In January I posted that I planned to read a lot this year so I figured that an update is required.

Books read:

The Four Hour Work Week

This is without a doubt the book with the most influence on my life this year. I have read the original edition once, the expanded update three times and listened to the audio book at least three times. I strongly recommend this book for anybody looking to live a little more and stress a little less.

Atlas Shrugged

Can somebody please explain why these books haven’t found their way into my life sooner?  Sure, it’s over a thousand pages but this book is amazing.  To many it seems prophetic since it was written in 1957 but mirrors the issues of our times so well.  This book motivates me and inspires me more than any other novel I’ve read.  My main takeaway is to take personal responsibility and to not make excuses.  A movie by the same name is currently in production.  Who is John Galt?

Good to Great
I really enjoyed the first few parts of the book and then it sort of died off for me.  I guess it went great to good.  My main takeaway was in making sure you have the right people on your team.  The concept of ‘first who, then what’ is something I consider whenever approached about a business opportunity.

The Purple Cow
This is one of Seth Godin’s 12 best sellers.  Each one that I’ve read is good but I enjoyed this one for reminding me that you have to do something different if you expect the market to notice your product or service.

Linchpin
This is Godin’s most recent, and possibly last traditional, book.  I had the pleasure of meeting Godin in Orange County and the advice he gave me when we spoke altered the course of my business and I am eternally grateful.  You can read more here about the concepts of the book Linchpin.

Robinson Crusoe
I started to read some classics and found a lot of great wisdom buried in their stories.  This book is about self discovery, survival, loyalty and determination.  It’s a classic for a reason.

Pride and Prejudice
Yes, I even read a Jane Austin book.  Pride and Prejudice was a great book.  For me it’s about being yourself and allowing others to be themselves as well.  It’s handle on the topics of pride and the prejudicial judgment is what makes this a must read classic.

Treasure Island
I read this just after I took a sailing class and so my increased sailing vocabulary added to my enjoyment of this book.  This was a quick and easy read but I enjoyed the journey.

There are a few other books that I’ve read portions of, even most of, but that I don’t feel need a summary.  Think & Grow Rich, Crush It, and a few select sections of my finance, stats, accounting and marketing textbooks.

Tim Ferriss shared a post from the blog Free Pursuits.  It was simply 50 photos from around the world designed to inspire the viewer to become a Digital Nomad.  I’ve been longing to travel more with my family.  If my wife would get on board I’d pack up the whole clan and travel the world for the next year or so.  But after 7 years of wedded bliss I’ve learned to pick my battles and settled on a two week road trip around the Western United States.  We had a blast… but now I want more.

I turned the pics from the blog into a video with some music.  It’s nothing fancy, I’m not a video editor by any means, but it’s a nice way to enjoy the pictures and let your mind run free wandering about the world without that pesky interruption of having to scroll down on a web page.

Here’s my hypothetical for today’s post.

You’ve just been granted 45 days paid leave from work and you have to leave the country since the local Cheese Makers Union is about to riot the Gouda factory.  You’ve got the money to travel, so budget isn’t an issue and your passport is up to date.  What country(ies) would you visit?