This year, I’m committed to finding and reading all of the best books I can find.

This is a list of the best business books that I read in the last 12 months, and tens of millions of people have read them.

The ideas in these books helped millions of people start and grow their businesses. I’m confident that these books will help you work smarter, lead better and reclaim your freedom.

1. Dare to Lead

This book dismisses modern-day workplace culture. Instead, it proves that leadership requires vulnerability, healthy conflicts, open communication.

You cannot be brave if you refuse to be vulnerable. Therefore, the book also provides seven behaviors (BRAVING) to help you create trust at work and home.

BRAVING is an acronym that stands for Boundary-Setting, Reliability, Accountability, Vault-closing, Integrity, Non-judgement, and Generosity.

Read Dare to Lead

2. The Compound Effect

Hardy focuses on many aspects of entrepreneurship: life, health, personal development, and business.

The book has one main idea: if you want to become more successful, you have to focus on your daily habits. Hardy invites readers to abandon their self-destructive habits and adopt positive habits that can have a long-term impact on your life.

Read the Compound Effect

3. You Are a Badass at Making Money

Jen Sincero challenges readers to improve their lives by identifying their thought patterns.

Our thoughts lead to destructive behavior, so it is important to pay attention to them. Sincero encourages her readers to have zero excuses so they can live a better life.

She provides them with some tips, tools, and strategies to become money-making machines.

Read You Are a Badass at Making Money

4. The Lean Startup

Most startups fail because they do not focus on the right things. Eric Ries provides his readers with a framework that changes everything.

Ries touches on business operation, marketing, and finances. In addition, Ries's methods leverage human creativity to create more efficient business models.

The main idea of the book is rapid idea validation. Reis wants entrepreneurs to start to validate their ideas before they invest heavily. He challenges entrepreneurs to test their visions and adapt continuously to the changing marketplace.

Read The Lean Startup

5. Rework

This book will challenge everything you know about running a business.

It debunks common business myths: business plans, competitive analysis, and market research. Fried argues against writing business plans and focus on shipping simpler products.

Jason Fried tells his readers to focus on being productive and to create simpler products. Think of simple products and not more features.

Read Rework

6. The E-Myth Revisited

Michael Gerber is a small business consultant. He has a lot of experience in business development and marketing.

His experience allows him to examine small businesses deeper than most of us. He provides entrepreneurs with a framework that allows them to build profitable businesses. Every business should have policies and procedures. The advice in the book is straightforward, and it can be implemented immediately.

Read The E-Myth Revisited

7. This is Marketing

I debated leaving this book out because I’m a big fan of Seth Godin, and I’m biased. I have been reading his books since he wrote The Purple Cow, and I have read every one of his books since then.

Godin summarizes all his marketing books in this book. Godin provides entrepreneurs with great ideas. He challenges their assumptions and offers them a new marketing model.

Read This is Marketing

8. Building a Storybrand

Donald Miller shares seven elements every person should master if they want to communicate with their customers.

Anyone who follows his advice will be able to tell better stories, connect with their customers, and sell more products. Miller reveals biological facts, psychological theories, and marketing strategies to connect deeper with your customers.

Read Building a Storybrand

9. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

This is one of the oldest books on the list. It was written 25 years ago, but the book’s principles still as valid as it was 25 years ago.

If you follow the principles in this book, you will become a better entrepreneur. It talks about ownership, goal setting, priorities, communication, and self-development. I recommend reading this book once per year.

Read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

10. The 10 X Rule

The 10X Rule introduces readers to a new level of action, “Massive Action.”

It is a concept that inspires you to do more and be more every day. Stop thinking about doubling your income and think about 10X your income. Cardone argues to reach your goals in business and life. You need to think big and take massive action.

Read The 10 X Rule

What are your top business books of all time?

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