The Fierce Business Babe Podcast Ep 124: My Top 5 Business Book Recommendations
In today’s episode, we are going to talk about how to create next level results. If you want to reach 10k, 20k, 50k months, I want to share some insights today that really helped me continue to move into the next level and create some of those massive results that you can do too.
My Top 5 Business Book Recommendations
By: Melissa Lin
Welcome back! Now, part of my daily routine is getting some type of personal development. Whether that's reading a book for 30 minutes in the morning, listening to a podcast or listening to an audible while getting ready for the day, I'm always spending some time each day working on this. When first starting as an entrepreneur, we're not always sure what books or what resources to try first since there are so many out there. I mean, information overload. So today I wanted to dive into my top five books that I'd first recommend and I may even turn this into a quarterly podcast episode where I'm bringing more and more books on. Let me know if you want that, because I'm always reading or listening to so many books. I'm actually the type of person that likes to read a few books at once. So I usually always have at least one business oriented book, one personal development, and then always one fun book, usually a romance novel.
The Four Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss
So let’s dive into my top 5 favorite ones. So book number one, drum roll, please, this book was one of the first books I actually read when I started to get into the entrepreneur world. And it's definitely one of my all time favorites, which is why it's on this list. You've probably heard me talk about it over and over and over. I pull quotes from this book all of the time, and it's The Four Hour Work Week by the one and only Mr. Timothy Ferriss. Now, it was one of the very first books that I read when I was still in my nine to five. I was still in that corporate world and my chemical engineering job and I knew I was on the mend of getting out. I was starting to explore my options and this book really helped open my eyes to what was possible. I don't want to spoil the book for you, but this book is really the ultimate blueprint on just lifestyle design. It really follows a very simple process to help reinvent yourself, work better in a business and just live that dream lifestyle that you're looking for that gives you the freedom of time or helps you create the freedom of time and freedom of money.
So, again, it really helped me see what was possible outside of the corporate world. I thought it was absolutely insane that anybody could only work four hours a week, but this book really helped open my eyes to what was possible. You know, at the moment where I am in my business right now, I'm more of that 20 hour work week girl, and I'm really happy with it because I love what I do. I love coaching and I love spending a good amount of my time doing that. Again, this is all about creating four hour work weeks. And even if you're not anywhere near wanting to create a four hour work week, there are so many principles and so many things that Tim goes into in this book that I'm pretty sure are going to help open your eyes as well. I'm going to dive into a few of them just because this is probably one of my top books I'd recommend. So it's all about just optimizing your life, optimizing your business to get the most out of life. Really, it helps you make the most out of your time, which is so important. So many of us spend our time just trying to be busy and not always efficient. So, it really helps you make the most of your time and how to start designing the life of your dreams.
A lot of the time, when we're starting in entrepreneurship, our businesses start to run our lives. And something that you've probably heard me say before is you are more than your business and I want to help you with this as well. To create a business that fits your lifestyle because you can, you are the boss of your business, you're the CEO, and it is possible to create a business that fits your lifestyle, not just a business that’s going to take over your life because why are we doing this in the first place? So this is the first book.
I also wanted to add in a few statements that I actually pulled from the book. I pulled my very first copy and I've got all my scribbles, all my little tabs, all the little skinny post it’s from back from my engineering days. Some of these statements are what I pulled from the book and I have them highlighted in the book as well. So I wanted to pull this for you. If any of these resonate, then you probably want to read this book. The first one, which really, really hit me when I read this for the first time, and I've read this book a few times since reading it for the first time.
The first statement was “The rest of the world is just as insecure as you are.” One hundred percent agree. Didn't feel it at the time, but sometimes we forget this as we go through and really are starting our entrepreneur journey.
The next is “the unrealistic is frequently easier than the realistic.” There's less competition. “Doing something unimportant, well, doesn't make it important. Taking a lot of time doesn't make something important.” So that is something that really hit home for me because I was the person who felt the longer I spent on a project, the longer I spent on X, Y, Z, the better a job I was going to do, the more efficient I was going to be, the higher quality the deliverable. In some cases, maybe, but not always. Time doesn't always mean something is high quality either.
