http://www.ispeech.org/text.to.speech
The Property Voice Podcast - Musings: Book Reading Challenge 2015 – My Top Books
I interrupt the current series briefly to share an update on how my Book Reading Challenge turned out for the year. Listen in as I share some of the highlights among the 44 books that I read or listened to during 2015. I select my top 3, a few other notable mentions and some listener suggestions as well. Then, I will give you back some time so that you can focus on planning your goals for 2016, including a copy of The Property Investor Roadmap Infographic to all listeners to the show as my gift to you.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Resources mentioned
The Property Investor Roadmap Infographic is available to any listener that drops me an email podcast@thepropertyvoice.net
Today’s must do’s
Consider setting yourself a reading challenge for 2016.
Plan your property goals for 2016
Subscribe to and review the show in iTunes…and while you are at it please help us to spread the word by telling all your friends too!
Send in your property stories, questions or moans to podcast@thepropertyvoice.net and we will try and feature YOU on the show too!
Property Investor Toolkit – here is the book link on amazon.co.uk & amazon.com in case you would like to get yourself a copy to accompany this series
Get talking!
Join in the discussion, either here in the comments section below, or by emailing us at podcast@thepropertyvoice.net
Start a conversation on Twitter with us @PropertyVoiceUK or on our Facebook page
Transcription of the show
Hello and welcome to another edition of The Property Voice Podcast, my name is Richard Brown and as always it is a pleasure to have you join me again on the show today.
I interrupt the current series briefly to share an update on how my Book Reading Challenge turned out for the year. Listen in as I share some of the highlights among the 44 books that I read or listened to during 2015. I select my top 3, a few other notable mentions and we have some listener suggestions as well. Then, I will give you back some time so that you can focus on planning your goals for 2016, including a copy of The Property Investor Roadmap Infographic to all listeners to the show as my gift to you.
Property Chatter
At the start of the year, I set myself a reading challenge to read or listen to at least 2 books per month, so 24 in total. I managed to surpass that target in the summer and so set an ‘elastic goal’ of 36 for the year. I am happy to say that in the end, I managed to get through 44 books in total. I usually have a paperback, Kindle book and audio book on the go at the same time, which allows me to read in different situations I find. I have been amazed by many of the books that I read this year and many have had a great impact on me. Several have lead to significant changes in my thinking and behaviour as well.
In the show notes, I list out all 44 titles for you to peruse at your leisure. Suffice to say, Sanj Kareer, a Property Voice stalwart, invited me to list my top book of the year, along with the reason why. This was an almost impossible task as there were so many that I really enjoyed or found invaluable. Needless to say, here are my top 3 books of 2015, along with the reasons why.
_______________________________
First the fill list of titles for those looking for them…
Book Challenge 2015
1. Winners and How They Succeed - Alastair Campbell
2. On the Shortness of Life - Seneca
3. The Lean Start Up - Eric Reis
4. Oversubscribed - Daniel Priestly
5. Terrible Estate Agent Photos - Andy Donaldson
6. The Millionaire Fastlane - MJ Demarco
7. Go-Givers Sell More - Burg & Mann
8. Passion Into Profit - Andy Harrington
9. Protect Your Tech - Slade & Dix
10. The Compound Effect - Darren Hardy
11. Real Magic - Dr Wayne Dyer
12. Property Magic - Simon Zutshi
13. The Values Factor - Dr John Demartini
14. The Go-Giver - Burg & Mann
15. Brick Buy Brick - Tigrent UK
16. Your Simple Path - Ian Tucker
17. The Chimp Paradox - Prof Steve Peters
18. Planning & HMOs - CJ Haliburton
19. Total Recall - Arnie
20. The Obstacle Is The Way - Ryan Holiday
21. Predictably Irrational - Dan Ariely
22. The Power of Now - Eckhart Tolle
23. All About But To Let Finance - Peter Jones
24. The Slight Edge - Jeff Olson
25. The One Thing - Keller & Papasan
26. Eat That Frog - Brian Tracy
27. A Complaint Free World - Will Bowen
28. Successful Property Investing - Steve Bolton
29. The Millionaire Masterplan - Roger Hamilton
30. The 10X Rule - Grant Cardone
31. The Power of Real Estate Investing - Kemi Egan
32. Virtual Freedom - Chris Ducker
33. How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World - Harry Browne
34. Secrets of The Millionaire Mind - T Harv. Eker
35. Property Investor Toolkit - Richard WJ Brown
36. The Millionaire Next Door - Thomas J Stanley
37. The Rich Revolution - Bruce Bishop
38. Property Investment: The Essential Rules - Samantha Collett
39. The Miracle Morning - Hal Elrod
40. 100 Property Investment Tips - Dix & Bence
41. Think & Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill
42. HMO Property Success - Nick Fox
43. The 4-Hour Work Week - Timothy Ferriss
44. The 18-Year Property Cycle – Akhil Patel
_________________________________
In reverse order then, here are my top 3 books of the year.
