To completely honest, what books work for some of you would be terrible advice for others. That’s why I’ve decided to list 15 books that you read when you were all at the beginning of your journey and that you found valuable.
It’s not the top 10, but just a list of books that I think have nuggets of gold within their pages. If you are looking to expand your library, these are a great place to start.
I believe that depending on what points you are at in your journey, you should adjust your reading material so, you increase your chances of moving forward with your current projects.
The following list covers a wide range of ways of thinking about life and business so, make sure you pick the ones that would have the biggest impact on your life right now.
1. Think and Grow Rich: The Original, an Official Publication of The Napoleon Hill Foundation
When to read?
When you have just finished high school and want to expand your horizons. This book is basically the pillar of which all other business books were built. While the book’s title and much of the text talks about how to raise income, he insists that the philosophy that book teaches us can help people to be successful in any work line to do and be anything they can imagine.
Napoleon Hill was the protégé of Adrew Carnegie – one of the richest people to ever live. This masterpiece of a book is the result of 20 years of study of many individuals who had amassed personal fortunes and what common traits they share. Perfectly structured!
Don’t be put off by the fact that this is an older book, if you haven’t read it, do it!
2. The Secret
For those who never read a business book in your life but feel you want to be successful, this is a good way to go.
It’s likely we are going to get a little bit of backlash for including this book here because we never shied away from saying that positive thinking is not enough and we still stand by that. If you just getting started, have decided to follow your passion and just starting to read self-help books, The Secret is the perfect place to begin with.
They focus exclusively on mindset and if you’re not able to get your mindset right, there’s no need for you to study advanced strategies or business models. Read the book, apply it and see what happens!
3. Rich Dad Poor Dad: What The Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!
If you already read my article named “Top Self IMPROVEMENT BOOKS”, then chances will you find this book familiar.
Once you’re ready to start your financial journey, pick this! Whenever someone asks me where they should start, I always give them a copy of Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki. This is one of the very first book that I read which truly made an impact into the way I look at life and what means to achieve financial freedom.
It teaches the importance of cash flow and is the perfect place to start understanding the differences between assets and liabilities.
The entire business community seems to agree that it’s one of the best business books ever written.
4. The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing. A Book of Practical Counsel (Revised Edition) (Collins Business Essentials)
When you are thinking of investing in the stock market, look no further than this book.
The author – Benjamin Graham was the mentor and main inspiration of Warren Buffett. You know him – the third riches person in the world right now.
In the intelligence investor, Graham teaches the vital elements of value investing. If you want to go to the stock market, this is an essential book for you to read.
5. MONEY Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom
This is a perfect book to read when money starts coming in and you want to know what to do with it.
Tony Robbins might just be the riches self-help coach in the world right now. And, no matter how you feel about him, MONEY Master the Game is an incredible book which I definitely recommend.
If you are living in a developed country, the USA especially, you have to read this book. It breaks down and simplifies the process of securing your financial future in a way everyone can understand and the beauty is.
The advice in it doesn’t just come from Tony, but from people who are at the pinnacle of Wealth Management. People like Ray Dalio whom you never could have gotten access to otherwise.
Tony is leveraging the connections he’s built throughout his life to share the strategies of the super-wealthy.
If you want to learn more about Tony Robbins, pick this book now!
6. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
When you feel like you need a fresh new start because your life is passing you by.
I love Timothy Ferriss’ book, especially because it has to do with how you built your own business model. The book tackles the idea of location independence where you can travel the world, make a lot of money and live your life to the fullest.
It’s one of those rare books that comes once in a while which dramatically defines everything people have taught you.
Becoming a millionaire was never easier than today and The 4-Hour Workweek is definitely a great stepping stone in the right direction.
7. The Millionaire Fastlane: Crack the Code to Wealth and Live Rich for a Lifetime.
Immediately after you read The 4-Hour Workweek, this book by MJ DeMarco is less known than the rest, but I wanted to included it because it’s actively dismisses all the popular books, it goes hard and deep into every major book on this list and the arguments are strong.
It showcases his personal story and this might be the right strategy for those who think go bigger or go home, I definitely recommend checking it out.
