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1004 12 More Books Every Programmer Should Read - Simple Programmer Podcast

Summary

In this episode, John Sonmez from Simple Programmer presents 12 books that were close to making his top 10 list of essential reads for programmers. He explains that while these books didn’t make the final cut, they are still highly valuable and worth reading for personal and professional growth.

Sonmez begins with The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, praising its principle-based approach and the valuable concept of focusing on important versus urgent tasks. He then discusses The Millionaire Fastlane, a financial guide that categorizes people as sidewalkers, slow laners, or fast laners, and provides practical advice on building wealth through business. Next, he covers Outwitting the Devil by Napoleon Hill, describing it as a wisdom-packed book presented as a conversation with the devil, offering timeless insights.

He moves on to The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene, noting its dark but essential lessons on power dynamics, and Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, which explores systems that gain from disorder. The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday is highlighted for its Stoic philosophy of viewing obstacles as opportunities. Influence by Robert Cialdini is recommended for understanding psychological principles of persuasion, while The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is praised as a transformative story of self-discovery.

Sonmez also includes Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins for its life-changing self-help exercises, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill for its law of attraction concepts, The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman as a condensed business wisdom resource, Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy for overcoming procrastination, and Gödel, Escher, Bach as a mind-bending analytical book for programmers. He concludes by encouraging listeners to read these 12 books along with his top 10 recommendations for maximum value.

Recommendations

Books

  • The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People — Stephen Covey’s principle-based book focusing on important vs. urgent tasks and life prioritization.
  • The Millionaire Fastlane — MJ DeMarco’s financial guide categorizing people as sidewalkers, slow laners, or fast laners, with practical business advice.
  • Outwitting the Devil — Napoleon Hill’s wisdom-packed book presented as a conversation with the devil, discussing deception and timeless insights.
  • The 48 Laws of Power — Robert Greene’s book on power dynamics and manipulation, using historical examples to illustrate principles.
  • Antifragile — Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s concept of systems that gain from disorder and chaos, connected to Stoic philosophy.
  • The Obstacle Is the Way — Ryan Holiday’s Stoic philosophy book about viewing obstacles as opportunities for growth.
  • Influence — Robert Cialdini’s psychological principles of persuasion, including reciprocity and other sales techniques.
  • The Alchemist — Paulo Coelho’s story-driven book about a young man’s journey of self-discovery and finding fortune.
  • Awaken the Giant Within — Tony Robbins’ self-help book with exercises to unlock potential and understand life purpose.
  • Think and Grow Rich — Napoleon Hill’s book on law of attraction and mastermind groups, credited by many successful people.
  • The Personal MBA — Josh Kaufman’s condensed wisdom from hundreds of business and self-development books.
  • Eat That Frog — Brian Tracy’s practical guide to overcoming procrastination and achieving goals.
  • Gödel, Escher, Bach — Douglas Hofstadter’s mind-bending analytical book enjoyed by programmers for its mathematical themes.