- The Obstacle is The Way – Ryan Holiday
Key Idea:
Turning adversity, obstacles and challenges into advantages, lessons and victory. An insight into the Stoic philosophy at the same time.
My Insight:
What an awesome read...I had not really heard about the Stoic philosophy as such, apart from real life phrases like grin and bear in, soldier on or my beloved Birmingham City's anthem Keep Right On! It sounds bloody miserable I know and perhaps I have not done it justice with these sound bites to be fair, but is it a really good book I can tell you. I was so taken by it that I have added several of the author's recommended reading list to my own wish list now...Marcus Aurelius, Robert Greene et al.
A book of philosophy but also of strategy, one of self-mastery and also one of wisdom.
Definitely on my top books of 2015 list.
- The Miracle Morning – Hal Elrod
Key Idea:
The core idea is outrageously simple - start your day in the right way and all the rest will follow...motivation, success, personal transformation even. Bold claims indeed. But guess what...Hal Elrod might just be right! Once in a while, a book comes along that is a game changer or mindset shifter and for me this might just be up there with Covey's & 7 Habits as a personal development masterpiece.
I don't want to go into enormous detail but the so-called Life S-A-V-E-R-S outlined in the book build on many of the ingredients of success spanning...well as far back as you want to go really. The promise is to have a morning routine from 6 to 60 minutes that will set you up perfectly for your day...
My Insight:
You may gather by now that I have been impacted by this book. The SAVERS (silence, affirmations, visualisation, exercise, reading & scribing) collect together many time-honoured, if less well applied, personal success ingredients. An easy listen and Hal's personal story is inspiration enough - the guy was dead for 6 minutes after a horrific car crash, was told he would not walk again, had brain damage...it is an amazing story in itself. Over time, Hal rebuilt his life and did so by applying what became known as The Miracle Morning.
I had experimented with many aspects of the SAVERS over the years but failed to find a system that allowed me to make them stick in my routine. The Miracle Morning (TMM) helps to do this. As a result of TMM I have found a routine that works for me, am getting up much earlier, have managed to stick with disciplines like meditation where I could not before and have uncovered a whole bunch of apps and tools to aid my learning & development (note: I found some of these through the book resources and some myself).
Conclusion - must read!
- The Chimp Paradox – Prof Steve Peters
Key Idea:
To simplify and abridge slightly: we all have three sides to us...a rational human, a pre-programmed computer and one heck of a reckless and at times out of control chimp as well! If you ever wondered why sometimes you do the exact opposite to what you know you should, or have regrets for something you did or said later, then this book will help to explain this psychological phenomenon in a completely understandable way.
My Insight:
A game-changer of a book for me! This has to be one on my all-time favourite and most useful books EVER! Perhaps for the first time I now get it...why I can do things like consume and entire bar of chocolate without thinking...when on a health drive, or drink too much such that I black-out despite the fact that this is clearly dangerous territory to be...or even why the 'hackles' on the back of my neck start to rise when someone starts to say they may not fully agree with my well-considered, rational and obviously correct perspective!
It is a modern-day psychology classic and I only wish it had been written (and of course read by me) when I was nineteen years old doing some of the things I described earlier. The language and style is straightforward but full of relatable analogies, like the planets and the solar system and the audio version that I got was read by the author himself, which was nice. I would say, that at times all the different, systems and analogies used did confuse me just a little, as I found I was having to remember another abstract set of descriptions to understand an abstract topic in the first place. But, that is not a big deal I have to say.
Without any shadow of a doubt, this has to be a must-read book for anyone with the slightest interest in people, human behaviour and self-understanding. A real classic.
