Top 11 Things I Learned From Reading 200+ Business Books.

Hey Web Agency Owners,

Which books have made the biggest impact on your life and business?

After reading 200+ business books, here are the books that changed my life the most, and the 11 things I learned from them.

First my background:

In 2007, I started my own web design agency by selling a $500 website to a massage company. Then I sold a small $500 website to a local automotive company, and it snowballed from there.

But I was like a blind kid running around in a candy store.

I made so many mistakes, and lost so much money and time.

I didn’t know what I was doing.

I wish I had someone to mentor me when I was younger.

This “blindness” eventually ruined my marriage.

I was dropping the ball far too often.

I felt out of control. I knew I needed to get in control of myself … but didn’t know how.

I struggled with distractions, shiny new objects, missed deadlines, unmet goals, etc.

I couldn’t get in control of my life because I didn’t understand HOW to get in control of my life …

In fact I almost gave up on myself!

But luckily I came across some life changing books and mentors.

Today I am humbled, and incredibly grateful for all the mentors and hundreds of books that have helped me on my journey toward growing my life and business.

So here are the top 2 books that put me back in control of my life:

1. The Willpower Instinct, Kelly McGonigal
2. Getting Things Done, David Allen

Kelly’s book “The Willpower Instinct” made me realize that willpower was a skill that anyone could learn.

I wasn’t forever flawed, I felt I could learn and DO THIS!!

This changed my life. I learned how to improve my willpower, get focused and stay on target.

The second book “Getting Things Done” helped me develop a system for organizing my brain and life. David showed me the importance of emptying my mind daily, and turning those nagging/draining thoughts into external things that I could hold and manage proactively. I learned that if I wanted to stay on top of my life, I needed to review my week EVERY WEEK as a top priority, and plan everything weekly.

There were so many other books that helped me along the way — books that helped me overcome anxieties, fears, procrastination, bad habits, false beliefs, etc. It’s hard to put it all into one sentence.

But out of all these books, the above 2 made the biggest impact on my life.

Out of 200+ business books, I found these books to be the most helpful so far:

1. The Culture Code, Daniel Coyle
2. Principles, Ray Dalio
3. Expert Secrets, Russell Brunsen
4. Clockwork, Mike Michalowicz
5. Superbosses, Sydney Finkelstein
6. Launch, Jeff Walker
7. The Kavaj Case, Joerg Kundrath
8. Good Profit, Charles G. Koch
9. The Great Game of Business, Jack Stack, Bo Burlingham
10. The Law of Success, Napoleon Hill
11. Thinking in Bets, Annie Duke
12. Sam Walton Made in America, Sam Walton
13. The Sandler Rules, David Mattson
14. Who, Randy Street, Geoff Smart

It’s difficult to summarize everything I learned from the above books — but basically I’m learning that our business success relies on:

1. Helping others
2. Being human
3. Building relationships
4. Listening more
5. Focusing on the long term outcomes (and screen out the noise)
6. Taking action on priorities daily
7. Taking measured risks
8. Leveraging our time
9. Experimenting lots
10. Taking the time to track and learn from everything we do.
11. Learning continuously – and seeking out mentors 😉

It’s sort of simple, but these are the things that have moved the needle the most for me.

It’s easy to get distracted in the short term noise of life, so I hope the above list helps keep you focused on what’s important!

I’m always looking to learn and grow, so I’m curious what books have helped you the most?

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If you need help scaling your agency to 6 or 7 figures, or just want to get “unstuck” faster, then grab the free training and let’s start scaling!.

Chris Johnson,
Upscale Method,
Agency Growth Mentor