Mindset, building, selling, wealth. The 15 books I recommend constantly, split into the 5 areas that matter most when you’re building something.
I get asked for book recommendations constantly, so here are the 15 that changed how I think about money, business and myself. Start with whichever area you need most right now.
At the bottom: the one to read first if you only read one, and a prompt that turns any of these books into a personal AI coach.
01
Mindset
Carol Dweck
Your abilities aren’t fixed. They grow when you treat challenges as training instead of threats. If you ever catch yourself thinking "I’m just not good at this," start here.
02
Playing Big
Tara Mohr
For the woman who keeps shrinking, over-preparing and waiting to feel ready. It names the inner critic out loud, then gives you tools to stop hiding and take up the space you’ve earned.
03
The Mountain Is You
Brianna Wiest
A short, sharp read on self-sabotage. The thing blocking you is usually you, which is good news, because it means you can move it.
04
The Lean Startup
Eric Ries
The bible of "stop planning, start testing." Build the smallest version of your idea, put it in front of real people and learn fast instead of perfecting something nobody wants for a year.
05
The $100 Startup
Chris Guillebeau
Proof you don’t need investors or a huge budget. Real stories of people who built profitable businesses on very little, plus the moves they had in common.
06
The Creative Entrepreneur
Carolyn Dailey
For the maker who wants to turn taste into a real business. It’s built on interviews with 10 creative founders, Nile Rodgers among them, and the lessons they learned building their companies.
07
$100M Offers
Alex Hormozi
How to make an offer so good people feel stupid saying no. If your thing isn’t selling, it’s usually the offer, not the audience, and this gives you a formula to fix it.
08
Building a StoryBrand
Donald Miller
Most marketing falls flat because you made yourself the hero instead of the customer. This gives you a simple framework to make your message clear in seconds.
09
On Brand
Aliza Licht
How to build a personal brand that opens doors, from a former fashion executive who did it. Perfect if you’re building an audience and a name at the same time.
10
The Psychology of Money
Morgan Housel
Short stories about how people actually behave with money, not spreadsheets. It changes how you think about saving, risk and "enough" more than any budgeting app will.
11
We Should All Be Millionaires
Rachel Rodgers
A direct, no-apologies push for women to build real wealth instead of managing scarcity. It goes after the guilt and small thinking around money.
12
You Are a Badass at Making Money
Jen Sincero
The fun, kick-in-the-pants one. It digs up the money beliefs you didn’t know you had. Read it when you need momentum.
13
Atomic Habits
James Clear
The clearest explanation I’ve read of how habits form and how to change them. Tiny 1% changes compound into a different life. If you struggle with consistency, this is your manual.
14
The 5 Types of Wealth
Sahil Bloom
Money is only one kind of wealth. Bloom adds time, social, mental and physical wealth, and shows you how to design a life that’s rich in all five.
15
Year of Yes
Shonda Rhimes
One of the most powerful women in television spends a year saying yes to the things that scare her. The antidote to overthinking, told by someone who lived it.
Read This First
The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel. It’s short, it reads like stories instead of a textbook, and it touches every other area on this list. Money sits underneath your business, your goals and a lot of your stress. Fix how you think about it and everything else gets easier.
Reading and hoping it sticks rarely works. Instead, have Claude or ChatGPT coach you with a book’s ideas, applied to your real life. Swap in the book and your situation, and be honest about where you’re stuck.
Do this with one book a month and you’ll actually use what you read instead of just highlighting it.