I’ve been reading a lot of books in the past 6 months that have really changed my outlook on life. I know some of you guys have been asking for a list, so here they are:
- How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie – This is one of my favourite books. It really opened up the way I treated people. My biggest takeaway from this is that we should never ever criticize. Nothing good ever comes from criticism.
- Shoe Dog by Phil Knight – This book the autobiography of the Founder of Nike. I thought it was written in a very honest and sometimes funny way. It really showed the many hurdles and struggles this one company had to go through to get to the multi-billion dollar behemoth it is today.
- Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance – This is a book about Elon Musk and his life. I loved how Elon became a master of his art because of pure perseverance and an intense ability and drive to learn about everything from alternative energy to rockets. I mean here’s a guy who learned to build a rocket just from reading books.
- 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey – My biggest takeaway here really isn’t about the 7 habits because I thought the book got kinda theoretical at some point. What I loved instead was the concept of a paradigm shift. How sometimes we are too quick to judge a person without realizing that person’s true reality.
- 48 Laws of power by Robert Greene – I loved how this book is like a guide to life. Telling us what we should do and not do. The part I loved in particular was one part when it told us how we shouldn’t get angry about things. That how we often get angry because we take things personally but very very rarely things aren’t about us at all. People do things for a variety of reasons that can go too far back and are too complicated for us to understand. That was a huge mind shift for me. Once I realized that things weren’t about me, I got angry or emotional a lot less.
- Extreme Ownership by Joko Willink and Leif Babin – This book taught me the concept of how to run an efficient team based on how Navy Seals function. On the basic principle of extreme ownership meaning we own the results of our mission entirely. Regardless of factors that fall out of our control.
- King of Capital by David Carey – I found this book really interesting because it taught me a lot about how the world of leverage buyouts worked. It gave me an idea of how these huge funds value companies and how it’s all about positive cash flows. That if a bank won’t lend money to your company, chances are your company isn’t that valuable.
Okay guys that’s my reading list. Hope that helps!
Timothy Tiah – Co-Founder of Colony, Kuala Lumpur Co-Working Space