My 2010 Mission Begins...

One of the goals I set out to accomplish in 2010 was reading more. More specifically, I wanted to read more business and leadership books. I have spent the last two years toying with the idea of going back to school and the overwhelming awareness that I am not pushing myself to learn at the rate that I know I am capable of. My job teaches me immense amounts about business and leadership on a daily basis, but it seems very obvious that the people that make themselves truly great at anything are bullish in their pursuit of knowledge and understanding and push themselves miles beyond what is simply thrown at them on a daily basis. I have known since that first grand plane ride across the Pacific just over ten years ago that I wanted to be one of those people, someone that lives beyond the ordinary and accomplishes something legendary.


That being said, one of my major focuses in 2010 is going to be reading. I feel like it is a major piece that is currently missing if I am going to develop into the type of businessperson I want to become, but like any goal or “resolution” it must be both defined and specific in order to be attainable. I considered how many books I should read in 2010, what topics I should focus on, and whether I should have a specific order. Considering the laziness in this area that seems to have developed since finishing school almost three years ago, I didn’t want to be unrealistic. My initial thought was that twelve would be a good accomplishment, giving each month a specific target. I had almost settled on that goal until I read about a prominent business author and consultant that read 200 books each year over the last decade. Is it any surprise that he has accomplished fairly spectacular things in both business and in the literary world? Since 2000 this man has consumed 2000 books in their entirety. That made my goal of twelve seem a bit trivial and un-ambitious.


After a bit of thought and analyzing what I would like to learn over the course of the year I have settled on 50. That means I will need to read roughly one book each week, which, while lofty compared to my recent track record, seems attainable. Of course, it is quite likely that I will get either bored or simply pre-occupied over the next twelve months, so putting my goal in writing online and committing to updating it with each book along the way seems like an excellent step towards holding myself accountable to actually follow through with my plan.


I have outlined 20 books so far that I want to read this year, so I will begin tackling this list immediately as well as do some research into other business classics that would help build the knowledge base I am looking for. The initial list is as follows:

1. Outliers by Malcolm Galdwell
2. How to Influence by Jo Owen
3. The Partnership:A History of Goldman Sachs by Charles Ellis
4. Love Leadership by John Hope Bryant
5. Strategic Negotiation by Brian J Dietmeyer
6. Creativity Today by Ramon Vullings
7. To Big to Fail by Ramon Vullings
8. False Economy: A Surprising Economic History of the World by Alan Beattie
9. The Wisdom of Crowds by James Fried
10. Rework by Jason Fried
11. The Little Big Things by Tom Peters
12. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink
13. The Radical Leap by Steve Farber
14. The Story Factor by Annette Simmons
15. How to Become a Rainmaker by Jeffrey Fox
16. Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson
17. The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander
18. Up the Organization by Robert Townsend
19. Viral Loop by Adam Peneberg
20. The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder

Wish me luck :)