Recommended Reading for inspiration, motivation and self-employment

Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoski
It came as a big surprise to me that Blake Mycoskie’s shoe company, TOMS, is only five years old. Equally surprising is what a terrific handbook he’s written to pass along what he’s learned. While the TOMS’ story is an inspiring one, the real treasure in this book is the simplicity with which he shows us how to create our own enterprise that makes a difference and makes a profit. This is one of the best start-up manuals ever.

Do the Work by Steven Pressfield, the second from Seth Godin's Domino Project, packs a wallop as it urges the reader on from project idea to project completion. I'm still not sure how to describe this new treasure except to urge you to add it to your library. Like the earlier book, Do the Work is bound to be read more than once.

The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield will help you identify—and overcome—the resistance that is holding you back. It’s also my candidate for Book of the Decade. Quite simply, the most profound explanation of resistance that I’ve seen.

Make the Impossible Possible: One Man's Crusade to Inspire Others to Dream Bigger and Achieve the Extraordinary by Bill Strickland. Art meets the entrepreneurial spirit and we all get inspired by the results.	*Delivering Happiness* by Tony Hsieh If you had lived in the neighborhood where Tony Hsieh grew up, you might have met an earnest little door to door salesman just discovering his entrepreneurial spirit. Now at the ripe old age of 36, Hseih shows us the path that took him from selling earthworms and photo buttons to running the success story known as Zappos.
*Growing a Business*, by Paul Hawken, is my longtime favorite book on creating a business that reflects personal values. Lots of nuts-and-bolts information interspersed with stories of entrepreneurial success.	*Rubies in the Orchard* by Lynda Resnick. This may be the most readable marketing book ever written because Lynda Resnick has a terrific story and tells it brilliantly.
The Element by Ken Robinson, Ph.D. The subtitle is, "How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything." What more do you need to know?	*The Creative License: Giving Yourself Permission to Be the Artist You Truly Are* by Danny Gregory is a handbook for reviving dormant creative spirits. Equally inspiring is Gregory’s own story of what it took for him to make the transition from employee to entrepreneur.
*Small is the New Big* by Seth Godin is a collection of the prolific author’s blog postings. There’s not much rhyme or reason to the book, but it’s great fun to read since it’s full of good ideas and examples.	Leaving Microsoft to Change the World by John Woods is the thrilling story of a corporate manager's decision to found Room to Read and bring books to the children of the world.
*A Whole New Mind* by Daniel Pink has the provocative subtitle Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future. An insightful discussion of what it will take to succeed in a changing world.	*U-Turn* by Bruce Grierson asks the question, “What if you woke up one morning and realized you were living the wrong life?” The author interviewed people who made that frustrating discovery—then boldly made a radical change.
*Marketing That Matters* by Chip Conley and Eric Friedenwaldl-Fishman is a refreshingly sane approach to marketing for entrepreneurs who want to make a difference while making a living. Full of great ideas you can adapt.	*The Big Moo* edited by Seth Godin is a collection of essays by thirty top creative entrepreneurial thinkers. A perfect book to carry and read in waiting rooms or airports.
*Write It Down, Make It Happen* by Henriette Anne Klauser is the best book I've read on setting and achieving goals.	*The Tipping Point* by Malcolm Gladwell is a fascinating exploration of how an idea goes from obscurity to visibility. Every entrepreneur needs to know what a tipping point is and how to create it.
*Business as Unusual* by Anita Roddick shares the Body Shop founder’s visionary ideas about creating a business that is an agent of change.	*Hershey* by Michael D’Antonio is a biography of the candy tycoon who may have been one of the country’s first social entrepreneurs. This one’s as much fun to read as a novel.
*Shameless Exploitation: In Pursuit of the Common Good* by Paul Newman and A.E. Hotchner. Newman and his old friend Hotchner may have been accidental entrepreneurs, but they became model social entrepreneurs. This entertaining book tells their unlikely story.

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