Topic Timeline

  • 00:01:20 — Introduction to 12 additional book recommendations — John Sonmez introduces the episode as a follow-up to his previous top 10 book list. He explains these 12 books were very close to making the cut and are valuable for programmers. He notes some books are more situational but still offer significant insights for personal and professional growth.
  • 00:01:22 — The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey — Sonmez discusses this principle-based book, highlighting the importance of focusing on important versus urgent tasks. He shares how applying the quadrant system helped him structure his life to prioritize important work and reduce firefighting. He recommends the book for its timeless principles applicable to anyone’s life.
  • 00:03:05 — The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco — This book categorizes people as sidewalkers (living paycheck to paycheck), slow laners (saving for retirement), and fast laners (building wealth through business). Sonmez appreciates its harsh reality check and practical advice on building internet businesses. He shares how moving into the ‘fast lane’ through Simple Programmer allowed him to accumulate wealth early.
  • 00:05:53 — Outwitting the Devil by Napoleon Hill — Written as a conversation with the devil, this book reveals tricks used to deceive people. Sonmez notes it was suppressed for criticizing religion and education systems. He recommends the audio version for its excellent narration and describes it as packed with timeless wisdom, though some content may be controversial.
  • 00:07:53 — The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene — Sonmez calls this a ‘dark but essential’ book about power dynamics and manipulation. He argues that manipulation and leadership use the same skill set—the difference is intent. The book uses historical examples to illustrate principles, and while he hasn’t recommended it widely due to its nature, he believes everyone should understand these dynamics.
  • 00:09:43 — Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb — This book introduces the concept of systems that gain from disorder and chaos. Sonmez connects it to Stoic philosophy and his own life approach. He praises Taleb’s arrogant but smart arguments against conventional wisdom and explains how building an anti-fragile life helps you benefit from upheaval rather than collapse under pressure.
  • 00:11:41 — The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday — Based on Stoic philosophy, this book teaches that obstacles are opportunities for growth. Sonmez mentions consulting with the author and appreciates the historical examples used. He says the book changed his mindset to view difficulties as beneficial and introduced him to Stoic thinkers like Seneca.
  • 00:14:19 — Influence by Robert Cialdini — A classic on psychological principles of persuasion, such as reciprocity. Sonmez explains how salespeople use these tactics (like free samples) to create obligation. While some techniques can be manipulative, understanding them is crucial for defense and ethical use. He notes Cialdini’s academic background but praises the book’s practicality.
  • 00:16:01 — The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho — A short, story-driven book about a young man’s journey of self-discovery and finding fortune. Sonmez admits he doesn’t remember all details but recalls its impactful wisdom and how it leaves readers with much to ponder. He compares it to The Richest Man in Babylon and recommends it for its deep, narrative insights.
  • 00:17:18 — Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins — Sonmez calls this a pivotal self-help book that can completely change your life. It includes exercises to unlock hidden potential and understand your purpose. He shares that attending Robbins’ seminar ‘Date With Destiny’ had permanent positive effects on him, and the book distills similar transformative concepts.
  • 00:18:36 — Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill — Many successful people credit this book, which introduces concepts like the mastermind group and law of attraction. Sonmez admits it initially seemed like ‘woo-woo’ but acknowledges its effectiveness. He explains that while not as practical as other books, its impact is undeniable, and it frequently appears in millionaires’ reading lists.
  • 00:22:11 — The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman — This book condenses wisdom from hundreds of business and self-development books. Sonmez met Kaufman and felt an immediate connection due to shared reading backgrounds. He recommends it as a shortcut for gaining essential business knowledge without reading countless books, praising its focus on mindset over traditional MBA topics.
  • 00:24:03 — Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy — A practical guide to overcoming procrastination and getting things done. Sonmez says it’s the best book he’s found on the topic, full of actionable advice for achieving goals. He notes it’s short and meaty, making it highly effective for productivity improvement.
  • 00:24:47 — Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter — A mind-bending, analytical book that programmers will enjoy for its deep mathematical and philosophical themes. Sonmez admits he hasn’t read it recently but remembers it as a fascinating, fun read with less practical application. He recommends it for engineers who enjoy analytical challenges.
  • 00:26:06 — Conclusion and invitation for more lists — Sonmez concludes by encouraging listeners to read these 12 books along with his top 10 for maximum value. He offers to create more book lists based on categories like fitness, business, or spirituality, and invites suggestions for books he might have missed. He emphasizes that these selections provide the right mindset for success.

Episode Info

  • Podcast: Simple Programmer Podcast
  • Author: John Sonmez
  • Category: Business Careers Education How To
  • Published: 2022-12-07T17:00:00Z
  • Duration: 00:27:39

References

Podcast Info

Transcript

[00:00:00] Welcome to the Simple Programmer Podcast. Making complex programming simple and fast.

[00:00:08] With everything from career advice to philosophy, it’s the Simple Programmer Podcast.

[00:00:19] Hey, what’s up? John Sonmez from simpleprogrammer.com.

[00:00:22] A while back here, I guess not too long ago, I did this video on the top 10 books you should

[00:00:29] read for 2016 or basically my top 10 books of all time at this point in time, but I alluded

[00:00:35] to some more books that didn’t make the list.

[00:00:39] I actually have 12 more books here that I’m going to talk about briefly that were very

[00:00:45] close to making that list of top 10.

[00:00:47] Some of these could dip into that top 10 or were debatable.

[00:00:51] They’re right on the edge here.

[00:00:53] I think that these books are very valuable as well.

[00:00:56] It’s really hard to pick 10 books because there’s so many good books out there.

[00:01:01] If you haven’t watched the video on the 10 books, definitely start with those and I definitely

[00:01:04] recommend those books.

[00:01:05] I tried to pick books that I thought were overall had a huge amount of value that were

[00:01:11] not as specific.

[00:01:13] Some of these books will be a little bit more specifically situational.

[00:01:19] Let’s get into the books here.

[00:01:20] The first book is The 7 Habits of Highly Effective.

[00:01:22] Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey.

[00:01:25] This was a really good book.

[00:01:27] I didn’t realize how good it was when I first read this.

[00:01:29] I read this a long time ago and I said, oh, this makes sense.

[00:01:34] This is good.

[00:01:35] But as I went back and reread this book, probably in the last couple of years, I gleaned a lot

[00:01:41] more from it.

[00:01:42] It’s just a really good book.

[00:01:43] The 7 Habits are really good principles.

[00:01:48] It’s a principle-based book.

[00:01:49] It talks about principles.

[00:01:50] It’s a principle-based book.

[00:01:51] It talks about principles.

[00:01:52] You should really think about and base your life on, especially the prioritization.

