Top 8 “Dangit-5” Books of All time …

Reading Verbal Judo by George J Thompson over the weekend I had a very powerful reaction that is not common, but I have felt several times before:

“DANGIT this thing is great! Why didn’t I read this 5 years ago!”

And literally thinking of all of the things that might be different if I had read it earlier.

Granted that might not be a great philopshy to hold in life, of always looking back and saying DANGIT! But it also means that someone has written a really powerful book –

So here is a quick take of my eight favorite Dangit5 books of the last decade or so, thanks to the inspiration of Mr. Thompson:

  1. The Compound Effect – Darren Hardy – A classic and one of my all time favorites for not only introducing me to some simple concepts about the power of small habits over time (and the famous 1 penny story), but also introducing me to the late, great Jim Rohn.  I think I have watched some of his videos on YouTube a 100 times, along with a few Darren Hardy videos too.  Journaling, goals, and a lot of my habits all flow from this book and its gateway effect on me.
  2.  The Unthethered Soul – Michael Singer – This one came out of left field and just blew me away. So very simple yet so powerful that it felt like I could only read about 10 pages at a time before I had to literally stop and think – It feels like I might need to read this one a few more times over to have it sink in more
  3. The 4 Disciplines of Execution – Sean Covey and other Folks – Books like Good to Great get all the attention, and for my money Great by Choice is the #1 business book of all time. But #2 or 3 is 4DX. Because it gives you an actual model to assess any goal or number that your company can come up with. I try and re-read it at least once a year, and it always helps.
  4.  ShoeDog – Phil Knight – What a great tale that hit me at one of my lowest points, so I will always be grateful for it. Some of the simple thoughts about “keep going” and telling the truth stuck like a splinter in my brain and I have probably recommended it to 15 people. If you are an entrepreneur you basically have to read this tale of one of the greatest companies in the world that almost died 100 times over.
  5. Ego is the Enemy – Ryan Holiday – One of my favorite writers over the last 5 years, this one opened up a lot of ideas from stoic philosophy and Senca, to how much I had wrapped myself up in my businesses.
  6. Verbal Judo – George J Thompson – A great tale about dealing and communicating with people in all situations. Written by a pro who certainly led an interesting life in many different arenas.
  7. Outliers – Malcolm Gladwell – I recently re-read the section on practice with the Beatles and Bill Gates and almost forgot how amazing it was because it gets obscured by the overly simplistic 10 thousand hour rule. But the ideas about Mr. Gates and the Beatles should be taught in every high school in America.
  8. On the Shortness of Life – Seneca – Not sure I have underlined a book more in one reading. Thanks again to Mr. Holiday for introducing me to wise words that stand the test of time. This one has definitely been added to my “once a year list.”