So the next day when I pulled, “being busy is a form of laziness or lack of control over one's life.” Again, that whole busy versus effective. I actually have a few podcast episodes around this because this is something I've really learned over the years. I know back in my nine to five days, I spent a lot of time being busy, walking around the manufacturing plant, going from here to there and not really thinking, OK, what's the most effective thing for me to do today? I just stayed busy and thought I was going to get a ton done when in reality I probably wasn't.
Next, is Parkinson's law, “A task will swell to fit the time given to it.” Then ask yourself what you do to feel productive. And that's something that has really helped me like I'm the most productive in the earlier hours of the day usually, but before three p.m. or so, like my sweet spot is always around like 10:00 am, 11:00 am, noon. Those are my most productive times. It's just I love, love, love getting things done at those times. So I know I'm going to put those tasks that really need that effectiveness in that time.
Ok, next statement that I pulled “many problems simply go away when ignored”. A lot of us feel that we have all these problems and some of them really aren't too big of problems. Next is, “don't check your email so much. You don't need to.” Yes, 100 percent agree with this. I don't check my email nearly at all these days. My team does. It is one of those things where my team knows if they need to get a hold of me, they've got to get into our team's back channel. That's the quickest way to get a hold of me versus email. The next is, “If someone else can do it eighty percent as well as you outsource or delegate it.” Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I couldn't agree more.
Those are just a few statements that I had highlighted from what I read the first time. And a few of my favorite quotes also come from this book, which I'm sure you'll recognize again. I actually think I posted one of them on my Instagram captions pretty recently. But, “What we feared doing most is usually what we most need to do.” Yes. Did that just hit home with you? Yes. Next. Absolutely love this one. “Someday is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave with you.” And this next one really aligned to that first statement of if you're insecure, guess what the rest of the world is too. “Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You're better than you think.” And there are so, so, so many more. So basically, if you haven't read this book, go read it. I highly, highly recommend it. It's oh it's so good.
You Are A Badass At Making Money By Jen Sincero
OK, onto the next book, book number two, and I recommend this next one. You may have read it, maybe not. And I'm definitely going to recommend it again as well. You Are A Badass at Making Money By Jen Sincero. In this book, she describes working hard to change her attitude and get past her mental blocks about money and her own ability to attract money, to earn money and to keep money. She really guides her readers through that simpler process of creating a mindset to creating wealth. A money mindset. This was actually the first money mindset book I read, and after reading this book, that's when I made my first investment in my business into a coaching program and a few courses and since then have continued to invest over and over and over and over.
I remember reading this book years ago, prior to making my first investment, and I read that she had made like an eighty thousand dollar investment when she was at a seminar in person and I just thought it was so, so crazy, like so insane. Couldn't believe that, and here I am years later making very similar investments. And it's just so incredible how much can shift and how much can evolve in just a short amount of time when you work on those aspects of your mindset, money mindset, all of the things that you really need to move the needle forward into that next level version of you. So if you've spent little time on your money mindset, I highly recommend this book. And what I believe to be true is that the more money I spend, the more money I make, and this book is one of the big reasons for that mantra that I have so highly recommend. It's a green book, green for money. I highly recommend it. It's wonderful. And she has a few of the books. I definitely recommend as well.
The Compound Effect By Darren Hardy
The next book, book number three, The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy. Now this book is special to me because this is one of the books that I read shortly before leaving my chemical engineering job and going full time in my business. And spoiler alert, If you hop into my program, the Fierce Business Academy, then you know or you will know, This is actually one of the books that I always send to my clients as part of their welcome gift. Now, this book will show you why big, abrupt changes rarely work and how you can start to change your life, shift your life over time with the power of small daily steps and actions routine that really helps build momentum to help you break through those limits when you reach them.
