Editor’s note: This article was first published in November 2015. References to “this winter 2015” reflect that season. Oprah is described as having the most-watched show in the US, but The Oprah Winfrey Show ended in 2011.
As you know, we keep recommending books here, whether on business, investing or financial education. The ones I’m recommending this time are very different from one another, but all of them are the kind of book that opens your mind and gives you excellent ideas.
At least, that’s what happened to me. So if you liked our selection of books to read this summer, I think you’ll love this one.
1. Abundance, by Peter H. Diamandis
In the next 10 or 20 years we will probably see more advances than we have seen in the last 200. Artificial intelligence, robotics, infinite computing, broadband networks, digital manufacturing, nanomaterials… This book shows the path to what the future could be. A very near future, and one that will leave most of today’s professionals out of date.
The way business is done will change, and many jobs will be lost. Of course, it will also be easier than ever to benefit from that future if we know how to focus on what is coming. It’s a book I would recommend to any young person, even before choosing a university degree, because there are people today studying for degrees that will be obsolete before they even finish. I should point out that its content is somewhat scientific, but I think it’s necessary reading for entrepreneurs.
2. Zero to One, by Peter Thiel
This is required reading for people who want to create something but don’t know what, because of the many ideas you can take from it. In it, Peter Thiel urges readers not to copy successful entrepreneurs such as Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs, because what they did was completely new, something innovative.
So the next Zuckerberg won’t invent a social network, and the next Google won’t be a search engine. Something new will come from what Thiel calls a vertical (not horizontal) process.
3. Mastery, by Robert Greene
With no shortcuts, anyone can become an expert or a master in their profession through dedication, preparation and effort. And, of course, practice and passion. Robert Greene is becoming one of my favourite authors because of the way he approaches his subjects.
In this case, as with the rest of his books, he doesn’t disappoint. Quite the opposite: I was surprised by how he handled a topic that seemed already worn out by clichéd advice.
4. Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell
What makes one person succeed and another not? Some of the answers may be surprising, because many factors come into play, including plain randomness.
In this book Gladwell does work on a par with Blink. These are books you may agree with or not, and like more or less, but when you finish them you’ll feel at least a bit smarter and better equipped to take on life.
5. Oprah: A Biography, by Kitty Kelley
Considered one of the most powerful women in the world today, with the most-watched show in the United States, Oprah did not have it easy at all. She faced sexism and racism at the same time in her industry.
She wasn’t pretty either, so she understood that if she wanted to go far, she would have to forge her own destiny and do it on her own. The result? There for all to see. A highly recommended biography, especially for women who think they aren’t getting ahead in their careers simply because they are women.
6. The Millionaire Next Door, by Thomas J. Stanley
Probably one of the best books on financial education ever written, although it is rarely mentioned in Spain. This book isn’t about big business owners or the billionaires who appear in the press. It’s about American millionaires who lead quiet lives, most of them self-employed, and who have built up a net worth of $1 million. It’s about millionaires who don’t live in big houses or buy flashy cars.
What you’ll find in this book are the spending habits of this kind of millionaire (what they do and what they don’t do), what they spend on and where they save. I strongly recommend it to anyone who has too much month left at the end of the paycheck.
7. Man’s Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl
Even though I had mentioned Viktor Frankl more than once, I didn’t know his story until last week, when I read this book, which, I must say, impressed me. And it’s hard to impress me at this point.
One of Frankl’s best-known ideas is, in my own words (I’ve adapted it a little): you can’t choose whether certain painful situations come into your life, but it is in your hands to choose the attitude with which you face them. It’s a nice thought, but once I learned the story of this psychologist, it became much more powerful.
Viktor Frankl could have fled to the United States after the Nazi invasion, but he decided to stay so as not to abandon his family. He let his passport expire, the document that would have saved him from being arrested, imprisoned and probably killed by the Nazis. In other words, he chose of his own free will to stay, knowing he could be taken to the worst Nazi concentration camp, Auschwitz.
His mother was gassed on the first day, and he watched his father’s agonising death, so he was left alone, with nothing and no one. Although he admits that thoughts of suicide crossed his mind many times, he went on to write one of the greatest works of all time.
If you ever feel trapped, confused or sad, or you think you have a lot of problems, read this book. You’ll discover that whatever you’re going through is a walk in the park compared with this man’s story, which leaves some very valuable psychological lessons.
Featured image: unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