[00:01:57] There’s a part of the book where he talks about these 4 quadrants of basically things

[00:02:01] that are urgent versus important, essentially urgent and not urgent, and important versus

[00:02:08] not important.

[00:02:10] A lot of times we do things that are in the urgent column but not important or in that

[00:02:15] quadrant.

[00:02:16] That’s not so good because that’s the sort of putting out fires and it never moves you

[00:02:20] forward.

[00:02:22] When I started focusing in my own life on doing things that were important and not necessarily

[00:02:27] worrying about the urgency as much, I ended up getting a lot more done and I started structuring

[00:02:32] my life that way so that I was putting out more of these fires and not allowing more

[00:02:38] of them to creep up so I could focus more on the more important quadrant, which is really

[00:02:42] important.

[00:02:43] I think there’s a lot of really good concepts in that.

[00:02:46] I definitely recommend reading that book.

[00:02:49] There’s just a lot of really good ideas.

[00:02:51] Yeah.

[00:02:52] There’s a lot of really good ideas from that book that apply—that are going to apply

[00:02:56] in anyone’s life.

[00:02:58] The other one, this one really almost made the cut, is called The Millionaire Fastlane.

[00:03:05] This is a really good book—I’ll put it here.

[00:03:09] This book is basically all about how—it’s that financial guide that really—I want

[00:03:17] to get a bunch of these books, copies of this book and hand it out to people.

[00:03:21] They can wake up.

[00:03:23] It’s really harsh.

[00:03:25] It calls people sidewalkers, which are basically people who are living their life, going from

[00:03:32] paycheck to paycheck, trying to get by that aren’t even really thinking about the future.

[00:03:37] Then there’s the slow landers, which are the typically smart people that are investing,

[00:03:41] putting money in their 401k and saving it for retirement.

[00:03:45] He says that basically that these people—it’s great, but you’re going to get—when you

[00:03:50] get there—you’re going to get a lot of money.

[00:03:51] Yeah.

[00:03:51] You’re going to end up old and rich, or wealthy, or maybe, if you can even retire,

[00:03:56] and then you’re not going to be able to enjoy it.

[00:03:58] Then he talks about the fast lane.

[00:03:59] He talks about the ways that you can move into the fast lane, which is building business.

[00:04:04] He talks about what kind of business to build and how.

[00:04:06] He’s got very practical advice and he really paints a picture for you.

[00:04:10] It’s the reality that most people don’t want to face.

[00:04:12] I think it’s just a really good book because it will open up your mind to realizing that

[00:04:19] you’re going to be in one of these lanes.

[00:04:21] For a lot of my life, I was in the slow lane.

[00:04:24] I didn’t really—I just planned doing real estate investment, so maybe it’s like between

[00:04:29] the slow and fast lane.

[00:04:31] When I moved into the fast lane, when I started growing Simple Programmer and building a business

[00:04:34] and doing the things with Pluralsight, the kind of fast lane activities, I was able to

[00:04:39] accumulate the wealth quickly and early in life so that I could enjoy it now, which is—it’s

[00:04:46] possible for anyone.

[00:04:47] What I really like about this book is, one, it’s just this.

[00:04:51] If you read this, you can’t argue with what he says.

[00:04:55] You will put yourself in one of these categories and you’ll realize why even being a slow

[00:04:59] laner does not make sense, which is—it’s a hard sell for most people.

[00:05:03] Honestly, if you read this book and you’re honest with yourself, you’re going to find

[00:05:08] the truth in that.

[00:05:09] What I really like also is the fact that he doesn’t just talk about this.

[00:05:13] He gives practical advice.

[00:05:14] He even talks about what businesses that make sense, internet businesses.

[00:05:18] This guy is the guy that made a lot of money with Simple Programmer.

[00:05:20] He, with several internet businesses, he talks a little bit about his mistakes and how he

[00:05:24] went through and figured this out and then he really gives you really good information

[00:05:32] that would really help you.

[00:05:33] I wish I had this information early on in my life, but it’s a rare book.

[00:05:39] The guy is a bit of a jerk.

[00:05:40] I’ve watched some of his YouTube videos, but that’s fine.

[00:05:43] Sometimes you need that kind of blunt—he’s blunt.

[00:05:48] Sometimes you need that.

[00:05:49] The next one here is called Outwitting the Devil.

[00:05:53] We’ll put this one here.

[00:05:54] This is one of those books that’s got so much wisdom.

[00:05:59] It’s like so full of wisdom.

[00:06:01] It’s an old book.

[00:06:02] The story of this book is this book was written by the same guy that wrote the—gosh, now

[00:06:12] I’m just—Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill, right?

[00:06:16] The deal was that his wife didn’t want him to release this book.

[00:06:18] Now, part of it is because he didn’t want to release this book.

[00:06:19] Part of it is because of the timing of it because this is back when you didn’t talk

[00:06:24] bad about the church or religion or school, education systems.

[00:06:30] He rails against both of those things.

[00:06:32] Not like super hard, but this whole book is a conversation with the devil.

[00:06:37] It’s so cleverly written.

[00:06:39] It’s him talking to, quote, the devil and having this conversation and learning about

[00:06:43] the devil’s tricks and how he deceives people and tricks people.

[00:06:46] It’s not a religious book.

[00:06:48] It’s more of an anti-religious book.

[00:06:49] To be honest, but there’s so much wisdom in that like this is—and if you’re going

[00:06:56] to get this book, get the audio version, it’s just expertly done.

[00:07:02] The Voice of the Devil, so good, so good, but really, really good book.

[00:07:06] I’m going to have to listen to it again.

[00:07:08] A lot of wisdom, age, timeless type of wisdom all packed into here.

[00:07:13] Some of it you might not agree with, but there’s a lot of really good wisdom in that book.

[00:07:18] In fact, I’m going to have to read it again.

[00:07:19] I’m surprised it didn’t make my top 10 because it’s got such good information in

[00:07:26] there.

[00:07:27] I really like the book.

[00:07:28] It just came out, like I said, a few years ago.

[00:07:29] It had been sitting—there was like multiple reasons why it didn’t get released.

[00:07:33] Multiple people did not want to release this book until after Napoleon Hill’s wife died

[00:07:39] and then the heirs to the estate, they didn’t want to release the book, but it’s finally

[00:07:43] out there and it’s well worth it.

[00:07:46] It’s got, like I said, a lot of wisdom.

[00:07:47] Then we get to the book.

[00:07:48] I’m going to have to read it again.

[00:07:49] I’m going to do 48 Laws of Power, so you can check this one out here.

[00:07:53] This one is by Robert Greene, I believe.

[00:07:56] This is an interesting book.

[00:07:58] Everyone should read this book.

[00:08:00] This is a book that I haven’t recommended in the past just because it’s such a—I

[00:08:03] don’t want people to get the wrong idea, but I think you got to know this stuff.

[00:08:09] Some of this you should use.

[00:08:10] Some of it you shouldn’t use.

[00:08:13] You need to be aware of when people use it on you.

[00:08:17] It’s pivotal.

[00:08:18] To understand how power diapers.

[00:08:19] How power dynamics work.

[00:08:21] It’s one thing to be naive, but it’s another thing to be ignorantly naive.

[00:08:28] You shouldn’t be ignorantly naive.

[00:08:30] This book is sort of a dark book to some degree.

[00:08:33] It talks about power, ruthlessness, how to gain power, how to manipulate people.

[00:08:38] I firmly believe that the difference between manipulation and leadership is simply who’s

[00:08:42] good is it for.

[00:08:43] It’s the same set of skills, same set of charm, a good leader.

[00:08:47] It leads for the people.

[00:08:48] It does it for their benefit.

[00:08:49] A good manipulator does it for their own benefit, but it’s the same skill set.

[00:08:54] Whether you want to use this for bad or good, you have to know what that skill set is and

[00:08:59] that’s what The 48 Laws of Power is.

[00:09:00] It’s a really good book.

[00:09:02] The way it’s written, just from the historical perspective, Robert Crane writes some really

[00:09:06] good books.

[00:09:07] He’s got this other book called The Art of Seduction, which is also interesting.

[00:09:11] He writes from history.

[00:09:12] He takes stories from history and then he applies them to the principles from them and

[00:09:17] shows examples.

[00:09:18] He shows examples of how these things work.

[00:09:20] Really good info in here.

[00:09:23] Again, not a book that I recommend in the past just simply because of the nature of

[00:09:29] the book, but hey, I’m giving you—I think you should read this book.

[00:09:32] Whether you like it or not, that’s fine.

[00:09:35] You don’t have to like it, but it’s got a lot of truth to it that you should know

[00:09:39] in your life.

[00:09:40] Then we get to Anti-Fragile.

[00:09:43] This one is by Nicholas Tlaib, I believe.

[00:09:47] I love it.

[00:09:48] I love his books.

[00:09:49] He’s got a lot of really good books.

[00:09:50] This one was probably the top one I put on this.

[00:09:53] He’s very interesting.

[00:09:54] He’s got like this mathematical—he used to be a quant and he’s got this very arrogant

[00:10:01] sort of mathematical attitude and he goes against conventional wisdom.

[00:10:08] He’s really smart and he lays out a really good argument in this book Anti-Fragile.

[00:10:11] He’s talking about the idea of like there’s certain systems that gain from disorder and

[00:10:15] that you should be as anti-fragile as possible.

[00:10:17] This is sort of like my life philosophy is being anti-fragile is basically the opposite

[00:10:23] that when chaos happens you gain from that.

[00:10:26] When things get shooken up you gain from that.

[00:10:30] It’s a very kind of stoic philosophy is the idea that—and he gives so many examples

[00:10:35] in nature and in life of where this is a benefit and how to sort of apply these principles

[00:10:39] of being anti-fragile, what that means, how he coined the term anti-fragile, he rails

[00:10:44] against the common sense.

[00:10:46] Yeah.

[00:10:47] Common thinking.

[00:10:48] All of his books rail against common thinking.

[00:10:52] He’s not afraid to go out there and say what he thinks.

[00:10:56] He talks about—he basically made some bets against the market.

[00:11:00] I think in the housing bubble he made a lot of money and he got what he calls fuck you

[00:11:04] money which means that he can do whatever he wants.

[00:11:07] He speaks from that.

[00:11:08] He’s basically like very honest and does what he wants and talks about what he wants.

[00:11:13] This book is really—has some really, really good wisdom.

[00:11:16] Yeah.

[00:11:17] I think it’s interesting that when you think about structuring your life around these

[00:11:21] concepts with being anti-fragile.

[00:11:23] Most people are fragile.

[00:11:24] Most people like they’ve built up this house of cards and when the table gets bumped it

[00:11:30] falls down, but he’s talking about doing the opposite of building up the ability to

[00:11:35] be anti-fragile, the opposite of that.

[00:11:38] Next on this list is The Obstacle is the Way.

[00:11:41] You can actually check out the video review I did of this book.

[00:11:44] I thought this book was really good.

[00:11:45] I’ve actually spoken to the author Ryan Hart.

[00:11:47] Ryan Holiday, I actually did some consulting with him when I was doing my book or launching

[00:11:52] my book and just to get some advice from him because he’s a really smart guy and a really

[00:11:57] nice guy.

[00:11:59] He’s written actually a lot of good books.

[00:12:01] This was my favorite.

[00:12:02] He actually worked with Robert Greene and he’s written this book in the same kind of

[00:12:07] style of Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power, where he uses historical examples.

[00:12:14] This book is like—this is totally about overcoming, not just overcoming obstacles.

[00:12:19] It’s about realizing that when things are difficult, that is good because that’s how

[00:12:24] you grow, that’s how you expand, that these obstacles, they can stop other people.

[00:12:30] The fact that they’re in the way, that that is a benefit to you, to really get that mindset

[00:12:36] that these bad things, these obstacles are not bad things, that they’re actually good

[00:12:42] things.

[00:12:43] There’s all mindsets.

[00:12:44] This is one of those books that sort of introduced me to the idea of the Stoic philosophy because

[00:12:51] it’s really based on that and it really got me reading things like Seneca because—

[00:12:56] What’s up, guys?

[00:12:57] John Sonmez here from simpleprogrammer.com.

[00:13:00] I want to tell you about my free blogging course that you can sign up for at simpleprogrammer.com

[00:13:05] forward slash pblog.

[00:13:08] This free blogging course is going to tell you how to create a blog to boost your career.

[00:13:12] It’s something that you definitely don’t want to miss.

[00:13:14] Thousands of developers have already gone through the course, the free course that you’re

[00:13:17] going to get by email and have learned how to create a blog to boost your career, to

[00:13:21] make more money and even to grow their own side business.

[00:13:24] It’s something that every single developer should do, especially if you’re a web developer.

[00:13:28] You should have your own blog.

[00:13:30] I’m going to show you exactly how to do it, how to be successful, how to get traffic,

[00:13:33] everything that you need to know about creating a blog and even making money from it.

[00:13:37] Just go to simpleprogrammer.com forward slash pblog to sign up now.

[00:13:43] Once again, it’s simpleprogrammer.com.

[00:13:44] I think it’s just such a better way to live your life, to not depend on external circumstances

[00:13:52] and fortune, whatever could happen, good or bad, but to rely, be self-reliant, to have

[00:13:58] that inner strength that whatever happens, you’re going to get through it and you’re

[00:14:02] going to see it to your benefit.

[00:14:04] It’s how you interpret things in your mind that determines it.

[00:14:08] It’s really kind of a pivotal book, I think, that really changed a lot of my thinking.

[00:14:13] Definitely.

[00:14:14] I would highly recommend it.

[00:14:15] Next, we’ve got Influence by—I believe this one is Robert Caldini.

[00:14:19] This is also a really good book.

[00:14:22] Another book that’s sort of like akin to the 48 Laws of Power in that it can be used for

[00:14:27] manipulation, but it’s sort of one of those classic books on influencing people.

[00:14:34] It talks about a lot of really deep sales techniques, things like the principle of reciprocity.

[00:14:40] If you give something to someone, they’re likely to give to you.

[00:14:44] That’s why a lot of salespeople use this against you.

[00:14:47] It’s important to know this.

[00:14:48] They might give you a free sample of something like at the grocery store.

[00:14:52] That happens.

[00:14:52] You feel sort of obligated or someone hands you a rose or hands you a flower.

[00:14:58] The Hare Krishnas did that for a while.

[00:15:01] They’re actually down here in Pacific Beach.

[00:15:03] It’s kind of funny.

[00:15:04] Anyway, it goes through, I think, 5 principles of influence from status.

[00:15:11] Police in uniforms.

[00:15:13] Obviously, you’re going to—you’re going to—you’re going to have a lot of influence.

[00:15:14] You’re going to have influence because of the uniform.

[00:15:17] A lot of ways that you could defend against this as a consumer, but also utilize this

[00:15:23] for good or bad.

[00:15:23] There’s some of this Borges line.

[00:15:26] Like I said, I’m really deep, dark manipulation tactics, but it’s important to know these

[00:15:33] things.

[00:15:33] Some of it is really good that you could actually use or lighter versions of this in your life

[00:15:38] in general.

[00:15:38] Understanding how influence works is—I think it’s really important.

[00:15:41] This is written by—I believe.

[00:15:44] He’s like a Ph.D. in psychology at a university.

[00:15:48] He’s studied this and he’s got some pretty good studies.

[00:15:51] A lot of these kind of academic books I usually don’t like, but this one I do because it’s

[00:15:56] very practical.

[00:15:58] Then we get to The Alchemist.

[00:16:01] This is a really interesting book.

[00:16:02] This is—let’s see if I can remember all the authors of this.

[00:16:06] Robert Cojillo, I think, or Cojillo.

[00:16:11] This is one of those books.

[00:16:12] It sort of reminds me.

[00:16:14] It’s about the richest man in Babylon, which I had done in the other top 10.

[00:16:18] It’s a story.

[00:16:20] It’s a story about this young man who basically goes out and he’s—I can’t remember exactly

[00:16:26] what he’s looking for, but he’s trying to make his way, trying to find his fortune in

[00:16:30] the world.

[00:16:32] It’s this process of self-discovery.

[00:16:34] He goes and he works for this merchant and he makes some money and then he sort of figures

[00:16:39] out life as a story.

[00:16:41] It’s a short book.

[00:16:43] It’s really interesting.

[00:16:44] It’s a interesting story.

[00:16:45] I need to actually reread it because I’m not remembering a lot.

[00:16:48] I just remember how much it impacted me at the time when I read it, but it’s fun.

[00:16:55] It’s a fun book.

[00:16:56] It’s short.

[00:16:56] Like I said, it’s really interesting.

[00:16:58] A lot of people have recommended this book to me.

[00:17:02] It leaves you with something, a lot to think about is what I remember because there’s

[00:17:05] a lot of situations this boy encounters in his life and there’s some wisdom from it.

[00:17:11] I love these kind of stories that give you deep wisdom.

[00:17:14] Next on the list is Awaken the Giant Within.

[00:17:18] Obviously, I’ve got to include this book.

[00:17:19] This is from Tony Robbins.

[00:17:21] Tony Robbins is great.

[00:17:24] This book didn’t make my top 10 list because I hadn’t gotten it earlier in my life, but

[00:17:28] this is one of those books that if you—it could totally change your life.

[00:17:33] It could totally change your outlook on life because it’s so, so, so deep, so many powerful

[00:17:39] concepts in here that everyone should read this book.

[00:17:42] If you haven’t read this book or if you haven’t gotten it, I recommend it.

[00:17:43] It’s a great book.

[00:17:43] It’s a great book.

[00:17:43] It’s a great book.

[00:17:43] It’s a great book.

[00:17:43] It’s a great book.

[00:17:43] It’s a great book.

[00:17:43] It’s a great book.

[00:17:43] It’s a great book.

[00:17:43] It’s a great book.

[00:17:43] It’s a great book.

[00:17:43] If you haven’t gotten down the personal development path, you should do this first

[00:17:48] because there’s so much in here.

[00:17:49] There’s exercises.

[00:17:50] There’s things that will really kind of dissect you and help you to figure out how

[00:17:56] to really achieve and unlock this hidden potential in yourself.

[00:18:01] It’s one of those kind of pivotal self-help books, but it is really, really that good.

[00:18:06] I mean Tony Robbins, he knows his stuff.

[00:18:08] He is not a fraud.

[00:18:09] He’s a really good guy.

[00:18:11] I went to one of his seminars.

[00:18:13] I did a video on—

[00:18:13] On one of the seminars I went to, A Date With Destiny.

[00:18:17] I feel like it changed my life.

[00:18:18] There’s definitely changes that are permanent changes that have happened since I’ve gone

[00:18:23] there and it really helped me connect with my purpose.

[00:18:27] I fully understand my purpose in life now at this point, but this is a good book.

[00:18:32] It has a lot of really good stuff in there.

[00:18:35] Then we get to Think and Grow Rich.

[00:18:36] A lot of people were surprised that this wasn’t in my top 10.

