10 Books That Will Make You More Successful
Since I was about 16 years old I have been reading self-development and mindset books. It started when my Mum began working with a popular network marketing and home shopping company here in the UK. Naturally, I was dragged around to help deliver catalogues and taken to meetings to be bored to death. Although at the time I felt strongly averted so spending my time in such a way, I gradually began to appreciate the underlying principals and way of thinking that came along with it. By this point, having been exposed to the entrepreneurial spirit and potential for success, I knew that a normal career just wasn’t for me. I wanted more from life and I knew how important educating myself was. Not classroom education that teaches you to be mindless drones of society, I’m taking lessons from the wealthy and successful people of society, people who have made it and are willing to share just how. So I started my lessons and picked up one of my Mums books that I’d heard people praise highly of, Rhinoceros Success by Scott Alexander. I recall vigorously reading through the night and finishing within a couple of days and immediately I felt the change in the way I was thinking about things. I was hooked.
Since then I’ve tried to read as many books around self-development, mindset and habits as possible and although in this digital age with so many distractions and busy days it can be hard to just sit down in a quiet place and read I highly encourage you to make time and do just that, even if it’s just 20 mins a day. There is a wealth of information available from the most successful, influential and richest people throughout history just waiting to teach you how to follow in their footsteps if you would only dare to step into their world. So without further ado, here’s my top 10 list of 10 books that entirely changed the way I think about money, work and success and will most likely do so for you too.
Scott Alexander gives readers the encouragement to live life at full speed, always moving forward, recognising and grasping every possible opportunity that comes along. He equates the average person to a cow letting life pass them by unlike the charging rhinoceros that you could be, with thick skin and a penchant for stabbing anyone who tries to stop them (not literally of course). If you’re looking for a book to fire you up then I couldn’t recommend this enough. Now get out there and start charging!
To say this book is influential would be the biggest understatement of the century. If you’ve not already been introduced to the power of thought then this is a must read. In these 416 pages of gold, Napoleon gives us the understanding of how a positive mental attitude can affect our lives for the better and give us the power to turn seemingly less than positive circumstances into opportunities. You’ve probably heard the saying, “You are what you eat”, well that’s definitely partly true but after reading Think and Grow Rich, you’ll realise that really, you are what you think.
This is a book of diligence and sensibility. It teaches wealth building principles through a collection of stories set in Babylon, the ancient kingdom of hanging gardens fame, which itself is widely believed to have been the wealthiest civilisation in human history. The lessons are pretty simple, things that should really be taught to us from a young age, yet are often overlooked and unfollowed by the majority. Lessons like paying yourself first, saving 10% of your earnings and paying off your debts. The writing style can take a few chapters to get used to but get used to it you will as you read on in fascination of this simple ancient wisdom.
Robert Kiyosaki advocates financial education through a story based on his childhood and how having two fathers, (biological and step-father), each of whom has very different attitudes towards life and both teach him different values when it comes to work and money, helped him come out on top and create wealth and abundance for him and his family. It focuses on financial independence and building wealth through investing in assets, real estate investing, starting and owning businesses.
5. Secrets of the Millionaire Mind
Ever wondered what all the wealthiest and most successful business people in society have in common? Well, wonder no more because this book delves into the mindset of millionaires to uncover the not so secret ways of thinking that create a life of abundance. To become rich, you need to think like a rich person. Whilst most people live in envy and resentment of their success and assume they somehow cheated or bullied their way to the top, you can learn how they really got there and how having the right relationship with and attitude toward money and opportunity can change your life forever.
6. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
If you wanted a step by step lesson plan on how to be more successful then there’s no better place to look. Our circumstances are dictated largely by our habits and yet we do very little to ensure we have good ones. In this book, Stephen explores the top 7 habits shared amongst successful people that lead to a more productive and rewarding lifestyle, such as being proactive rather than reactive and trying to understand before being understood. The lessons are easy to implement into your daily life to enact change if you really desire to become a more effective person.
7. Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway
We all have fears, and I’m not talking spiders and heights. Every day we live within our comfort zone, it defines our interactions with people, our food choices and even how successful we are. When we are faced with the prospect of something outside of our comfort zone most of us immediately feel fear. 9 out of 10 people will give in to that fear, let their mind convince them that whatever it was would likely be bad for them and go about their life. You need to be the other 1 person. If you really want to grow, become more successful and experience abundance then you have to step outside your comfort zone, embrace that fear and overcome it. It will change your life.
8. How to Win Freinds and Influence People
Being a good leader and knowing how to influence people is an essential part of being a successful business person. You may think that it’s not relevant to online business but you’d be wrong. Even if you’re a lone wolf, making a good income from a drop-shipping store, some of the concepts Dale Carnegie introduces are just as applicable in knowing how to judge peoples expectations and how to market to them rather than to your own expectations. Importantly, you must be genuinely interested in providing your customer with a good experience and/or product.
Ever had one of those days where you plan to be super productive, wake up early, make that to do list, but despite everything you get to the end of the day and just feel like you’ve achieved nothing? Well, you’re not alone and it’s often down to one thing; you didn’t tackle the most important/hardest task first, a.k.a the frog. Mark Twain once said that if the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog then you could go through the rest of the day with the satisfaction of knowing that it is probably the worst thing you’ll do. Productivity is key so get out your cutlery and dig in!
This insightful book centres around the school of thinking known as Stoicism, a life philosophy dating back to the ancient Greeks. We all come across problems in day to day life and many people will let them get the upper hand and develop a defeatist attitude which makes every small problem all the more overwhelming. This book shows us that simply acknowledging these problems and approaching them in a different way can have a dramatic effect on our life and success. This book will change your thought process and make you into an Olympic hurdler. Figuratively speaking of course.
That brings me to the end of my top-10 list but I feel like I need to make some honourable mentions because although they’re not included in the top-10, they have been incredibly eye-opening and helpful in both my mindset development and practical advice in how I approach business. I highly recommend you check these out as well. You can click the cover to be taken to Amazon.
