Itâs no secret that successful people are readers. From Warren Buffett and Bill Gates to Elon Musk, these are some of the worldâs most well-known billionaires who have spoken about the importance of reading for success.
There are a few books that these successful people read in common. Letâs find out the top 5 most valuable books you can read to educate yourself in personal finance or entrepreneurship.
1) Think & Grow Rich
With 15 million copies sold worldwide, Think & Grow Rich was written by Napoleon Hill in 1937.
Youâve probably heard of this book or even recommended by your friends because itâs life-changing.
Napoleon Hill has influenced many people through his book which talks about how every man or woman can achieve whatever they want if they put their minds to it.
This book acts like a âhackâ to your brain, it helps awaken that part of your brain, as a result, it makes you do things you thought you couldnât.
Personal Thoughts
My personal thoughts after reading this book was that there are no limitations in the things youâd like to do.
All things that you want to achieve, begins with your mind, telling yourself that you can and will achieve it.
After convincing your mind, start by planning the steps on how you can achieve what you want to achieve.
Everyday, wake up and remind your mind that you have a goal to achieve and tell yourself how you can work towards that goal today.
Favourite Quotes
The key to riches begins by having a burning desire, definiteness of purpose and persistence.
Thoughts and the subconscious mind works hand in hand, if you think you cannot get rich, it will be heard by your subconscious mind and whatever you feed it, will be practiced through plans and actions.
No one is defeated until he or she accepts it as a reality
The only limitations are the ones you set up in your own mind or the ones you permit others to set up for you
2) The 4-Hour Work Week
The 4-Hour Work Week was written by Timothy Ferriss, an American writer and entrepreneur.
The book has been on the New York Times Best Seller List for 4 years and has been translated into 40 languages and has sold more than 2.1 million copies worldwide.
Tim talks about how you can join the ânew richâ and work as and when you like.
He has valid points on how you can maximise your productivity with lesser time spent while increasing your outputs.
Personal Thoughts
When I first saw the book, I thought it sounded too good to be true.
I decided to give it a try and found myself hooked to the book and was reading it everyday.
Tim preaches to the readers that in order to get your life back, youâll need to build a system. This system works for you and you just have to spend a minimal amount of time to maintain it.
The system can be delegating your work to someone else or producing something that can be scalable after the initial effort i.e. Writing a book
Favourite Quotes
Focus on being productive instead of busy.
Doing something unimportant well does not make it important. Requiring a lot of time does not make a task important.
Limit tasks to the important to shorten work time (80/20). 2. Shorten work time to limit tasks to the important (Parkinsonâs Law).
The answer to overwhelmingness is not spinning more platesâor doing moreâitâs defining the few things that can really fundamentally change your business and life.
3) Atomic Habits
The book that changed my perspective in life, Atomic Habits taught me that 1% effort every day can lead to a large compounded gain.
We often look at others who succeed and wonder to ourselves, âthey must be luckyâ. Not knowing that at the back, these people put in not just a burst of effort to get to where they are but they put in consistent effort.
Iâve realized that with consistency + the right mindset, youâre able to achieve anything you want.
This book got me started reading habitually and consistently which has allowed me to gain a good amount of knowledge from reading.
Personal Thoughts
My friend was reading this book when I first saw it.
Back then, I do not read and actually found it hilarious that my friend actually took the time to read.
He recommended me this book and told me that it was his 2nd time reading it.
I thought he mustâve been really bored to read a book twice. After that, I borrowed the book from him and I understood why he read it twice.
It was the best book Iâve read in 2020 and it made me understood how small efforts matter.
Favourite Quotes
1% better everyday will compound to a lot in the long run
Be concern with current trajectory than current results
The only way to become excellent is to be endlessly fascinated by doing the same thing over and over, you have to fall in love with boredom
Hereâs my summary of the book.
4) How To Win Friends And Influence People
Another best selling book of all time with 30 million copies sold, How To Win Friends And Influence People talks about the principals of social interaction.
If youâre a aspiring entrepreneur, it is important to understand how you can work with people better and make them like you.
The author, Dale Carnegie, has been helping individuals and businesses improve around the world with his books and seminars for over a century.
Personal Thoughts
I have not read the book yet and it has always been on my reading list.
After writing this article, Iâll probably look to read this book next after finishing my current one.
For some people, reading this book may seem embarrassing because of its title. But with over 30 million copies sold, I believe it is worth the read as much as being in this top 5 most valuable books article.
5) The Magic of Thinking Big
The last book on this non-exhaustive list is The Magic Of Thinking Big.
Originally published in 1959, this life-changing book written by David J. Schwartz talks about how to think beyond the average.
Firstly, the author shares about the main causes of failures and how you can tweak your mind to think differently which increases your chances to succeed financially or in your life.
Personal Thoughts
I have not read this book yet and has also sat in my reading list for awhile now.
This shall be a reminder for me to increase my reading pace so I can read the books in my list.
My first thoughts after reading some review of this book are that its similar to Think And Grow Rich. This book seems to talk about how âhackingâ your mind and attitude can increase your chances of success.
Nonetheless, it remains as one of the best books for entrepreneurs or whoever whoâd like to improve their current situation. Iâll be reading this in time to come.
Conclusion
In conclusion, these are the top 5 most valuable books for entrepreneurs to get you started and âmotivatedâ.
This list is non-exhaustive and Iâll be looking to increase the amount of books in this article as I read more books.
As of now, the top 5 most valuable books on this list seem to have changed and improve the lives of many including me, thus, itâll be a great start for anyone looking to get themselves some knowledge and wisdom.
If you are struggling to read more books, take a look at this article on how you can read more.
Have a look at this article to remember everything you read.
I hope youâve enjoyed this article!
As always, let me know in the comments if youâve read any of these books and if it has benefitted you. If not, let me know if youâve decided to read any of these books!
See you on the next one!
