6 of my FAVORITE business books

I can’t believe 2023 is almost over already, In 2023 challenged myself to grow as a business woman and I went through every business book possible trying to educate myself and grow my mindset. So I dedicated myself to reading at least 1 business based book. I read a total of 23 books so far this year and here are my top 6 and I saved the best for last:

6. Atomic Habits

This book does a great job of laying down the framework of how habits are formed, and shares insightful strategies for building good habits and breaking bad ones. It is a self help book so at moments, I did find it a bit boring but the overall message still was helpful in reminding me to pay attention to my small habits and evaluate if they were habits I wanted to keep and helped me achieve my goals of the version of myself I want to be. I’d definitely recommend people read this book at least once.

5. Financial Feminist

I think this is a solid book for those who never received a financial education or feel really lost when it comes to managing finances. Really geared towards beginners, and particularly towards women and there’s a lot of great practical advice in here. Be advised, there are a lot of curse words in this book. I added this book to my list because if you are looking to know the basics in one place this great and although she adds other peoples views in the book this book is written with a white middle class women with some college as the mindset and intended audience.

4. The personal MBA

The personal MBA is also a perfect read for a commuter or the person who is too busy to dedicate hours at a time for reading. Each chapter is organized with numerous sections that would take less than ten minutes to read. This by no means a replacement for an MBA but I did find that with the website it was very informative and Josh quotes Seth Godin in the book saying that dedicated reading of 30 or 40 books combined with real world experience is a better use of money then an MBA. This book is important because it gives you the list of those 30 or 40 books in the right structure and helps avoiding filter bubbles and gaps.

3. Profit First

A lot of great advice in this book. I also appreciate that the author makes a real effort to be conversational while also being strict about serious topics. Some of his jokes were a little lame but I suspect that they made him chuckle while he was writing them so I don’t begrudge. If you’re a business owner struggling with profit, this is a good read.

2. Chillpreneur

She’s very into the universe and manifestation talk, not overly like some books I have read but it is in there but if you’re into that or can manage to not get too hung up on it, I think you’ll find that her overall message is very down-to-earth, practical, useful and refreshing in this world of business books permeated by hustle culture mentality. There’s a lot of business advice out there, but (from what I’ve found) there aren’t too many people talking about the personal beliefs and mental blocks that stop us from taking advantage of that advice. I really liked that about this book. Some people (me included) know what to do but have mental blocks we might not have even realized is there and there are exercises in the book that help you work through them or at the very least realize they are there.

1. Comparisonitis

This was honestly one of my FAVORITE books this year, it really opened my eyes and made me feel seen. Comparisonitis goes deep into comparing yourself to others and being happy. Now is this technically a business book, no, but truly this was a very necessary read. When I decided to go full-time I compared my business to so many others and felt lacking. This book helped me change my mindset and really embrace that this is my journey and it will me unlike any others. Slight note: Do I feel this book is earth shattering no, and does some of her advice not convert well yes but overall I found the exercises very helpful and I found that it helped me work through and process my habit of comparing myself to others.

If you are in your #girlboss, #largeandincharge era or looking to grow mentally I’d recommend picking up any of these books.