25 Books Every Entrepreneur must Read
How reading these books changed the way I perform as an Entrepreneur!
People often ask me “what are the books I should read so that I can absorb, implement and grow. What are the books that have brought a massive change in your life”?
I started my self development journey at the age of 21 and after failing in my first business at the age of 26, I took the help of books to satisfy myself emotionally. I started with books by reading 5 pages a day on whatever I could get my hands on. And now I read a book a week.
For the last 5 years, I have devoted myself full time into self improvement & personal growth.
Now, there are several books that I read in different genres that have impacted me over the years. I read a variety of books and just put my hands on the best books available in the market.
I always believe in improving every aspect of your life whether it be health, finances, skills, relationships, spiritual life etc.
So, what am I sharing below are must read books in no particular order. They all have an equal impact in my life and the impact is massive.
Here are my top 25 in no particular order :-
Becoming Supernatural, by Joe Dispenza
I am a big fan of Dr. Joe Dispenza’s work and meditations. This book is something different. It can truly change the way you function and look at world. It will teach you exactly how you can transcend the limitations of your past — including health challenges — and, quite literally, create a new body, a new mind, and a new life. The information in this book is thrilling, life changing, and incredibly practical.
Unshakeable : Your guide to Financial Freedom, by Tony Robbins
I am an ardent follower of Tony Robbins and his philosophy of improving all aspects of life for attaining fulfillment in life. Love his famous quote, “Success without fulfillment is Failure”. In this book, he educates the readers on attaining financial education and step by step process of attaining financial freedom. In financial industry there is so much raucous on how to invest money and every expert has his own tale. Tony breaks all those and gives a simpler approach to attaining peace of mind when it comes to handling your finances.
Atomic Habits : An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, by James Clear
This is the first book I read on habits when I set my path on to building some extraordinary habits in my life. I was totally blown away by the content of this book. James presents his ideas in such a crisp way and gives steps to follow to break old habits and form new empowering ones. This makes the formation of habits such an easy task and is proven over time by several successful people who have tried and tested what is presented in this book.
Deep Work, by Cal Newport
I read this book while I was travelling to Bali. It is a short book that truly focuses on involving oneself in focussed work in this wildly distracted world. We are living in a world that is distracted every second through news or even by their notification on cell phone. Cal says being able to do deep work is the number 1 skill of the 21st century. The ability to perform focussed work will surely produce significant results in less time.
The 4 Disciplines of Execution : Achieving your wildly important Goals, by Sean Covey
Sean Covey is a famous among corporates when it comes to forming goals that deliver. He popularized the 4 dx principle that focuses on 4 disciplines of execution in personal as well as professional life. He makes use of forming lead measures to achieve any goal and is very helpful in forming goals that matter. After reading this book, I realised I was forming goals all wrong and had to restructure everything to set new goals and achieve them. Then the process of measurement became easy.
See you at the Top, by Zig Ziglar
If you haven’t read or listen to Zig Ziglar, you must. After reading about him some years back, I have gone on to read and listen to him more and more. He gives a revolutionary approach to success and says, “You can get everything in life if you can just help enough other people get what they want”. He believes in the concept of giving before asking anything in return.
Give and Take : A revolutionary approach to Success, by Adam Grant
I just love Adam Grant. This book is a must read for everyone. I loved the concept of success pyramid and how we can achieve success in this world with a simple approach of giving whatever we have with us and share to the world. This makes a great word for everyone and can change the way you approach success in life. He says why helping others will drive you towards your success, same as what Zig Ziglar says but in a unique way. I am a firm believer in giving and deriving results for others. This books proves my point.
Ageless Body, Timeless Mind: A Practical Alternative to Growing Old, by Deepak Chopra
I love the work of Dr. Deepak Chopra. Who wants to age and die miserably? No one. We all want a good life with no ageing and good health. Deepak Chopra talks about having an ageless body and how we can achieve one so that we look young & healthy even at the 60–70–80. He also talks about timeless mind, which is a concept on feeling of timelessness which I felt some years back and hence grasped this book to know more about it. We need more and more leaders with timeless mind so that they can create something long term and lasting for benefiting the humanity.
Rich Dad’s Cashflow Quadrant, by Robert Kiyosaki
Robert Kiyosaki has written some great books, one such is Cash Flow Quadrant. A good book to know more about the cash flows and how to become wealthy in long term. If I say, he talks about four quadrants, E for Employee, S for Small Business, B for Big Business and I for Investor. He suggests an individual to move from E & S to B & I. Only when you are in B & I quadrant, you can really become wealthy and enjoy financial freedom.
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, by Deepak Chopra
The seven spiritual laws of success talked by Deepak Chopra in this book are a must read for any individual looking to uplift himself or herself and get a grasp on the spiritual laws governing this world. Only when you truly understand these laws, you can truly become successful in modern times. Read this masterpiece by Deepak Chopra.
The Compound Effect, by Darren Hardy
One must understand the concept of Compounding as Einstein declared Compounding as the 8th wonder of the world. Darren cleanly presents the idea of compounding in every walk of life and how you can apply the same concept to derive results in the long term. This is an ultimate self help book that gives a step by step formula to achieve success one step at a time.
