When you were growing up, did your mum often tell you to read more books because it would make you smarter? Well, turns out she was right!
Some of the world’s most successful people spend a significant portion of their time reading in order to expand their knowledge on current affairs, trends, different cultures and perspectives – and often, their biggest career lessons to younger generations is to develop the habit to reading.
To help you foster your own love of reading, here are 5 business books that you should add to your list of books to read:
Do away with rules –- Rebel Talent by Francesca Gino
If you want to live to your full potential, you need to stop following all the rules. According to the Italian-American author, we all should behave more like rebels and aim to break (or at least bend) the unconscious rules we set for ourselves. After all, if you don’t try anything new or do anything differently, you shouldn’t expect to develop yourself – be it in your professional or private life.
How to achieve your goals – Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio
Famed author Dalio is the founder of a highly successful investment firm and shares in this book the principles he lived by and created his success by. His ideas of ‘radical truth’ and ‘radical transparency’ have helped him to develop unique ways to make decisions, overcome challenges and build strong teams around him. The basic lesson here is: don’t lie to yourself or others.
Looking inward – Joyful by Ingrid Fetell Lee
Living in a continuously faster spinning world, it’s easy to forget to appreciate the little thing in life. However, this is exactly what designer and TED guest Lee suggests we should do. Although our minds grow accustomed to taking in more and more information, it’s equally important to know how to block everything out. While there is no immediate need for all of us to quit our jobs and head for a month-long meditation retreat, we have to find techniques to appreciate what we have and where we are. Lee offers us tips on how life not only healthier but also richer and more joyful lives.
Empowering others – Big Potential by Shawn Achor
Professional mentors and role-models are a great asset to propel your career to the next level. But pushing forward in the corporate world can be very competitive and may not always be the best way to unleash our own potential and that of others. The author of Big Potential shows us how success is not always something we should measure. Both success and happiness are not competitive activities, but more related to how well we connect with others. So, if you want to be successful, you need to form stronger relationships with the people around you.
Prepare for failure – Lost and Founder by Rand Fishkin
Do you want to live the tech startup dream? Go ahead, but not without reading this book. The successful tech company founder Fishkin gives us the truth about how not every startup is a unicorn, but also how not every successful tech company needs to be started in a Harvard dorm room. If you have ever experienced professional growing pains (aka being lost), then you will enjoy and symphasie with Fishkin talking about failure and how to pick yourself up again.
