5 Classic Books You Should Read to Develop your Entrepreneur Mindset Before The End of This Year!

The human mind behaves like a muscle. Like every
muscle in the body, it develops and expands with
frequent exercise. Learning is one of the best forms
of exercise for the mind. It’s an investment in your
life and future. There is no investment on earth that
pays more interest than an investment in knowledge
because the lessons you learn from a good book will
serve you for a lifetime with incredible results. Every
day, we consume all sorts of information: TV, radio,
blogs, social media, gossip, noise etc. But how much
of this information develops your mind and makes
you a better entrepreneur? If you’re like most people,
it’s less than 1 percent. The books I’ll be sharing with
you in this article are all-time classics and my
personal favourites. A few of them were written more
than 70 years ago and all of them have sold millions
of copies across the world. These books hold the key
to unlocking something great inside you. If they
worked for me, I see no reason why they shouldn’t
work for you. And if one of your excuses is that you
don’t have time to read, create time! What could be
more important than a chance to change your life?
Rich Dad, Poor Dad
This book is certainly one of my best all-time classics. If you’re an
entrepreneur, or want to become one, this is one book you just
have to read. Published more than a decade ago, the wisdom in
this small but mind-blowing book still blows me away everytime I
read it again.
The first time I read Rich Dad, Poor Dad was sometime in 2004. It
was during a short vacation and I was visiting at my auntie’s.
Bored out of my wits, I started digging around for something
interesting to read or watch. When I found this book, I actually
thought it was a novel (because of the title). Little did I know I was
about to learn some of the most interesting and transformative
lessons of my life.
Like most people, I got the same advice that promised to lead me
to a bright and secure future: Go to school, Get good grades, and
Get a secure job! This advice may have worked 30 years ago, but
it doesn’t work so well nowadays. These days, good grades no
longer guarantee you’ll get a job, and of the few jobs that exist,
very few can be called ‘secure’. You could get fired, laid off,
rationalized or made redundant at any time. This is the philosophy
this book is built on.
In this book, the author, Robert Kiyosaki, shares his life experience
with his two fathers – Poor Dad (his real father) and Rich Dad (his
friend’s father). While Poor Dad was a very intelligent man who
had a ‘good’ government job, Rich Dad was an independent and
highly successful entrepreneur. The lessons he learned from the
lives of these two men changed his life forever.
Today, Robert Kiyosaki is not only an author of several best-selling
books; he is also a very successful entrepreneur and celebrated
millionaire. I strongly recommend that you add this book to your
library as soon as you can. You can buy it from a good bookstore
in your area or directly from Amazon.com by following this link:
Rich Dad, Poor Dad.
Think and Grow Rich
“Whatever your mind can conceive and believe, it
can achieve.” This is one of the most powerful quotes that I
know and it came from this book. The author, Napoleon Hill, is
considered to have inspired more people to success than any other
person in history.
“All achievement, all earned riches have their
beginning in an idea.” This book, which took Napoleon Hill
about 25 years to write, analyses the experience of more than 500
of America’s richest men who began from scratch, with nothing,
but became very successful entrepreneurs.
After studying these men to find out how they became very
successful, Napoleon Hill came up with 13 Steps to Riches that led
to their success. Things like Desire, Imagination, Persistence and
the Mastery of Procrastination are just a few of the steps that were
common in the success stories of the 500+ rich people studied by
Napoleon.
Though published over 70 years ago, the value in this book still
amazes me. It contains lots of memorable quotes and truths that
will keep you nodding in agreement until you finish the whole book.
Most interesting is that the book contains many real life stories
that make it such an interesting and engaging read.
This book has been republished several times and is usually a top
book in the personal development section of any good bookstore.
You could also buy a hardcover or an audiobook version on
Amazon by following this link: Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon
Hill
How to Win Friends and Influence People
When this book was first published in 1937, Dale Carnegie never
guessed it would become such a massive hit! Today, this hugely
popular book is an all-time international best-seller that has sold
millions of copies across the world in over thirty different
languages.
The first time I read this book was over a decade ago, in university.
The next time I read it again was a few months ago, in June. Since
the first time I read it, the tricks and lessons I learned from this
book have always worked like magic until this day! It makes me
wonder how little human nature has changed despite the huge
advancements in today’s modern society.
As an entrepreneur, you definitely need to understand people. The
basic and practical techniques in this book will teach you how to
influence people and get them on your side. Whether you’re trying
to attract customers, motivate employees or convince investors,
knowing how to influence people will always be an advantage.