[00:18:41] This is a good book.

[00:18:42] This is by Napoleon.

[00:18:43] Same author as Outwitting the Devil.

[00:18:47] This is his sort of pivotal book, his big name book.

[00:18:53] So many people recommended this book as their number one book.

[00:18:56] So many successful people that I talked to.

[00:18:59] I just had to read this book.

[00:19:00] The first time I read this book—actually, I think my wife was reading this book and

[00:19:03] I couldn’t stand it.

[00:19:05] I was like, what is this crap?

[00:19:07] It’s talking about him believing that his son would be able to hear and he was born

[00:19:12] deaf.

[00:19:13] Somehow, magically, he’s able to hear and this whole idea, it’s very abstract in what

[00:19:22] it’s talking about and very much like say these things and think these things and you’ll

[00:19:26] have these results, but it’s true.

[00:19:30] I don’t know how it worked, but man, this is so true.

[00:19:35] It is woo-woo out there, crazy, but the concepts in this, they really do work.

[00:19:41] I can’t explain it.

[00:19:43] You know, so many people like have recommended this book because it does work, because this

[00:19:50] mindset, because these things work.

[00:19:52] That whole idea of the mastermind group came from this.

[00:19:55] If you’ve seen my mastermind group, Entrepreneur Programmers, you can check it out.

[00:19:59] We do a weekly mastermind and it originated from this book.

[00:20:03] He talked about this mastermind.

[00:20:04] He talked about his own personal mastermind that he had in person, but also in his head

[00:20:10] as well, like these famous figures that he would sit.

[00:20:13] They would advise him in his imagination, but yeah, it’s a hard book to read.

[00:20:22] It’s well worth reading and putting into practice.

[00:20:25] You just can’t argue with the results either.

[00:20:27] So many successful people owe their success, they say, to this book.

[00:20:32] It doesn’t make my top 10 because I just—I feel like there’s not as much practical application

[00:20:38] here that there’s—I feel like there’s been better books that I mentioned in the top 10.

[00:20:43] That have taken this concept and run with it.

[00:20:45] I mean this book is pivotal because it sort of introduces this concept.

[00:20:49] There’s actually another book before that that sort of influenced Think and Grow Rich,

[00:20:56] but this is the book that kind of brought it all together and brought this concept together.

[00:20:59] It’s this concept of—and you’ve seen it in The Secret.

[00:21:03] I’m not a big fan of The Secret, but it’s the same, this law of attraction and it does work.

[00:21:08] I don’t—I can’t explain how it works.

[00:21:10] I know it sounds weird.

[00:21:11] I know the skeptical nature.

[00:21:14] You want to choke me and say,

[00:21:15] John, what the hell are you talking about?

[00:21:17] But it works.

[00:21:18] I guarantee you.

[00:21:19] My life has changed since I embraced this and started actually following this.

[00:21:24] Totally changed.

[00:21:25] Ridiculous.

[00:21:26] Ridiculous amounts of things have come my way from changing that belief.

[00:21:32] I think you should read the book just because of that impact and just—

[00:21:37] but I do think that there are some other books, like I said, that have expounded on the topic.

[00:21:41] I’ve explained it a little bit better.

[00:21:44] But I don’t know.

[00:21:45] There’s something magic about this book.

[00:21:48] That’s all I can say.

[00:21:49] It’s like you ask millionaires, go ahead and ask them what their top books are.

[00:21:54] This book will come up a lot, an alarming amount.

[00:21:57] If you could believe me, because that’s what I do.

[00:21:59] Every time I talk to someone super successful, millionaire or whatever, famous person,

[00:22:03] and I’ve talked to a lot of them, this book comes up.

[00:22:06] It’s amazing.

[00:22:08] Okay, now we’re going to get to the personal MBA.

[00:22:11] This is a real good—this is by Joff Kaufman.

[00:22:13] Josh Kaufman.

[00:22:15] I actually met him at MicroConf.

[00:22:18] When I went to MicroConf, he was there.

[00:22:20] Really good guy.

[00:22:23] When I read this book, I was like, man, this book has like—

[00:22:27] I know what Josh’s reading list is because he’s read the 500 books that I’ve read

[00:22:33] and he tried to condense the wisdom from them into this book.

[00:22:36] He did a really good job.

[00:22:37] I could tell exactly where he pulled—he basically compiled all this information.

[00:22:41] He mixed it around.

[00:22:42] He added his own.

[00:22:43] He added his own.

[00:22:43] He added his own to it, but he’s given you sort of the wisdom from a lot of these books.

[00:22:48] He approaches this not from the typical business standpoint, but from the actual real—I don’t

[00:22:55] want to say internet marketing, but that mindset, the self-development, the Tony Robbins type

[00:23:00] of mindset that’s actually way more important than reading financial sheets and understanding

[00:23:04] balance sheets and assets and all that.

