Over the years I've read more books than I can remember.

What I can vividly remember though, is my distaste 🤮 for reading when I was in grade school/high school.

As I reflect back on those times, it wasn't reading that I had the problem with...

It was what the teachers / society were telling me I should have been reading and should have been interested in.

So I just didn't read at all. 😔

And then "Scar Tissue" by Anthony Kiedis changed my life forever.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers were / are one of my all-time favorite bands.

At the time of reading this book I was feeling the teenage angst that a lot of other people I am sure can connect with.

When I opened the book I found myself not being able to put it down because the stories seemed so WILDDDD compared to the boring life, in a boring town, on a boring day that I was experiencing.

It was my first true sensation that "dang CJ you may enjoy stories and storytelling."

And sure enough, after this book, slowly but surely I started to seek out other books that I gravitated towards... rather than the ones other people told me I should be reading.

In short...

When the pressure was off, more pages got read, and I began to really enjoy who I was becoming from the stories I was learning from.

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Now at 32, I can say that there have been books that have shaped who I am as a human, and I want to share those with you because I believe they may help you like they have done so for me.

Let me be clear, YOU DO NOT NEED TO READ ANY OF THESE UNLESS THEY ARE CALLING YOU.

I am not my teachers.

I am not the figure that says "oh you have to read these or else."

I am just a guy that got lost in the pages of the books I am about to talk about, and losing myself in them helped me find who I am meant to be.

Below I have broken down books by the themes of relationships with self and others, career, and continuous education

Relationship with Self

The Almanack of Naval Ravikant

This book helps you build frameworks of thinking that will improve your wealth, health, and happiness....areas all humans need to live a fruitful life.

Throughout it, Naval Ravikant challenges readers on what they believe health, wealth, and happiness actually are, and the beauty is, that you can define them through the questions you ask yourself on a daily basis.

Naval's way of thinking boosted my confidence that investing so much of my time learning about how to be a "healthy" and "wealthy" individual... was/is the most important pursuit that I should focus on.

Relationship with Others

Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most

Why was this book helpful to me?

Over the years I have had difficulties

1. telling others no (I am a people pleaser)
2. expressing what I truly thought
3. opening up about my feelings

These struggles showed themselves a lot when Erin and I started our relationship and marriage.

I quickly realized I needed to sharpen by communication style and be able to articulate my thoughts in a calm, cool, and collected manner (which I was NOT able to do).

This book helped tremendously with this.

Relationship with Self + Others

The Anatomy of Peace

Empathy is something all of us can do a better job of having.

Especially men.

This book single handedly changed my life because it forced me to reflect on how I was showing up in all my relationships, and how my thoughts/actions/beliefs could either be peaceful, or disturb the peace in any given moment.

The best part of this book?

It is told through a story of parents and the relationships they are struggling to have with their teen children.

Something EVERYONE can relate heavily to.

Career

The Personal MBA

While I did well in school, I sitting at a desk and listening to lectures WERE NOT MY THING lol.

In fact, I probably skipped 30-40 percent of my classes, and the classes I did attend...

I fell asleep in.

^^^ This is not something I am proud of.

It actually makes me angry because if I knew about entrepreneurship earlier on, aka read books like Personal MBA, I wouldn't have wasted my time, or the time of my teachers and other students.

And if you are thinking about a career in business and entrepreneurship, understanding the lingo and language will be pivotal in your success.

The Personal MBA is a crash course in getting a head start to understanding all the factors that go into business.

So when you listen to podcasts, read other books, and watch YouTube videos in the business realm... you will be able to understand what everyone is talking about because you earned your Personal MBA.

Continuous Education

Tribe of Mentors

Last, but certainly not least, is Tribe of Mentors.

Growing up, I feel like I didn't have people living lives I looked up to.

I wanted adventure.

I wanted stories.

I wanted a TRIBE.

This book will give you that!

The ability to learn from people ACTUALLY DOING SHIT.

ACTUALLY LIVING A LIFE above and beyond the "get a job, get married, have kids, pay the bills, and die."

To put it simply, if you crave advice, stories, and tips and tricks that can inspire you to LIVE a more fulfilling life, this book is for you.

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PHEWWWW

If you made it this far in this email, THANK YOU.

I appreciate your willingness to read some of my thoughts.

Your time and attention are extremely valuable and I never take them for granted!🙏🏽

While I gave information above on 5 books that have changed my life, I also just dropped a new YouTube video that goes more in depth on the struggles that caused me to pick these books up in the first place, what I learned from them, how I implemented some of their tools in my life, and why I think they can be helpful to other people out there.

So if you consider yourself a bookworm like me...

Go check it out!

Also, if you have a book you believe I should read, and I could potentially add to the 5 above, HIT ME WITH YOUR THOUGHTS!

#thriveon

CJ

p.s. today I am grateful for living in a time where access to books and information are so abundant.