2022 is probably the first year in a while that I’ve taken to reading in a more intentional way. Besides articles and books, I also dove into print newsletters, which I found quite addicting.
Having completed the first year of my leadership program in June, I also wanted to continue learning and growing, and the most accessible way to do this – especially as I was traveling about – was with Kindle eBooks.
So, here are the top books that made a difference for me in 2022 and what I got out of them.
Profit First by Mike Michalowicz
Mike Michalowicz’ Profit First presents a new way of thinking about profit. Most of us have been taught this formula:
Revenue – Expenses = Profit
But Mike urges us to look through the lens of this formula instead:
Revenue – Profit = Expenses
Throughout the book, Mike makes some excellent points about how the traditional formula is flawed, how 80% of businesses fail (despite them being run by smart, driven people), and how adopting a new approach to managing our finances allows our businesses to generate profit from day one.
As Mike himself points out, the method is very straightforward. He even touched on it briefly in a former book.
Something often gets lost in translation when a small idea is expanded upon to the extent it is in Profit First, though. It’s nice that there are plenty of valuable insights, examples, and case studies to draw from, but I find something always gets muddled when there is so much preamble and port-mortem wrapped around it. The Power of Habit was a lot like that, and I still don’t know why people like it so much.
To make the most of this reading, you’d need to distill the core concepts down into a simple, digestible process, checklist, or flowchart.
But one of the things I immediately applied was taking 1% of my revenue (profit) and shoveling it into a separate account. Every month, that account has been slowly but surely growing. And that’s the tangible way in which this book made a difference for me.
Learn more about Profit First
Official Get Rich Guide to Information Marketing by Robert Skrob
All the gurus talk about testing and validating an offer (e.g., by taking pre-orders before even making the product), but rarely explain the process.
Robert Skrob’s Official Get Rich Guide to Information Marketing lays out the formula in crystallized detail. This book will take you through the paces of launching an offer that converts (with several methods documented) and leveraging it into growing a profitable business in short order, all while laying out a process that feels simple and manageable.
The resources mentioned in the book are largely outdated or deprecated, but the general principles laid out still hold true. A business can be built on the back of a single teleseminar.
Learn more about Official Get Rich Guide to Information Marketing
The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale
I had, of course, listened to The Strangest Secret multiple times before ever reading it.
This summer, though, as I was scrolling through my Kindle library, I identified The Strangest Secret as a “quick read” I wanted to brush up on. After all, depending on where you’re at in life, books can hit you a little differently.
The main thing I took away, that I soon found reflected in plenty of present-day personal development and business books is this:
Only one in 100 people will ever be wealthy, and only four in 100 people will ever be financially independent.
Basically, 95% of people don’t know what they’re doing when it comes to their finances.
I’ve recalled this stat in some of my recent writing efforts (including a forthcoming book) as well.
Learn more about The Strangest Secret
One Million Followers by Brendan Kane
With a bold promise like One Million Followers, I found this book hard to resist.
The book opens by telling the story of other people’s successes instead of delivering on its promise (of helping you grow a following of a million followers), which I found off-putting. Brendan also starts selling his coaching services before giving the reader a good reason to, which I found tacky.
I’m all for books being long-form sales letters, so long as they contain useful information, but the way it’s done here is more akin to asking for one’s hand in marriage before dating.
Eventually, though, Brendan does reveal his process for growing large followings. It’s not long before you realize that it’s going to take some money, probably some hired help, a lot of hard work, and perseverance.
One Million Followers will work for you if you put in the work. But from my perspective, you would basically need to make social media your full-time job.
Where this book made a difference for me was in showing me how a large social media following could be leveraged to create revenue. This was a code many seemed unable to crack, but Brendan demonstrates real strategy in an ocean of fleeting and ineffectual tactics.
Learn more about One Million Followers
At Your Command by Neville Goddard
Neville Goddard sure is making the rounds in the Law of Attraction, mindset, and spiritual communities right now, where his biggest contribution is considered the Law of Assumption.
At Your Command is one of his shorter works, but his brilliance as a writer and thinker totally shines through.
This was one of the books that gave me the personal confidence to say I’m more of a proponent of New Thought than Christianity, though the two aren’t exactly inseparable.
Either way, I felt empowered by the read, and At Your Command may well make it onto my yearly read list.
Learn more about At Your Command
The Illusion of Money by Kyle Cease
Kyle Cease’s The Illusion of Money is just as much a book about expansion as it is a book about money.
If we’re not expanding, we’re shrinking. And if we retreat further and further into a comfortable space, we’re not going to grow. Consequentially, we won’t make the income we could be making either.
But if we follow our heart and move into a space that’s a little scary but also exciting, we’re in the sweet spot. That’s where magic happens.
This book will help you identify what lights you up most and show you how to keep stepping into expansion.
Learn more about The Illusion of Money
The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Getting Your Shit Together by John Carlton
Having read John Carlton’s Simple Success Secrets No One Told You About, I didn’t exactly have high expectations for The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Getting Your Shit Together. Which could be one of the reasons I was ultimately blown away by it.
The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Getting Your Shit Together won’t necessarily teach you practical know-how and step by step processes you can apply to your business and life. It goes deeper than that, impacting you at a foundational mindset level. It’s like street smarts for the lonely and isolated entrepreneur (which is most of us).
The book is a joy to read, and you feel smarter just holding it in your hands.
Learn more about The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Getting Your Shit Together
No B.S. Wealth Attraction in the New Economy by Dan Kennedy
I have read 11 Dan Kennedy books so far, and most if not all have proven brilliant. But only now do I feel as though I’ve finally hit gold.
And, no surprise, No B.S. Wealth Attraction in the New Economy is sublime. This book sets out to dismantle our mistaken understanding of money, as well as why and how money moves to the people it ultimately does. Then, it shows you how to apply the many “Wealth Magnets” described within.
If you feel like you’re working long and hard and getting nowhere in your entrepreneurial or even artistic career, you need this book.
Learn more about No B.S. Wealth Attraction in the New Economy
Creative Mind and Success by Ernest S. Holmes
Ernest S. Holmes is another proponent of New Thought, and one that shouldn’t be ignored if the Law of Attraction and subconscious reprogramming are of interest to you.
Creative Mind and Success features both spiritual insights and practical wisdom that, if melded together, can produce real results in the real world.
I especially liked what he said about always demonstrating activity. If you’re in business, says Earnest, you should be constantly rearranging shelves, creating new promotions, starting new projects, and so on. He says perception of activity alone will draw in new customers.
While he is talking primarily about offline business, the principles work in online business too. If you’re regularly adding new content to your site, redesigning it at frequent intervals, adding products every quarter, and so on, it will appear to customers there is always something going on, which will stimulate sales.
I am applying this principle to my new podcast as well.
Learn more about Creative Mind and Success
More Books That Made A Difference
Wanna see what other books made a difference for me? Here are my summations and recommendations from years past:
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
Final Thoughts
Trying to decide what books to read in 2023? Need some help applying what you’ve learned? Trying to figure out how to progress in your artistic career or business?
Then I encourage you to get in touch for personal coaching. Let me diagnose your challenges, find a pathway, and figure out if we’re a good fit to work together.
What books did you read in 2022? Which ones made a difference for you? How will you be applying what you learned?
