Recommended Reading List
Here is my recommended reading list. These are all books from which I have gained valuable insight. In addition, you will likely see many posts directly related to these books and their content. This is a dynamic and ever-changing list as I am ALWAYS reading a book that expands my mind.
Affiliate Disclaimer: Each image of the book is clickable, and links directly to Amazon.com, if you would like to make a purchase. I am an Amazon affiliate, so if you purchase through these links, a portion of that sale goes to support the funding for this blog. So thank you in advance!
Mindset
For me, this was the most eye-opening, and the one that makes me shout “Yes!” after just about every page. It’s a “look in the mirror” kind of treatise. It’s quick and easy to read, and hits you on the head with a sledgehammer, and then peels back the mushy membrane of the mind to reform it. If you are a creator, or wish to be a creator (this could be art of any form or a business), this could be the one that opens the vault for you. It was for me.
The pre-eminent classic for success mindset. Yes, money is used as the main theme, but it’s not really about money. It’s about understanding, and knowing, that you can achieve whatever your goals are. And the tool for that achievement is your mind. It’s that SIMPLE, but obviously not EASY. A personal anecdote about this one…I love to read, and in general, I will always choose hardcopy book over audiobook….except for this one. For some reason, I enjoyed the audiobook more than the hardcopy. I’m not 100% sure why, but i think maybe it’s because it reads a bit like someone is talking to you. Who knows?
This is the one started it all for me, back in mid to late 2000’s. The eye-opening, “Aha!” moment, “Oh….right….” kind of bell went off in my head. It’s what made me understand that I want and need to control my own future, both career and financial. For those, like me, who were and are of the employee mindset, this is the can opener for your mind. I got into real estate investing solely based on the mindset shift I had after reading this book.
A little bit irreverent, a little bit motivational, a little bit “how-to”, and all super fun! This one helped me understand that we don’t all have just one purpose in life, and that the key to moving down the path, is starting down the path and adjusting the direction as I go. Jen talks about overcoming fear (a theme of mine), and self-sabotaging behaviors (another needle in my eye), and self-love (very tough for me). And as do ALL books that I find very useful, it made me stand and look at myself in the mirror.
Leadership
There is no one personal quality that will serve you better on your journey than leadership. And who better to learn from than the master leader himself. If you have NOT heard of John Maxwell, you need to know who he is. He’s written so many useful books, and provided so many life changing courses and seminars, but in my opinion, this is his opus. If its growth you are looking for, leadership is the key. Study this book till you know on what page you can find anything you need.
Success and General Concepts
How do you become successful? This shows you how. Success is a result of the series of small actions you do (or do not do) everyday that ultimately makes the difference. For example, just think how much stronger you’d be in a year if you did 100 pushups everyday. That’s 36500 pushups! That’s the basis for this book.
This puts forth the same concept as The Slight Edge, its just coming from a different author with a different angle. Maybe this one gets through to you better. Whichever one you like, it’s the concepts that matter.
Do you know what separates high achievers from average people? It’s their attitude towards, and response to failure. This book provides you with the concrete steps for flipping your mindset around and starting to turn your failures into successes.
One of the most comprehensive, yet simple to understand resources on how to create success in your life. The “Aha!” moment for me in this book is the chapter on Connecting. Full of stories from Logan’s life and relatable on every level.
An excellent explanation of the 4 methods by which all of us accrue finances: Employee, Self-Employed, Business Owner, and Investor. Along with Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Mr Kiyosaki provides the “Aha!” moments you need to change your perspective, and change your life.
Brilliant! So many Aha! moments it’s hard to put into a synopsis. Mr. Maxwell goes into his 13 principles of what you need in addition to raw talent in order to succeed. Too many people are gifted with talent, but never live up to their potential. Why? Because most of them are simply relying too heavily on that talent. Achievement takes many traits married with talent. This is a great look at how to maximize your talent.
Mind bending and completely mind altering. I’ve been doing it wrong all along. All along I’ve been tracking successes, and letting myself off the hook with marginal success. To create big success, and reach big dreams, successful people do just the opposite! The power, and ultimately the results is in the failure, it’s in the “No!”. This book in concert with John Maxwell’s “Failing Forward” are the perfect companions for retraining your mind about how successful people actually obtain their success.
A companion, and a kind of sequel to my very favorite mindset book, “The War of Art”. This is the “How-to” that I needed to understand what it means to be a pro, and that if I was to make any progress, I needed to be a Pro.
General and Online Marketing
So…this one is sort-of about network marketing, but really its about marketing and leadership in general. This is my favorite book about marketing (and network marketing) and is what I’m modeling my business after. It’s short, powerful, and eminently easy to understand. If you’re interested in building a marketing or network marketing business, this one is mandatory reading.
The step-by-step, how-to playbook for getting your message out into the world, and monetizing it along the way. I’ve been through every page at least twice and I now use it like a text book and refer to it almost every day. The chapter on “The One Big Domino” was a brain activator and has transformed how I think about and present my message.
Network Marketing
In my opinion, this is the pre-eminent “how-to” for network marketing. Eric is one of, in not THE biggest proponents of professional network marketing and this is the manual that we should all follow. He lays out exactly the type of activity you should be engaged in daily, as well as helping you understand what being a network marketer is and isn’t. I use this like a reference book, constantly looking at it for guidance. The section on “how to get a new team member started” is exactly the script I follow with new team members.
I had almost no idea what to do in the beginning of my network marketing business until I read through this. I was looking for something to get me started, and this was the perfect thing. Now I use many of its concepts when I teach others in my organization how to get started. It’s a combination of how-to, and stories that hit home. It was written quite a while ago, so some of the mechanisms have changed with technology, but the procedures and concepts are timeless.
An easy and motivational read that provided me with a bit of an “Aha!” moment when I first got started. That moment was: not everybody has success right away. This was critical for me to “get”, because sometimes our profession can get overly excited about new members who hit it out of the park right away. As a leader, its natural (but something you have to fight against) to be overly focused on those that are awesome right away. However, Jordan struggled for years and years, worked on his skills, got his mind right, and then made it happen. I resonate completely with his story.
Kody’s take on the “how-to” of network marketing is a little different than some, but what I love and use every day is his commitment to the fact that it is a service industry. We are helping people solve problems with our products, services, and opportunity, and then helping them help others. He has a section in this book about daily gratitude and affirmations that I model and use every day.
A short and easy read that shows exactly what leadership in network marketing means.
Nutrition and Fitness
The Most Important
In this case, this a link to The Maxwell Leadership Bible, which has footnotes and anecdotes by John C Maxwell specific to how passages relate and teach leadership principles. Any sanctioned Bible will do here. Even if you have no interest in Christianity, or spirituality in any way, The Bible is still the king of personal development texts. It is chock full of principles and examples that are immensely helpful.