8. The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
When you feel like you are procrastinating all the time, look no further than this option.
You know habits are what makes or breaks us, right?
Well, Charles Duhigg’s book dives right into the science of how habits are created and how to alter them in your personal gain.
The stories that do “Hey, guys! Knitted together!” are all fascinating on their own, right? BUT, take on an added dimension when wedded to his extermination of habits.
If you are struggling with bad habits and looking to acquire better ones, then this is the book for you!
9. Atlas Shrugged
Be on holiday but still want to keep your mind busy? Guys, don’t miss out this book by Ayn Rand. People are going to be so mad when I put him in here. But, truth to say, the people who are going to get mad at this person don’t read as much anyway so, I don’t care.
This is Mark Cuban’s favorite book, he says that in there, you will find everything you need to know about how to be successful in life.
Atlas Shrugged is not a business book, but a science fiction romance mystery novel, it outlines Ayn Rand groundbreaking philosophy on objectivism.
Get the book! You are either going to love it or hate it, there’s not much wiggle room in there.
10. How to Win Friends & Influence People
This is a great choice for those who feel that you’re never taken seriously by the others and don’t know how to build real relations with anybody.
This is another one of classics.
Dale Carnegie’s masterpiece breaks down the fundamentals of how humans work. And, what it takes to make them like you.
In it, you will learn how to handle people, how to make them interested in you, how to bring them over to your way of thinking, how to change people without offending them and how to be happier at home.
It might sound like a lot but this is one of those books that will apply to every day life until the day robots finally take over.
11. The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future
When you want to start a business but feel like you don’t have enough money to do it, would you look at that?
Another book that probably you have never heard about or mentioned in my mainstream publications. This has to do with the establishment!
Whenever one of the guys previously mentioned on the list drops a new book, they are all over it.
It just so happens that most of them missed this gem. I wanted to include The $100 Startup on this list because it was fundamental in my beginning.
The book looks at how you can establish a lucrative business without spending more than $100. There are so many businesses that have been quite successful without any serious seed money.
This book is filled with case studies and gets right to the point!
12. The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: A Fable About Fulfilling Your Dreams & Reaching Your Destiny
Despite making a ton of money, you’re not happy at all. Have you ever felt such bad things in life?
Now that you already have your investments and your companies running and profitable, it’s time to take a look at the later stages in business. In this book, Robin Sharma does a phenomenal job of translating why money doesn’t bring happiness and what to do about it.
If you’re already made it, but you don’t feel happy yet or at peace with your life, this is the book for you!
13. The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It
If you are struggling with your first business, they say it’s an instant classic. Gerber gets you walk through the steps in the business life from entrepreneurial infancy to adolescent growing pains to the mature entrepreneurial perspective.
All business guiding light that is successful and instructs the way to apply in practice the franchising lessons to any business lesson whether or not it’s a franchise.
Most importantly, Michael E. Gerber draws the vital difference between working on and in your business.
14. The 10X Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure
When to read?
It’s whenever your business is no longer growing! Grant Cardone is an interesting figure, I particularly like his books because he usually cuts to the chase and there are no fancy words, no secret strategies, just Pure American Muscle.
And, by American Muscle, I mean sales. Truth to say, he is known for his ability to close down sales – an ability which got him to where he is today.
The 10X Rule is the type of book that will make a lot of sense. But you might be reluctant to apply it because you’re too lazy.
15. Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future
When you are ready to disrupt an entire industry, let’s read this book!
Peter Thiel is the founder of PayPal and Palantir. If you haven’t heard about one of those, you definitely heard about the other. He made billions in the new economy.
This is a short book so, it’s easy to go through it BUT, don’t underestimate it!
Its contents hit the targets in all the right spots and will make you think of the world differently. The book is based on the class he once taught at a master’s program at Stanford University – a class that I am proud to say I took.
It focuses on what the future holds, what the current state of the startup world and what industries are to be disrupted next.
I know that there are a ton of other books I could have mentioned, however, in the limitation of an article, these are the best of the best picks out there. hopefully, this is a good source for you to have some other good books to read or at least, an ideal inspiration for you to start your very first business. Good luck!
