"Books are the best friends you can have" - said someone intelligent, I'd rather say - sometimes books can be the best mentors you can have. Out of the 200 to 300 titles that I own(cmon, I know 300 is small - but am just starting), most of these are business and self-development titles.
The best and the worst part of being an entrepreneur is that you are alone - you have to make the decisions for your company yourself. Most of the times they will not be as simple as "should I wear the brown lisptick today or the pink" - but the choices you make will affect your company and the people who work for you. More often than not, what you don't do costs more that what you do!
And if you are a first time entrepreneur like me - the best way to grow up is to read books. All the advice, mentorship, fundas, failed experiments, success stories,and heck ways to get new ideas too - all these are documented - as books. You just have to open one.
I agree that having a real mentor is awesome, but dude, some point in life you need to grow up. You have to be the person people can look upto. Don't wait to learn from your mistakes - learn as much and as fast as you can from others who have been there before you.
And if you tell yourself that you are too busy to read books - really? Really? If it a yes after the two previous 'reallys' then hope the universe gets everything right and perfectly laid out for you!
Before I finish off the post with some of my all time fav, I wanted to give you guys a sneakpeak of how I read. There is another saying "Some books are to be read, some to be chewed and digested" - funny but in a way true.
When I read a book, I always have a pencil/pen and underline the parts I like. So that when I want to quickly give the book a second time glance, I know what to read. Don't be scared to spoil the book - its yours! I also keep a notebook handy to note down ideas that I get when am reading - and trust me there will be lot of "OMG, that's an awesome idea. I can do that" - note them down.
Before this post gets awfully long - here are the books I love:
1. The Art of Start
2. Lean Startup
3. Rich Dad Poor Dad
4. Chicken Soup Series
5. Enchantement
6. One Minute Series
7. How To Get From Where You Are To Where You Wana Be
Do you read too? Let me know which ones are your favorites in the comments below!
