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- Wk25 (37.1k subs): The 9 books that changed my life
Wk25 (37.1k subs): The 9 books that changed my life
and top 3 takeaways from each to change yours
Nigel Thomas & Daniel Bell
June 18, 2024
Wk25 (37.1k subs): 9 Books That Changed My Life
The Comeback - Week 25 (37,100 Subs):
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I don’t get it.
No, seriously I don’t get it.
How can books from people who have spent their entire lives mastering one specific craft with huge results to back it up only be priced at just $15.
The culmination of their wisdom, insights, and achievements, neatly bound and offered to you for the price of a lunch.
While formal education costs $20,000.
And what do you get in return? A piece of paper, debt and outdated information (in most cases).
It’s not logical but then I guess neither are most of the decisions we make in life.
Today I’m sharing the top 9 books that changed my life and the top 3 takeaways from each so hopefully, they can change yours.
9 Books That Changed My Life
Who’s it’s For: If you want the no B.S. truths to making big money.
Who is Felix Dennis: A self-made British entrepreneur who had a huge personality and made his money through magazines with a net worth of close to $1 Billion by the time he died in 2014.
My Top 3 Takeaways:
Ownership and Delegation: Re-affirmed the importance of ownership and delegation.
Negotiation: That negotiation is mainly about finding the other party’s position of weakness.
Having Fun: A reminder that you shouldn’t take yourself too seriously and have some laughs along the way.
Who it’s For: If you want to know how people and companies persuade the masses to do what they want. And also how to do it yourself.
Who is Robert Cialdini: American psychologist who started out sharing knowledge with the intention to help people stop being manipulated. But due it’s huge success became a marketing expert in the realm of human psychology.
My Top 3 Takeaways:
6 Universal Principles of Persuasion: Reciprocity, scarcity, authority, consistency, liking, and social proof that once you understand you can use anywhere in life or in business.
Smoke Screens: See the strategies behind companies marketing campaigns that don’t usually meet the eye
Marketing Foundation: What to focus on when building a marketing strategy whether that be a website, personal brand or paid advertising campaign.
Who it’s For: Deep thinkers who love to be challenged on conventional thinking.
Who is Naval Ravikant: Self-made American entrepreneur and investor who is the co-founder, chairman and former CEO of AngelList.
My Top 3 Takeaways:
Leverage: People at the top don’t outwork you they out leverage you by getting more output for every input of their time.
Search for Inspiration: The best gift in life is finding work so purposeful you do it for the love. But it will take years of taking action and exploration to find it.
The Internet: The opportunity for anyone regardless of their background to transact in a global marketplace with a laptop and WI-Fi connection is insane and should not be understated.
Who it’s For: If you want to figure out if you’re a natural leader or spot someone who is.
Who is Patrick Lencioni: American author of books on business management, particularly in relation to team management.
My Top 3 Takeaways:
Ego: Many ‘leaders’ are in it for themselves as they want the status boost and external validation from the flashy CEO title.
People: A stark reminder that humans are flawed and everyone has their own personal problems. The bigger the team, the more this is amplified.
Sacrifice: A true leader is one who is willing to sacrifice most for their people. Especially when times get tough.
Who It’s For: If you want a road map to $100M from someone who has been there and done it multiple times.
Who Is Michael Masterson: Aka Mark Morgan Ford, is a business owner who built a huge publishing company called Agora as well as investing heavily in real estate.
My Top 3 Takeaways:
Early Focus: To get to $1M a year you just need to solve one problem, for one small group of people, with one solution.
Data: The earlier you start housing and tracking data the better. This is why companies who own more data are valued so much today.
Hiring: To build big things you have to pay top dollar to hire A-Level talent.
Who It’s For: If you want a guide on how to strategically navigate hierarchies without being manipulated.
Who is Robert Greene: American author who had a troubled childhood, spent a lifetime reading history and dove deep into understanding what motivates humans to act the way they do.
My Top 3 Takeaways:
Reflection: Made me realize why certain people in my past acted the way they did and how I can mitigate downside moving forward.
Masks: Everyone is hiding behind a mask in one way or another and it’s up to you to figure out what really drives them.
Selfishness: It’s good to accept most people are in it for themselves so figure out how to satisfy their wants and needs.
Who It’s For: If you want to build a strong team culture.
Who is James Kerr: With over 25 years' experience delivering game-changing solutions for world-class clients such as HSBC, Shell and KPMG, James spent time with the All Blacks team to figure out the 15 core principles which turned them from a laughing stock into the worlds greatest ever rugby team.
My Top 3 Takeaways:
Direction: If you don’t have a clear road map or mission everyone will become confused and this will breed anxiety. Direction starts top-down.
Character Above Talent: Skills can be trained but changing people’s character is extremely challenging. One rotten apple will destroy culture from the inside out.
Purpose: Humans will always sacrifice more for something that is bigger than themselves. Especially if it includes serving for the benefit of their peers.
Who It’s For: If you want to know what goes on behind the scenes of running a huge company in one of the toughest industries (boxing).
Who is Eddie Hearn: Chariman of Matchroom sport, a promotional company. He took on the reigns of his father and drove the company to new heights with a billion dollar valuation.
My Top 3 Takeaways:
Personality: Not everyone is gonna like you but best to put your raw naked self out there and have a legion of supporters who do than be plain vanilla and go unnoticed.
Ups And Downs: Just like the stock market success is a huge cycle of ups and downs and you have to be willing to take a few punches along the way.
Don’t Ask You Don’t Get: There will be luck involved but when you’re presented with a big opportunity you have to grab it with both hands. It’ll never be the perfect time.
Who It’s For: Winners who love competition.
Who Is Tim Grover: The personal coach of superstars like Michael Jordan.
My Top 3 Takeaways:
Superiority Complex: Winners look at other people and think “if you can, I can”.
Instinct: In the heat of battle winners just find a way and usually, it’s unorthodox because they’re relying on instinct.
Accountability: It’s important to have people close to you who will hold you to your high standards and not accept feeble excuses.
Before you go remember to get the most out of these books you must heavily focus on execution.
Read by all means but take action and develop your own perspectives through real-world application.
Experience is always lives best teacher.
Until next time.
-Nigel Thomas
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