If you know me at all, you know that I love to read. I’ve read a lot of books over the years. People are always asking me, “How do you keep up with all the books that come out?” or “How do you put into action the books you read?” and “Do you finish every book you start?”
Recently I started to think about WHY people ask these questions?
It could be because over the past 15 years I have read nearly 600 books. Maybe “a lot” was an understatement. These books range the topics of business strategy, history, economics, psychology, neuroscience, achievement, business growth, culture, hiring, interviewing, social media, sales, leadership, customer service and organizational development… and I don’t shy away from telling people this.
While I get a lot of questions about the quantity of books I’ve read since college, more often, people ask about my ability to USE the information in a meaningful way at SHIFT. Curious to understand how we integrate and apply the new information and data into our work to help companies grow regardless.
So, here's quick background on how I got hooked on books...
When I first started SHIFT, I was 23 years old and knew nothing about anything. It was time for me to get in my craft and the first step was getting my hands on the quickest source of knowledge: books!
It helped that we traveled upwards of 280 days a year for the first few years of the business (not suggested, but often necessary). This provided the time I needed to read two to three books a week. Fiction, non-fiction, magazines, whatever I could get my hands on. It was enjoyable, but more importantly, it made me better
If you are going to be an expert in your craft, you need to build a discipline and to build a discipline you need a strategy. My strategy was to invest my time wisely and to absorb as much new, relevant, applicable data and knowledge. This still rings true today.
Books are my friend.
We all have limited time. In fact, you have 84,600 seconds per day. There are 35,000 books published every year. It does us no good to try keep up and read every single one. Instead, we need to focus on the things that matter most.
I urge you chose 12 books to read this year. Try one a month. Make sure each book you choose directly relates to what matters most to you. Invest in these books―read them and apply their teachings to your work. Then, share them with your friends.
Here are the 12 great books we are reading and investing in as a company this year:
1. Unlabel: Selling You Without Selling Out by Mark Ecko
2. Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business by John Mackey and Rajendra Sisodia
3. Why Managing Sucks and How to Fix It: A Results-Only Guide to Taking Control of Work, Not People by Thompson and Cali Ressler
4.The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential.in Business and in Life by Leo Babauta
5. Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers by Alexander Osterwalder
6. Topgrading by Bradford D. Smart Ph. D.
7. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini, PhD
8. Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins
9. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
10. The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success: A Practical Guide to the Fulfillment of Your Dreams by Deepak Chopra
11. Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brene Brown
12. Start Something that Matters by Blake Mycoskie
BONUS! If you haven't already had the opportunity to read through my books, you may enjoy those, too. (I'd be remiss not to mention them in a blog all about my book friends!):
14. Grow Regardless
Well, what are you waiting for? Go make some new “friends!”
