8 Best Business Books for Entrepreneurs, Creatives ....

8 Best Business Books for Entrepreneurs, Creatives and Professionals to Read in 2019

If you notice any great business books I’ve missed that should be included, add them into the comments below!

1. Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World by Tim Ferriss

This incredible business book comes as the culmination of everything Tim Ferriss has worked on over the past decade. From penning some of the most popular “life advice” books of all time, to launching Apple’s consistently #1 ranked business podcast, to countless other accomplishments and adventures—Tim has always been a mentor from afar for me.

Another 600+ page monster, Tribe of Mentors takes a different approach than most business books that offer up the author’s key advice—it tackles a wide-range of topics and pulls insights & advice instead from people who’ve been influential mentors to Tim. The roster of people Tim cites and pulls advice from in this book is insane. From Ray Dalio to Maria Sharapova, Kelly Slater, Tony Hawk, Jimmy Fallon, and even some guests I’ve had on my podcast here—Debbie Millman, James Altucher, Noah Kagan and others.

2. Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers by Tim Ferriss.

I know, I know… two books in a row from Tim Ferriss? Well, it’s for good reason. Tim’s been on a serious mission this past year to distill and share his biggest lessons learned from top performers from all walks of life through his most recent two business books.

When it comes to Tools of Titans, I’ve gotten through almost all of this nearly 650 page long beast that dives into everything Tim Ferriss, the multi-New York Times Bestselling author of The 4-Hour Workweek, has learned—tactics, routines and habits—from interviewing more than 200 of the world’s most recognizable figures in business, sports, academia, the military and just about every other imaginable industry on The Tim Ferriss Show, which now has 100 million+ downloads.

Here’s why this one ranks so high on my list of the best business books: It so naturally captures the best business advice, productivity tips, life lessons and so much more from all the guests of Tim’s podcast ranging from Tony Robbins, to Derek Sivers, Daymond John and many more. Reading this business book is one of the most affordable investments you can make in your future as an entrepreneur.

3. Crushing It: How Great Entrepreneurs Build Their Business and Influence-and How You Can, Too by Gary Vaynerchuk

Four-time New York Times bestselling author Gary Vaynerchuk is bringing the heat again with his brand new business book, titled Crushing It that already hit Amazon’s #1 bestseller list in social media for business before even launching.

Not to be confused with Vaynerchuk’s initial 2009 foray into business books with Crush It: Why Now is the Time to Cash in Your Passion, this new book chronicles brand new lessons, strategies, tactics, advice and inspiration pulled straight from both his own amplified business experience and that of dozens of other influencers and entrepreneurs from around the world. Vaynerchuk offers fresh tactical advice on how to become a household brand on social channels like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat; podcast platforms like Spotify, Soundcloud, iHeartRadio, and iTunes; and other emerging platforms like Musical.ly.

If you’re looking to build a brand that can grow your business, this is a must-read business book for the year. And though it’s a guide to building your own path to professional and financial success, remember that it’s not about getting rich. It’s about living life on your own terms.

4. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell.

Outliers is credited with popularizing the research that led to formulating the 10,000 Hour Rule for achieving mastery in any subject through deliberate practice—even though practice has since been shown to be merely a component of what it takes to become an expert at your craft. What’s most beautiful about Outliers though, is that the book seeks to answer a simple question, “What makes high-achievers different?” Gladwell believes that we pay too little attention to successful people’s culture, family, generation and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing.

Overall, this has been the most influential business book throughout my life—and I come back to read it every year. I credit it with fueling a lot of my initial inspiration for learning how to start a blog and multi-bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell‘s writing style is still one of my primary influences. In the book, Gladwell focuses on finding groups of successful people and uncovering exactly how they achieved their level of professional or personal success.

He argues that success is closely connected to opportunity and the amount of time people spend practicing their craft. He presents a compelling case that the reason more people aren’t experts is that since it takes so many hours to master something, most people simply don’t have the patience to devote that kind of time to perfecting a skill. On top of that, Gladwell also talks about the necessary components for finding (or creating) meaningful work, which inspired my first guest post ever—on the Buffer blog and led me down the path of pursuing side businesses as a means to creating more meaningful work in my life.

5. Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport.

A Wall Street Journal Bestseller, this business book argues that one of the most valuable skills in the world is quickly becoming rare—the ability to focus without distraction on a demanding task. Author Cal Newport explains that by mastering this skill, you’ll be able to more effectively process complicated information and deliver better results in less time as a result.

This is one of those business books I picked up and started reading because I needed to reaffirm my commitment to not allowing myself to get distracted by chasing the wrong opportunities and spending time in other ways that don’t help me achieve my most meaningful goals. Many of the principles covered in this book helped me refine my opportunity management system for being more productive while wearing the many different hats it takes to be a content marketer, blogger and course creator on a daily basis.

So, if you’re spreading yourself too thin, want to learn how to eliminate (and stay away from) distractions and get back to doing only what you do best—Deep Work is guaranteed to help you accomplish that. There’s even an audiobook version available to listen on Audible.

6. The Power of Broke: How Empty Pockets, a Tight Budget and a Hunger for Success Can Become Your Greatest Competitive Advantage by Daymond John.

I’m a huge fan of great stories about how entrepreneurs have risen from humble beginning to start a business from scratch and rise to fame. Shark Tank star and Fubu Founder, Daymond John embodies this in true form through his origin story within The Power of Broke. In this business book, he discusses how to get scrappy and how to leverage the tools, relationships and resources at your disposal to build a successful business on a small budget.

He emphasizes how starting a business when you’re broke forces you to think creatively and use your limited resources efficiently. It forces you to be innovative. Even more importantly, he explains how he’s intentionally placed resources constraints on himself over the years & how that’s helped him make the most of what he’s had. The Power of Broke is just as applicable to first-time entrepreneurs as it is seasons veterans. This business book will help you scrape, hustle and dream your way to the top.

7. Smarter Faster Better: The Transformative Power of Real Productivity by Charles Duhigg.

This business book is particularly unique in the productivity space because it offers up a new definition of what it means to be productive. This book teaches you how to shift your focus to managing how you think rather than spending time managing what you think. It’s core principle is that you can transform your life by making certain choices—and bestselling author Charles Duhigg gives you the tools to rewiring your decision-making process.

In Smarter Faster Better, Duhigg lays out a compelling case for how the traditional goal-setting model of focusing primarily on our big ambitions and ignoring all of the smaller decisions & easy goals along the way is inherently flawed if you want to create big change in your life or business. He argues that the people and companies who innovate quickest and get the most done have finessed the art of shifting importance to achieving the small goals—that eventually ladder up to bigger ones.

8. Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek.

Start with Why grew out of a TED talk delivered by the author, Simon Sinek, which has become the third most popular TED Talk ever. It’s built around the question, “Why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential and more profitable than others?” This business book’s basic premise is that the leaders who have had the greatest influence, act and communicate in the same way—which is the opposite of how most people function.

Sinek calls this idea, “The Golden Circle,” and it all begin with the question, “Why?” Interestingly, the reviews for this business book are very polarizing. Readers either love it or hate it. Personally, I love it. I think the harshest reactions and reviews come from readers who have difficulty viewing themselves objectively, taking in critical feedback and translating it into positive changes in leadership. It’s much easier to blindly continue on down the same path… What do you think?