I am an AVID reader.
My dream day is to sit by a pool with an umbrella drink and read a great book – especially business books. When I take time away from my business to just relax and recharge – that is when I become the most creative and get my best ideas and strategies!
I recently had a few days in Las Vegas and took a few of my favorite books with me – just in the possibility that I would have some time to sit and read.
I took a few of my favorite books with me (things I had already read but felt I could use a refresher on).
Here’s what was in my bag!
Rework – I LOVE this book. It was written by the creators of the project management tool Basecamp, so you know it’s about increasing efficiencies. It’s all about looking at things with a fresh set of eyes and not necessarily doing them the way “everyone” says that you should. Much of it is about simplicity. Look at a project with an eye toward the simple. Look at a problem and try to find the simplest solution.
Delivering Happiness – This book by Tony Hseih, the founder of Zappos is one of the best reads, and was written in the style I tried to use in writing my own book. He was approachable and he told stories of his greatest successes as well as his greatest mistakes. The purpose of the book was all about creating a culture that surrounds the mission of the company. Zappos focused much of their marketing dollars toward customer service and client satisfaction, trying to create wildly loyal customers who would do repeat business with them and become raving fans.
Essentialism – This was a life changer for me!! In a world where entrepreneurs and business owners wear their busyness like a badge of honor, Essentialism is all about saying no to the things that do not 100% propel you toward the achievement of your goals and desires. It is about taking time to stop and think, and evaluate – taking more time to determine whether an opportunity or request actually serves you, versus saying yes to expectations. It is about doing a few things really really well, versus doing a bunch of things with mediocrity! I feel like I need this book every few months. So you’ll notice that my copy has all kinds of dog ears, and highlights all through the book! 😉
The 12 Week Year – In 2016, I participated in Todd Herman’s 90 Day Year Program. It was one of the best programs I’ve ever done. It brought me a tremendous amount of clarity on why I wasn’t achieving my goals and how I was often spending time doing things in my business that were not tasks for me. I learned that I should be spending time creating content and serving clients, and outsourcing most of my other tasks. The 12 Week Year follows those same principles. It is all about how when we set shorter term goals, and are focused on achieving an outcome, that we will be more likely to achieve those goals and results. It is about creating short, measurable goals and focusing on the most important tasks to achieve those goals in 12 weeks or less and then setting new goals from a new place in business or life.
The fifth book is a bit self serving – but I love it. Its my book –
The Great Escape, The Successful Woman’s Guide To Escaping The 9-5. I wrote this book over the course of five years! It chronicles my shift from being a six figure finance employee who was responsible for the bills in my family and my million dollar mortgage – to leaving my steady paycheck and needing to replace my income to still be able to support my family. As mentioned, I wrote it much like Tony Hseih wrote Delivering Happiness – with a very honest series of stories about what it is really like to leave a steady paycheck, make business mistakes, hire your first staff, establish systems, and more!
To get a free digital copy of my book – The Great Escape:
