10 Books That Changed My Life

I read daily 🤓

80% of my success has come from reading and mentors.

I stand on the shoulders of giants.

My mission is to inspire 10 million entrepreneurs to live their dreams.

In order to accomplish this mission, I need to be the ultimate version of myself.

These are 10 books that transformed my life.

This issue takes 2 mins to read 👇

By the way, I run the Founder Shortcuts Program to help people find their calling and build communities of 1+ million raving fans using proven systems, frameworks, and cheat codes.

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1. The Courage to Be Disliked - Ichiro Kishimi, Fumitake Koga

Tobi Lütke, Founder & CEO of Shopify, recommended this book to me.

I learned how to unlock the power within myself to be the true me, find lasting happiness, and stop giving a f*** about what other people think of me.

Lessons:

• Do not live to satisfy the expectations of others

• Love the haters - it is proof that you are living in freedom

• The courage to be happy involves the courage to be disliked

2. Shoe Dog - Phil Knight

This is the candid story of Nike from founder Phil Knight.

Lessons:

• Absolute effort will always win people's hearts

• If you work and study you can accomplish anything in life

• Winning against the competition is easy enough. Winning against yourself is an eternal commitment.

3. Get Together - People & Company

People often ask me, "How did you build a community of 14 million with Herb?"

I give them the story behind the brand and then tell them to read Get Together.

Lessons:

• How to build a highly engaged and passionate community

• Give people a reason to tell their friends and "pass the torch"

• Use the community-building checklist at the end of the book

4. The Almanack of Naval Ravikant - Eric Jorgenson

Naval is one of the smartest and wisest men in the world.

His philosophy on life, love, and wealth changed my life.

Lessons:

• Earn with your mind, not your time

• Escape competition through authenticity

• The hardest thing is not doing what you want—it’s knowing what you want

5. The Untethered Soul - Michael Singer

This book helped me free myself from habitual thoughts, emotions, and energy patterns that were limiting my consciousness.

Lessons:

• There is no reason to constantly attempt to figure everything out

• Only you can take inner freedom away from yourself, or give it to yourself

• The truth is that most of life will unfold in accordance with forces far outside your control, regardless of what your mind says about it

6. The Innovation Stack - Jim McKelvey

From the Co-Founder of Square, I learned that building an enduring company is about stacking innovations one after another.

For Herb as an example:

1. We have the largest cannabis community in the world

2. We have the most powerful cannabis marketing engine in the world

3. We curate what is cool in weed better than anyone else in the world

4. We have access to more data on cannabis consumers than anyone in the world

and the list goes on...

Lessons:

• Find an "idea buddy" to help you grow and mold your ideas

• Solving a big problem is the sum of solving a series of small problems

• Learn how companies like Ikea, Southwest, Bank of America, and Square created formidable brands

7. Expert Secrets - Russell Brunson

This book contains the biggest secrets to selling.

Lessons:

• How to create a movement

• Steal his exact cheat sheet to turn online visitors into lifelong customers

• You have life experiences and talents that others don't have that give you an unfair advantage

8. Deep Work - Cal Newport

Ever since reading this book, I have marked 4 hours in my calendar every day for deep work. It's when I let my inner genius run wild.

Lessons:

• Distance yourself from social media

• Give yourself a strict time to spend on deep work and in flow

• Create a monthly cadence of accountability to review your goals and progress

9. No More Mr. Nice Guy - Robert Glover

As a Canadian, I think we can often be a little too polite (sorry!) 😂

Lessons:

• Put yourself first and set boundaries

• Express how you feel and be real with people

• When something bothers you, speak up, and don’t agree just to stop the conflict

10. The Wim Hof Method - Wim Hof

I've been doing cold baths and saunas every week for 4 years now.

Wim Hof introduced me to the benefits of cold baths.

Now I'm addicted to the cold 🥶

Lessons:

• Cold is one of the greatest teachers

• If you can grab the wheel of your mind, you can steer the direction of where your life will go

• Fear does not go away by itself. You have to confront your fear, mold it, then learn to control it in its own irrational reality.

That's a wrap!

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My mission is to inspire 10 million entrepreneurs to live their dreams.

I run the Founder Shortcuts Program to help entrepreneurs scale past $5M annual revenue, build scalable content generation systems, and grow a community of 1+ million raving fans.

See you next week!

Let's win together 🥇