[KNOWLEDGE] Your favourite books & why? Here are mine!

[biffer123]

After having some relative success in IM the last few years, I can attribute a ton of this to books.
Books are often overlooked or neglected these days, however I believe that reading is the ultimate meta skill that can be traded for anything you desire (money, freedom, relationships, sex, etc).

Anyway, here is a picture of the books that I believe have helped me the most, and that I enjoyed reading, along with a brief description (all are my own opinion).

From left to right:

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: Not necessarily the best-written book, but there are some great concepts in here to help you worry less about things that are not that important in the grand scheme of things.

The Way of The Superior Man: Potentially controversial book these days, but helps to understand about masculine energy and why you may be struggling in areas of business, love & sex. Helped my relationships with my partner, family, friends and even with myself!

Ca$hvertising & Spin Selling: Incredible copywriting books to help you entice and seduce readers, incredible for helping you to sell online.

7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Help us understand more about ourselves and how we can become more efficient, less reactive and overall more effective.

Psycho-cybernetics: This book is a serious life-changer. Not an easy read for most, but if you apply principles in this book, it can help to rewire your brain and seriously achieve almost anything you want.

The 1 Thing: A book on why it's important to be the best at one specific skill, great for those of you like me who often suffer from shiny-object syndrome...

Think and Grow Rich: Another incredible book on mindset, and how to attract exactly what you want in life.

Blue Ocean Strategy: An interesting read on how to distinguish yourself from your competition, rather than trying to battle against them for customers.

Expert & Dotcom Secrets: Perhaps the best read for IMers, these books are true gold dust. From how to build an audience online to how to sell them anything you can think of. Must read.

How to Win Friends & Influence People: Level up your social interactions with this book, seriously. Most of business is interacting with people and if you can master this, you can get almost anything you want...

Influence: The Power of Psychology and Persuasion: A heavy read but a great book to further understand the psychology behind peoples decision making and how marketing these days is designed to prey on automatic habits of humans.

Rich Dad Poor Dad: An awesome book on finances. Relatively timeless guide on how to be financially free (within reason).


Any books I need to read?

Have you read any of these books? If so what did you think?

 

[kiks]

Books are so underrated.. I remember telling to my classmate that I'm reading psychology books and he asked 'why? you have any issues lately?''.
I'm sure that if some people was going to read 5-10 personal development books they would be living a great life.

From your List I have read:

1) Rich dad poor dad

2) The one thing

3) The subtle... art

4) 7 habits of highly effective people. ( Reading atm, this is a goldmine. I'm reading this slowly to try apply all the concepts)
5) Think and grow rich

You gave me some good books to add in the book list. I highly recommend the book 'How to win friends and Influence People"

* Edit* I just saw that you have it in the list

 

[Makemeproguys]

I have 10+ huge books already to study for college/school..
Not sure how people are able to read all these other books LOL..

 

[Kingsmarque]

4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris - This is a must-have in case you do any business, not to mention when it comes to IM, super helpful

 

[davids355]

I second this one - How to Win Friends & Influence People.

 

[BlueBuzzy]

Anyone here likes Robin Sharma? He has a few good reads imo

Also, does anyone have an e-reader? it seems so convenient to own a Kindle with wi-fi connection to cut the hassle of downloading them from your PC to the e-book itself?

 

[Michael2237]

From your list I've read the following:

1. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
2. the ONE thing
3. How to Win Friends and Influence People
4. Think and Grow Rich
5. Dotcom Secrets
6. Rich Dad poor dad

Books that I've read and will highly recommend to you and everyone else:

1. Compound Effect - The book offers an interesting point of view about accomplishing massive results by consistently making small, unsexy, smart and almost subtle decisions.5/5

Example that got stuck into my mind:

You have 2 offers: Offer 1 is to put in 30 min/every day to push your skills and show improvement, and at the end of the first week you earn 10% with a 10 % increase each week if you consistently put the work each day after day. Or you are offered 5000$ each month to work for also 30 min/day but you don’t need to do it on a consistent basisand don’t need to use any skills with no increase whatsoever Which offer would you take? - If you’d take offer 2 you will earn significly more during the first 16 months but by the end of the 24th month offer 1 will bring you 18x times more money than offer 2.

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” - Albert Einstein

2. Hooked - This book has psychological approach to the creation of the games and apps. Why some apps are good and successful and how we can use human psychology to make better products (games, apps..) 5/5 must read if you are app/game developer and for anyone that feels like he/she is spending too much on apps and games that only waste your time.

“Companies leverage two basic pulleys of human behavior to increase the likelihood
of an action occurring: the ease of performing an action and the psychological
motivation to do it.” – Nir Eyal

3. Make it Stick - Great book to understand how humans learn and forget things. Great techniques and insights that will improve your learning and memorizing ability.

