For 2018 I’ve decided to share my reading list with everyone. I am doing this for multiple reasons but the basics come down to sharing great information and accountability.
I’ll give you a small bit of background information that will lead you into the full 24 book list I have planned.
In 2017 I started my Lifelong Development, LLC business to help people reach their full potential in life and business. I had a great wealth of experience and knowledge to pull from with my 20 years of military and teaching experience, plus loads of professional development. But, I felt as the year went on, and I was pouring myself into my clients, that I wasn’t providing myself with enough personal and professional development. I personally felt I was being depleted quickly and in order to keep ‘feeding the masses’ I needed to feed myself. So, I came up with a development plan. I started with the basics. What is my purpose and what do I want out of life. This helped me develop four categories of information I needed to focus on. Here’s a snapshot of how it went: 1) I need to provide the most up to date information (philosophies, theories, strategies, etc.) for my clients so I need to develop personally and professionally. 2) I want to understand more about the psychological and technological aspects of running a business so I need to develop in the business realm. And lastly, 3) my goal is to achieve financial freedom through passive income so I need to understand more about smart investing. And with that I came up with four categories: Professional, Personal, Business and Financial. I further broke it down by how many I would tackle in each category based off of reading two books per month. This came out to ten professional books, five personal books, five business books, and four financial books. I made sure that I was reading one financial book each quarter of the year and did the same for the personal and business books. I also took a look at my year, and events I have planned, to ensure I have books that can aid me in providing the most quality to my audiences. Then came the hard part. I researched many books and looked at many reviews. I piled over a hundred books in my Amazon shopping cart before I started picking my final list. The ones that didn’t make the final list are still in my ‘save for later’ cart and could be fillers or end up on my 2019 reading list.
My intent is to mindmap each book in order to not only be able to recap the book quickly but to encourage my mind to recall it, at will, for my clients needs. I recently took a Photoreading course by Dr. Paul Scheele to help with this process and have been practicing with smaller books.
I’m confident that these books, accompanied with mindmapping each one, will provide a significant impact on my year. Note, I will continue my normal routine of reading ‘Think and Grow Rich’ by Napoleon Hill four times this year, in addition to this list. It is a must for me.
I hope this encourages you in some way to look within yourself to see what areas you might want to develop this year. If you need help or would like an accountability partner please contact me.
Without further ado, here is my 2018 reading list:
January
Professional: 'The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results' by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan
Financial: 'The Millionaire Real Estate Investor' by Gary Keller, Dave Jenks, and Jay Papasan
February
Personal: 'Awaken the Giant Within: How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny!' by Tony Robbins
Business: 'Perennial Seller: The Art of Making and Marketing Work that Lasts' by Ryan Holiday
March
Professional: 'First, Break All The Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently' by Jim Harter, Marcus Buckingham, and Gallup Organization
Business: ‘E-Myth Mastery: The Seven Essential Disciplines for Building a World Class Company’ by Michael E. Gerber
April
Professional: ‘Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time’ by Brian Tracy
Financial: ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!’ by Robert T. Kiyosaki
May
Professional: ‘Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't’ by Jim Collins
Business: ‘Go Pro: 7 Steps to Becoming a Network Marketing Professional’ by Eric Worre
June
Professional: ‘The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick)’ by Seth Godin
Personal: ‘High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way’ by Brendon Burchard
July
Professional: ‘Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It’ by Chris Voss
Financial: ‘The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing. A Book of Practical Counsel (Revised Edition)’ by Benjamin Graham, Jason Zweig, and Warren E. Buffett
August
Professional: ‘Earning It: Hard-Won Lessons from Trailblazing Women at the Top of the Business World’ by Joann S. Lublin
Business: ‘Get Over Your Damn Self: The No-BS Blueprint to Building a Life-Changing Business’ by Romi Neustadt
September
Professional: ‘Outliers: The Story of Success’ by Malcom Gladwell
Personal: ‘Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance’ by Angela Duckworth
October
Professional: ‘Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street’ by John Brooks
Financial: ‘Pogue's Basics: Money: Essential Tips and Shortcuts (That No One Bothers to Tell You) About Beating the System’ by David Pogue
November
Professional: ‘Rework’ by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
Personal: ‘The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance---What Women Should Know’ by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman
December
Personal: ‘Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy’ by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant
Business: ‘Inbound Marketing, Revised and Updated: Attract, Engage, and Delight Customers Online’ by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah
Feel Free to leave a comment below. Let me know what book(s) you are going to be reading this year. Thanks for reading!
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