My 4 favorite books and the Key Takeaways.

There’s a saying which goes like “If you want to hide something from an African, hide it in a book.” While I find this stereotypical and derogatory, I must say, a lot was hidden from me before I fell in love with reading books. Over the past 6 months, my rate of reading has improved greatly. I am currently reading at least 3 books every month and hope to reach the level where I read one book a week; aluta continua!

Picking my 4 favorite books thus far from all the books I have read wasn’t easy, the sieving process was grueling. Also, I have not included the Bible even though I try to read a portion of it on a daily basis. With that said, listed below are the four books that I consider my favorites thus far.

1. 48 days to the work you love by Dan Miller.

I first encountered Dan Miller’s writings about 8 years ago through his weekly newsletter. As the title of the book suggests, he shows you how to find the work you love within 48days. Statistics of people who are disengaged at work places because they hate their jobs are high. He believes that work that is meaningful, purposeful and yet profitable is possible and shows how any individual can discover and acquire the work they love within 48 days.

Key Takeaways.

It set me on a journey to discover my passion, gifts, skills, personality and values. Armed with this awareness, I was able to figure out which job, service or product business was the right fit for me. I used this knowledge 4 years ago to quit my day job and start my consultancy which helps business owners who are struggling with profitability and growth.

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.” Steve Jobs.

2. See you at the top by Zig Ziglar

Zig Ziglar is one of the best motivational speakers of all time for me. I came across his podcasts at a time when I was struggling with ‘sticking thinking'(negative thinking) and through his ‘check up from the neck up’ I learnt that ‘You are where you are because of what has gone into your mind. You can change what you are and where you are by changing what goes into your mind.’ Zig Ziglar.

I try to re-read this book at least once every year.

Key Takeaways.

I read this book in a season when I was struggling with self-doubt as a result of certain business failures I had experienced. Some of the memorable quotes from Zig Ziglar in this book that I live by;

“Remember that failure is an event, not a person.”

“You will get all you want in life, if you help enough other people get what they want.”

“If you can’t take a huge step to begin with, take as big a step as you can, but take it NOW”

3. Emyth by Michael E Gerber

The central theme of this book is a concept called the Entrepreneurial myth, the popular myths about business versus what running a business actually is. The writer says that most small businesses are started by an employee(technician) who gets an Entrepreneurial seizure after experiencing frustrations with his/her employers and he/she figures that since he/she does the real work, it then makes perfect sense that he/she can start a business doing that work and it’ll succeed. The problem is you don’t only need the technical skills but also Entrepreneurial and Managerial skills to start and run an enduring successful business.

He then goes on to show why the goal for all Entrepreneurs should not be self-employment but business ownership and how you can do that by copying the franchise model of McDonalds which is considered the most successful small business ever.

Key Takeaways.

This book demystified business for me and showed me what it takes to grow a small business into a world class business.

4. The 7 habits of highly effective People by Stephen R Covey.

First of all I like the fact that the writer calls it effectiveness and not success was very eye-opening for me. Because, I feel like the word ‘success’ has been abused to mean only material things. The dictionary defines ‘effective’ as ‘successful in producing a desired or intended result.’ In essence, the writer is writing to those who are seeking effectiveness (achieving their desired or intended results) and not ‘mere success’.

Because this book is a whopping 520 pages, I had never read it to the end but thanks to a book club that I joined almost two years ago, I was able to read and discuss it with this group to the end.

Key Takeaways;

The 7 recommended habits for a highly effective life;

* Be Proactive.

* Begin with the End in Mind.

* Put First Things First.

* Think Win-Win.

* Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood.

* Synergize.

* Sharpen the Saw (Take care of your Mind, Body and Soul).

Lastly, what I have found out with reading books is that the more books I read and the more knowledge I acquire, the more I realize how much I don’t know. As a result my ‘to read’ list grows longer and longer every day.

Much as this seems like a daunting task, it’s also refreshing to know that I will probably never exhaust all the knowledge out there and thus they’ll always be something new to learn.

“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.” Proverbs 25:2