[00:23:07] He does a phenomenal job of it.

[00:23:10] He’s an awesome guy.

[00:23:11] He did a lot of research for this book.

[00:23:12] This is one of those books.

[00:23:13] Again, it would have made my top 10 list if I had encountered this earlier in my career,

[00:23:19] but for someone who doesn’t—who hasn’t read the 500 books or 1,000 books that I’ve

[00:23:24] read and wants to gain like—get a jump start on the knowledge that’s in them, this is

[00:23:30] the place to start because he’s already read all those and he condensed them all.

[00:23:34] Immediately when I met him, we connected because we think alike and he’s read the same books

[00:23:40] that I have and gained the same insights and value.

[00:23:43] From them, and these are hard things—there’s a certain connection that you find with people

[00:23:50] that understand these concepts because they’re not easy and it takes a lot to get them, but

[00:23:57] he’s sort of giving you a shortcut here.

[00:23:58] I’d really recommend that book.

[00:24:00] Next is Eat That Frog.

[00:24:03] This one is by Brian Tracy.

[00:24:07] Man, I’m like 11 for 11 so far.

[00:24:10] That’s pretty good.

[00:24:12] This is—Brian.

[00:24:13] Brian Tracy is great.

[00:24:14] One of his books made my top 10 list, but this book is really good about overcoming

[00:24:20] procrastination.

[00:24:22] I think it’s the best one that I’ve found.

[00:24:24] War of Art is up there, but it’s because it has more than just overcoming procrastination,

[00:24:30] but this is like practical step advice to getting stuff done, to knocking your goals

[00:24:36] out.

[00:24:36] It’s short.

[00:24:37] It’s really good.

[00:24:38] It’s got—it’s full of meat.

[00:24:40] Definitely recommend this book.

[00:24:42] Then we get to—

[00:24:43] Goodell, Escher, Bach.

[00:24:47] This one I’m not going to remember the author.

[00:24:50] What is—dang it.

[00:24:52] Almost did it all.

[00:24:54] It’s because I haven’t read this book in such a long time.

[00:24:57] This is actually a book that a lot of software developers will like for sure, but this is

[00:25:04] just a fascinating mind-bending analytical type of book.

[00:25:09] There’s not as much practical application in it.

[00:25:13] It’s one of those really deep thinking mathematical type of books that is just so much fun to

[00:25:20] read.

[00:25:20] It’s a huge book, but—and again, not like any of these other books.

[00:25:26] It’s one of those books where to me it’s like this is a fun, fun book for programmers

[00:25:31] to read.

[00:25:31] I really just enjoyed this book.

[00:25:34] I wish I could read it again for the first time.

[00:25:36] A lot of people that I’ve talked to have said that just because it’s such a good book.

[00:25:40] The author did some other books that were—

[00:25:43] They’re not quite as good, but this book was just—it’ll bend your mind.

[00:25:48] You got to spend some time focusing on this book and going through it, but it’s a really

[00:25:54] enjoyable read if you’re an engineer or you’re analytical at all.

[00:25:58] I think you’ll like it a lot.

[00:25:59] That’s why I put it on this list.

[00:26:02] Yeah, I think that’s it for these other 12 books.

[00:26:06] There’s a couple—I could throw a couple of bonus ones in there that didn’t make the

[00:26:10] list.

[00:26:10] The Rational Mail I think would be one that I just recently read.

[00:26:19] That’s probably it actually for the bonus ones.

[00:26:21] There’s a lot of books.

[00:26:23] I could talk about books all day.

[00:26:24] I’ll probably do more lists.

[00:26:25] Let me know if you want more lists.

[00:26:27] What type of books?

[00:26:28] Do you want top fitness books, top business books, top self-development books, top spiritual

[00:26:33] books?

[00:26:34] There’s a lot of different categories here and I’m always reading.

[00:26:39] Anyway.

[00:26:40] That’s it.

[00:26:41] This is—these are good books.

[00:26:44] Read the top 10 that I recommended and read these 12 and you’ll get a lot.

[00:26:50] I’m trying to give you the most value.

[00:26:51] These are the—if you read these 22 books you’re going to go—you’re going to get

[00:26:55] a huge amount of value.

[00:26:57] I’ve kind of filtered them for you.

[00:26:59] I really can’t think of other books that would be better.

[00:27:02] I mean you can expand from here, but these are the kind of books that will really, really

[00:27:06] get you the right mindset that you need in order to be successful.

[00:27:10] At least what I found in my journey.

[00:27:14] Let me know if there’s another book that I should have put on here on one of these lists

[00:27:17] that didn’t because I’m always looking for new good books.

[00:27:21] That’s it.

[00:27:22] All right.

[00:27:22] Hopefully you enjoyed that.

[00:27:23] If you like this video, if you want more of these type of videos, subscribe to the channel.

[00:27:27] Talk to you next time.

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