Happy new year! It’s 2018, and you know what that means? It’s time to reflect on the goals we set last year and make new ones for this upcoming year.
While reflecting on 2017, I looked back at my goals and atop the list was to read 60 books. Initially, my goal was to read 12, but after reading Grant Cardone’s 10X Rule, I decided to make it 60. (I know 12 x 10 = 120, but that’s a bit aggressive.)
I failed.
I only read 56.
Am I mad about it? Absolutely not. Despite having to take a two-month hiatus due to a real estate class and a four-week trip traversing South America, I still managed to read 4.7x more books than I expected.
I know many BiggerPocketeers are always looking for new books to read, so hopefully you can add a few books from this article to your list.
As you read, you will see that the article is broken up into 3 parts. The first part is my top 10 spit-balled at you. The second part is where I give a brief synopsis of each book in the top 10. Thirdly, I give you a list of the remaining 46 books I read.
Here it goes!
My Top 10
10. The Fifth Mountain
9. Ben Franklin Biography: An American Life by Walter Isaacson
8. 10x Rule by Grant Cardone
7. The Book on Tax Strategies for the Savvy Real Estate Investor by Amanda Han
6. The Book on Managing Rental Properties by Brandon Turner
5. Set for Life by Scott Trench
4. Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley
3. Outwitting the Devil by Napoleon Hill
2. Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod
1. Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss
My Top 10 Explained
10. The Fifth Mountain
by Paulo Coelho
Paulo Coelho, who famously wrote The Alchemist, tells an extremely entertaining story about a prophet who is forced to leave his home country of Israel. He seeks reprieve from a young widow and falls in love, but the romance is cut short as he fights for both his own and his new country’s existence.
This was a book I could not put down. It was super entertaining, and throughout the book were gems of wisdom that can easily be applied to life today.
If you’re looking to take a break from all of the real estate/self-help books, this is a good book to read since it disguises itself as a beautiful beautiful story.
9. Benjamin Franklin: An American Life
by Walter Isaacson
by Walter IsaacsonThis book is written by Walter Isaacson, the same guy who wrote Steve Job’s autobiography. Isaacson has an incredible talent for gleaning information from thousands of different resources and putting them together into an all-encompassing book. Ben Franklin’s story is a perfect example of that.
Isaacson paints a brilliant, easy-to-understand picture of Franklin’s life from birth to death. Not only that, but he is really good at intertwining bits of wisdom (mainly from Ben Franklin’s Autobiography) that still apply today throughout the book.
I have not yet read Ben Franklin’s autobiography, so that is atop my list for 2018.
8. The 10X Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure
by Grant Cardone
by Grant CardoneThe 10x Rule was a game changer for me. It got me into the mindset of thinking big. In fact, 10x as big. Even if you fall short and complete 7x your original goal, I don’t think you’ll be upset about that. He takes the adage, “Shoot for the stars and you’ll land on the moon” and applies it to reality.
I highly recommend listening to the audiobook. Grant Cardone narrates it himself and is extremely motivating. He adds some stuff that the editors wanted him to take out. There is some swearing, though, so be mindful if you are listening around kids.
7. The Book on Tax Strategies for the Savvy Real Estate Investor by Amanda Han
I never thought a tax book would ever make it into my top 10 books read—until I read Amanda Han’s book. Finally! A book on real estate taxes that somehow does not bore you to death.
Amanda does a great job at articulating each tax rule such that an average Joe can understand. She reinforces her explanations with relatable examples so we can understand even more so. In terms of ROI, reading this $20 book can easily save investors thousands of dollars.
6. The Book on Managing Rental Properties by Brandon Turner
After obtaining my first rental property, I read through a half dozen books on how to manage rental properties. While there were nuggets in all of them, Brandon’s book was without a doubt the one that contained the most useful, up-to-date, and nicely illustrated information.
Given that, I still reference the book for various managing issues that come up. The least I could do is give the book a top spot in my top 10 for the year.
