in his favour, obviously post 2008 this has changed, but back then he managed to get the media to drive the price of all apartments within Trump Tower.
There is segments on negotiating and you simply have to remember New York is a dog-eat-dog city. It’s a breeding ground for success because it simply is so competitive within every industry.
An entertaining read and you can come away from it with different ideas.
How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie
Start It Up – Luke Johnson
Shoe Dog – Phil Knight
Grinding It Out – Ray Kroc
Built To Sell – John Warrillow
Purple Cow – Seth Godin
Crush It – Gary Vaynerchuk
I’m going to openly admit it, but I actually liked this book despite the fact that I really dislike Gary Vaynerchuk. I cannot seem to warm to his fast speech and comes across like he speaks down to anyone on podcasts or even on live Ted chats.
The E-myth Revisited – Michael E. Gerber
Wow. One of the most under rated books of all time. I remember a good friend of mine lending this book to me and after I finished reading it I quickly purchased a copy. It is a fantastic read and combines extremely well with Built to Sell and Start it Up.
Anyone Can Do It – Duncan Bannatyne
37 Questions Everyone in Business Needs to Answer – Duncan Bannatyne
Getting to Yes – Roger Fisher & William Ury
100 Great Businesses – Emily Ross & Angus Holland
Planet Ponzi – Mitch Feierstein
The Intelligent Entrepreneur – Bill Murphy
Setting The Table – Danny Meyer
7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen Covey
Free Capital – Guy Thomas
Power – Robert Greene
About The City – Christopher Stoakes
Money Mavericks – Lars Kroijer
Zero To One – Peter Thiel
The Rules of Management – Richard Templar
The Lean Startup – Eric Ries
Good To Great – Jim Collins
The $100 Startup – Chris Guillebeau
Capital – Thomas Piketty
Killing Giants – Stephen Denny
One Move Ahead – T.B.F Thompson
The Tipping Point – Malcolm Gladwell
Business Adventures – John Brooks
The Art of War – Sun Tzu
First, Break All The Rules – Jim Harter
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business – Charles Duhigg
What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School – Mark McCormack
The Hard Thing About Hard Things – Ben Horowitz
Tools of Titans – Timothy Ferris
John D. Rockefeller – Original Titan – JR Macgregor
The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie – Andrew Carnegie
Editor owner of JustGareth.com and many other online endeavours. Avid fan of internet based business, shares, coffee and eating food on the regular. You can fire me an email at info@justgareth.com