Books to Read

Having a mentor that is living the life you want to live is extremely valuable. However, if you don’t have a mentor like that at the moment, you can resort to the next best thing. The next best thing is to read and listen to the books of the people that you would like to emulate.

Books can allow you to learn exactly what you want from the industry leader of your choice – on your terms. I give myself one golden rule when reading. That rule is to try to always find at least one actionable takeaway from every book I read and apply it.

I maintain a list of my recommended books below and hope that you find it helpful.

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase. I recommend these books because they have helped me personally and in my business, and not because of the small commissions I make if you decide to buy something. Please do not spend any money on these books or audiobooks unless you feel you need them or they will help you accomplish your goals.

Currently Reading

  • Domain Driven Design: Systematic approach to designing and developing complex domains based on experienced-based techniques and fundamentals principles for maintainable systems.

  • How to Read a Book: Guide to reading for comprehension. The book outlines the steps and provides theory for things like speed reading, systematic skimming, and inspectional reading.

  • Don’t Make Me Think: Guide to understanding the principles of intuitive navigation and information design.

  • Universal Principles of Design: Design guide that illustrates design concepts with visual examples of the concepts applied in practice.

What’s Next

  • Business Model Generation: Handbook that provides techniques for building a game-changing business model using tools like the “Business Model Canvas”.

  • Digital Marketing Analytics: Explains the fundamentals of digital marketing and provides insight into how you can start leveraging the tools available to drive your business.

  • Lean Analytics: Startup reference for understanding metrics and analytics in relation to Lean Startup and Customer Development. Focuses on explaining the “Measure” portion of the “Build-Measure-Learn” cycle mentioned in Lean Startup.

Someday / Maybes

  • Micro-ISV: From Vision to Reality: Explains how can go from daydreaming to launching and building your own micro-ISV (Micro-Independent Software Vendor).

  • Mobile Marketing: Explains the how mobile marketing is revolutionizing marketing, communications, and advertising.

  • Mobile User Experience: Discusses the theoretical and practical concepts for mobile UX regarding gestures, user interface elements, and usage patterns.

  • Mobile Design Pattern Gallery: Handy reference of 70 mobile app design patterns illustrated by more than 400 screenshots for the major mobile platforms.

Business / Entrepreneurship

  • The E-Myth Revisted: Helps a budding or seasoned entrepreneur approach their business in a way that allows them to grow their business, instead of only working in their business.

  • EntreLeadership: Practical end-to-end explanation of how to run a business. The book walks you though how a successful entrepreneur (Dave Ramsey) has grown his business over that last 20 years to national brand.

  • Good to Great: Discusses concepts like the Hedgehog Concept that have allowed Fortune 500 companies to go from underperforming to thriving and outperforming their competitors over a 25 year time period.

  • Great by Choice: Shares insights to what allowed companies to outperform others in their industry by 10x, risk taking leadership, and driving innovation.

  • Platform: Practical step-by-step guide to building your own platform on the web by leveraging blogging and social media.

  • The Lean Startup: Explains the principles of creating a startup that is driven by creating products that customers want, instead of products you think the customer wants.

  • The Personal MBA: Shares the essentials of entrepreneurship, marketing, sales, negotiation, operations, productivity, system design, and much more all in one book.

  • The Power of Habit: Explains how habits are composed of three components: a cue or trigger, the action taken, and the reward. Understanding the components allows you to diagnose and transform bad habits to good ones.

Finances

  • Thou Shalt Prosper: Outlines 10 commandments relevant to business and money that can allow you to excel when applied. A few of the commandments mentioned include: Believe in the Dignity and Morality of Business, Do Not Pursue Perfection, and Know Your Money.

  • The Total Money Makeover: Step-by-step guide to personal finance that outlines how you go from being broke and in debt to building substantial wealth. This is the blueprint for anyone that is serious about taking control of their finances.

Lifestyle Design

  • The 4-Hour Work Week: Provides insight into how you can design a life and business that allows you to maximize your productivity in both arenas.

  • Quitter: Provides a practical approach to go from your dread job to your dream job.

Negotiating

  • Getting to Yes: Gives step-by-step strategy for coming to mutually acceptable agreements in every sort of conflict.

Personal Development

  • 48 Days to the Work You Love: Helps you recognize clear patterns in your life to help with making future career decisions. A step-by-step guide that reveals how to make the transition to doing work you love.

  • How to Win Friends and Influence People: Guidebook for learning how to be a person of influence without stepping on others in the process.

  • The Millionaire Mind: Provides road maps on how millionaires have found their niches and accumulated substantial wealth. Includes insights into how these individuals live in order to continue to build and maintain their fortunes.

  • The Millionaire Next Door: Identifies the common traits that show up again and again amongst those who have accumulated wealth. Turns out that most of the truly wealthy in this country don’t live in Hollywood.

  • Now Discover Your Strengths: Explains that we all have talents and strengths that we should build our lives around, rather than always focusing on what improving weaknesses when it’s not always necessary.

  • Strength Finders 2.0: Great resource that helps you discover your strengths and provides guidance on how each strength can be leveraged to it’s full potential.

Productivity

  • The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered approach to personal and professional problem solving. It’s likely that applying at least one of the habits mentioned will boost your productivity.

  • Getting Things Done: Shares proven productivity tips that will allow you get more done with less stress. The book walks you through the step-by-step process required to reach maximum productivity.

  • The Slight Edge: Shows how to create powerful results from simply aligning your daily activities with your goals. Highlights that your attitude creates your actions, your actions create your results, and your results create your life.

  • Success is Not an Accident: Explains how achieving success is not something that just happens. It is something we have to strive for daily.

Relationships

Sales & Marketing

  • The Referral Engine: Outlines how you can implement word-of-mouth referral strategy in your business by developing a systematic, consistent, and repeatable approach to your marketing and advertising.

  • Spin Selling: Outlines practical, and easy-to-apply techniques that will increase your ability to sell your products and services.