Vedanta:Voice of Freedom, by Swami Vivekananda
This is a masterpiece by Swami Vivekananda. Vedanta is also a summary of all 4 Vedas and talks about the way of life and how one should approach life. A spiritual book that works best when implemented in life and truly gives a holistic approach to living a life of happiness. My approach to life truly changed after reading and implementing the points in this masterpiece by Swami Vivekananda.
Yoga: Path to Holistic Health, by B.K.S Iyengar
Iyengar was the foremost authority on Yoga and had a significant contribution in spreading Yoga in the west. Before I started practising Yoga, I read this book and grasped the concept of Yoga. I learned why Yoga is different from any other exercise form and why it is a mechanism to know oneself better. I was inspired by his story and then started doing basic Yoga everyday. Later, I moved to more advanced practices and have been practising Yoga and deriving its benefits for 3 years now. Must read for a greater health, energy and vitality in life.
A Million Thoughts: Learn all about Meditation from a Himalayan Mystic, by Om Swami
I was not at mental peace when I lost my first business and was looking ways to attain mental peace in life. I researched and stumbled upon this book to understand what Meditation is and what are the best ways to perform meditation. I started with 5 minutes a day and now can sit for 30 minutes without any break. This book really inspired me to look for ways to calm my mind and reap much more benefits.
The Element: Finding your passion changes everything, by Ken Robinson
This is a great book on finding your passion and gives steps to reveal your passion to the world. I first heard about Ken Robinson through TED talk and was instantly captivated by his ideas and humor. I discovered his book and made a commitment to read this book and gave a lot of time to grasp its concepts and make sure I do what I love and this has been a turning point in my life.
Inner Engineering: A yogi’s guide to Joy, by Sadhguru
I am a big fan of Sadhguru and his work towards upliftment of the society. I read this book after attending his inner engineering course for 7 days. I observed a sudden change in me and wanted to read further. A simple premise of this book is whatever we want to do in life, we must first engineer our body to focus and derive results. This simple concept of energy regulation can change your life.
The Virgin Way, by Richard Branson
Every Entrepreneur must read this. Richard Branson is one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time, having found several hundred companies in his lifetime. I learnt a lot about him and his style of living life and try to emulate him and his approach towards entrepreneurship.
The One thing, by Gary Keller
Want to achieve extraordinary results in your lifetime, read “The One thing”. It will give you a razor sharp clarity on how to achieve what other people can only think of. This will make your work at par with others and let you understand how super achievers work and perform.
The $100 Startup, by Chris Guillebeau
All our lives we complain about our work and boss. We try to control life but the reality goes as we are being controlled by our job, commitments, boss etc. This book is a game changer. Must be read by everyone who is willing to start something new on their own. It brings a great perspective change in the reader as you can earn money while doing what you love. You just have to look for it and take a step ahead.
What the most Successful people do before Breakfast, by Laura Vanderkam
I now believe in the power of morning rituals, all thanks to this book. Your morning thoughts decides your destiny is an apt saying and once I realised it and took action, my life changed forever. I moved from being a dull reclusive guy to a more energetic fulfilled person. My productivity and approach towards life changed once I took action on what was written in this book. Even so, I did deeper research and as a result wrote a book on the importance of morning rituals that everyone can benefit from. You can Elevate yourself as an individual and as an entrepreneur by reading more from content in this book.
Rich Dad, Poor Dad, by Robert Kiyosaki
I read this long time back when I was a kid and was suggested by my brother to read and understand. I understood very less back then about what Robert meant to say. I again picked this book 2 years back and understood what assets and liabilities are and how understanding about it can change your financial future.
Awaken the Giant Within, by Tony Robbins
Another Tony Robbins masterpiece. This read gave me enough motivation to last for 6 months. Such was the power of the contents of this book. Tony gives a great thought on how you can immediately take control of your mental, emotional, physical and financial aspect of life. The contents in this book are powerful enough to change your life. Worth a read.
Think & Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill
I think everyone must have heard about this book from Napoleon Hill. Again a book to change your mindset and let you know that what you think you become. Rich people think rich and hence are rich and have money. If you are looking for extraordinary success, read the contents of this book and start acting accordingly.
Man’s Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl
This book is a symbol of hope and identifying purpose in life to move ahead and then imagining it everyday to actually see it happen. This is the lovely book depicting experiences of Viktor in Nazi concentration camps and how his hope and sheer hope kept him alive and come out as a survivor.
Zero to One, by Peter Thiel
This is a startup classic. You need to read this by a legendary entrepreneur and investor, Peter Thiel. he talks about ways to add value in this world as an entrepreneur and starting something to finish. This is the concept behind zero to one. Zero for start and one for the finish.
7 habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey
What are the Habits that separate the ordinary from the achievers. Stephen Covey in this book gives a glimpse of successful people and their habits. These 7 habits are a must to be inculcated in your life if you are looking to take control of your life and become wildly successful.
That is it. These are the best 25 I would say. I have read many other great books but these 25 are a must read. These books will make sure you have enough knowledge to gain wider perspective on life and lead a life of health, wealth, love and happiness, the 4 pillars of success!
