Here is a list of recommended books, some even about money! One of the things highly successful people do is they read voraciously. Rather than spend their time watching shows or playing games, they prioritize reading. Through reading, they gain a breadth and depth of knowledge, leading to mastery. Through books, you become open to different and new ideas. You gain the benefit of short-cutting a process that took someone years or even decades to master.
One of the best definitions of intelligence I’ve heard is this: Intelligence is the ability to hold two differing and opposite viewpoints in your mind at the same time, while arguing each dispassionately. This skill is needed if you’re to welcome new ideas. Most people reject these new ideas because they upset the status quo. In the process, this causes quite a bit of cognitive bias. Cognitive bias is when new information counters an existing belief system. No matter how obvious the new information is when it comes to challenging old notions, the person holding the belief refuses this new information. Part of the reason is the discomfort caused by cognitive bias has at times been likened even to death itself!
The amount of violence in 2020 in the United States when it comes to politics illustrates this point quite well. People are willing to hurt, even kill each other over their beliefs because of cognitive bias.
Rather than digress, let’s turn things back to you.
For the most part, people stop learning when they graduate high school or college. Did you know that the average person spends anywhere from 3 to 4 hours each day watching a show or streaming a video?
Successful people know that personal development is a lifelong learning process. They still enjoy the latest episode of the next popular show. It’s just that they invest in themselves first. Imagine just how much more you can accomplish in a year if you spent just one hour reading and learning something new? In a year, this is 365 hours or 15 extra days spent learning and mastering a subject.
I get it. We all want things now. That’s why financial success is hard to attain for a lot of people. Success is boring. It’s an endurance marathon of your willingness to try different things, ever failing forward. You go from endeavor to endeavor with a smile on your face and high enthusiasm in your soul, even after the 1000th failed attempt. This means in part changing your mindset around money. Then after some time, your story changes, and you start creating positive cashflow, which leads you towards the path of financial success.
Below, you’ll find a list of book recommendations, some even about money. I’ve read all these books, and they’ve help me in one way or another. You will also find that most of the recommendations have nothing to do with making more money itself. Instead, they have to do with helping you shift your thoughts and mindsets. Money is just a physical representation of your values. Learning how to clear your mental blocks will open up the barriers that are blocking that energy to help you get more money and ultimately gain freedom.
Extreme Ownership
How U.S. Navy Seals Lead and Win
Written by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
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Former US Navy Seals Jocko Willink and Leif Babin discuss concepts and principles of leadership as developed for the Seals. These concepts are illustrated through interleaving stories from their time in combat in the streets of Iraq with the business world. Willink and Babin give effective examples of leadership concepts that work.
These principles also work in the business world, where both former Seals applied these principles through their business, Echelon Front.
Even if you have no desires to lead a team, this book still provides valuable lessons on taking accountability and responsibility of your life as you work your way towards financial freedom.
One day, you will hire a small team of financial advisors, real estate investors, and accountants to manage your wealth. Then you will need to learn to lead with extreme ownership.
Man’s Search for Meaning
Written by Viktor Frankl
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I highly recommend this seminal work written in the 20th century by Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl. Frankl managed to survive in 4 concentration camps over three years. During this time, he saw his experiences not as a victim but as an observer, knowing that one day he would produce a manuscript detailing the lessons he learned from the ordeal.
That manuscript is called Man’s Search for Meaning. We learn that even in the horrendous conditions of Hitler’s concentration camps that, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms–to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
If you are searching for meaning in your own life, then this is one of the books that will help you find the answer.
Afformations
The Miracle of Positive Self Talk
Written by Noah St. John
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For as long as I can remember from reading numerous books, one of the “secrets” to changing your thoughts and start getting what you want is to live your life as if you’re already attainment of your goals.
A way to do this is affirm your reality through affirmations. For example, you might affirm, “I am a successful person who is making $150,000 a year.”
Except there’s one problem: You don’t really believe this, even if you say it a million times. The issue with traditional affirmations is that you look for reasons why you are not a successful person.
Afformations is a process discovered by Noah St. John that helps you make affirmations work. So, you would say, “Why am I a successful person?” The act of asking a question rather than making a statement causes you to start looking for reasons why you are a successful person. In other words, afformations help transform you into a can-do person!
The Science of Getting Rich
Written by Wallace D. Wattles
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Written in the early twentieth century, this recommended book is a pragmatic look at money. Wattles also asserts that the basic premise of bringing in more wealth is to acquire things. These things include skills and materials.
When you acquire things, you build up more skillsets and knowledge. This in turn means you offer more value to the world.
Money is just an extrinsic indicator of your intrinsic values. As you can see, the more skillsets you build up, and the more things you acquire to help build up those skillsets, the more your intrinsic value increases. Your employer certainly will not train you. Some companies even (disappointingly) hire from the outside to fill upper management roles rather than invest in existing employees and promote from within. So, the only thing within your control is to embark on a lifelong journey of learning.
This book also changed my viewpoint on hobbies. I used to take months to make a decision when it comes to getting new stuff for my hobbies. As you can see, it’s more difficult for me to explore new hobbies for this reason. Most of the time, I simply never even start.
