Since I’ve officially finished a pretty decent-sized stack of books on my never-ending book list, I thought it would be the perfect time to do a round-up post of my top books to read of 2019. These books have been the most insightful, impactful and inspiring lessons that have helped me navigate this entrepreneurial journey.

Not only have these books helped me strategize my business goals but they have also been useful in up-leveling my entrepreneurship game. And hopefully, they will help you too! So, without further ado, here are my top 7 books to read for your biz to help you boost your business strategy and achieve success. Because that’s what we all want for our businesses, right?

 

If you need a quick read that teaches you a thing or two about empowerment, this book is for you. This how-to guide is a short, easy to read, and pretty funny narrative that gives out personal development tips in a super positive way. Even though this book was first published in 2013, it’s still 100% relevant today.

You Are A Badass packs a lot of punch with lessons on forgiveness, affirmations, mindset shifts, loving yourself and being present – and, honestly, so much more! There are some contentious topics that she brings up around depression, so if that is a trigger point for you, I highly recommend reading through reviews on Amazon before diving into this book.

I personally found it to be an enjoyable read.

Order You Are A Badass here!

 

 

I love how straightforward and blunt Mark Manson is. He doesn’t give you fluff but tells you like it is. For instance, this self-help book has one main theme that is driven home to its readers: not giving a fuck about a bunch of things, and instead, give a fuck about one special thing. Basically, once you find that special something in your life that is important and meaningful – put all your energy into evolving and cultivating that one thing. Make sure this special thing aligns with your own personal values.

The overarching theme in this book is Manson encouraging us to focus on what is truly important to us, developing a way of appreciating it, taking action to get it, and taking ownership of it – and never losing sight of our values.

It’s a great choice to put on your “books to read list”.

Order The Subtle Art of Not Giving A Fuck here!

 

 

I’ll probably keep saying this about all the books on this list, but this book, in particular, is one of my favorites. But so is her previous book, Girl Wash Your Face. However, in Girl Stop Apologizing, Hollis encourages you to have a dream, no matter what it is. By eliminating the things that keep you from achieving these dreams, you can start working to make your dream a reality.

From people-pleasing and expectations to misplaced values and fear, Hollis encourages her readers to stop relying on the opinions of others and to instead embrace their fears and make your life full of choices that you made, not choices made by someone else. I love the way Hollis walks us through each excuse we make for ourselves and rejects them with relatable insights and funny anecdotes. She’s a lady you would love to have in your best friend circle group. I know I do.

You really can’t go wrong with any of her books, but I highly recommend Girl Stop Apologizing.

Order Girl Stop Apologizing here!

 

Gino Wickman’s writing is gold when it comes to entrepreneurship and small business ownership. This book may be 8 years old, but it is still very relevant in the entrepreneurial workspace of today.

The book’s main focus is on the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) framework that is based on Vision, People, Data, Issues, Process, and Traction. This framework is Wickman’s own pragmatic system for overcoming obstacles that entrepreneurs commonly face in their business.

While I do concede that Traction is dated in both publication and in its pre-modern concept of freelancing and contractor work – I still found this book to be a great resource for the structuring of business ownership responsibilities and how to implement effective systems into your business. One of the key takeaways from this book is we are not our business.

Order Traction here!

 

You’ve probably already heard about Marie Forleo’s new book. I think she’s been on every entrepreneur and business development podcast out there promoting it. And with good reason! Forleo’s book is so impactful, insightful and inspiring, you won’t be able to put it down. I couldn’t.

Her overall theme in this book is that whatever you want from life, you can get – you just have to figure out how to do it. Because every problem you face in life is figuroutable. Get it?

Throughout this book, Forleo shares 9 steps to help you overcome and ‘figure out’ how to beat each obstacle that comes your way. She shares these steps in a down to earth way – even sharing her own experiences and how she used these steps successfully. She even goes further to include little challenges at the end of each chapter that are meant to help you apply the skills she teaches into your own life. Actionable, impactful, and easy to follow steps to get everything you want from life. Go read it, now!

Order Everything Is Figureoutable here!

 

While he is controversial in both his beliefs and his demeanor, I personally love listening to and reading anything from Tim Ferriss. This book is one of my favorites and has taught me a lot about adjusting the way I work.

The 4 Hour Workweek is particularly useful if you need to create structure in the way you work. From hiring Virtual Admins to efficiently managing your email responses, Ferriss fully embraces entrepreneurship and shares tips that will help you simplify your life and use your time to achieve something meaningful. Sure, this guy isn’t for everyone, but he does have some great insight and has thoroughly thought through every piece of advice he gives.

If you intrigued and want to hear more from him – he hosts a great podcast that you can subscribe to here.

Or just Order The 4 Hour Workweek here!

 

 

Robert Iger, the former CEO of The Walt Disney Company, wrote a fascinating book that chronicles his business career from the beginnings at ABC, through to Capital Cities and finally to Disney where he was the CEO for 15 years – only stepping down this year!

Through several big-name acquisitions (think Pixar and Marvel Entertainment), Iger enabled Disney to exponentially expand its library of content and its human capital. More specifically, Iger shares the critical lessons he learned while watching and working with Steve Jobs during Disney and Pixar collaborative years. Most importantly, Iger’s biggest takeaway from Steve Jobs’ leadership was his habit of giving employees more power and say in what is happening within the company.

Overall, Bob Iger’s memoir teaches us that we should never shy away from or ignore disruption. Instead, we need to take defensive steps or even go on the offensive to successfully compete with your rivals.

Order The Ride of A Lifetime here!

 

From Marie Forleo’s newly released book to Tim Ferriss’ The 4 Hour Workweek – I think all seven of these books are 100% applicable to your own business if you understand and implement some of the key takeaways from each book.

If you should take anything away from this post, it’s that you need to read at least one of these books (if not all of them!). Hopefully, they will be as beneficial to your entrepreneurial journey as they have been to my own.

Most of these (if not all) are available as Audiobooks, but I, personally, love to sit down with a good old-fashioned book to read. However, if you are wanting to listen to these books on the go, check them out here on Audiobooks.

Have questions about which books to read for your business journey? I’d love to answer them! Feel free to contact me here to connect – I’d love to hear from you.