As an entrepreneur, you have an obligation to yourself and your business to strive for continuous personal growth in order to scale your empire.
One of the best ways you can build up your self image and improve your mindset is to invest your time into self-help books.
“Oh Bedros, I don’t have time to read. I’m too busy.”
Dude, get the audio version so that you can listen to it while you’re driving or working out.
Your personal growth and self development is the most important thing that’s going to push you to success.
So here’s the top 10 empire building books that Craig and myself have read to scale our businesses and achieve massive wealth.
#1: “Man’s Search for Meaning” By Viktor Frankl
Viktor Frankl was a Jewish psychologist who spent years in a concentration camp in World War II by choice to be with his family.
He survived the holocaust, and wrote this book where he describes his experience and the power positive thinking has to overcome any circumstance.
Dude, this guy was starved, did manual labor all day, and wore boots with holes in them in the snow. And he still saw a bright future ahead of him.
You can’t control external things like traffic or rain, but you can control how you respond.
#2: “Outwitting the Devil” By Napoleon Hill
Most of us have heard of “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill, but what most people don’t know is he wrote a book that his estate didn’t want published.
Napoleon sets up “Outwitting the Devil” in a court like setting, where he corners the Devil and tells him to answer every question honestly.
And for the first time, we hear the Devil say how he meddles into our lives, thoughts, actions, and creates fears within us.
When we blame society and our circumstances for the troubles we’re going through, it’s really this is the life you’ve built.
Hell or Heaven could very well be here on this planet. This book may mess with your paradigms. Read with caution, but read with enthusiasm that you will take control of your mental, emotional, and financial state.
For the first time ever, the things like fear and doubt we normally blame on the Devil, we realize we have a direct hand in producing.
If we’re creating fears and frustrations in our life, we can certainly create the happiness and abundance in our life as well.
#3: Mastering the Rockefeller Habits By Vern Harnish
This book really helps set the foundation for building an empire by telling you how to effectively lead your team and create company priorities that foster growth.
Craig and his team went to Vern’s follow up one day workshop, and the following year Craig had his best year yet because of the quarterly planning they put into effect.
This business book is unlike others because you can follow the instructions and habits of an empire builder and implement them into your own empire.
#4: Ruthless Management of People and Profits by Dan Kennedy
I highly recommend this book to those of you who are solopreneurs or working with a small team of under 5 employees.
The sexy thing today is to be an entrepreneur and have your own brand, but unless you know how to manage people and profits, your empire is going to fail.
Everyone turns lame at some point, we either grow old and we die or we become lame by way of making a bad life decision.
Dan Kennedy shares his no nonsense leadership methods to keep your business from going lame that says “if they’re doing this, then you do this action, and you won’t have that outcome again.”
#5: Ready, Fire, Aim by Michael Masterson
The great thing about this book is it walks you through the four stages of empire building.
It shows you how to go from 0 to 1 million dollars, and then turn that 1 million into 10 million, and so on. There’s different levels of leadership and decision making that bring you to the final level of 100 million and above.
Dan Kennedy talks from experience, not theory. You’re getting real life exposure to what you need to do to scale your empire and profit.
#6: Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz
In his book, Maxwell Maltz takes you through an in-depth look at how self-image impacts how we succeed in our goals.
As a surgeon, Maxwell discovered that people were asking to change their ears or breasts because they had low self esteem, and thought if they change their appearance they’ll gain confidence.
In reality, what matters is how positively you see yourself the way you are right now. The higher your self-esteem, the better you perform.
#7: Elon Musk Biography by Ashlee Vance
If you ever wanted a close look at how Elon Musk became Elon Musk, this is a book you need to read.
Not only does this book show you the sides of him that makes him a driving force in innovation, but it shows you the more human, relatable side of him too.
#8: The Perfect Day Formula by Craig Ballantyne
This is the book that helped me get my shit together and become more disciplined and structured in my life.
I had the good fortune of learning Craig’s strategies well before he wrote the book through environmental exposure.
I was the guy who would meet up for dinner at 8 p.m., and rush through it so I could catch up on more work. Then I would make it to breakfast a little late because I was scrambling to get more work done that morning.
By being exposed to Craig’s discipline and structure in his life, I was able to plan what I want for my life and eliminate the distractions.
This book is going to be your blueprint to living a more productive life both personally and professionally.
#9 The Art of Living by Sharon Lebell
This is a very little book that teaches you how to focus on the things you can control in life, and learn how to deal with the things that you can’t.
You can’t control the externals – the traffic jams, the rain, problems with a supplier, whatever.
But what we can control is our thoughts, words, and actions.
“Control what you can, cope with what you can’t, and concentrate on what counts.”
#10 The Operator by Robert O’Neill
Robert O’Neill is the U.S Navy SEAL who killed Osama bin Laden during the raid in 2011. In his book, Robert goes through the struggles that come with the training that turns ordinary people into Navy SEALS.
“The Operator” shares so many wonderful lessons and examples about leadership, facing your fears, mental toughness, and life or death decision making.
You can find plenty of nuggets throughout the book to apply to your own life as you grow your empire.
If you want to hear Craig and I cover all of this and more, click here to watch our podcast!