 By now, you know, I love books and one of the reasons why I read a lot of books is because I have no degree. Dropping out of school in the year 2008, I knew that I would have to read, study and learn a whole lot of things most people don't know if I will ever have any chance of success in life. From the day I left school till today, I always have something I am reading or studying. Now, we are in a new year. And just before you forget your new year resolutions, let me share with you some good books I think you need to read this year. So this might be one of your best years ever. 1. The Alchemist by Paolo Colio The Alchemist is a fictional story about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago, who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried near the pyramids. What inspired me about Santiago is that he was a curious and action-driven young boy who was willing to sacrifice everything to achieve his dream of travelling the world. While most people in the world dream and keep dreaming, Santiago dreams and wakes up from his desire to act upon them, and that is what you have to do this year. Wake up, stand up, act, move, do something. Yes, when you stand up and make something move, you will make a mistake and fail. But if you would keep on moving, you will eventually succeed. 2. Elon Musk Biography by Ashley Vance The crazy boy who left South Africa to Canada and then to the United States has become a god in Silicon Valley, just because he wouldn't think small, nor take a no for an answer. Everybody seems to know Elon Musk, but most people don't know how he rose to become who he is. It's not much of luck but crazy dreams and massive actions. Elon is an ordinary human, but he does a better job of using much of his potentials than most of us. The last time an automobile company succeeded in America was in the year 1925, but this crazy guy would dare the industry that has an ugly reputation for failure. He would take over Tesla and sacrifice everything he has to make it work. If you want to fight a dangerous battle, common sense dictates that you fight one at a time, lacks such common sense. He would dare another money burning industry, space exploration. While you start automobile companies to compete with guys who have all the money in the world to kill you, you start space business to compete with countries, yes, nations, who can manufacture money, yet Elon Musk won't look back. The boring company is also a part of his suicidal mission and no one would advise him to slow down. For me, reading his biography challenges me to expand my dream and be willing to get my hands burnt as often as I can. Like every human, Elon Musk has some terrible behavior that no one should imitate, but you do well to read his biography and learn how to dream big. 3. Albert Einstein's Biography by Ronald W. Clark I love biographies because they are the best books in the world. Memoirs show you the process by which people achieved what they achieved. It gives you deep insights no other manual can provide you. For me, the biggest takeaway from Einstein's biography is that you don't have to be exceptional to achieve greatness. You have to be focused, dedicated and determined. Einstein was never the genius the world considers him to be. Instead, he was an ordinary man, maybe below average, who woke up every day of his life to focus on a single thing, and that's science. The problem with most people in our world today is that they either don't know where they are going or they are going too many places at once. If you know where you are going and you wake up early to hit the road, even if you are walking, you'll still get to your destination as long as you don't stop to look at the drama on the way. I strongly suggest that you should read the biography of Albert Einstein, especially if you have some self-doubt about your ability to achieve success. 4. Mastery by Robert Green The world used to be calm and serene. My mother used to walk 10 miles every day to go to school. My father told me the stories of how they would travel several miles. I had a taste of it too, growing up in a little village where the wealthiest people do not even own bicycles. You have to walk several miles every week. Age 7 also, I started helping my parents to write letters in the Yoruba language. We would send the message and wait for a week or two to get a reply. Everything was slow and you are forced to be patient. The 21st century comes with speed. We've had the automobiles and planes in the previous century, but we didn't have access to the internet. With the internet and various other technologies, magic happens every day. If you want to communicate with someone, you can do it now. If you're going to order a pair of shoes, you can get it tomorrow morning. If you want anything, it's at your fingertips. The speed and instant gratification that comes with our day-to-day life can quickly be anticipated when we are pursuing our dreams. But unfortunately, nature doesn't recognize 4G networks. When I speak on stage, I feel like someone in the crowd envies me. Not because I speak good English, I don't, but because I know what I talk about. People read my books, they assume I'm far older than my age and as an entrepreneur I tend to have a better sense of what people want than most people I know. It is called mastery and it takes a lot of work and several years to become a master in any field. In learning, training, practice, you can't get those tomorrow morning and this is what Robert Green teaches in this book. Any of my children would have to read this book before they become adult because I believe nobody should become an adult until they understand what it takes to become a master in their chosen fields. Biographies by Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill and Thomas Edison I'm sorry, I have to mention biographies again. The reason is that, as I said earlier, I think biographies are the best books out there because they tell us the hidden stories about how other people achieved success and this inspires us to pursue our dreams too. There are three in one biographies I have in my library. It's biographies of Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill and Thomas Edison. I bought this book twice now because I lost the first one I bought after reading it. These three crazy guys will change the way you see the world and what is possible therein. Lincoln will teach you that ordinary people can achieve extra everyday things if they would learn an act. Churchill will inspire you to be courageous and face your fear and Thomas Edison will inspire you to choose what you love and forget the entertainment. Okay, some people will not like this so let me explain. The reason why we need a lot of entertainment is that our life is boring. Your life becomes uninteresting when you consume much of revelry. If you have a job, business or project that's very exciting, such business, work or mission will entertain you so much that you won't even have much time to consume any artificial entertainment. No, I'm not holier than you. I consume comedy skits and news a whole lot here on YouTube but that is only after I've done some work I'm proud of in the day. Thomas Edison resumed to his laboratory a few hours after he got married. He was a lost soul and his devil was his business. Nothing else entertained him, not even the face of a new wife. Again, I don't mean to say that you should resume your office a few hours after you marry. I suggest that you should do the job, business and profession that entertained you so much that your whole life becomes lost into it. If your whole life is lost into your career, since most people you're competing with are not that passionate about what they do, it's only a matter of time before you kill all your competition. I hope one of these books changes your life this year. If you like this video, don't forget to subscribe. We love you.