The Road Less Stupid – Keith J. Cunningham
“Smart people do dumb things. Here’s the proof: How much money would you have right now if I gave you the ability to unwind any three financial decisions you have ever made?” – Keith J. Cunningham
The Road Less Stupid by Keith J. Cunningham is a book about using thinking time to avoid paying “dumb tax”. Dumb tax is the money, or time, a business owner spends on correcting, or as a result of, bad decisions and mistakes. Every business, no matter the size, deals with constant risk. The Road Less Stupid helps the business owner to employ thinking time to make educated risk assessments and avoid having to pay dumb tax.
This book is available only from Amazon Audible and is narrated by Keith J. Cunningham. His style is very direct and to the point. His book provides short lessons with active participation to go with each lesson.
I recommend this book to anyone who is in business or leadership at any level. It is full of lessons learned and a direct approach to identifying and solving problems before they happen.
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Start With Why – Simon Sinek
Start with Why asks (and answers) the questions: Why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? Even among the successful, why are so few able to repeat their success over and over? – Simon Sinek
Start With Why takes the reader through a journey through history pointing out some of the most influential and successful businesses and business owners. The book examines why some businesses thrive while others have become obsolete as time goes on.
Getting to the root of “why” a company exists and not just “what” the company sells or provides is the backbone of this book. Simon Senik has been featured on TED Talks and has a large following on TikTok where he is influencing millions of people to look at why they are in business and not just what they are in business to sell.
This book changed the way I look at my own businesses. It helped me see that customers do not only buy products or services. Customers buy from specific companies because of what they stand for. I highly encourage any business owner to read this book to help increase sales and business vision.
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How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age – Dale Carnegie & Associates
How to Win Friends and Influence People was originally published in 1936 by Dale Carnegie. Since then, his book has been read by millions of people all over the world. In 2011 the book was updated to address many of our current struggles in the digital age.
The basic principles from the original book remain the same but the conduit for human interaction has changed. This book is a must read for all people, in my opinion. The values and principles that Mr. Carnegie focuses on are often drowned out by the rat-race that we live in every day. It is more important than ever to be aware of and practice the skills taught in this book.
If you are finding it hard to get people to respond to you, or you feel disconnected from you employees or customers, this is the book for you. The focus is on communication, self-expression and leadership. Whether you have read the original book or not, this edition is beneficial to all!
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Atomic Habits – James Clear
Why is a book about habits in a best business book list? Because the tiny habits we practice every single day make a huge difference in how we live our lives. From the person looking for self-improvement to the business owner looking for increased efficiency. This book helps the reader learn how to break free of bad habits and replace them with good habits.
The lessons in this book include making time for new habits, overcoming lack of motivation, designing your environment to increase success, how to get back up when you mess up, and much more. As you can imagine, this book is a great choice for anyone dealing with bad habits or a lack of good habits. All of us can learn ways to increase productivity and become more effective one atom at a time.
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The Power of Self-Confidence – Brian Tracy
The Power of Self-Confidence is a powerful and practical guide to building confidence and accomplishing goals. This book is the result of Brian Tracy’s work with over five-million professionals and entrepreneurs across more than 60 countries.
In this book you will find step-by-step guidance to set your building blocks of confidence to accomplish whatever you put your mind to. The purpose is for you to establish and become the best person you can be. Setting goals, maximizing strengths, increasing courage and becoming unstoppable are only a few of the subjects this book examines.
This book has personally given me more confidence and motivation to become the best I can be. One of my biggest takeaways was to minimize your weakness and maximize your strong points. That does not mean to ignore weaknesses, it means that dwelling on shortcomings will only limit your potential while putting effort into your strong points can boost them further.
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Emotional Intelligence 2.0 – Travis Bradberry, Jean Greaves
Emotional Intelligence 2.0 is a perfect book for those of us who feel the strain of our fast-paced world. From relationships to business ventures, we deal with a rollercoaster of situations and emotions every day.
The focus of this book is to help you increase your emotional intelligence (EQ). EQ can be thought of as the ability to traverse the complexities of everyday life with its ups and downs. You can expect to learn and understand how to increase your self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management.
This book made it to my list of best business books because we have to deal with people every day. Our effectiveness in dealing with people and our own emotions is directly proportional to our ability to be successful. This book is an easy read or a quick listen, it is packed with essential understanding and knowledge.
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I will continue to update this list with more of the best business books I have personally read in the future. If you have recommendations for other great material, please leave it in the comment section below or click here to contact me. Don’t forget to subscribe to my site for updates and more useful information on your journey.
If you are interested in starting a business and you are in Washington State, I recommend reading my article here.
Thank you for reading!
