Top 3 Books You Need To Read In Your Early 20's

After my family and my friends, the number one thing that has had a hugely positive impact on my life is without a doubt books. And what I want to do today is share three of the most valuable ones with you. Not just the key takeaways, not the things that you can go do right now, but actually how these books impacted my life, the decisions that I made because of these. And I do that in the hopes that you will be inspired to go out, buy these books and read them. Because in their totality, they are so powerful. And if you live by the philosophies in these books, you can see some spectacular changes in your life. So the first book that really had a massive impact on me is the Four Hour Work Week. And I encountered this book probably I was about 22, 23 years old. I had just become a management consultant fresh out of college. And from the outside looking in, things were good, right? I had this cool job straight out of college. I was making good money. People around me thought it was very prestigious. When I told my aunts, they thought it was great. The management was very smart, very friendly. Everybody that I worked with was kind. It seemed like this is exactly what you want. This is what I was told that I should want my entire life. But I was depressed. I would wake up in the morning with this sense of small dread. And it wasn't like a depression where I didn't get out of bed, but it was just when I looked forward to the next day and the next day and the next year and the next 10 years, I didn't see a time where I was going to spend my days doing something I loved. I was always going to be working, you know, doing this and then working for the weekend. And while there might be achievements within that and it's fun to achieve, I didn't. I wasn't fulfilled. Like there was no passion behind what I was doing. And I recognize this is a tremendously first world problem. I'm grateful for it. But I couldn't continue like that. And it wasn't until I counted the four Hour Work week that I realized there was another option. There's not just bad jobs or where you're paid poorly and your bosses stink, and then good jobs where you've got friendly people. There is an entire end to this spectrum, which is you create a muse business. This is the type of business that allows you tremendous freedom to travel, do the things that you want, the hobbies that you like, and you can make it something you're passionate about. And that's where Charisma on Command eventually came from after I should say, and I'll talk about these in another video, a number of failed attempts at other businesses. But really what the Four Hour Work Week did is it got me started on this path. The first business I ever did was a parkour training DVD that I did on the side while I was a management consultant. So that book forever changed my life, put me on the path that brings me to you today. So the second book that was huge was how to Win Friends and Influence People. This is by Dale Carnegie. It's like 80 years old and it's amazing, even though the title is kind of cheesy as it is with a lot of these books. But this one is so special because for me, I had started working on the Four Hour Work Week stuff. But what I realized is I had a partner, Ben, who is my co founder of Charisma on Command. He lived in New York. I lived in Washington D.C. i was kind of depressed, not just with my work, but I didn't have a ton of friends in the city. He was my best friend. He was in New York. I wanted to leave, but I felt stuck by this job. And what how to Win Friends actually helped me do was to go into the president of my company's office and and have a 20 minute conversation with him that ended in him giving me a remote work arrangement from New York City. I got to go. I got to live with my friend. I got to spend more time in the evenings working on this business. It was awesome. But I tell you this, if I had not read how to Win Friends and Influence People, and if you don't read how to Win Friends and Influence People, you will probably go around talking about yourself and the things that you want all the time. So the conversation that I would have had with his boss had I not read the book would have been, I'm not happy here. You know, I need to move cities. I appreciate everything, but it's just time for me to go. Me, me, me, me, right? What I wound up doing instead, after reading this book and taking copious notes, was going and saying, here's the deal, things aren't working out great for me in Washington D.C. not just with the job, but I'm not feeling great. But I don't want to leave you guys hanging. I'm going to move to New York, but I want to do it in a way that is best for you. So whether that means I adjust my deadline for leaving or whether that means that I go and I commute back to Help you guys transfer over or whether that means I work remotely. Whatever's best for you. You've been amazing to me, and I want to return the favor. When I came in from that perspective, he was so accommodating. Also, he's a cool dude. I appreciate that. If he ever sees this video. Thank you. But when you talk to what people want and need and not to your wants and needs, you're gonna be so much more influential. You're gonna have better friends and a better life. So that's the second book I absolutely recommend. The third book is called the Six Pillars of Self Esteem by Nathaniel Brandon. And the time where I kind of really needed this book is I moved to New York City. I had this remote work arrangement. It was incredible. But what happened was after about six months of working in New York, I got let go because no longer was I an employee. I was a contractor. So now I'm 23, 24 years old, living in New York. I. I've got a mountain of student debt, I'm not making any income, and I'm still so poor that I'm sleeping on my friend's floor on a mattress that I got from Target. Like, I do not have money. And I had to make a really serious decision. Do I jump back into the corporate world wholeheartedly, try to get my finances stable, or do I commit to this entrepreneurial thing that really hadn't taken off yet? And it was the six pillars of self esteem that really helped me get clear on what I needed to do. Because this book, I recommend it to you. If you're in a position where you need to make a tough decision, if you don't feel confident in the things that you're doing, if you feel like you are being the type of person that other people push around, this book gets you honest on your bs. The lies that you tell yourself about the things you have to do and the way that you have to be versus the way that you truly desire. And when I went through the exercises in this book, it became crystal clear to me that even if the entrepreneurial endeavor failed, fell flat on its face, I. I would not be able to respect myself if I hadn't tried. And so when I was let go, I never looked back. I scrounged, I did odd jobs, but my focus was always on creating a business for myself. And that business turned into charisma on command. So these are the three books. Four Hour Work Week. I recommend it to you. If you're stuck in your career or you feel like you don't like your major or your job or you just want more from your 40 plus hours a week that you spend working, that's the book for you. Second book how to Win Friends and Influence People. If you're a human you need to read this book. It's going to impact all of your relationships in a tremendously positive way. And then third six Pillars of Self Esteem if you feel like your confidence is wavering like maybe you're allowing things to happen that are diminishing your self esteem, this book can help. So I hope that you like those books. If you do go out read them and of course subscribe to the channel. I I'm heavily heavily influenced by those but we also cover tons of different things, charisma breakdowns, other videos like this that will help you be the most charismatic, confident and awesome version of yourself. So hope that you've enjoyed this video and I look forward to seeing you in the next one.