When it comes to marketing and growing my business, books have provided many of my most valuable lessons.
No surprise there, right? Yep, we keep comin’ back to this theme… It’s all about book learnin’!
In fact, I blabbed all about the crucial role books play in building your marketing + business knowledge-base in a recent post.
But here’s something you might find surprising. The lessons that made the BIGGEST impact on my business are from books that have NOTHING to do with marketing or business in general.
Knowledge with the power to inspire creativity (idea bombs BURSTING in your brain) + motivate change (the kick in the patooty you need to take MASSIVE action) + transform your biz (from small potatoes to big cheese) can come from ANYWHERE! Non-business books included.
Now that I’ve piqued your interest, you’re undoubtedly wondering what are the non-marketing + non-biz books that have made such monumental impact on my biz?
Well I’m not one to hold out on my friends, so here are the goods (Enjoy)…

1. The Power of Intention (Dr. Wayne Dyer)

It sounds clichéd (I know), but this book… CHANGED. MY. LIFE.
Author, and Oprah pal, Dr. Wayne Dyer uncovered a fundamental secret:
Positivity is the key to achieving your goals.
Of course setting goals is the first step to achieving goals. Well duh, right?
But so often goals are borne out of frustration or reactionary response. Or cast in an attempt swim against the stream, so to speak. And goals framed from that perspective are DOOMED to fail.
The “secret” Dr. Dyer discovered is that to successfully achieve your goals, you have to frame them from a positive perspective.
Now you’re likely thinking to yourself, with a grain of skepticism: “Positivity is all it takes, huh?”
Well it’s TRUE! Think of it like this…
You’re overweight, and the situation’s growing out of control.
Instead of thinking… “I’ve gotta STOP eating or I gonna explode (literally) and die!”
Think… “I need to improve my diet and lose weight, so I can be healthy and live a long, productive life for myself and my family.”
In a business context, it might look something like this…
Let’s you have a productivity issue.
Instead of thinking… “I’m so busy with pointless tasks, I never get anything done – I’ve gotta stop wasting time on the small stuff!
Think… “I need to improve my time management to increase my focus on the most important, high level tasks.”
In short, Dr. Dyer’s revelatory book is a manual for harnessing and honing metal positivity to achieve your goals and construct the life you REALLY want to lead.
And this awe-inspiring text is chock full of tips, tools and techniques to make this happen, along with a bevy of successful case studies.

2. Story (Robert McKee)

Story Author, Robert McKee, owns the distinction of being immortalized by the great character actor, Brian Cox, in the fabulously witty Nicholas Cage movie, Adaptation. (The movie’s great, and Cox’s portrayal of the surly, yet charming McKee is SPOT ON. Definitely worth watching if you haven’t already seen it.)
McKee rose to prominence on the Hollywood scene thanks to his uber-intense, three day screenwriting seminar. A program that’s become the most highly regarded screenwriting workshop in the movie biz.
During the three day session, McKee kicks attendees’ collective butts, instilling them, boot camp drill sergeant-style, with the core building blocks necessary to craft compelling stories. And the program yields legit results… Hundreds of McKee’s students have written and directed highly successful, big budget Hollywood movies and network TV series.
Story, the book, distills McKee’s seminar into 419 pages of insightful story-crafting magic.
McKee deconstructs the Story process, revealing the “secrets” to crafting tales that excite, engage, and propel audiences from beginning to end with an insatiable desire to know “what’s going happen next!?”
And as savvy business owners like you already know, stories are mission critical to effective marketing. You’re constantly telling stories… About your customers (establishing empathy), the services your sell (positioning those services as the ideal solution to your customers problems), and about your business (establishing credibility).
And Story provides the blueprint for mastering the art of marketing storytelling.

3. The Secret (Rhonda Byrne)

A few years back (in fact, ten years ago… Has it really been that long?! Ugh!) the Secret became an international phenomenon.
Originally released as a documentary, and later translated into book format, the project garnered a massive wave of public attention. At the time, the Secret served as a tipping point of sorts for mainstream interest in modern spirituality (specifically spirituality that’s not tethered to a specific religious movement or practice.)
In essence, the Secret is a manual for harnessing the power of your desire.
It works like this… What do you want — out of love, relationships, business or life in general? Broadcast that desire to the universe as a clear, strong, positive message of what you genuinely want for your life. And low and behold, your desires become reality.
The Secret details – via countless case studies – how projecting your desires in the form of positive energy into the universe manifests those desires. And in turn demonstrates how this practice holds the power to vastly improve your relationships, health, business and life in general.

4. The War of Art (Steven Pressfield)

The War of Art author Steven Pressfield didn’t fight your typical war. His enemies weren’t foreign born. Nor did the hail from some distant land.
Rather Pressfield’s enemies were movie producers and book publishers (who served as the gatekeepers of his chosen industry), the movie going and book reading public at large, and most notably, himself.
Nowadays, Pressfield enjoys the rarefied status of a highly decorated screenwriter and successful author, with countless hit movies and bestselling (fiction + non-fiction books) to his credit.
But Pressfield toiled at his craft for decades, meeting failure after setback after failure, before achieving an iota of tangible success.
And along the way, the urge to give in and give up was a relentless constant. The pressure to quit, from both outside forces, and his own “inner voice,” were insufferable.
Meanwhile Pressfield fought the good fight. And wound up winning more battles than he lost, on the path to winning the War of Art.
Pressfield details his struggles, and outlines the battle plan he created to defeat his enemies (real + imagined). And his plan serves as strategy that can be applied to business ventures as effectively as creative pursuits.

5. Do The Work (Steven Pressfield)

Though “work” happens to be in the title of this book, I assure you it’s not, strictly speaking, a business book.
The lessons contained in this slim, yet powerful volume, however, can certainly be applied to your business – and a whole lot more!
Effectively a sequel to The War of Art, Do the Work addresses the biggest roadblock to individual success: Self-doubt.
In one of the book’s most poignant passages, Pressfield describes being disgusted with the quality of his work after a long day of writing.
Sitting back down to write again the next day, Pressfield reviews the previous days output, and his opinion does an about face – he’s actually delighted with the results.
He writes twice as much that day and finishes up self-satisfied with his work.
The next day, however, Pressfield reviews the prior day’s work, and, once again, he’s convinced it’s HORRIBLE RUBBISH.
And so on goes the cycle – again and again and again (and again)…
The solution (which Pressfield deftly illustrates with strategies, tools and case studies)? Do The Work.
Doubt will persist forever. Perseverance is your only resistance.

What Are Some of Your Most Inspirational Books?

Of course I’ve been greatly inspired by loads more books than just theses five. And I’m always eager to share my reading list.
I’m also always on the lookout for motivating tomes.
So weather you’ve on the lookout for inspiring suggestions, or have a burning recommendation, stop by my Google+ page and share!