One of my favorite quotes from this book is a quote I often share on my social media, my Instagram, so you've probably seen me post it before, is “You will never change your life until you change something that you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.” Now, I do not want this to turn into a Spark Notes episode. So here are just some of the big lessons in the book that it's going to help you understand. You're just going to see what the book's about, if it's something that you'd want to read. I want to say I have sent this book to so many clients and I don't think I've ever heard anyone say they didn't like it. I've had so many of my clients actually start to send this book to their clients as well. So that just shows how incredible of a book this is. Absolutely love Darren Hardy and his work. OK, so just some of the big lessons in the book “Turn Your Life Goals into Daily Habits” was a really big lesson in the book, how when you come up with the routine and consistently show up to build momentum in the book, Darren Hardy helps you create routine and gives you action steps as well and has tons of like templates and documents and things for you to download on his website with the book, as well.
Also like when you hit a ceiling, you use your momentum to push through. Those are some of the big lessons and definitely a book I'd recommend reading more than once. You know, I like to read books multiple times, like every few years or so just because I'm going to see a different perspective from a book when I'm in a different stage of my life. OK, let's keep going, we've already gone through three of the books, I recommend.
The 15 and Valuable Laws Of Growth By John C. Maxwell
Now, the next book I'm going to recommend, book number four, is by another favorite author of mine, incredible leader John C. Maxwell. And the book, as I know, is so many of them. It's incredible. Can't wait to get through all of them. The next book I recommend is The 15 and Valuable Laws of Growth by John C. Maxwell.
Now, I read this book in mid 2019 and honestly I recommend anything from John C. Maxwell. He's an incredible author. He's an incredible leader. I've learned so much from him and I'm so excited to continue to learn from him from all his other books. He's continuing to create new books as well. Now, this book will really inspire you to get up and improve your life by showing you how change happens when we're actively nurturing it and helps you really identify some of those steps and some of those strategies to help you really thrive in business and in life. I know I say this a lot, and especially in my early days, you know, a lot of us say this. We want to work on ourselves and work on our personal development, but we don't always know how. We don't really know the right steps or to focus on. And in this book, John really lays out those 15 laws, you know, from his experience for bettering your life and helps you guide through personal growth based on those experiences with tons of actionable steps, tons and tons of actionable steps in the book to help anybody starting their personal growth journey. Even if you've started your journey, it's still recommended. There's a lot that I got out of this book, and I can't wait to see or hear what you get out of this book if you decide to read it, if you're if you've been wanting to work on your personal development at all, I highly recommend this one. And I think that this book is also a green book.
How To Win Friends and Influence People By Dale Carnegie
OK, book number five that I recommend is, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. I'm sure you've heard about this incredible book. You see it everywhere. If you Google like business books, this is one of the ones that pops up. And it's definitely one I'd recommend. I would recommend it to just about everybody, whether you have a business, whether you don't have a business. I read this book a few years ago and it really helps you increase your influence, your ability to get things done, and helps you with, you know, handling complaints, how to avoid arguments, how to communicate with people, which is such a huge skill, helps you create steps that you can apply in your daily life.
If you do have a business, it definitely helps improve my experience in sales skills as well. So I highly recommend this book. I got so much out of it and I was able to apply some of the things that Dale really teaches you in this book, into my business, into my personal life, with my friendships, my relationships and just kind of some of the day to day life things as well.
So I highly recommend all five of these books and I have so many more and I mean so many more recommendations I would love to share.
Thank you for hanging out with me today. Any questions you might have? Thoughts, takeaways, all of the goodies you want to send my way, DM me on Instagram @TheMelissaLin. I'm always going to be your biggest cheerleader. So you taking time out of your day to hang with me truly means the world to me. I'll see you next time.
Topics we cover include:
My Recommended Reads
My Biggest Takeaways From These Books
Why I recommend Them
What Makes These My Top 5
And so much more!
Times to check out:
(5:27) The Four Hour Work Week By Timothy Ferriss
(14:00) You Are A Badass At Making Money By Jen Sincero
(15:56) The Compound Effect By Darren Hardy
(19:04) The 15 and Valuable Laws Of Growth By John C. Maxwell
(21:02) How To Win Friends and Influence People By Dale Carnegie
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