 Think about the most successful entrepreneurs in the world. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Oprah Winfrey, or even Henry Ford. What do these people have in common? They all read a lot. Just yesterday, I was discussing with an older friend when he said something like, I don't know any entrepreneur who doesn't read. This statement is very true because it's almost impossible to be a successful entrepreneur if you are not a reader. If this is understood, then we shall talk about the kind of books entrepreneurs should have in their library and that's what I want to share with you today in this video. If you're new here, consider subscribing so that you won't miss other interesting videos like this. Books that make you believe in yourself. About 12 years ago, when I was preparing to be an entrepreneur, most books I read were motivational books. I read almost only motivational books because when you are starting as an entrepreneur, you're like someone who is about to move a mountain. Though you may not know how difficult it will be, you sure know that it's likely going to be more difficult than most things in the world. I don't want to sound as if I'm exaggerating what it means to be an entrepreneur, but let the truth be told, entrepreneurs are normal human beings. You must be a crazy person to think you can change the world and the status quo which have been in existence before your father was born and that's what entrepreneurs do think. Now, for you to fit into the shoes of people who are crazy, begin to believe that they can change the world, then you must have a lot of books in your library that make you believe in yourself. If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, then you must have a lot of motivational books in your library because you need someone to make you believe in yourself every day. Books About New Technologies A few weeks ago, a friend visited my office and he wanted me to tell him how to succeed in business. Since he had been running a business before, all I needed to tell him is how to promote a business to make it successful. Then I told him what most people don't know. Every generation has technologies and every entrepreneur who wants to succeed must understand those technologies as deep as he understands his business. If you want to build a successful business you have to pay attention to and have a deep understanding of the existing and emerging technologies. Why is this important? Well, if you don't understand technologies in your generation, you won't know how to use them as a leverage and if you don't know how to use technologies as leverage, you won't be able to compete with other smart people. Take, for instance, many writers in the world write and wait for someone to help them publish their book and also wait for a thousand people to come and buy their books. Well, I've written many books and I never waited for a publisher. I write my books and self-publish them often for free with PDF and that's not where the real game is. The real game is the fact that I made thousands of dollars from my books simply by promoting them on the internet. Aside from books, every one of my business relies heavily on technology from a small technology like a phone to a more sophisticated one like artificial intelligence. If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, you have to understand the technologies in your generation because if you don't understand those technologies, you'll be fighting today's battles with yesterday's weapons and you'll lose. If you can't get books to read about new or emerging technologies, you can use the internet to read and watch videos. Autobiographies and Biographies of Successful Entrepreneurs At age 12, Larry Page read the biography of Nicholas Tesla and by reading that, he understood better how to achieve his dream of becoming a successful inventor. Reading biographies and autobiographies of successful entrepreneurs and successful people in general is one of the best things you can do with your time. This is because the story of those who have become successful is like the light into the darkness and the secret to their achievements. Reading biographies shows you the hidden attributes, traits and sacrifices behind some of the most successful people in the world and that makes you know how to achieve what those people have achieved. I told you at the beginning of this video that when I was starting, most of the books I read are motivational books but these days I prefer autobiographies and history. Books about Human Psychology If you want to be an accountant, well, you may not have much to do with understanding human psychology. Engineers, doctors or lawyers don't have much to do with human minds when you compare their works to that of an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs have to build a team, inspire the team, create a product that people want and market those products the way people want it. You have to deal with creditors, investors and other people every day of your life and this is the reason why you must have a deep understanding about how human minds work. Marketing, marketing, marketing. Think about your blood. It's the most important thing you have in your body because if it dries up, you're dead. That's how marketing is to business. Marketing is so important that if any business misses it, there is no way they can live. Though a lot of marketing is about understanding human nature, reading some great books about marketing can help you understand how to use the understanding of human nature to sell to humans. History about your industry A few months ago, I was studying the history of radio, newspaper and TV. The reason why I was studying this media outlet is that I have a media company. Though my media company doesn't rely on radio, newspaper or the TV, but since it's a media company, I must understand how the industry has been growing and what influences changes or I wouldn't be able to build something that lasts. To be a successful entrepreneur, you must understand the future and try to be there before everyone. The single most important thing that you can do to understand tomorrow is to seek the understanding about yesterday. History doesn't just happen. It does repeat itself again and again. So if you understand yesterday, you have insight into tomorrow before anyone does and that understanding can help you to crush your competitors. History about the world and cultures Look at the history of some great companies we have today and you'll notice something. A company can be very successful in a particular country or region and this same company will be a complete failure in other parts of the world. One of the reasons for these common failure is because people are so different. Take for instance, I'm African. Maybe you're from Asia or Europe. Yes, we are humans but we're also very different. The culture, values and the environment are different even within the people in the same country. The northern part of my country is far different in culture and values from the south or the west. The implication of this is that people tend to use and understand languages from the perspective of their cultural upbringing so a particular marketing message that works very well in India may be a total failure in Brazil. As an entrepreneur, you'll do yourself a great favor by having some books about the history of different parts of the world. In my library, I have a book about the history of Africa, a book about the history and biography of the American Founding Fathers and I watch a lot of documentary about happenings in every continent of the world. Understanding some basic things about different people and cultures in the world will help you to customize your marketing message in such a way that it will resonate with them. How do I get these books? Whenever we talk about books in our videos, there will always be questions such as where can I get these books or can you give me some names of these books? Well, this is what I think. Books are like lovers. I don't necessarily have to like the lady you love and I may even hate the books you like. Take for instance, there are some famous books I've read because everyone in the world says those books are good but when I read them, I simply can't seem to see anything much in those books. This is usually because our level of understanding is different and may be due to a few factors. Now, this is what I'll advise you to do. Search Google for some keywords like the best books about anything you want to read and when you see the titles that seem to make sense to you, Google those titles to check their summaries. When you go through the summary of the book and you love to know more about what the book teaches, then you can buy such books. Thank you very much for watching our videos. We'll like to give you another interesting video for you to enjoy next but before then, our team will be very happy if you can like this video and share it with your friends on social media. 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