If you want to be successful in not only real estate but life, these books will give you the theory, the how-to, and most important of all, the mindset that you need.

Considering how the internet and globalization are changing the way business is done faster than at any other time in the history of the world, I am here to tell you that you better invest in yourself. You are no longer just competing with your next door neighbor Tom for business, you’re competing with Amal from India and Chao from China. And however many billion others are out there.

Make yourself more valuable by reading great books by people who have spent a lifetime studying and applying whatever it is you want to learn. If you are saying to yourself…”But I’m done with school, I don’t have to do that anymore.” All I have to say to you is Good Luck! You’re gonna need it.

Ironically enough, I was never much of a reader until I left school. I picked up a book on real estate investing and life as I knew it was over. Real estate books led into books on sales, psychology, marketing, management, and about everything under the sun.

As my good friend Mark Twain said, “The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.”

As I have read hundreds of books in the last few years, here is my list of “Must Read” books.

REAL ESTATE

= > Making Big Money Investing in Foreclosures: Without Cash or Credit by Peter Conti & David Finkel.

= > Making Big Money in Real Estate: Without Tenants, Banks, or Rehab Projects by Peter Conti & David Finkel.

= > The Advantage of Real Estate by none other than myself and Dusty. Yes, that was a shameless self promotion.

= > Investing in Apartment Buildings by Matthew Martinez.

BUSINESS

= > The E-myth Revisited, by Michael Gerber.

= > No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs, by Dan Kennedy. (Everyday that goes by after you know this book exists and you haven’t read it, is unproductive based on what you will be able to get done in the same amount of time after reading this book. You are basically an idiot if you don’t immediately buy and read this book. It’s that simple and for all you non-readers out there, it easy to read and short.)

= > The Emperors of Chocolate, by Joel Glenn Brenner.

= > The Road Ahead, by Bill Gates.

= > The 4-Hour Workweek, by Timothy Ferriss.

= > The Paradox of Power, by Pat Williams. Whether you are a Christian or not, read this book!

= > The Go-Giver, by Bob Burg and John David Mann.

FINANCIAL

= > The Richest Man in Babylon, by George Clayson.

= > Rich Dad Poor Dad, by Robert Kiyosaki.

= > Missed Fortune 101, by Douglas Andrew.

= > The Warren Buffet Way, by Robert Hagstrom.

HOW TO THINK

= > The Secret, by a bunch of people.

= > Think & Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill.

= > As a Man Thinketh, by James Allen.

= > Self Reliance/Compensation, by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

= > The Prophet, by Khalil Gibran.

= > The Mindmap Book, by Tony Buzan.

= > The Art of War, Sun Tzu.

= > Tao Te Ching, by Lao Tzu.

= > You Can Work Your Own Miracles, Napoleon Hill.

MARKETING

= > The Ultimate Sales Letter, The Ultimate Marketing Plan, by Dan Kennedy. He is the man!

= > The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell.

= > Purple Cow, by Seth Godin.

= > Words That Sell, by Richard Bayan.

PSYCHOLOGY

= > Man’s Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl.

= > The Power of the Subconscious Mind, by Dr. Joseph Murphy.

= > Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

= > The Wisdom of Crowds, by Charlene Belitz and Meg Lundstrom.

= > Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT (SELF-HELP)

= > Unlimited Power, by Tony Robbins. Absolutely fantastic!

= > Maximum Achievement, by Brian Tracy. This one is in my top 5 favorite books of all time. Need I say more???

= > The 5 Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle, by America’s Foremost Business Philosopher…JIM ROHN. He is the man. Read his books.

= > Manifest Your Destiny, by Wayne Dyer.

= > Awaken the Giant Within, by Tony Robbins.

= >The Power of Focus, by Mark Victor Hansen, Jack Canfield, and Les Hewitt.

= > Read and Grow Rich, by Burke Hedges.

= > The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho. This was actually in the fiction section at B & N … but I reclassified it to personal develop.

MANAGEMENT

= > The One Minute Manager, by Ken Blanchard. You can read this one in less than 30 minutes and it’s worth its weight in gold.

TECHNOLOGY AND WEB STUFF

= > Electronic Marketing for Small Business, by Tom Antion.

= > The Big Switch, by Nicholas Carr.

= > Wikinomics, by Don Tapscott & Anthony Williams.

= > The Search, by John Battelle.

= > Blog: Understanding the Information Reformation That’s Changing Your World, by Hugh Hewitt.

= > Problogger: Secrets to Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income, by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett.

SALES/COMMUNICATION

= > How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie. I could have put this book under many different categories but chose sales. Doesn’t really matter. Every person on the planet should read this one. Life for everyone would be easier.

= > How I Raised Myself From Failure to Success in Selling, by Frank Bettger.

= > Selling 101, by Zig Ziglar.

= > NLP Workbook, by Joseph O’Connor. Best book on NLP that I’ve ever read out of about 8 or 10.

= > Instant Rapport, by Michael Brooks.

= > The Greatest Salesman in the World, by Og Mandino.

= > NLP: The New Technology of Achievement, by Steve Andreas and Charles Faulkner.

= > How to Persuade People Who Don’t Want to be Persuaded, by Joel Bauer.

ECONOMICS

= > Unlimited Wealth, by Paul Zane Pilzer. Fantastic book and about time someone refuted the fundamental ecomonic theory of resources being scarce!

= > The Long Emergency, by James Kunstler. This book would be about the complete opposite of Unlimited Wealth but as Jim Rohn says, it’s good to look at both sides. This is the doom and gloom view of the impending oil crisis.

= > The Great Depression Ahead, by Harry Dent. If nothing else, at least go to the book store, read the prologue, and decide what you think from there.

BIOGRAPHY/AUTOBIOGRAPHY

= > The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.

= > Lincoln the Unknown, by Dale Carnegie.

= > Trammell Crow, by William Bragg Ewald. This could also double in the real estate investing section.

= > Made in America, by Sam Walton.

= > Tesla: Man Out of Time, by Margaret Cheney.

SPIRITUAL

Disclaimer: I don’t care what religion you are a part of . . . these books are excellent. If you don’t agree with something that is said, discrediting the entire book would be quite the travesty. Don’t miss seeing the forest for the trees!

= > The Power of Intention, by Wayne Dyer.

= > The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz.

= > A Course in Miracles, by . . . well that could be up for debate. (Haven’t read through this one in its entirety. If you pick it up, you’ll be able to see why. I will finish it one day but just isn’t my primary focus right now.

= > The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, by DeepakChopra.

= > The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle.

= > The Bible (yeah . . . haven’t read all of this one either . . . that Old Testament can get ya)

= > Power Versus Force, The Eye of the I, I : Subjectivity and Reality, by David Hawkins. Watch out! These books may send you off into the ether.

= > Your Sacred Self, by Wayne Dyer.

SCIENCE

= > A Brief History of Time, by Stephen Hawking.

WRITING/LANGUAGE

= > The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White.

= > A Handbook of Rhetorical Devices, by Robert Harris. This has been a killer free resource on my quest to become a better writer/speaker. Get rid of any negative preconceived notions about rhetoric that you may have … it’s EXTREMELY powerful!

= > Hypnotic Writing, by Joe Vitale