My personal growth challenge for the year 2018 is to read 1 – 2 books a month. I am going to aim hard for 24 books. I find that it is not super hard to do as long as Instagram and Solitaire are uninstalled on my phone. Here is a quick list of these books and a brief review of each.
I am putting together this page/article to summarize what the book is about and what I thought of it. Hopefully, you’ll find something worthwhile to read yourself here.
The books are in the order of having finished them most recently.
Currently reading:
You Need a Budget by Jesse Mecham
September 2018
18.Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki
This is by far my favorite book I’ve read, not only this year but in a long, long time. It has simple but empowering concepts on how to think money and how to make it work for you. It’s definitely helped me shift some limiting money believes as well. I cannot recommend it enough it!
August 2018
17. You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay
This book took me a few months to get through because I chose to spend some time to go through its exercises at the end of each chapter. They were so worth it. I worked through some important resentment issues and now I feel lighter and better! It’s a fucking intense book but it’s worth the read!
16. You’re a Badass by Jennifer Sincero
I wasn’t a total fan of the whole book but a few of the later chapters did speak to me. Jenn’s book helped me get more comfortable in how I think about money, so I am looking towards reading her decided money book too.
15. Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis
First of all, I really like the way Rachel writes. She’s a great writer. However, by the time I finished Girl, Wash Your Face, I became sick of these self-development books because they all started to sound the same to me. I was also listening to You’re a Badass and finishing up You Can Heal Your Life at the same time and the messages really are the same, it’s just the individual story or perspective differs. However, Girl, Wash Your Face has a good balance of personal and professional development in it. I do recommend it.
14. Power of Moments by Chip and Dan Heath
A decent read but honestly, not that memorable. The irony.
13. Start with Why by Simon Sinek
Of all the business books I read this year, I liked Start with Why the most because I wished I had written it. The way Simon talks about branding, and company foundation is 100% what I preach and 100% what I wish all my clients knew when it comes to building a stunning company.
July 2018
12. The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins
Absolutely life changing!
11. Story Driven by Bernadette Jiwa
Again, if you’re looking to improve your company and your branding this is another must read. I always loved Bernadette’s writing and perspective on branding and this book didn’t disappoint either. At the end she presents a bunch of question-based on the book’s content, to help you craft your own story based branding narrative.
10. The Art of Letting Go by Thought Catalog
I must say it had some good advice while I was going through a breakup.
June 2018
9. The Universe Has Your Back by Gabrielle Bernstein
When it comes to personal development, especially mindset, I found the prompts in this book enlighting. Though I’m not a fan of Gabie’s actual writing style.
8. Beyond Barriers by Nikki Barua
I really enjoyed this quick read a lot. Not only did it talk about brand foundations that I strongly believed in, but it also asked really good questions that I had to answer for my own business. I’m all for learning and evaluating my self both personally and professionally and I cannot recommend this book enough for anyone with a business to make sure your brand has a strong and stable foundation.
7. Never Lose a Customer Again by Joey Coleman
I think Joey’s map of the different stages a customer goes through is spot on. We all know that most customer experiences are not remarkable nor memorable. Yet, we don’t really do much to make sure the experience of our own customers is anything but. I think it’s a must-read for every business owner too!
May 2018
6. The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday
Personally, I think this book could have been significantly shorter. Ryan seemed to have a tendency to overexplain many of the different concepts. Nevertheless, it was a really good read. I identify with many of the stoic philosophies talked about in this book and it gave me many good things to think about when it comes to how I view my purpose and work.
April 2018
5. How to Make Sh*t Happen: Make more money, get in better shape, create epic relationships and control your life! by Sean Whalen
I’m not linking to this book on purpose. It was something else. (And, not in a good way) Although the points that Sean made may have been valid, it was terribly written. I felt like it was written by a special kind of bro – I don’t know how to describe it. Granted, the title of the book should have been enough of a warning, but I am open-minded. Save yourself the time.
March 2018
4. Dollars and Sense by Dan Ariely and Jeff Kreisler
I love this book because I am a sucker for the psychology of human behavior and habits. It helped me realize how I’ve been misspending my money here and there AND it helped me understand how I can use this money psychology for creating better-converting websites. I’m not here to trick anyone – thought I do have some good know hows thanks for Dan and Jeff now. I’ve written a quick post about the few lessons I learned about pricing strategies, check it out yourself.
February 2018
3. Get Rich, You Lucky Bitch by Denise Duffield-Thomas
This one was something one. It’s basically the law of attractions for money. I’m not super woo-woo myself, but I did think that the book was great in helping me with my money mindset and mentality. I wish it was as easy to make money pop out of thin air as Denise makes it seem (or claims). It was a pretty decent read.
2. Double Your Blog Traffic by Sarah Morgan
I wasn’t super impressed by this one. The book has a few useful pointers; I do think Sarah is a smart woman, but I didn’t feel a learned anything new or insightful from the book. Maybe I wasn’t the target audience. It’s a great read if you have absolutely no idea how to run a blog or nurture an audience.
January 2018
1. The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish
I kicked off this year by finishing Tiffany’s book first. I must say, this woman went through a lot – some of it was hilarious some of it was heartbreaking. There was something about Tiffany that I always enjoyed as a public figure, and I’m glad I got to see how she grew up and become who she is now in her own words. I don’t know if I would call this book inspiring – it was pretty funny most of the time though. But, I’d certainly say it showed me a new perspective on life that I’d not imagine myself to, and I loved it for that.