After reading Wattle’s Science of Getting Rich, I now view new things in a different light. Rather than spend months researching, asking questions, wondering if I should even get started, I’m more likely to just start a new hobby. I would rather try it and find out it didn’t work than to waste time in paralysis through over analysis.
After all, you don’t know what you don’t know. One way to find out more about the world at large and to find your bliss is to explore different things. This means taking more classes and acquiring new things.
Rich Dad, Poor Dad
Written by Robert Kiyosaki
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This is another book that reframe my thoughts around money. Growing up, Kiyosaki had two Dads. One was his biological father, a PhD who worked for the state of Hawaii as an educator. This was his “poor dad”.
He also had a “rich dad”, which was his best friend’s father. Kiyosaki learned that higher education does not educate to success or wealth, as he found out by looking at both his rich dad and poor dad.
Poor dad (the one with the PhD) died poor and in debt. Rich dad became a multi-million dollar business owner. Through contrasting perspectives provided by both dads, Kiyosaki tells stories and share lessons around money. For example, poor people are afraid of winning. Rich people hate losing. Put it another way: Rich people love to win. Another example is the rich pay themselves first; however, the poor pay other people first. This book reframed how I look at money, and I highly recommend it.
Decide
The Ultimate Success Trigger
Written by Jim Palmer
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Have you ever wondered why your goals go by the wayside after a few months? You likely took inspired action when you first set out to accomplish your new goal. Over time, that enthusiasm waned, until your goal is but a distant memory.
Why is this happening?
As the title of Palmer’s book indicates, it’s because you never truly decided. You need to decide, really decide so that your dream becomes reality. Our education system failed us. It taught us to be good employees rather than leaders. Most of us simply do not know how to lead. We’re followers. Part of the “disease” of being a follower is that we do not know how to reach decisions. In other words, we don’t know what it means to really decide.
Take a different path in your life today. Learn how to Decide!
The Millionaire Next Door
The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy
Written by Thomas Stanley and William Danko
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Though written more than twenty years ago, Stanley and Danko’s work still applies today. This book is a culmination of the research done by the authors, who studied and profiled American millionaires.
Their research uncovered 7 traits common to
millionaires, along with the characteristics common to UAWs and PAWs. UAWs are under accumulators of wealth. PAWs are prodigious accumulator of wealth. For example, the person who drives a BMW or wears a $300 dollar watch is likely not a millionaire. The person who is a million is likely the person who drive a 10-year old Toyota Corolla.
In other words, true millionaires do not flaunt their wealth. UAWs believe that the only way to generate more wealth is to have a higher income. Yet, when they do get that higher income, more often than not they do not invest the money.
The One Minute Millionaire
The Way to Enlightened Wealth
Written by Mark Victor Hansen and Robert G Allen
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That’s right. This is Mark Victor Hansen of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. Here, he writes about the millionaire mindset. This book is divided into two sections. The first section contains principles millionaires employ on a daily basis that make them millionaires. The second section is a mini-novel showing these principles in action.
In this fictional mini novel, newly-widowed Michelle must come up with ways to make $1 million within a year so that she can get her two children back from her former in-laws. Her in-laws leveled accusations, alleging Michelle is incompetent as a mother and unable to provide for her two children. Only when she is able to show the ability to produce up to a million dollars within the year will she regain custody of her children.
Yes, the million dollar contingency is an insult by the former in-laws, who believe Michelle is pretty much unable to produce this much money ever. The story incorporates elements explained in the first section of the book as Michelle races against time to get her children back.
Three Simple Steps
A Map to Success in Business and Life
Written by Trevor G Blake
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Trevor Blake is an entrepreneur who started his company with just a few thousand dollars. He would later sell it for more than $100 million.
During his journey as an entrepreneur, he discovered three simple steps which helped him time and again to become successful not just in business, but also in life.
This latter part should be of interest to anyone who has no interest in starting a business but just wants to live a good life. As is common with many of the book recommendations here, many have little to do with money. A lot has to do with the value we provide other people (“How may I serve you?”), along with our relationships.
Grit
The Power of Passion and Perseverance
Written by Angela Duckworth
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Most people give up when success is just around the corner. Success is boring and, at times, demoralizing. It consists of going from failure to failure with a smile on your face, ever failing forward.
Grit keeps you going when you feel like giving up after five hundred and one failures. Your strong why allows you to bear almost any how.
Passion is required for you to keep the path. How do you know it’s your passion? One sign is this: If you keep persevering after 101 failures while most “sane” people give up after the 10th or 20th failure, then you have passion. Grit reminds you of what’s require to keep your dreams alive.
Closing Thoughts on (Money) Book Recommendations
So there you have it. These are a partial list of books I recommend when it comes to generating more money and wealth in your life. As you noticed, most are not about the actual making of money itself but centered more around reframing how you look at money.
As an example, I encourage you to examine the myths you have around money. For example, a common one everyone says is, “I can’t afford that!” The wealthy asks, “Why can I afford that?” (Now, that’s an example of an afformation!) Rather than making a statement, you’ve turned things around. You start to examine ways to create the money to help you get what you want.