5. Set for Life by Scott Trench
Disclosure: Scott did not pay me or threaten me to mention his book. Set for Life is really the first book of its kind. In three phases, Scott describes how one can one go from zero net worth to financially free with hundreds of thousands of dollars of net worth in a 7-10 year span.
Without a doubt, Set for Life is targeted towards those in their 20s to early 30s who are willing to work hard to make more, spend less, and invest the difference wisely.
4. The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy
by Thomas J. Stanley
by Thomas J. StanleyThe Millionaire Next Door is an instant classic. In this book, Stanley compiles years of research and interviews of various millionaires in today’s society. What does he find? That the vast majority of millionaires do not have beautiful houses and super nice cars in upscale neighborhoods.
Rather, the most likely millionaire is the more modest individual you would never expect. For example, a car mechanic or janitor who owns their own business is more likely to be a millionaire than the person in the Ferrari next to you at the red light.
This book really struck home for me because I think of myself as frugal, and it reinforces the point that I am doing the right things now to get to where I want to be. I do not like to spend money on things I do not value. Material objects absolutely fall into that category.
Truthfully, in my head, I now make fun of people with really nice cars, unreasonably large houses, etc.
3. Outwitting the Devil: The Secret to Freedom and Success
by Napoleon Hill
by Napoleon HillNapoleon Hill’s most famous book is undoubtedly Think and Grow Rich. However, I don’t think there is a book that instills more wisdom than Outwitting the Devil.
Written in 1938 and published in 2011—41 years after Hill’s death. It took 63 years for this book to get published. Why?
In this book Hill recounts his interview with the devil. The devil is a metaphor for all of the bad things in life—from junk food to cigarettes, etc. It feels so real—so real that Hill was afraid to publish it, as the devil promised to smite him and his family if he did.
2. The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life (Before 8AM)
by Hal Elrod
by Hal ElrodWAIT! Before you skip this book because you are a “night person” read it! In this book, Hal describes six activities called SAVERS that many very successful people do daily. While it is typically performed in the morning, it does not have to be. Try performing these at night if you’re a night person.
Hal Elrod completely changed my life with this book. I am a morning person, and I have created a 3.5-hour regimen every morning where I complete all of the SAVERS, and my life has changed dramatically.
1. Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It
by Chris Voss
by Chris VossNever Split the Difference is indisputably THE best book on negotiating of all time. Chad was the lead FBI negotiator for 30+ years, and he goes through all of the negotiating tactics he used. His stories are wildly suspenseful, and he does a fantastic job of relating these tactics to everyday situations that you and I may run into (i.e. negotiating a salary, buying a car, etc.).
The tactics in this $15 book have helped me save over $20,000 in the first year. These strategies helped me negotiate the amount of my salary, my first property, and my car.
The Rest
There you have it: my top 10 books for 2017. See below for the list of other books I read for the year, in no particular order. If you have any questions on any of these books, feel free to leave a comment below, and I’d be happy to share.
by John W. Schaub
by Robert Greene
by Charles Conrad
by Larry Loftis
by Donald Trump
by Martin Stone
by Robert Kiyosaki
by Sun Tzu
by Don Miguel Ruiz
by Gary Keller
by Gary Keller
by Mark Mackenzie
by Stephen Covey
by Oren Klaff
by MJ DeMarco
by Mike Butler
by T. Harv Eker
by Marshall Goldsmith
by Matthew Desmond
by Melissa Prandi
by Steve Chader
by Brian Moran
by Jim Collins
by Brian Tracy
by Brian Tracy
by Perry Marshall
by Grant Cardone
by Charles Duhigg
by Tim Ferriss
by Robert Kiyosaki
by David Schwartz
by Chris Guillebeau
by Kathy Fettke
by John Demartini
by Jack Canfield
by Brian Tracy
by Frank E. McKinney
by Sandy Botkin
by Richard Branson
by David OsbornIf you have any recommendations, please let me know! I always like adding to the list.
What are your top recommendations from 2017?
Comment!
