The pillar of any successful business owner is the understanding that your self worth is directly related to your self-growth and development. One thing I’ve learned over the years about business advice, and self-improvement is that you must be ready to take this advice in and apply it. I’ve personally experienced this in my own life. I’ve hit a place in my life where I was searching for more understanding, and I had a hunger for growth and knowledge. These thoughts and knowledge increased my awareness and this is when you notice that all the right people show up in your life. You’d be surprised by how many signs we receive throughout the day, but most of us are too blind to see these signals.
If you are searching for answers and want to increase your income, live a more fruitful life, or improve your relationships, don’t give up searching, eventually you will find answers. These answers are literally at your fingertips. I personally watch Youtube daily to increase my knowledge as it applies to what I am working on today. This is a very important distinction that I recommend you follow. Knowledge is great, but applied knowledge that you can use today is key. There is no point in using up all your hard drive space in your brain with information that can be saved in the cloud (i.e. the internet) for another day.
I also Youtube the books that I’ve read as a recap to reinforce the subject and instill a deeper learning. I also love to view other successful entrepreneurs list of recommended books at goodreads.com. Here is an example of the founder of clarity.fm, Dan Martell and his book recommendations – http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1359979-dan
Below is a small list of books and bullet points that really impacted my life and literally rewired my old way of tribal thinking to thinking like a billionaire. Take a look and comment below if you can relate and feel free to share your own experiences that we all can learn from.
Think and Grow Rich
By Napolean Hill
Work in groups and build a synergy. Create a mastermind group.
Mastermind groups are by far the most powerful method of taking your small idea and building a business based on feedback and iteration from your group. You can get so much further as a group than you ever could alone, and create fast traction to understand if you have product market fit.
In other words, don’t keep your idea to yourself. Go out and share it with others and get their opinion so you can build it and get it to market. I can’t tell you how powerful this bit of advice has been for us. It’s the difference between having another idea that never leaves your head, and creating a successful business.
Get the book here
Think and Grow Rich
The Millionaire Fastlane
By MJ Demarco
Solve a problem and fulfill a need. The larger the problem, the richer you become.
Before you consider pricing out equipment, getting business cards, and working on a business plan. Learn how to solve a problem that people are willing to pay for as well as sticky enough to keep people coming back for more.
Get the book here
The Millionaire Fastlane
Here are some examples of how to solve a problem:
Simply go to Google and type in “I hate…” and watch Google suggestions fill in the blanks for you. You can also visit websites like twitter, ripoff report and other websites to see what people are bitching about. Make people feel better, educate them, make them look better (nutrition, health), give them security (housing, safety, health). Forget about the dream of pursuing your passion and get out there and start solving problems.
Impact millions, and make millions
The larger the market is that you are solving a problem for, the more money you make. That’s right, solve a big problem and be paid handsomely for it. Either choose magnitude (high price) or scale (reaching many people). Both of these methods work, and if executed can make you a millionaire. If executed together, can make you a billionaire.
The 4-Hour Workweek
By Tim Ferriss
It’s really hard to find an entrepreneur especially in the tech business that has not been impacted by Tim Ferriss. Tim takes a very scientific approach to proving his hypotheses. The information in this book discusses outsourcing, time management, scaling a business, as well as many other practical solutions to business and life.
Get the book here
4-Hour Workweek
The exchange of time for money
Tim uses a case study in his book that chronicles the growth and creation of his online nutritional website called, BrainQuicken. Tim used outsourcing to help build and grow his company while he was out traveling, exploring, and working on other ideas. This is a lifestyle business and the purpose of this business was not to get rich, but create a nice income and still enjoy life without creating a job for oneself.
A business is something that can effectively run with or without you present. Conversely, a job requires you to make decisions and at times creates a bottleneck for growth because you are constantly at the helm of every decision made. This concept impacted me the most. Create a company that is self sustainable and independent of you. This mindset helps create endless opportunities for your team to take responsibility and step up, and also frees you up of your time to do what you really love to do while making just as much money. This of course sounds like a utopian vision that is not possible. I’m here to tell you it is and if you setup your company correctly and learn to automate, delegate, and create a solid business model, this is totally possible.
I hope you enjoyed our list of book recommendations and bullet points on the impact of these learning’s. Love to hear your feedback below!
I hope that you take the time to check out these books and let me hear your feedback below.