Reading Up!

One a week.

One every two weeks.

Eighty-percent of the day.

Three hours per day.

What is this? Sitcoms watched? Screen time through the day? Try again. The above numbers represent the number of books read or amount of time dedicated to reading by some of the most successful individuals in the world. Bill Gates. Mark Zuckerberg. Warren Buffet. Mark Cuban. In fact, when Elon Musk was asked how he learned to build rockets, he replied “I read books.” 

And these aren’t isolated samples. According to this Business Insider article, a study of 1,200 wealthy people found that they all have one pastime in common — they all read. They don’t read just anything, however, and you aren’t going to find trash novels and entertainment magazines on these bookshelves. The vast majority of these leaders read to self-educate. Self-help and business books, biographies and autobiographies, even the occasional how-to. Each individual takes every opportunity available to them to better themselves and go to bed each night a bit more informed than when they woke up that morning — and so should you. If this isn’t in your wheelhouse, you don’t know where to start or don’t think you have the time and attention to dedicate to that much reading, no sweat. We’ve done some of the legwork for you. Below is a “best of” list, as recommended by the AES family. We hope you enjoy!

1.) Juggling Elephants: An Easier Way to Get Your Most Important Things Done—Now! 

– Time Management and work-life balance

2.) Take the Stairs: 7 Steps to Achieving True Success 

– Focus and Discipline 

3.) The Compound Effect

– Decisions shape destiny

4.) Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear

– Living Your Most Vibrant Life 

5.) Find Your Strongest Life: What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently

– Women’s Issues; Strength

6.) Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown

– Getting the Right Things Done Through Selectivity and Discipline