Ep# 131 The 10 Most Influential Books On My Business Journey

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I was recently organising my office, which contains a lot of books, lol, and as I was going through them I was thinking how impactful some of these books have been on my journey. Someone wise once said that if you want to grow you need to put yourself in proximity to the people who have done what you want to do so that you can learn from them and I don’t know of an easier or cheaper way than to read the people you look up to’s books. So today I want to share the 10 books that have been the most impactful on my journey as a business owner.

The first book is The World's Greatest Salesman By Og Mandino. This was the first motivational book I ever read. My father actually gave me his copy years ago while I was still at Varsity, as a gift. I remember the copy he gave me was falling apart because he read it so much himself. And to this day this book is on my shelf and I read it often because it is so impactful. It’s one of those books that the more you read it, the deeper the words seep into your soul and they become part of you.

The book follows the journey of a struggling salesman who discovers the secrets to success through a series of ancient scrolls. The salesman learns valuable lessons on persistence, belief, and the power of positive thinking and it has a pretty cool twist at the end that I didn’t see coming.

The second book is Dotcom Secrets By Russel Brunson. This book was impactful to me because I was completely blown away by the fact that people could make money online. It is the book that led me to working with business owners all around the world and it really opened my eyes to what was possible if you had a laptop, an internet connection, and a determination to succeed.  This book took me on an incredible journey of meeting amazing people, traveling all over the world, and ultimately starting and growing the business I have today. It is a book filled with so many actionable strategies that I believe you can grow your business exponentially by just reading this book alone.

The third book is Overcoming Underearning by Barbara Stanny. This book. I love this book. Barbare interviewed high earning women and then wrote a book so that she could help women who were earning less, or under earning as she calls it, to earn more. To make more money. She really opened my eyes to the power of our mindset as it relates to making money and also the impact that women can have on this world if we allow ourselves to earn more. Each chapter contains specific exercises that help you break through your limiting money beliefs. It is one of those books that you can read again and again and remove the layers of limiting beliefs that keep you playing small in your life. One of my favorite exercises in the book is the money ceiling exercise. It became apparent to me at the time that I had an earning ceiling and I was the one keeping it intact. If I wanted to earn more I needed to change my beliefs around money and more importantly around myself making money as a woman in business. It is a must read even if you think you’re not an underearner because as Barbara shares, underearning is not earning below a certain monetary number…an underearner is someone who earns less than her potential despite her need or desire to do otherwise. Definitely a book to add to your list of must reads if you haven’t yet.

The fourth book is Who Would You Be Without Your Story? by Byron Katie. Byron’s work has touched the lives of so many people and it is worth gifting everyone you know this book for Christmas, even if they don’t have a business. Byron Katie, who has become famous for her work titled THE WORK. Her 4 questions is a self inquiry. A meditation even. That highlights a profound truth: there is what happens in life -- and then there is the story you tell about what happened. It is your stories, thoughts, and beliefs that cause you to suffer - if you want to get rid of the suffering, question your thoughts and beliefs. This book will show you your stories and will take you through a gentle yet life changing process of letting go. Choosing new stories and living in the present moment. 

Book number five is The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy. Joseph Murry is a psychologist who talks about the power of our unconscious mind and how we can use our conscious mind to adapt our unconscious behavior in positive ways. 95% of what we do as humans is happening without our conscious effort.

“Keep your conscious mind busy with expectation of the best.” And this book highlights our negativity bias…how we are programmed to focus more on the negative, what’s not working, and always expecting the worst rather than expecting good things for ourselves.

You can use your imagination to suggest ideas to your unconscious mind to get what you want. And this book goves some practical ways of doing just that.

Book number six is Essentialism - The disciplined pursuit of less, by Greg McKeown. This book fundamentally changed how I do business today, how I work and spend my time. This book will challenge your core assumption of “we can have it all” and “I have to do everything”. It will change how you prioritise and invest your time. This book taught me that essentialism isn’t about getting more done in less time. It’s not about getting less done. It’s about getting only the right things done in the right way, at the right time. It’s about regaining control of our own choices about where to spend our time and energies instead of giving others implicit permission to choose for us.

Essentialism put me on the road to discover book number seven. Clockwork by Mike Micalowicz. This book helps entrepreneurs achieve business efficiency and freedom. Through a step-by-step process, Mike takes you through a high level overview of how to create a business that can run itself, giving you more time to pursue your passions and enjoy life. I LOVED this book and the concepts so much that I decided to become a Clockwork Certified partner and this process is now a cornerstone of my 12 month coaching experience, The EffortLESS CEO which helps business owners create a self-managing business and have more time available for everything that matters to them.

As I started making money in my business I quickly realised that I needed to find a way to manage that money efficiently and book number eight and nine is my secret weapon to never running out of cash and also getting my money to work for me. Book number eight It is Profit First, also by Mike Micalowicz. Profit first teaches a very simple and very effective way to manage your money as an entrepreneur by taking your profit first (in essence paying yourself first) before paying anything else.  In this book Mike teaches the importance of focusing on profit instead of the usual way of leaving it until last (after all expenses have been deducted). He teaches that you have to set up 5 different accounts in your business and distribute your earnings or income between profit, expenses, owner’s compensation, and tax. Life changing for business owners. 

Book number 9 is How to manage your money like a fucking grownup By Sam Beckbessinger. Written by a South African Woman. This book is GOLD and it gives you everything you need to get started with managing your personal finances like a pro. This book gets into the nitty gritty if getting out of debt, saving money for emergencies, saving for retirement, whether you should buy a house or not, and investing. Now I have read lots and lots of books of the topics covered in this book and I haven’t found one that explains the concepts in such a simple way as Sam does. It’s also highly relevant to South Africans and takes into consideration the unique challenges that we face learning and living in this country. She also has a book for teens to help them manage their money better…you know how we always say…I wish I knew this when I was in my teens or twenties? Well…now you have the opportunity to not only take a crash course in everything money and investing for yourself but you can also give the gift of how money really works to your kids or a kid by giving them Sam’s book for teens “How to manage your money like a grownup - the best money advice for teens”

Book number 10. The child whisperer by Carol Tuttle. Not a business book but it has empowered me so much as a mom. I know that If I am connected with my kids and my family it makes me a better entrepreneur. It makes me better at business. Carol teaches about the Four energy types that are present in all humans. And how we can guide and parent in a way that honors their nature. This book gives powerful insights into understanding our children (and ourselves) at a deeper level and then using this new understanding to be better, more conscious parents. If you’re a parent. Read this book. If you know other parents…gift them this book for Christmas. 

Let me know what books have been the most impactful on your journey as a business owner. If you would like to grab your copy of any of the books I mentioned.

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Thank you for tuning in to this episode, I will see you again next week.The next round the EffortLESS CEO is opening soon. Apply to join HERE.

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