If you want to know what all the smart business billionaires all have in common, the answer will probably surprise you: they read. They go through books like there is no tomorrow, taking in new ideas and thinking critically about their own. There is no other factor that has such a massive impact and, incredibly, it is also one of the most accessible ways to get ahead.
So, if you want to join the book club and start reading for yourself, here are just 4 you should probably start with.
When to Jump, Mike Lewis
If you are lying on the beach trying not to think about work and imagining what life could be like with the dream career, then you need to read When to Jump. This is a book made up of 40 stories of people who left their jobs to pursue something they really wanted and each one has a lesson to share. In fact, these are the very stories that persuaded Mike Lewis himself to leave his prestigious job and pursue a career as a professional squash player.
Rise and Grind, Daymond John
Businesses are expensive to set up, expensive to advertise and expensive to run. Right? Wrong. In his follow up to The Power of Broke, Daymond John, shows that work ethic and determination are far more important in business than ready cash. After demonstrating this over several years on the popular TV show Shark Tank, this book is really a culmination of years of experience from Daymond John and is full practical advice any business owner or start-up dreamer could learn from.
Brotopia, Emily Chang
Silicon Valley may pride itself on holier-than-thou style slogans like ‘do no evil’ but Emily Chang has their number. The glass ceiling here is reinforced by the ‘brotopia’ at work here, where women have to fight hard to get to top positions and often risk everything they have to pull others up. In this expose, Chang talks to some of the women who broke through including Cheryl Sandberg, Susan Wojcicki and Marissa Mayer amongst others to discuss how they made it and how to fix the toxic masculine culture pervasive in the tech industry. Ideal for women who want to get ahead and change the system.
The Motivation Myth: How High Achievers Really Set Themselves Up to Win, Jeff Haden
If there is one great reassurance that you can take from this book it is that motivation isn’t an innate characteristic: anyone can be motivated, you just have to change your approach. This is great news for anyone who has ever had enough crippling doubt to avoid doing what they really dream about because this is your chance to learn and then go for it! This is real, practical advice for anyone who is done with self-help books that all say the same thing and while it might sound counterintuitive at times, it is well worth the read this summer.
