In Entrepreneurial Leap I share 10 ways to keep growing, learning, and staying motivated. One way is reading great books.
You are the culmination of the books you read and the people you hang around with. This list introduces you to some great resources for your journey. An important caution is that, given all you’ll read, hear, watch, and learn in educating yourself as an entrepreneur, please understand that if you try to do everything you learn, it will twist you in a knot and potentially put you out of business.
Not all advice is for everyone. You can find a lot of information out there, and one size does not fit all. As Dr. James Dobson states, “The same boiling water that hardens the egg will soften the carrot.” You have to be selective and trust your gut. Glean what’s best for your vision, your plan, and your company.
Here are some great reads:
1. Non-Fiction Books
- Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill
- The Millionaire Next Door, Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko
- Good to Great, Jim Collins
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Steven R. Covey
- Unique Ability, Catherine Nomura, Dan Sullivan, Julia Waller and Shannon Waller
- The Young Entrepreneur’s Guide to Starting and Running a Business, Steve Mariotti
- The Lean Startup, Eric Ries
- How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie
- Great by Choice, Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras
- Built to Last, Jim Collins and Jerry Poras
- The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni
- The E-Myth Revisited, Michael Gerber
- Small Giants, Bo Burlingham
- The Startup Owners Manual, Steve Blank
- Crushing It, Gary Vaynerchuk
- Emotional Intelligence 2.0, Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves
- Essentialism, Greg McKeown
- Zero to One, Peter Thiel
- Principles, Ray Dalio
- Start with Why, Simon Sinek
- The Hard Thing About Hard Things, Ben Horowitz
- Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki
- The EOS Life, Gino Wickman
- Rocket Fuel, Gino Wickman and Mark C. Winters
2. Biographies of successful entrepreneurs:
- Screw It, Let’s Do It, Richard Branson
- Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson
- Shoe Dog, Phil Knight
- Pour Your Heart Into It, Howard Schultz, Starbucks
- Thomas Edison (multiple books)
- Walt Disney (multiple books)
- I Invented the Modern Age: The Rise of Henry Ford, Richard Snow
- Made in America, Sam Walton
- George Washington (multiple books)
Next Steps
Pick one book and order it now.
Entrepreneurs Have to Work Hard, Really Hard
It makes me crazy when I hear “gurus” teach that there’s an easy way to build a business. Every successful entrepreneur I’ve ever talked to has told me their journey
