5 Books to Start 2020 on a Good Note

As the 2019 getting closer to an end, I looked back to all of the book that I read this year. As a professional and ex-entrepreneur, i find that my typical go-to book was more into business, biography, self-help, leadership, and any non-fictional one. Some of the book I left it unfinished, while most of them are truly enjoyable and inspirational. Here is my top 5 picks that I would recommend anyone to read it (in no particular order) :

I’m a Musk-fan even before i read this book. The guy has a very controversial approach on almost anything, from his huge vision for mankind, his exceptional-workaholic attitude and managerial style, to the way he able to run multi-industry company at the same time. Its always interest me on what is the backstory of someone who able to pull out all these stuff.

What I love about this book is that Vance ability to capture all of the journey of Musk in an interesting way. From Musk background as a troublesome child, to struggle with his first venture, and ended-up being one of the most visionary man on the planet. Not even a single chapter of Musk life I find it boring to explore. There is a lot of moment when you can realise how crazy Elon actually was, and how insanely genius person he is. Vance was able to capture it all and emotionally attach us to think what is like to see the Elon Musk world.

This book brings up the topic of how our society create a mindset of good life by expectation to always stay positive, and keep chasing more and more. Manson considered that the desire for more positive experience is itself a negative experience. And, paradoxically, the acceptance of one’s negative experience is itself a positive experience.

What I love about this book is how Manson remind us to think deeply of what we truly find important in our live. It make me reflect back on how frequent I wasted my time and mental health by giving a fuck about something that actually have a little meaning to me. Just as Manson say “The key to a good life is not giving a fuck about more; it’s giving a fuck about less, giving a fuck about only what is true and immediate and important.”

Sinek previous bestselling work, Start With Why, talk about how important WHY is in everything. This book is an extension to the organizational level on how as a leader, we can actually get people on board with our WHY. Sinek use Marine Corps as an example of organization that successfully build a culture where people willing to risk their lives, because they know others would do the same for them. If the same mentality were to adopted on businesses, the team would be more motivated and able to achieve more.

What I love about this book is, at first I would think that this book will help us become a better leader, yes it actually does, but Sinek main message was to remind us that in order to have a better world, we need a better leaders. I would recommend anyone (regardless you’re a leader, an employee, an entrepreneur, a student) to read this because by understanding better the fundamental of leadership, we will become a better person.

My friend gave me this book last Christmas as a gift. This is the type of book that even before I heard of it, people are already recommend it. Yet by the time i finished, it’s still exceeding my expectations. Knight, the founder of NIKE, wrote this himself and shared all of the story and emotion of his adventure to building one of the world’s most iconic and successful brand.

What I love about this book is Knight execution and delivery that able to capture the emotion of each chapter of his life. As much as I admire where NIKE today, Knight was an unfamiliar figure for me, at least until I read this. I have no idea that the founder of NIKE used to sell Onitsuka. I have no idea that NIKE didn’t have the intention to create own product from the start. I have no idea that NIKE was built out of necessity. One word to describe this book is grit. Knight shared to us what will happen if we dream big and keep pushing forward with true dedication.

Gladwell has a very interesting approach to intellectually explain the outliers, which in this case refer to the most successful, most famous, the brightest individuals. His idea was, success is something that can be scientifically explained and achieved by connecting the dot of where individual came from, the family culture, the timing and opportunity, the experience, etc.

What I love about this book is the fact that this is an eye opener for me. I used to think that if we try hard enough, or get lucky enough, success is inevitable. But Gladwell explained that success is actually a combination of variables. It also explained to me on why and how some individual have higher chance to succeed compares to the others, and work hard is definitely not the answer here.

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