So that’s it, my top 3 books of 2015 – with The Chimp Paradox coming in at number 1. However, as I mentioned earlier, I have really enjoyed many of the books that I read this year, so here are some other notable mentions:
- The 18-Year Property Cycle – Akhil Patel: The best property book I read this year, not in my top 3 as technically it’s not a book
- The Go-Giver - Burg & Mann: Another kind of parable style book that illustrates how people who give and serve end up with more
- How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World - Harry Browne: mainly as this book both shocked me and stirred up some of my deepest values at the same time
- The Millionaire Fastlane - MJ Demarco: A book about achieving wealth through different types of business model, recommended to me by Carl Gilbert, a listener to the show
- The Values Factor - Dr John Demartini: a book about purpose, alignment and following your true direction in life…almost made the top 3…the only reason why not was due to its length and slight repetition
- Total Recall – Arnold Schwarzenegger: a frank, illuminating and inspiring autobiography
In all honesty, there are many, many in the list of books that I have read this year that I highly recommend. Some I plan to re-read next year too as I modify my reading to mix and match between new material and covering some older material again to soak it up. Watch this space therefore for my reading challenge for 2016.
Now though, let’s here from some of our listeners about their book recommendations.
Your Voice
I invited you to make some recommendations of your own this week and here are some of the book suggestions that I have received.
Adrian Bond: The Slight Edge was great. Jeff Olson. All the little things you do each day add up quickly to a bright future. Cheers
Scott Elliott: The one that stuck with me the most this year was actually a recommendation from you Richard Brown .. The Richest Man in Babylon ..it really kick-started the change in my thought process around money... Also The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey .. I don’t agree with everything he says but .. I am now hooked to his podcast/radio show J
Piotr Damek: 10x by Grant Cardone. Eye opening for setting massive goals, having vision and being fired up to execute in this.
Alan Christie: The 4 Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss was the best book I read (and re-read) in 2015
Sanj Kareer: My favourite book was The Miracle Morning: By Hal Elrod. Why - it's the book that added the most value to me by giving my focus. A really good practical guide
Mark Morris: 1. Getting things Done - David Allen
Love this book - it's one of the very few books (including Rich Dad poor dad ) that I have read twice. The book gives you so many great tips and advice on how to manage your workload and be as productive as possible. I have implemented a couple of things ie do it, delegate it, drop it or defer - has been a real game changer, along with managing emails more efficiently.
- Escape the Rat Race with Property Lease options – Barry Davies
Again a great property book and a book for newbies and property experts. I really have begun to understand how powerful and useful (for both buyer and seller ) lease options can be. I now realise a couple of off market deals I have been to see previously - could have been perfect for lease options.
Rob Moore: Top 3 spiritual:
7 Spiritual Laws of Success - Deepak Chopra
Flow/Good Business - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Inspiring Your Life - John DeMartini
I did say last time out that I would be giving away a copy of my own book: Property Investor Toolkit to 3 listeners. Now, one of these would have been Mark Morris, although he said he was happy to buy a copy instead – thanks for that Mark! However, if you want one as a gift for someone else just let me know.
I have to make special mention to Sanj Kareer. Who not only suggested this episode and then contributed to it, but he is also such a prolific contributor to the show with suggestions and ideas throughout the year. Thanks Sanj.
Now, I didn’t want to have to split hairs and make 3 books out of the contributors, so Mark, Sanj, Adrian, Scott, Piotr, Alan and even Rob can all have a copy if you would like one. I know some of you already have a copy, so maybe it can be a gift for someone else J
Thank you for your contributions all, my reading wish list has just got a bit bigger as a result.
Shout Out
Today’s Shout Out is quite straightforward really. As we near the end of 2015, we are no doubt starting to look ahead into 2016. That means goal-setting time doesn’t it?
So, I would like to help you along the way by sharing with you a copy of The Property Investor Roadmap Infographic. This sets out a simple way to plan ahead in what we call the SPEAR Life Plan, the RIGHT property strategy that is aligned to YOUR personal life plan and the Pillars of Success or 4P’s that will underpin the whole thing too.
It is yours with my compliments, so just email me podcast@thepropertyvoice.net if you would like a copy to aid you in your property goal setting for 2016.
There we go then, the final episode of The Property Voice Podcast this year. I would like to wish you a very happy healthy and prosperous New Year. Let’s make 2016 THE year when it comes to our property investing journey shall we?
Join me again next week as we return to the property cycles series. We continue to look into the Property Investment Lifecycle, looking more closely at the Acquire phase once more.
Meanwhile, the show notes will be over at the website www.thepropertyvoice.net
Thank you very much for listening again not only this week but also during this year and until next time on The Property Voice Podcast…it’s ciao-ciao