Firstly, you need to give your book of choice your full attention. That means consciously dedicating waking hours to reading, with a pen in hand ready to take notes of actionable points. It doesn't mean falling asleep re-reading the same page over and over again.
I am not talking about passive reading here, but more like studying or researching. Aim to find things you can do right now to improve your business or yourself. I find if I read at my desk it seems more like work, although relaxing in bed during the work day would have the added benefit of being comfortable and restful!
But the most important thing is being able to choose the right books.
If you have never read Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Michael Gerber’s The E-Myth or Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People, don’t even finish reading this article. Read them now.
Ricardo Semler’s insights into work can also be especially useful for soloists, so dedicating two full days to taking in every word of the Seven Day Weekend is a fine investment.
There are two other business books that I have only read recently, but I am taking every opportunity to evangelise their messages. If you spent October reading either or both of these books, and diligently took notes and acted on them, no other investment of your time would return more to your personal and professional growth.
Good to Great by Jim Collins is phenomenal. It’s been around for a few years, but I hadn’t read it earlier because I had figured it was about public corporations, not soloism. It is, but there is much to learn about business excellence and, most valuably perhaps, individual effectiveness. I found it inspirational.
I was even moved to tears by one of the stories and the personal insight it revealed for me. As the Americans would say, learning about the so-called ‘hedgehog concept’ and how it differentiates between bravado and understanding was an ‘aha’ moment for me.
It is about identifying what, based on reality, is in the realm of possibility and working towards that, rather than living in a delusion that sees you pursuing an unlikely future.
I read 200 books a year and have never shed a tear reading any others. Good to Great is really something.
The other business book recommendation worthy of your October is The Success Principles by Jack Canfield and Janet Switzer. In fact I don’t think a month can do it justice. There are 101 principles and many of them can immediately be part of the way you live your life but, as we change slowly, perhaps adopting one a week might be more realistic. In two years you could be a superstar if that’s what you desire.
Again, I have read many ‘success’ books and think this is one of the very best. I love how the authors acknowledge that their own adoption of the principles is a work in progress and this gives you a hint about the tone of the book – it’s not a prescription from those in the know, but more like ‘observations of a lifetime’ and this makes it very easy reading.
I would love to hear what your thoughts are on any of the books I've mentioned. Perhaps you have a business book recommendation of your own?
“ I find if I read at my desk it seems more like work, although relaxing in bed during the work day would have the added benefit of being comfortable and restful! ”
Karen Morath of M Power consults, trains, speaks and coaches in public relations, personal effectiveness, life balance and all things empowering.