Books That Will Change Your Game This New Year! Jeff Dudan's Top 5 #131

Hey there. Welcome back to on the home front. Jeff Duden here. And today I want to have a little chat with you about something that's really shaped my perspective over the years and really from my young life, which is reading books. Now, I'm not talking about the kind of books you read once and forget about. I'm talking about the ones that you work that make you stop and think, rethink everything, and come away better for it. These are the ones that you highlight. These are the ones that you dog ear the pages. These are the ones that you keep on your shelf and you go back and you reference. And I've got five and incredible books to share with you today. Books that can change the way you lead, the way you build, and maybe just the way you live. So grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and let's talk about it. I want to kick this off with a book that's honestly been a game changer for me. Who not how by Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy. Now, Dan Sullivan and with his wife Babs are the founders of Strategic Coach. Dan writes a book every single quarter. Now, this book, most of us grew up with this idea that we've got to figure out everything ourselves. How do I do this? Now, when you find yourself asking, how do I do this? Maybe the better question is, is who can help me? Who's the best person on the planet that can help me do this? Think about it. How much time do you spend trying to master something that you could just delegate to someone who's better at it? For me, that realization was huge. Instead of trying to figure it out, put a system in place, build a CRM. Who can do this for me? Who can do this with me? Who can do this on a collaboration? You know what? I've always been a big believer in hard work, but it doesn't mean that you have to do it all yourself. That's a misnomer. It means building the right team and trusting them to handle their lanes so you can focus on yours. So here's my challenge to you. Look at the things on your plate this week and ask yourself, am I the best person to be doing this? Do I need to find somebody out there in the world or within my organization that can be my who for this specific thing is if I did that, how can we both go faster together? You'll be surprised at how much lighter your load feels, how much faster you can go when you learn to collaborate. It's an entire shift in the way of thinking. But who, not how is fundamental to it next. One of my favorite guys out there, Dan, if you're listening, please come on the podcast I love Buy Back youk Time by Dan Martell. It speaks to something we all wrestle with is time and our view of it. And Dan's message is simple. Time is your most valuable resource, and if you're wasting it on TAs that aren't worth your energy or your billing rate, you're robbing yourself of something priceless. He talks about the buyback loop where you eliminate, you automate and you delegate. We did this as a webinar with all of our franchise owners, and I'm telling you it made a difference. Let me give you an example. Early on in my career, I thought I had to do everything in my business. Invoicing, hiring, even cleaning the shop floors, packing the trucks, cleaning the equipment. It wasn't until I learned that I need to delegate based on hourly rate and automate those tasks that I realized how much time I was freeing up for the things that mattered. And that's when I unlocked the thinking power of my organization and the growth potential of my organization. Strategic thinking, building relationships, spending time with family, having conversations out there in the marketplace. So take a hard look at your calendar. Buy Back your Time by Dan Martell. There's tools in there that will give you immediately lift and change your perspective about your relationship with time. All right, book number three, the Singularity is nearer with Ray Kurzweil, a recent addition, a follow up to his original book from over 20 years ago, the Singularity. Now, this one is a bit of a mind bender. Kurzweil talks about how fast technology is advancing and how it's going to reshape everything we do and when artificial intelligence will actually be smarter than us. If you're not paying attention to AI right now and automation and these emerging tools, you're going to get left behind. And I don't say that to scare you. I say it to motivate you to really dig in. One of my goals for next year is to be an AI executive. I've been dipping my toes into it lately, and it's incredible what it can do and how it can create efficiencies in your business. While AI can make us faster, more efficient, it's up to us to bring the creativity, to write the prompts and to bring the heart and the values to what we do. So don't wait. Start exploring how you can use these tools in your business and life. It's not about replacing people. It's about making what you do even better. All right, big read. But for anybody that wants to build an innovative business, I highly suggest Principles by Ray Dalio. Big, thick book all about Ray Dalio's frameworks for success, and this book is loaded with them. One of the ideas from Dalio is radical transparency. He's about creating environments where people can speak openly and honestly without fear of stepping on toes. He does this in incredible ways, like a big board on the wall where everybody's ideas get merit and they get voted on regardless if you're an intern or you're the chief executive officer. Because great ideas don't need to be influenced by bias of positional power. Now that's tough, but it builds trust and it leads to better decisions. Another big one is pattern recognition. Whether it's in markets, relationships, or life in general, patterns repeat and the trick is to notice them early and to act or react accordingly. For me, franchising has been a big part of my life, and let me tell you, patterns show up all the time. If you don't learn from past, you're doomed to create the mistakes in the future. Recognizing what works and what doesn't help other entrepreneurs through the process of scaling their business without making the same mistakes I've seen a hundred times. Think about your own life. What patterns are you doomed to repeat and what patterns can you create? Leverage for a brighter future. All right, last but Definitely not least, 12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson. This book is packed with practical advice on how to live with purpose and integrity in the most interesting way that only Jordan Peterson can do. There's one rule that really stands out is pursue what is meaningful, not what is expedient. It is so easy for us to go for the quick win the transactional thing, but real fulfillment comes from doing the hard stuff and creating meaning in your life and other people's lives. Whether it's building a business, raising a family, or chasing a dream, the long road is usually the right road. Another one I love is compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today. In this world of social media, it's so easy to get caught up and live other people's dreams and try to project yourself into other people's lives thinking that their lives better than your life. These comparisons will kill you, but at the end of the day, the only person you're really competing with is yourself. Love your progress. Don't compare yourself to an ideal because when you get there, it's actually probably not even ideal. Peterson's rules are a great reminder to take ownership of your life and of your decisions. Personal accountability not always easy, but it's definitely worth it. So big takeaway five books Please read Please read who not how challenges us to lean on others. Buy back your time reminds us to protect what matters most, time and love in your life. Singularity is near shows us that the future and how to embrace it and and if you don't embrace it, how quickly you're going to be left behind. Life's not a crock pot anymore. It's not Set it and forget it. Things are evolving quickly and you need to evolve faster to be relevant. Principles gives us tools for smarter decisions and radical transparency. And of course, Jordan Peterson strong with his 12 Rules for Life, inspiring us to live with purpose and accountability. So here's what I want you to do. Pick one thing, just one thing from this episode that resonates with you and put it into action this week by buying a book and reading that book. Whether it's delegating a task, automating a process, or setting a meaningful goal, that could be your first step as well. But look, thanks for hanging out with me today. Read. Your life will be impacted by the people that you meet, the conversations that you have, and the books that you read. If you want to be successful and you want to be fulfilled, you need a broad knowledge base across many different subjects. You don't have to have in depth knowledge of everything, but you choose where you go deep. But you've got to have a broad knowledge base and at least to be able to pull these things into your life to create a great life for you and those that you care the most about. If this episode gave you something to think about, share it with someone who could use the insight. And if you haven't already, hit that subscribe button so you don't miss what's coming next on the home front. Until next time, keep leading, keep growing. Keep building your personal legacy. Thanks for listening.