“It’s not just what you know, but how you practice what you know that determines
how well the learning serves you later.”

4. The War of Art - Self-growth book that is pointing out why we are not achieving what we want and how to deal with unproductivity. 4/5

“Being a professional is doing the things you love to do, on the days you don't feel like doing them.”
‐ Julius Erving

5. Power of Habit - Why we do and what we do in life and business, what are habits, how do they form, why do we need them and most importantly how to change bad habits into good ones in order for us to live a better and more productive life. 5/5 With changing your habits you are changing your life and career step by step!

"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island." – Walt Disney

 

[maidanez]

I don't have an issue with any of the other books, but Rich Dad Poor Dad was completely illogical, some of the advice was illegal. It was built on a rather basic idea and spun out in circular logic so that you never got the "secret" and had to buy the follow up books. https://johntreed.com/blogs/john-t-...ert-t-kiyosakis-book-rich-dad-poor-dad-part-1 This guy tears it apart better than I could.

 

[Hugo Boss]

Way of the Wolf - Jordan Belfort

Hands-on Sales Book. I like that everything is kept easy to apply, it literally gives you a script you can start using immediately.

For those who've seen the movie it's funny to see that some of his sales pitches are 1-1 the same in the book and movie. Belfort was working really close with the movie staff.

In general I have to say: The first personal development book I read had the biggest impact on me. It really opens your eyes and can really re-wire your brain and help you thinking in different dimensions. I have to say the more of these books you read, the more repetitive it becomes and I skip on most of motivational/personal development books nowadays.

 

[The Universe Legend]

That's what I call a life changing thread

 

[dnice2012]

No disrespect , after becoming a internet market i realized 90% of those books are commercial shit

But I am sure there is some good advice there, but you know what I am trying to say

 

[Daggermouthx]

Here are some of my favorites that I re-read quite often:

Question Based Selling:
Hands down the best book on the sales process. Destroys a lot of bullshit sales tactics. Shows the exact process of getting your prospects to open up. Just an absolutely incredible book on sales.

You Can’t Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar:
Great perspective on how customers make a purchase. Interesting sales methodology. Upfront contract was the biggest takeaway. Very good for salesmen with anxiety issues.

Agile selling:
One of the most important books I’ve ever purchased. It doesn’t teach you how to sell—it teaches you how to learn how to sell. The meta-cognition behind learning sales.

The Challenger Sale:
Very good perspective on how to differentiate yourself as a salesman.

Purple Cow:
Differentiation but for marketing. Focus on the implementation curve.

Start With Why:
Influenced my entire approach to business and leadership—maybe even life.

Thank You Economy:
Customer service exponentially grows your sales funnel. Very important.

Building a Story Brand:
Describes the customer journey as a story. I felt the exercises worked incredibly well for clarifying sales/advertising copy.

Copywriter’s Handbook:
Explains a lot of great ad copy rules using tons of examples.

Six Pillars of Self-esteem:
As a psychologist, I found this to be one of the greatest books ever written in terms of self-help. I’ve read almost all of his books—absolute fucking genius.

Just bought another 6 books on copywriting. I’m pretty stoked to improve my skills in this area.

 

[biffer123]

Books are so underrated.. I remember telling to my classmate that I'm reading psychology books and he asked 'why? you have any issues lately?''.
I'm sure that if some people was going to read 5-10 personal development books they would be living a great life.

From your List I have read:

1) Rich dad poor dad

2) The one thing

3) The subtle... art

4) 7 habits of highly effective people. ( Reading atm, this is a goldmine. I'm reading this slowly to try apply all the concepts)
5) Think and grow rich

You gave me some good books to add in the book list. I highly recommend the book 'How to win friends and Influence People"

* Edit* I just saw that you have it in the list

Yeah, a ton of people in this era think books are only read to solve specific problems rather than to enrich you as a person...

I have 10+ huge books already to study for college/school..
Not sure how people are able to read all these other books LOL..

The question is actually; not sure how people are able to not read these other books and still have a enriched and successful life

4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris - This is a must-have in case you do any business, not to mention when it comes to IM, super helpful

One of the first self-improvement books I ever read actually, it's on Kindle for me though so missed it out. The batch work and email set reply times were a godsend for me from this book.

I second this one - How to Win Friends & Influence People.

Truly one of (if not) the best socially improving books, like a interaction life-hack.

Anyone here likes Robin Sharma? He has a few good reads imo

Also, does anyone have an e-reader? it seems so convenient to own a Kindle with wi-fi connection to cut the hassle of downloading them from your PC to the e-book itself?

I have a Kindle, I thought I would love being able to read these books anywhere I like. It's weird but nothing compares to actually having the books in your hand....