In this book, you will learn how to make friends quickly and easily,
win people to your way of thinking and increase your ability to get
things done. You will also learn some useful techniques that will
help you handle complaints, avoid arguments and keep your
personal and business relationships smooth and pleasant.
Any bookshop that doesn’t sell this book should be shut down!
Seriously! Like I said, it’s a hugely popular all-time classic. You
could also buy the hardcover or audiobook version on Amazon by
following this link: How to Win Friends and Influence People by
Dale Carnegie
The 21 Success Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires
As you may have guessed, I got attracted to this book because of
its catchy title. I was suspicious at first because I have seen more
than my fair share of books like this that promise a goldmine of
information on the outside but turn out to be bland and empty
inside. Thankfully, this book did not disappoint. In fact, it was so
good I had to read it again.
The author, Brian Tracy, is one of the most influential writers on
personal development alive. Apart from this book, he has written
several other books which have become bestsellers. Some of them
like Eat that Frog and The 100 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws of
Business Success have also become my personal favourites.
The secrets to success that Brian Tracy shares in this book are
simple and practical, yet very effective. Some of them will surprise
you and a few will shock you. You may already be applying some
of the secrets in this book in your life. It’s also very likely that
you’ve been missing out on most of them. For me, reading this
book really opened my eyes to some bad habits and negative
mentality that were unconsciously at work in my life.
The importance of setting goals, continuous learning, self-
discipline and building valuable relationships (networking) are just
a few of the key lessons I learned from this book. Throughout the
book, there are instances and short stories of how some of the
world’s most successful entrepreneurs applied these secrets in
their lives.
The 21 Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires is surely one of my all-
time classics and I definitely recommend that you read it soon.
Any bookstore that’s worth its salt should have this book in stock.
You could also buy it on Amazon by following this link: The 21
Success Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership
This article would be incomplete without a book on leadership.
Entrepreneurs are leaders; it’s a huge part of what we do every
day. We have to lead ourselves and the other groups of people
who look up to us constantly for leadership: employees,
customers, friends and family.
I just retrieved my copy of this book from my bookshelf. I have a
habit of writing the date of purchase on the first page of any new
book I buy. This one says ‘January 2010’. It’s been four years
since I read this book and running through the pages just reminds
me of some important lessons I got from it.
According to this book, becoming a good leader depends on
several factors. Some of these factors are: character,
relationships, knowledge, intuition, experience and ability.
Throughout this book, the author tells the stories of some of the
world’s greatest leaders who have led countries, companies,
businesses, religious organisations and teams to achieve
astounding success.
One of my favourite laws in this book is the Law of Process. This
law means that leadership is developed daily over time, and not in
one day. The best leaders work tirelessly to build their skills and
knowledge before they became successful. It doesn’t happen
overnight. The book goes on to use Theodore Roosevelt, one of
America’s greatest presidents as a classic example. Though he
was sickly and timid as a child, Roosevelt grew to become a tough
and powerful leader, both mentally and physically.
The author, John Maxwell, is a celebrated bestselling writer. The
content of this book is indeed life changing and I consider myself
fortunate to have read this book early in my life. Leadership is a
skill we must always develop and use throughout our lives.
Again, I’m sure you’ll find this book in your local bookstore. If you
prefer, you could buy a paperback or audiobook version on
Amazon by following this link: The 21 Irrefutable Laws of
Leadership
Will You Read Or Will You Procrastinate?
After reading this article, you will most likely do one of two things:
take action or procrastinate. Taking action is a harder option
compared to doing nothing at all or putting off action until later. I
admit that reading a book nowadays can be hard. With all the
distractions from phones, friends and social media, it’s getting
increasingly difficult to focus long enough to finish a book.
What you have to understand is that by reading these books you
will be making a huge investment in your life. Like I said in the
introductory part of this article, the life-changing lessons you learn
from books will follow you forever. It’ll develop and significantly
increase the way you think and act. With these changes, it
shouldn’t be long before you start to see remarkable results in your
life, business, career and relationships.
So, will you visit Amazon or your local bookstore to buy these
books or will you just postpone until tomorrow, next week, next
month, next year and never? Whatever you decide, I strongly
suggest that you read an article I wrote some time ago about the
slow but deadly disease known as “Procrastination” . I am
confident that after reading that article, you’ll be thoroughly
shocked at what procrastination can really do to you.