PLUS: 3 books I’m loving right now
People always ask me how I’m able to read so much. As a father, husband, and owner of several companies, I definitely don’t have a lot of leisure time. But HOW I read is different from how other people read. I read strategically, so I’m able to consume the information that I really need without taking hours away from my life.
Here’s how to do it.
1. Carry your bookshelf on your phone
I carry my bookshelf on my phone, so my books are always with me. Using Google Books and Kindle, I can pull up my books easily and get some reading in. Everywhere I go, if I have a spare 15 minutes, whether I’m picking up the kids or waiting on the dentist, I’m reading a book.
2. Don’t feel like you have to read cover to cover
I don’t feel like I have to read cover to cover. I know people that are high achievers: they have to read the acknowledgments and the index in order to feel like they’ve read the book. If you’re reading for learning and you think the only way to get that sense of achievement is to read it from cover to cover, THAT’s why you’re not reading. I read strategically, so every book I read can help solve a problem I’m wrestling with.
3. Find the modality that you like to read.
You’ve got to figure out how you like to consume new information. Not everybody is a book reader like me. I have subtitles in most of my TV shows because I like to read. Some people are auditory or visual learners. Some of my friends enjoy reading audiobooks using an Audible account so they can listen to books. If you’re more visual, find video courses, so there’s a way for you to learn and grow.
4. Read to solve a problem
I read like a vampire. I go straight to the section that I’m looking for. When it comes to business books, they’re written, so you don’t have to necessarily have all the context in that chapter in order to read that chapter. That’s why I come in like a vampire and just pick out things that I like or that solve my current problem. I’ve actually written an eBook about this technique, it’s called Read Strategically, and you can download it at www.readstrategically.com.
Some people are auditory or visual learners. Some of my friends enjoy reading audio books using an Audible account so they can listen to books. If you’re more visual, find video courses, so there’s a way for you to learn and grow.
3 Books I’m Loving Right Now
Looking for some light reading on your summer vacay? Well… These books might not fit THAT bill, but they are absolutely worth a read as you work to continually sharpen your skills as a marketer. Here at Post Status, we get nerdy about the ins and outs of WordPress all the time, but it’s vital to remember that the REASON for all of the websites we create comes down to marketing. My book picks for this summer are geared towards helping you become a better marketer.
Marketing Made Simple: A Step-by-Step Story Brand Guide for Any Business
Donald Miller lays out the StoryBrand framework, a powerful way to design marketing initiatives, including WordPress websites, from a customer-first perspective. I read this book precisely because I’ve been working on some sales pages, and I wanted to see Donald Miller’s framework for that. I found exactly what I needed, and I know this book will come in handy when I’m looking to solve marketing problems in the future. It’s a good one to keep in the arsenal.
The Business of Belonging: How to Make Community Your Competitive Advantage
This book really speaks to our community here at Post Status: finding belonging, pulling a group of people together that are oftentimes eclectic, but they join together under a banner and find their home. It’s so near and dear to my heart. I believe that the way to get business done well is to combine purpose and profit. I build belonging with my team through consistency. I just show up every day as me. And you see by my actions that you can trust me and that we really want to create this atmosphere in this place where you belong. Our Post Status members also add to belonging by contributing their special gifts and talents, skills, experiences to the collective good. We live by the proverb: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” There are no rock stars here, including me. This is a merry band of people who are very eclectic and very diverse, doing cool stuff together that we couldn’t do by ourselves. We are making way more impact together than we could individually because we belong to this group.
How to Be an Imperfectionist: The New Way to Self-Acceptance, Fearless Living, and Freedom from Perfectionism
This book introduces a new way to self-acceptance through fearless living in freedom from perfection. This is a part of doing my own personal work. I realized that I’ve been held back by perfectionistic tendencies in all areas of my life. One of the principles I get from this is to start with mini habits. The author, Steven Guise, gives the example of starting with one pushup a day, not thirty. This book showed me how simple but highly strategic “mini actions” can empower me to gradually and effortlessly let go of perfectionism.
Many of us here at Post Status are book readers, so on our private Slack Channel for Post Status members, we have a Book Nook channel where WordPress pros share what they’re reading. If books aren’t your thing, check out this blog post for a myriad of free resources to help you develop your WordPress skills, and your skills as a marketer.
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