From your list I've read the following:

1. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
2. the ONE thing
3. How to Win Friends and Influence People
4. Think and Grow Rich
5. Dotcom Secrets
6. Rich Dad poor dad

Books that I've read and will highly recommend to you and everyone else:

1. Compound Effect - The book offers an interesting point of view about accomplishing massive results by consistently making small, unsexy, smart and almost subtle decisions.5/5

Example that got stuck into my mind:

You have 2 offers: Offer 1 is to put in 30 min/every day to push your skills and show improvement, and at the end of the first week you earn 10% with a 10 % increase each week if you consistently put the work each day after day. Or you are offered 5000$ each month to work for also 30 min/day but you don’t need to do it on a consistent basisand don’t need to use any skills with no increase whatsoever Which offer would you take? - If you’d take offer 2 you will earn significly more during the first 16 months but by the end of the 24th month offer 1 will bring you 18x times more money than offer 2.

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” - Albert Einstein

2. Hooked - This book has psychological approach to the creation of the games and apps. Why some apps are good and successful and how we can use human psychology to make better products (games, apps..) 5/5 must read if you are app/game developer and for anyone that feels like he/she is spending too much on apps and games that only waste your time.

“Companies leverage two basic pulleys of human behavior to increase the likelihood
of an action occurring: the ease of performing an action and the psychological
motivation to do it.” – Nir Eyal

3. Make it Stick - Great book to understand how humans learn and forget things. Great techniques and insights that will improve your learning and memorizing ability.

“It’s not just what you know, but how you practice what you know that determines
how well the learning serves you later.”

4. The War of Art - Self-growth book that is pointing out why we are not achieving what we want and how to deal with unproductivity. 4/5

“Being a professional is doing the things you love to do, on the days you don't feel like doing them.”
‐ Julius Erving

5. Power of Habit - Why we do and what we do in life and business, what are habits, how do they form, why do we need them and most importantly how to change bad habits into good ones in order for us to live a better and more productive life. 5/5 With changing your habits you are changing your life and career step by step!

"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island." – Walt Disney

Thanks for this, I'm going to look into all of these books. My girlfriend is reading power of habit and is always telling me how things like shampoo and toothpaste is specifically designed to get you in a habit... Need to read.

I don't have an issue with any of the other books, but Rich Dad Poor Dad was completely illogical, some of the advice was illegal. It was built on a rather basic idea and spun out in circular logic so that you never got the "secret" and had to buy the follow up books. https://johntreed.com/blogs/john-t-...ert-t-kiyosakis-book-rich-dad-poor-dad-part-1 This guy tears it apart better than I could.

Yeah you are slightly right, it's not the be all and end all of money, however there are some key points to take away if you read between the lines.

Way of the Wolf - Jordan Belfort

Hands-on Sales Book. I like that everything is kept easy to apply, it literally gives you a script you can start using immediately.

For those who've seen the movie it's funny to see that some of his sales pitches are 1-1 the same in the book and movie. Belfort was working really close with the movie staff.

In general I have to say: The first personal development book I read had the biggest impact on me. It really opens your eyes and can really re-wire your brain and help you thinking in different dimensions. I have to say the more of these books you read, the more repetitive it becomes and I skip on most of motivational/personal development books nowadays.

Interesting, may give it a read. Yeah you're right, they are often similar, however there are almost ALWAYS key things you can take away from each one, don't skip them!

That's what I call a life changing thread

Haha, for many people it will be a boring or non-relatable thread!

No disrespect , after becoming a internet market i realized 90% of those books are commercial shit

But I am sure there is some good advice there, but you know what I am trying to say

Have you read all of them mentioned on this thread? I have to say I disagree with you, obviously there may be a lot of trash books out there but do not disregard the knowledge in these books..

Here are some of my favorites that I re-read quite often:

Question Based Selling:
Hands down the best book on the sales process. Destroys a lot of bullshit sales tactics. Shows the exact process of getting your prospects to open up. Just an absolutely incredible book on sales.

You Can’t Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar:
Great perspective on how customers make a purchase. Interesting sales methodology. Upfront contract was the biggest takeaway. Very good for salesmen with anxiety issues.

Agile selling:
One of the most important books I’ve ever purchased. It doesn’t teach you how to sell—it teaches you how to learn how to sell. The meta-cognition behind learning sales.

The Challenger Sale:
Very good perspective on how to differentiate yourself as a salesman.

Purple Cow:
Differentiation but for marketing. Focus on the implementation curve.

Start With Why:
Influenced my entire approach to business and leadership—maybe even life.

Thank You Economy:
Customer service exponentially grows your sales funnel. Very important.

Building a Story Brand:
Describes the customer journey as a story. I felt the exercises worked incredibly well for clarifying sales/advertising copy.

