Originally published on LinkedIn
Thank you to everybody for the tremendous support after my article earlier this week, “It Took Me Nearly 40 Years to Figure Out What I Want to Do with My Life.” Not only the comments, but some of the heartfelt messages I received and conversations already started. Without a doubt, my own self-awareness and self-discovery was jumpstarted by a series of amazing books. This week, I received a great treat from Michaela Alexis and Scott Stratten, and it serves as a perfect lead-in to present my recommended reading list to the many who have asked following my post last week.
To start, here is Michaela and Scott’s box of books:
- Unselling by Scott Stratten and Alison Kramer
- UnMarketing by Scott and Alison Stratten
- The Happiness Equation by Neil Pasricha
- Everybody Writes by Ann Handley
- Daring Greatly by Brené Brown
… on career and work mindset:
- Scott Dinsmore’s TEDx talk, “How to Find Work You Love,” and online community at “Live Your Legend“
- The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau and his site, the Art of Non-Conformity
- Why “A” Students Work for “C” Students and Why “B” Students Work for the Government by Robert T. Kiyosaki — Part of the Rich Dad series, I was intrigued by the title as a Government employee that actually got ‘A’s. While generally I believe the Rich Dad series is great at saying you should rethink money and work, it doesn’t give very practical advice on how to make it happen.
- The Quit Alternative by Ben Fanning — This is a great book to have a few options for changing your current situation in your job to restore some of the passion or increase your value.
. . . on entrepreneurship:
- Effectual Entrepreneurship by Stuart Read, Saras Sarasvathy, Nick Dew, Robert Wiltbank. Saras was my professor at Darden for Starting New Ventures and this book taught me a bit about how entrepreneurs think differently. Fellow Darden-grad Adam Healey summed it up very well in this article, “How Expert Entrepreneurs Think.”
- The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
- The Millionaire Real Estate Agent by Gary Keller – Most real estate agents, especially the Keller Williams crew, know this book well. For me, it was the first time I saw an effective entrepreneurial model for real estate agents laid out so effectively.
- Zero to One by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters
… on leadership:
- Start With Why by Simon Sinek
- Army Doctrine Reference Publication ADRP 6-22 (FM 6-22) – While an official Army field manual, this is actually a great read and lays out a foundation for how to lead that I’ve never seen matched in any other book.
- Leadership and Self-Deception by the Arbinger Institute – This is a must read if you find yourself blaming your leaders, co-workers, company, or institution for why you are unhappy, unprompted, or feeling unappreciated (maybe it’s you?).
- Switch by Chip and Dan Heath – One of the best books I’ve read on how to influence change.
… on how to change your mindset on life, relationships, meditation, money, vulnerability, and shame
- Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill – Written in 1937 and considered by some to be one the most influential financial books ever written. There is definitely a spiritual and mental shift advocated by this book (which I’ve seen repeated in The Secret by Rhonda Byrne and the recently published You Are a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero).
- Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
- The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson – and while you’re at it, just spend the rest of your weekend reading his blog articles (they’re amazing) – https://markmanson.net/archive.
- Rising Strong by Brené Brown – I read this after watching her two great TED talks on shame and vulnerability: “The Power of Vulnerability” and “Listening to Shame.”
- How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams
- Set for Life by Scott Trench – I just read this after hearing Scott on the Bigger Pockets podcast
- The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman
- 10% Happier by Dan Harris
I’d love to hear your feedback on any of these books that you’ve already read or if you read them this year. Also, please throw your best suggestions and why in the comments section, and I’ll likely add them to my personal reading list for the year.
