In business, learning from the experiences of someone who already went through an entrepreneurial journey — and actually succeeded — can make all the difference.
For me, learning from successful women and especially being mentored by three ladies played a massive role in finding my own path and building confidence in business.
The other, major part of learning how to do business, however, was through books. I read as much as I could over the past years, and what I realized is that women often have different perspectives on doing business than men. I don’t believe one is better than the other, but I’m convinced it makes sense to read books both from male and female authors to widen your perspective.
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And while that might sound obvious, it’s actually not. Most book recommendations for entrepreneurs are from male authors and yes, people like Warren Buffett, Tim Ferriss, and Richard Branson can surely teach you some great lessons, but so can ladies like Oprah Winfrey, Sheryl Sandberg, or Barbara Corcoran.
In the worst case, these books will inspire you to get your ass up and do the work. In the best case, they will change the way you think, lead, and do business forever.
“What I Know For Sure” by Oprah Winfrey
A book from the queen of personal and professional success herself: Oprah, one of the most successful and influential women of our time.
Besides building a media empire for the past decades, she’s also one of the few people who built an incredibly strong personal brand and managed to leverage her power for positive impact across the globe.
In What I Know For Sure, Oprah shares all the life lessons she collected over the past decades and teaches us how to live happier, healthier, and more fulfilled lives while doing what we love and making an impact.
“What I know for sure is that every day brings a chance for you to draw in a breath, kick off your shoes, and step out and dance — to live free of regret and filled with as much joy, fun, and laughter as you can stand.”
“The 5 Second Rule” by Mel Robbins
After her TED talk, Robbin’s message on how to stop screwing yourself reached millions of people across the globe. Later, she published The 5 Second Rule, which became a bestseller and helped millions to transform their lives.
The 5 Second Rule is a simple but effective tool to unleash the power of your brain and finally design a life you love. It helps you to minimize procrastination and instead take action on all the things that truly matter — simple, but incredibly effective.
“You can’t control how you feel. But you can always choose how you act.”
“Big Magic” by Elizabeth Gilbert
Even though most people know Elizabeth Gilbert for her worldwide success with Eat, Pray, Love, I enjoyed reading Big Magic much more.
In this masterpiece, Gilbert teaches how to find the courage to follow your creativity despite fears and insecurities. She basically shares her creative processes and how these principles can work for anyone pursuing a creative career.
A must-read for entrepreneurs, writers, and artists who often face insecurities, ask themselves whether their work is good enough, feel stuck in generating ideas, or simply look for some inspiration.
“You can measure your worth by your dedication to your path, not by your successes or failures.”
“Lean In” by Sheryl Sandberg
Sheryl Sandberg is a real female empowerment advocate and the COO of Facebook. In Lean In, Sandberg digs deep into topics such as gender inequality and the underrepresentation of women in the global workforce. However, she also shares practical advice and ways of how everyone can fight for more equality and female empowerment.
According to CNBC, companies with female executives make more money and those with female CEO’s have better stock price performance. These are some good reasons to follow the advice of Sandberg to fight for equality, and give women more chances to make it to relevant positions in the business world.
“I truly believe that the single most important career decision that a women makes is whether she will have a life partner and who that partner is. I don’t know of one woman in a leadership position whose life partner is not fully — and I mean fully — supportive of her career.”
“You Are A Badass” by Jen Sincero
Admittedly, I heard about this book a lot until I finally decided to give it a chance. I didn’t expect much, but I fell in love with it quite soon.
Contrary to my expectation, this book isn’t about trivial mindset-fluff but instead teaches topics such as the law of attraction and universal laws in a way everybody can understand and actually apply the strategies.
Big love for Jen Sincero for putting these topics into such simple, relatable words!
“You are responsible for what you say and do. You are not responsible for whether or not people freak out about it.”
“Shark Tales” by Barbara Corcoran
Barbara Corcoran is a businesswoman and investor and a true inspiration. She was born in 1949 and still is active in business making deals, hosting a podcast, writing for several major publications, and sharing her journey to empower the next generation.
In Shark Tales, she shares how she turned $1,000 into a billion-dollar business even though her ex, who initially brought the money into the business, cheated on her to marry their secretary. She spent several months sharing the office with the newly married couple until she finally decided to split the company in half and succeed in her own way, and it worked. Corcoran became one of the most successful real estate investors and literally grew an empire out of a huge disappointment.
“Sometimes very successful people appear to be winging it, because they look so comfortable on their feet. But don’t be fooled; there ain’t no such thing. They just come across that way because they practiced so many times.”
“Build An Empire” by Elena Cardone
Elena Cardone is a former actress and the wife of Grant Cardone, one of the most successful real estate investors and entrepreneurs of our time. Together the couple has built a net worth of more than $300 million over the past decades.
On their social media channels, the Cardones always preach how the strength of their relationship was a significant component of their success in business.
In Build an Empire, Elena shares all their secrets, must-haves, and no-go’s that helped them build a strong business, and an even stronger marriage.
“If you think you can build an empire, you must. The world needs more empire builders. The world needs more strong women.”
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