Copywriter’s Handbook:
Explains a lot of great ad copy rules using tons of examples.

Six Pillars of Self-esteem:
As a psychologist, I found this to be one of the greatest books ever written in terms of self-help. I’ve read almost all of his books—absolute fucking genius.

Just bought another 6 books on copywriting. I’m pretty stoked to improve my skills in this area.

Wow thanks for this. Going to add these to my list.... Yeah damn straight, copywriting is at the top of my 'to learn & improve' list, seems such a meta skill these days.

 

[maidanez]

I think it's worth noting that these books follow a common thread. That thread is not about making money, it is about good communication, networking and building win-win deals with clients. As a somewhat autistic guy who struggles with that aspect, I'd say it is probably the number 1 thing people should really be focusing on. You can make good money for a certain while taking advantages of holes in different online platforms but there is always a wall where those skills are necessary. You can make money with crazy blackhat SEO, or weird stock trading techniques, but the time investment to ROI (especially if you include the years studying) I don't think compares with being able to build contacts and identify their problems and fix them. The risk is also much larger in those strategies, google can ban all the sites, the market can tank etc.

There is a lot of people out there who will practically throw money at you if you can communicate with them, identify their problems and solve them. Then do it all again with a system/business while finding smart ways to cut costs. I think if you look at a lot of rich people you don't see geniuses, you see smart market trader type mindsets (people who can profit buying and selling a wide array of products) with great communication skills. Even facebook would have fallen flat if it wasn't for his initial networking skills. Some scientists say humans wiped out neanderthals due to their communication strategies, not their intelligence. The easiest way to make money is to simply ask somebody to give it to you and figure out how to put together a deal that makes it worth their while and that doesn't put a high level of risk on their side from what I've seen in life.

But I may be way off base who knows. Definitely as you scale a business a lot of other skills come into play, and selling becomes marketing to some degree.

 

[biffer123]

I think it's worth noting that these books follow a common thread. That thread is not about making money, it is about good communication, networking and building win-win deals with clients. As a somewhat autistic guy who struggles with that aspect, I'd say it is probably the number 1 thing people should really be focusing on. You can make good money for a certain while taking advantages of holes in different online platforms but there is always a wall where those skills are necessary. You can make money with crazy blackhat SEO, or weird stock trading techniques, but the time investment to ROI (especially if you include the years studying) I don't think compares with being able to build contacts and identify their problems and fix them. The risk is also much larger in those strategies, google can ban all the sites, the market can tank etc.

For sure you are totally right. If you are a great communicator and can easily win people’s trust, then you don’t even need to do the business aspect yourself, you can just find someone who can handle it while you build clients.
I was also super shy and also a poor communicator a few years ago, I threw myself into sales jobs, calling people, doing shit I was uncomfortable with and it forced me to grow.

There is a lot of people out there who will practically throw money at you if you can communicate with them, identify their problems and solve them. Then do it all again with a system/business while finding smart ways to cut costs. I think if you look at a lot of rich people you don't see geniuses, you see smart market trader type mindsets (people who can profit buying and selling a wide array of products) with great communication skills. Even facebook would have fallen flat if it wasn't for his initial networking skills. Some scientists say humans wiped out neanderthals due to their communication strategies, not their intelligence. The easiest way to make money is to simply ask somebody to give it to you and figure out how to put together a deal that makes it worth their while and that doesn't put a high level of risk on their side from what I've seen in life.

But I may be way off base who knows. Definitely as you scale a business a lot of other skills come into play, and selling becomes marketing to some degree.

You are spot on... You have a great mindset.

 

[N00bby]

A great book I think is Profit First. It's not so much about influence, but about how to really make and save money.
Aimed more at bricks and mortar businesses but great ideas for everyone.

 

[high mike]

I'm currently reading the alchemist and I am loving every page.

 

[roberth07]

1- The Richest Man in Babylon
2- Secrets of the Millionaire Mind
3- The 48 Laws of Power

These books are pure gold for knowledge

 

[lbhbochc]

1. Hey Whipple Squeeze This
2. Ogilvy On Advertising
3. The Adweek Copywriting Handbook


Great books. Really helps out if you want to learn more about copywriting and advertising.

 

[TheVigilante]

I don't have an issue with any of the other books, but Rich Dad Poor Dad was completely illogical, some of the advice was illegal. It was built on a rather basic idea and spun out in circular logic so that you never got the "secret" and had to buy the follow up books. https://johntreed.com/blogs/john-t-reed-s-real-estate-investment-blog/61651011-john-t-reeds-analysis-of-robert-t-kiyosakis-book-rich-dad-poor-dad-part-1 This guy tears it apart better than I could.

lol