10 Books For the Newbie Entrepreneur

When you struggle to spell ‘entrepreneur’, it’s easy to feel like a total n00b.

Thankfully, these books have been a huge help to me on my entrepreneurial (phew!) journey, and I love them so much, I thought I’d share them - a little thank you to their wonderful authors.

My 10 Books For the N00b Entrepreneur

1. The One Thing

Reading this book is like taking bad-tasting medicine. In that… it is 100% what I need, what’s good for me yadda yadda… but it’s not the easiest to take!

I don’t believe we all need to know our ‘one thing’ right now and stick with it forever and ever: but I do think that if you want to do something right, you should give it your all.

This book (and Essentialism - same message, just with more complex language) drives the point home and sets you on the path to girding your focus.

2. Choose Yourself!

James Altucher is what I’d describe as a ‘nutter.’

His openness is sometimes scary, but always fascinating. His ideas can be extreme, but always worth pondering.

So many of my thoughts and actions can be attributed to the various gems of knowledge I’ve uncovered in his books, talks (he came to London, god bless him!), his emails and podcast.

Start with Choose Yourself! and I’ll bet you’ll take on at least one new positive habit.

3. Will It Fly?

This book is for anyone who wants to start a new business or a new project and doesn’t quite know where to begin.

The amount of new (and terrible) business ideas I have on a regular basis is pretty startling - so when I heard Pat Flynn was coming out with this I knew I’d be first in line!

4. The 4-Hour Work Week

I’m including this because if I ever meet anyone reading this who hasn’t read it… I may just faint. l actually read it after ditching my 9-5 to jump on the entrepreneurial train, but I’m sure if I’d read it before it would have made me do it even sooner.

It’s amazing that it’s stood the test of time, but some parts won’t. Fortunately, Mr. Ferriss is still putting out some of the best content out there, and I’m always learning from him.

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5. The Art of Thinking Clearly

After picking this up in the library (the what? Yes they still exist!) I couldn’t resist buying a copy to always refer back to.

It’s not the kind of book you read cover to over; instead you dip into at random - and tell the next person you see exactly what you learned.

It outlines (so wonderfully!) the psychological biases we all innately have. Like the sunk-cost bias. How many times have you waited for a bus even when you could have walked - purely because you’d already invested time?

I hope if I read this often enough I can overcome this brain fails!

6. Linchpin

This was the first I read from Seth Godin - the first of many. His writing always leaves me feeling.. hopeful. May be that’s why I’m a bit addicted to it.

I’m kind of hoping if enough people read Godin’s work - and actually act on it – the world (or at least the internet) will be a better place.

7. The Art of Asking

l got a girl crush on Amanda (f*cking) Palmer before I saw her. I heard her talk on The Tim Ferriss show and just fell for her soul. She just seemed so… generous, brave and creative.

Then I watched her TED talk.

I know, right? Honestly, this book was EXACTLY what I needed to read - it’s not a book about business, but it’s lessons are relevant to all businesses - new, old, big, small.

8. The War of Art

No - I did not mean the Sun Tzu classic!

I listened to this one on a long walk on a sunny day (a rarity in my world!) and it successfully made me CRY out loud. Tears. Down face.

l wasn’t sad, in pain or laughing hysterically… I was moved.

l don’t want to sell it short, but in summary it’s for those of us who are neglecting their calling. Their passion. Those who need to find their ‘muse’. The thing that lights them up, that gets them into that ‘flow state’…

Just read it - then tell me if you felt moved to create again.

9. How to Talk to Anyone

Lots of easy wins and actionable tips in this one. I loved how the examples given illustrated each point so well… like the one abort ‘hanging from your teeth’… It totally makes sense when she explains it!

10. The Four Agreements

It’s amazing how Ruiz managed to take all the life lessons and rules I’d been pondering for years and boiled it all down to four simple agreements.

You can google it and find them - they’re not copyrighted (in fact, they’re based on ancient Toltec wisdom) but l strongly recommend reading it, to really let them sink in. A truly beautiful (and brief) read.

Have you read any of these books?

Got any other good reads to recommend for the n00b entrepreneur?

Leave a comment below!